Read Online True Colors by Krysten Lindsay Hager - Free Book Online

I could get you out early. Make sure you’re in the office at two o’clock and remember — don’t act excited because they think you’re going to the dentist,” she said.
    â€œRight. See ya, Mom.”
    I was psyched I was going to be in the newspaper. Tori had her picture in the paper once, but it was for playing soccer and she looked constipated as she kicked the ball. Those losers were going to be so sorry they got mad at me when they saw I was on my way to being a celebrity. And, if I did become famous, then I was never going to talk to either of them again. Let them see how it felt to be ignored. I ran into Devon on my way back to class. She had already gotten a call from her mom, but her excuse was “going to the doctor.” We stood in the hall talking about what we were going to wear until the door to the office opened, and we scattered like cockroaches.
    I got out of class at two and had just enough time to stick a few of Mom’s hot rollers in my hair. I washed my face and put on some makeup and went to change. Mrs. Myeski said it was just a headshot, but I wanted to wear something nice since a little of my shirt would be showing. I put on my red sweater, but Mom thought it looked ratty. It was pathetic, but I didn’t have a lot of clothes which weren’t school clothes. Mom told me to wear my navy sweater to the shoot, which sucked because I didn’t want my first publicity photo ever to be in a Hillcrest sweater. I ended up wearing it, but I guess it didn’t matter too much because when we got to the photography studio, they said the photos were going to be black and white. Devon and I sat together. The other girls in the waiting room seemed super stuck up. One girl stepped on Devon’s foot and didn’t even apologize. They only took three shots of each of us. Afterward, they put them on a screen for us to see, and Mrs. Myeski came over to inspect them.
    â€œYour eyes are sort of shut in this one,” she said. “And you’re trying too hard to keep them open wide in this one.”
    She was right. I looked like a crazed lunatic with my eyes almost popping out of my head.
    â€œBut this one is nice and natural. You just need to work on relaxing your face,” she said.
    Two of Devon’s pictures were perfect. Her mom wanted them to use the one where she was smiling, but Mrs. Myeski said the serious pose was more flattering.
    Devon’s mom said we should go out to celebrate. I knew my mom wanted to go back to the office, but she agreed to stop for some ice cream at Ignatowski’s Ice Cream Palace. I got a caramel marshmallow sundae with extra strawberry whipped cream. Devon ordered the brownie n’ fudge extravaganza. Our moms sat at a separate table from us. There weren’t a lot of people there in the middle of the day, so we took the good table, which was a round booth which looked like you were sitting in a hot air balloon. There was also a booth like a gazebo, but it was where the older high school girls and their boyfriends sat. I was halfway done with my sundae when Devon said we should switch sundaes.
    â€œMy friends and I always switch so we can taste what everybody got,” she said.
    I tried to ignore what I had read about salvia and mono online. It was kinda cool she would want to share with me. After all, Arianna and Yasmin always shared food at lunch, but my ex-friends never wanted to share anything with me — not even popcorn at the movies. I slid my dish over to her and tried not to gag as she told me about the time she, India, and Peyton had all gotten the flu after they shared a triple chocolate explosion. I guess Devon hadn’t learned anything from our chapter on germs and bacteria in our science book.
    ****
    The next day I missed the bus and I expected Ms. Ashcroft to glare at me when I walked in late, but instead she congratulated me on getting second place with my story in the Michigan Young Pens