The RunAway Model

I. The Night Before

So this is what it feels like.

That one lingering thought struck Desiree like the bullet lodged inside her as she struggled for one more breath and as she did so, the pain was even worse than the last one. One short intake of oxygen was like doing a marathon with a shard of glass stuck in your sole. Every exhale was excruciating it was not comparable to anything she had known.

He's coming. Keep breathing. He's coming.

With the last ounce of strength she had left, she pushed herself to her back. Her eyes closed and she lost her breath once more. The veins in her throat engorged as she held the scream of pain. The breathing was getting shorter and she opened her eyes.

The faint sound of footsteps was disappearing though her mind knew they were coming nearer. The buzzing in her ears was barely audible now. The light on the ceiling was getting dimmer.

So this is what it feels like.

The episodes of that night and the days that followed up to this very moment flashed before her eyes.

It was all because of that night...

6 MONTHS AGO

5:00 PM

Desiree and Jamaica entered the hotel lobby with their arms linked, laughter in their eyes. Their steps synchronized, they walked to the front desk to get their key cards.

"Did you see the look on Khaye's face?" Desiree asked her best friend.

Jamaica took off her sunglasses and rolled her eyes. "She's so not over the fact that we are going to close the runway tomorrow."

Desiree looked around the hotel lobby as the man behind the desk worked on his computer. "We left her at the airport. She must feel so lost right now."

A short silence lingered between them as they pretended to feel remorseful. When their eyes met, their lips pursed, snorted and laughed together.

"Oh my god, we are sooooo bad!" Jamaica uttered, catching her breath.

"Well," Desiree said, taking the cards the man handed out to them, "there's a reason why we are called the Evil Twin Models." She looped her arm through her friend's and they strutted to the elevators together, a laughter escaping their lips every now and then as the picture of Khaye in the airport, alone and without a ride, played in their heads.

The two of them called dibs on the beds, threw their things inside the closet and fell silent. They'd only have a few hours before the event started and the relaxing silence would be gone until everything was over. Desiree blankly stared at the ceiling and her smile slowly disappeared.

"How long do you think we are going to do this?" she asked out loud.

"Hmm?" she heard Jamaica ask.

"This thing...jumping from one country to another, walking the runway, acting like stupid girls who don't know anything but be mean and get laid by the hottest guys in town. This...this stupid life we kind of hate but love too much to leave behind."

Jamaica was silent for a long time that Desiree did not expect her to answer at all. "We can leave anytime we want, Des."

Desiree pushed herself off the bed with a grunt. "But not now, right? While we are still young and beautiful, we can't just do that, right? That would be stupid. We've reached so far."

Her friend followed her off the bed and stared at her with an empty smile. For a moment, Desiree saw what people saw in the two of them: same long wavy black hair, same light brown eyes, same pointed nose, sun-kissed skin, slender figure...same everything except the fact that they were not from the same mother.