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me away from
everything,
including boys. By the time I got out of high school, I just wanted out. I didn’t know much about life or men and I still don’t.
    â€œWhen I refused to go to a Christian university they said that they were not going to pay tuition to a heathen school. So instead of going to college I worked for a few years in Waterloo until I moved to Chicago four months ago. Right now I’m working as a receptionist and trying to save money so I can get my degree.”
    â€œThis workshop is very expensive,” Flo remarked, her maternal instincts once again on alert. “Why would you go into debt for somethin’ this frivolous?”
    â€œI don’t think it’s frivolous. This is like a survival course for me. I’m tired of feeling as though I don’t belong anywhere.”
    â€œI guess it’s easy to feel out of place in a new city, but darlin’, you’re beautiful. You have such an exotic look about you.”
    â€œThat’s it!” Pia said, clapping her hands to the baffled looks of her teammates. “That’s your weapon—the one you possess but don’t utilize. Turn what you think is your negative into a positive.”
    â€œI don’t get it.”
    â€œBecca, it’s like Joey said today. Strengthen your strengths. You’re exotic-looking. Play up the fact that you look different to your advantage. Don’t try to cast yourself in a Hollywood cookie cutter starlet mold.”
    â€œI swear, I can’t tell one skinny, blond, dog-totin’ girl from the next, even if they are famous,” Flo agreed.
    â€œOh, I don’t want to be famous. I just want to mean something to somebody. To be
some
body’s star instead of always feeling like a fish out of water.”
    â€œWell, then this should be perfect,” Pia said, pulling a necklace from the display and clasping it around Becca’s neck. “What are starfish but uniquely shaped fish. And where do you find starfish? Usually on the beach, out of the water. So whenever you feel like you don’t belong, touch this and remember you’re a one-of-a-kind star. Just presently undiscovered.”
    â€œYou really think I’m a star?”
    â€œBecca, I deal with so-called celebrities every day, and one thing I’ve come to realize is that whatever you believe you are, others will too.”

Chapter Seven
    Friday—Social Sensuality
    A fter a morning dedicated to relaxing and sensual spa and aromatherapy treatments, followed by a sumptuous lunch of tasty bite-size cuisine, everyone reconvened in the Pacific Ballroom for day two of unearthing their inner bombshells.
    â€œGood afternoon, lovelies! You’re all glowing!” Joey remarked once her pupils were assembled. “And there’s a new vibrancy in the air. Can you feel it? You all must be wearing your new lacy attitudes.”
    Happy laughter buzzed around the room. The sparkling energy was evident and contagious. It had even managed to warm Pia up to the idea of being there. Yesterday’s lessons had obviously sunk in and were being fully applied this morning. Armed with a new confidence brought on by self-discovery and the emergence of self-acceptance, the weapons-in-waiting sat eager to absorb today’s knowledge.
    â€œYesterday we began to discover our individual sensuality. You identified your personal signatures—the things about your personality, opinions, and choices that set you apart from every other woman in the room. Today we take the next step toward bringing out the sensual you in a social setting by learning how to interact on a joyfully flirtatious level.
    â€œWe were all born to charm. If you’ve ever watched a baby work the room with his or her sparkling eyes, irresistible smiles, and sweet coos, you already know that flirting is an inherent part of our DNA.”
    Like that little charmer in the mall,
Pia remembered, smiling.
    â€œAnd with