Judgmental (a Percy Jackson AU)

Plain Jane

    "What have you been eating lately?" Jane asked Piper. "You look like a pig."

     Piper lowered her gaze and it traveled from her thin legs to her bony ankles. It was 75 degrees inside the building, but the model was shivering.

     "I expect to see you looking better by next month or your permit to work here could be revoked," Jane added sharply.

    "Si-vous-plait madam," Piper said in a rush. "J'ai maigri depuis la semaine dernière. Je ne pourrai que—"

     She caught sight of Jane's face and stopped talking in midsentence. She realized she had spoken in the wrong language and she consciously switched to her English mode.

    "As you say, Jane," Piper said.

     "Good, Piper," Jane said, walking across the plush red carpet of the studio in her glittering silver high heels. "Now, it is nearly time for the shoot. Today, you're posing for a swimsuit company."

     Piper swayed slightly and she leaned onto the wall nearby for help. She had never done such an intimate shoot. She had worn skimpy dresses and tight blouses, but she had never had to wear so little in front of a photographer. Her stomach already hurt when she thought of how much she would have to suck it in. The oatmeal she had eaten last night churned in her stomach. Perhaps last night's dinner should have been like today's breakfast: nonexistent.

     "Lacey is going to do your makeup and hair," Jane said, "and then Dylan will come in to see you."
***

     Lacey turned out to be a bubbly young woman with blonde hair and dimples. She chatted while she combed Piper's hair and put in up in two Dutch braids. Then, she applied makeup to Piper's face and showered her with compliments. This, Piper thought, is what the life of a model is like; one second you're told you're undeniably gorgeous and the next second you're told you're absolutely hideous. No wonder so many of us are insecure.

   Dylan came in when Lacey had finished. His eyes traveled from Piper's face to her body quickly and Piper felt like she was naked in front of him. She tugged at the sleeves of her blue hoodie as if to reassure herself that she was, in fact, wearing clothes.

     Dylan ordered Lacey to leave. He tossed s pink swimsuit to Piper. She blushed as she realized it was a string bikini.

     "Go on, change," he said.

       "I'd like some privacy," Piper said.

       Dylan snorted and turned his back. Piper changed quickly. Shivering in the bikini, she felt like a marble statue that a critic could examine and criticize with no qualms.

       "Follow me," Dylan said. "We need to get some good shots. I need to get them photoshopped and sent in by tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

    Piper followed Dylan to the set. She ended up laying on a blue beach towel and posing as if she was enjoying a day at the ocean. As Dylan talked about how a certain shot would look after he edited it, Piper thought of how photoshop was a reminder to the models that no matter how pretty they were, it would never be enough. That was how she felt with her life. No matter how hard she tried, she would never amount to anything.