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Chapter 8: Are We on a Date?
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Model Perfect Chapter 9: Hellcat
Arlo takes me home. I am still wearing his clothes, his sweat pants are the most comfortable items of clothing I have been offered to wear in a really long time. Even though they are huge on me, I don't bother taking them off. My silver halter is in a plastic trash bag that Arlo hands me. It still smells like spiked lemonade. Model Perfect will take the damages out of my paycheck for the way Tanya treated this garment. He parks his car in my driveway. I don't want to leave. I want to stay in this moment with Arlo forever. Arlo's fingers are laced around mine, and even though I am technically Hunter's girlfriend I stopped dating him in my head ages ago. It's hard to be with the boy who calls me fat and thinks I am nothing but worthless meat. Hunter's anger gets the better of him, and I am too timid, shy, and scared to tell him off. Arlo isn't like that. I can be me, and be safe. Being with Arlo would be easier than being with Hunter, as far as a real relationship goes. But I am not th
Model Perfect Chapter 10: Biopsy
The only choice I have now is to forget Arlo. It's not Arlo's fault the party went haywire and that my followers' list keeps going down in size. Do those thousands of people even know the real me? I'm starting to think no one knows who I am anymore. Rosa wanted to be my friend for fame. Now I am the slutty friend, who is shacking up with the hot camera guy from school. Popularity is like the tide, it pushes and pulls the waves back and forth to shore. The moon forces the tide to rise like my heart makes my emotions boil over. My emotions have been boiling for a while now, festering deep between the pores of my skin. Rosa was the scapegoat I needed. The pressure valve snapped and our friendship right along with it. My thoughts at this moment are to stay away from Rosa and forget we were ever friends in the first place. Perhaps our friendship was merely a facade, desperation on my part for a female friend and popularity seeking on hers. Maybe it was a doomed friendship this whole time
Model Perfect Chapter 11: The Perfect Girlfriend
My neck hurts at the biopsy site. It has a heartbeat, that's tender to the touch. I keep the small bandage on it to protect it from accidental bumps. In the morning the sun dances across my blanket like it did the morning prior. I find a smoothie by my bed with a note from my ghost mom. My parents have been working night shifts and have been going on so many business trips lately, I haven't truly seen them in weeks. Now that I am eighteen, they think I am grown-up enough to be on my own. My mother made the smoothie to help with my biopsy recovery. It's tender to talk and the bump in my neck continues to throb throughout the early morning. My phone beeps and Arlo's text message lights up my screen and my face. Arlo: Want to hang out today, model girl? My mom is taking us sailing today. The message reflects Arlo's intentions. It isn't a secret that Arlo wants to hang with me more. A day going sailing sounds better than listening to Aftershock practice their new shitty songs about se
Model Perfect Chapter 12: The Rescuer
Dread is the one word to describe going to the doctor. I remember when I was six years old and I broke my foot while playing soccer. My dad took me, and he held my hand the whole time. He was there for me during the X-rays, and he was there when they bandaged my foot. I miss being six years old. My parents were on better speaking terms and I was there the whole world. Then the agents came and replaced my parents. Freddie became my father figure and came to my appointments. And no one questioned if any of this was normal or healthy. Dread is what I feel in my body and bones. It rattles me up and trembles my insides. The results of my biopsy will be announced today. I touch my throat and feel the lump. It's as large as a small bouncy ball. It's the ball in my neck, and I want nothing more than it to shrink and leave me alone. I am Emma Rhodes, the model at Model Perfect. Models must be perfect and show off a glamorous life that doesn't really exist. In an imperfect world, that strive
Model Perfect Chapter 13: When Lips Touch
