“Then why are you doing modeling instead of the game?” Jessi asked.

“I never said that. I told you I’m doing both,” I said. “It won’t be a problem.”

Jessi didn’t look convinced. “Hmmm.”

“Don’t worry, Jessi,” I said. “I won’t let you down.”

Chapter Eleven

By 11:55 on Saturday, I knew I was going to let Jessi down. And not just Jessi—my coach, my team, and myself.

Things had started going wrong the moment I woke up. I had forgotten to set my phone alarm, so I didn’t get in the morning run I had planned. Instead, I woke up to Mom shaking me awake.

“Devin, we’ve got to get to that shoot by eight!” she said. “Hurry up and get dressed as quickly as you can.”

I slowly opened my eyes and picked up the phone on the side of my bed. “It’s only seven o’clock.”

“And the shoot is forty-five minutes away,” Mom said. “If there’s traffic, we’ll be late. So make it fast, Devin!”

I took a quick shower and left the house with my hair wet, dressed in the only clean clothes I could find in my drawers: a pink T-shirt with hearts on it and purple sweatpants. I slipped on flip-flops and went downstairs, where Maisie was anxiously waiting.

“Wow, Devin. You don’t look like a model today,” Maisie said. “Maybe they’ll ask me to take your place.”

That’s when I noticed that Maisie looked pretty adorable, in a white sleeveless dress with little blue flowers on it. A matching flowered headband pulled her brown hair away from her face.

“Maybe they will,” I said. I couldn’t argue. I definitely didn’t feel like a model at that moment.

I grabbed a protein bar and a yogurt shake to eat in the car, and we drove to the park, making it just in time. The whole scene looked chaotic. There was a trailer set up and a bunch of people walking around carrying phones and electronic equipment and stuff like that. I didn’t see a familiar face this time.

A woman with a clipboard walked up to me.

“Devin? One of Ashanta’s, right?”

I nodded. “Yes. Is she here?”

“Nope!” the woman said. “Okay, I need you in the wardrobe trailer. Thanks.”

Mom and Maisie followed me to the trailer, but I went inside by myself. I was hoping to see Tenshi, but instead I found a woman with short black hair.

“Who are you?” she asked me in a flat voice.

“Devin Burke,” I replied.

She looked me up and down. “Really? Okay. You’re gonna need some extra time in the hair chair. Go see Gary.”

She pointed to a guy with spiky blond hair standing behind a hairdresser’s chair.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Devin.”