Last but not least, just before her first inspection, Bunny Starr put the bunny-ear headband on her head with all the pageantry of a royal coronation. Next, she affixed the tail to the clip in the back. Sherri hardly recognized herself in the mirror. She could almost feel her former life become severed from this new one, and she wasn’t sure if she was changing into someone else, or connecting with her most true self. She didn’t yet know that this was a critically important distinction.

Under the recessed lights in the dressing room she saw it all come together: her eyes now outlined like Cleopatra’s, and her hair an auburn mane, with little tendrils of baby bangs on her forehead. She never knew she could be this person—this truly beautiful woman. Sherri, she thought, meet Bunny Sherri!

Rhonda stood next to her, as awed as Sherri was. “Look at us,” she said. Rhonda had gone from mousy to adorable, her eyes big and round, her high cheekbones rosy, her chin pointy and cute. “We’re all Bunnies now.”

Gloria, in her trademark kimono, walked up to Sherri. She was holding her ever-present clipboard, and appraised every inch of her flesh. Sherri smiled, but Gloria frowned. What was it about her that made Sherri feel like a dog at the pound? She was suddenly gripped by panic. She remembered what Bunny Starr had said: “Some of you won’t make it through training.” What if Sherri was that girl?

“You have lipstick on your tooth,” Gloria said, handing Sherri a Kleenex. “Wipe it off.” Sherri exhaled with relief.

But then Gloria walked over to where Lucy stood, still topless and in her black tights, waiting for Ola and Biata to fit her. Gloria looked her up and down. The entire room went quiet. “You’re not going to make it, honey. Ola? This one is headed home.”

Lucy was stunned. “What did I do?”

Gloria turned to walk back into her office. “It’s nothing you did.”

Rhonda and Sherri caught each other’s gaze in the mirrors—oh my God! It was bad enough to get fired, but to get fired while you were half naked in a room full of girls, and for no given reason? Poor Lucy.