I decided not to push it. Zane took some shots of Sabine blocking me with her arms, and then we did some where it looked like I was chasing her, and one where I was passing the ball to her. I really did pass it on the last one, and it rolled right past her and bounced into the wall. I almost forgot that I was at a shoot instead of on the field. That felt the best to me. It got me out of my head and stopped me from worrying if I was grimacing or whatever Zane had said I was doing. Who knew smiling could be so hard? After that, we took a short break for some water.

“You’re doing great, Devin,” Sabine told me.

“Thanks, but I’m not so sure,” I said. “You’re, like, an expert at this.”

Sabine laughed. “I’ve been doing it since I was three,” she said. “Probably as long as you’ve been playing soccer, right?”

“Right,” I said, and that got me thinking. Me jumping into modeling might be just as crazy as Sabine joining a soccer game without ever playing before. What had I been thinking?

“What do you think? Do you like it?” Sabine asked.

“It’s cool,” I said. “But I feel like I’m not doing anything the way Zane wants me to. And the whole shoot is kind of confusing. I mean, what’s the point of having a green background behind us, no matter what we’re doing?”

“That’s called a green screen,” Sabine explained. “Zane can go into the photo and digitally add any background to it, like a park or a soccer field or something like that.”

“Wow, I had no idea,” I said. “Is there a green screen at every photo shoot?”

Sabine shook her head. “No. I’ve shot in all kinds of places. In restaurants, the aquarium, the beach . . .”

I was learning so many new things. “So basically a model is kind of an actress, too,” I said to Sabine. “You have to act like you can play soccer, or are at a beach or a restaurant.”

“Yep, that sums it up!” Sabine said. “As you can tell, I don’t know the first thing about soccer. I’m glad you do. If there is someone on set who actually knows how to do whatever it is we’re pretending to do, it helps.”

“Zane didn’t seem too happy with my feedback,” I reminded Sabine.

She laughed. “It’s true, they are all about getting the best shot, which might not always align with reality. Remember, they are taking hundreds of photos. You need to relax and have fun with it. You’re bound to get some good shots in there, even if some don’t feel right.”