My lips are pressed against Arlo's. His scent is everywhere and is still leaning into me. Arlo pulls away, as he rests his forehead on mine. "Sorry about that," he says. He breaks away from the kiss. "No, you aren't. I'm not...sorry. If I didn't want you to kiss me, I wouldn't have kissed you back." I know I shouldn't be so honest with Arlo. But he just saved me from the doctor's office. It's not every day an eighteen-year-old woman finds out she has cancer. "You needed comforting." I lean my head on his shoulder and he smells my hair. His breath is warm and the bumps on my neck rise as he breaths into me. "Yes, I did. Thanks for being there for me." "Why didn't you call, Hunter?" Arlo asks. I pull away knowing I've cheated on Hunter. But also not caring or giving a shit at the same time. I've let go of Hunter. "Please don't ask me that. I think we both know why..." My eyes trail about the room. I follow the lines in the ceiling, hoping they will help me escape my reality. The
Model Perfect Chapter 14: Horrendous Halloween
It's Halloween weekend, and Hunter hasn't texted me since I left his band practice early. Freddie has been buzzing my cell non-stop. I know he wants an answer from me. He wants to know if I am getting surgery He wants me to have my whole life story written down in a novel, ready to go on his desk by Monday morning with my resignation letter at hand. My life to them all is a script that they can dim the lights for, cut people out of, and shut my voice up when necessary. Isn't it enough to them that I have to process cancer on my own? I haven't even told my parents. Do they even exist at this point? I've been flying solo for so long, I don't even remember seeing them. Rosa will write my cancer story on all her social media accounts and I am not ready for the world to know the gospel truth. That I, Emma Rhodes, have thyroid cancer. I set my cancer aside and try to remember that it's Halloween. Hunter loved costumes, partying, pumpkins, and of course the Haunted House by the beach. Ever
Model Perfect Chapter 15: The Sleepover
It's midnight and Arlo is still with me. He hasn't left my side since Hunter attacked me. Flashback of the Haunted House breakthrough. I don't know what to do now. Breaking up with Hunter is risky business, but staying with him was dangerous for my body. I can still feel his hands inserting themselves into places I never agreed to, but despite it, I have to stay with Hunter. He and Model Perfect are a package deal because Aftershock is owned by them. All these decisions make me never want to become an adult. "Emma, do you want to go inside? We've been sitting here for an hour? I don't mind sitting all night if that's what you need?" He grabs my hand, and a part of me is hesitant to ever be touched again. I'm still a bit shaken from Hunter putting his weight on me. Was he lying that he hurt Tanya? I am so mind fucked with and toyed with I don't what's real anymore. With Arlo, my life is reflected in a camera lens, and with Hunter, the hall of mirrors is a guessing game of truth or d
Model Perfect Chapter 16: The Confident Model
The next morning Arlo's arms are around my body. He held me all night long and kept me safe from the evil demons that try to take control of me. I roll over onto his chest and put my head next to his. Arlo kisses me, and it's an innocent kiss. The fact that he is still here must mean that he has some feelings for me too."Want me to bring you up some donuts and coffee? I have a few apples too if you want one?""Yeah, sure that sounds nice, babe." Arlo didn't even notice that he's called me babe. He's half asleep and I don't make a big deal about it, at least not on the outside. My insides are fireworks and butterflies. Hunter never gave me a nickname. It was only until Rosa mentioned something to him, that he would on occasion. But not Arlo, he's called me that naturally and of his own accord. I collect Arlo and my breakfast from the kitchen. I deliver it to him on an old tray we used for breakfast in bed on birthdays. "This is nice. Thanks for getting this ready for me.""Listen,
Latest chapter
- Model Perfect Chapter 32: Hospitals, Surgeries, and Surprises
- Model Perfect Chapter 31: The Perfect Distraction
- Model Perfect Chapter 30: The Great Before
- Model Perfect Chapter 29: The Hunted
- Model Perfect Chapter 28: Winter Paris Competition
- Model Perfect Chapter 27: Frenemies
- Model Perfect Chapter 26: Goodbye, Model Perfect
- Model Perfect Chapter 25: For Arlo
- Model Perfect Chapter 24: On Tightropes
