Reborn: The Boy Who Discovered He Wasn't

Chapter Thirteen

Reborn: The Boy Who Discovered He Wasn't

by SabrynaBrooklynne

Chapter 13

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The day of the show, Carol and James, and separately, Rebecca and Taia, all headed to the warehouse.

For the past week, Carol had spent all her time outside of work, at the warehouse getting the place set up for the show.

She had found a carpenter to build the stage, the local cosmetology school was providing students to assist with the hair and make-up and a friend of Taia had brought in lighting rigs and sound equipment. The chairs, she had borrowed from the local community center and the best barbecue restaurant in the area had agreed to cater the event.

The place was small and only eighteen buyers from various high-end department stores and representatives from twenty-seven specialty clothing stores had been invited. They were now beginning to arrive and take seats around the runway.

Several fashion magazine writers, to include ones from Nylon, Teen Vogue, and Fashion Twist, were also starting to arrive. Several photographers were there, as well as a video crew from StyleTV, setting-up all kinds of cameras on tripods around the room.

The DJ began a quick test of his turntables, creating a clever beat from a combination of a 1940's jazz tune, an early 80's disco track, and a pulsing deep house bass line.

James and Rebecca were thankful for the time they had spent over the past week learning how to be a model with one of the girls from the agency, for they were both very nervous about their first show.

Heading towards the backstage area, James' pulse increased as he took in the sights and sounds of the runway, all the people, cameras and the snippets of pounding bass from the sound tests.

Grabbing Rebecca's hand, he squeezed it and leaned in towards her, whispering, "I don't know if I can do this."

Rebecca looked at James like he had three heads.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "You can't quit on me now. I need you up there with me. Not to mention what it would do to your mom. She's counting on you. If you don't do this it will ruin the show . . . Whether you believe it or not, you will be the prettiest model on that runway. So, if you are worried that someone will mistake you for a boy in a dress, you couldn't be further from the truth. Even if someone told the entire room that one of the models was really a boy, they might suspect any one of us, but they would immediately tell themselves for sure it wasn't you."

James sat down on a chair and Rebecca did the same. He began to unscrew the top off the bottle of flavored water he was holding and asked, "Do you really think I'm that convincing?"

Rebecca looked around and spotted the girl that had spent the past week teaching them how to be a model. She called her over, "Hey! Arianna, come here."

As Arianna neared the two girls, Rebecca made a statement that caused Jessica to almost choke on the mouthful of water she had just taken a sip of.

"Hey, Arianna, I heard a rumor that one of the model's in the show today isn't a real girl, but is actually a boy. Did you know that?"

"No, I didn't! Are you sure," Arianna replied in disbelief.

"Yeah, at least that's what I was told. 'Course it could be one of the other girls just trying to get something started. If it's true, who do you think it could be, Arianna?"

"I really have no clue. I couldn't begin to imagine," replied Arianna, "but I know its not me."

She turned towards Jessica.