CHAPTER 22

Zoey

Mark didn’t want to be a model, but Zoey sure did. “Not just any model—I want to be a supermodel!” Zoey said.

Lucy shook her head. “I’m sorry, gorgeous, but you’re too short. Supermodels are tall.” It was true. Supermodels are usually very tall, and Zoey was the shortest girl in Classroom 13.

“But it’s my dream!” Zoey said.

“I once had a dream,” Lucy said. “And life crushed it. That’s why I became an agent. Do you want to be an agent? You could rep models.”

Zoey thought of helping other people to become models while she remained a… non-model. The thought was too much for Zoey, and she began to cry. She buried her face in her hands—her soft, well-shaped, perfectly sized, beautiful hands.

“Those hands!” Lucy said. “They’re stunning!” She took off her watch and handed it to Zoey. “Put this on!” Lucy told her, forcing the watch around Zoey’s wrist.

Lucy gasped with awe. The watch had never looked better. It was a real-life vision that could be on a billboard over Sunset Boulevard. Zoey’s hands were perfect for modeling rings, bracelets, gloves, and more.

“Kid, I take it all back. You are going to be a supermodel,” Lucy said.

Zoey leapt up with excitement. “I am?!”

“Yes! A HAND model!”

Zoey was usually very picky and particular, but in this case, she didn’t care. As her classmates cheered for her, Liam went in to high-five Zoey, but Lucy stopped him.

“Nuh-uh, Mister! Those hands are never to be touched. They are now Ace Agent Agency property.” (So Liam high-fived himself.)

Lucy immediately took Zoey to get fitted for protective gloves. The pair of gloves were made of titanium metal on the outside and the softest silk on the inside. “These will keep your precious hands safe when you’re not working,” Lucy explained.

The following day, Zoey began her hand-modeling career. She modeled the newest watches, the most expensive rings, the craziest nail art, and a variety of lotions and hand soaps.

Zoey’s hands became famous! Well, at least on commercials. But her hands were working so much, Zoey never got a break. She liked being a model, but she did not like working. She was tired, and her hands were exhausted.

That night, when she got home, she went to put on her protective gloves. But they didn’t fit. Zoey tried and tried to shove her fingers in there, but somehow, her hands were too big.

“I think my gloves shrank,” Zoey told Lucy.

Lucy shrieked. “Your hands! Your glorious hands! What happened to them?! They’re… they’re huge!”

“They look the same, though,” Zoey said.

“It doesn’t matter. Little-girl hands sell products. Man hands don’t.”

Lucy tried to hide the problem. But on set, Zoey’s hands were too big for the jewelry. The photographer took one look and said, “You can’t model our dainty product with those meat hooks. You’re fired. Sorry, not sorry.”

“But, please, I can still model!” Zoey pleaded, trying to grab the photographer. Her hands were so strong that she crushed his camera without meaning to.

“I can fix it! I can still do this!” Zoey said.

“Talk to the hand,” the photographer said, holding up his normal-sized hand, which was smaller than Zoey’s. “Get off my set.”

Lucy was about destroy Zoey’s contract when she got a call. “Looks like I need a man-hands model. How do you feel about modeling boxing gloves, men’s deodorant, and paper towels?” Lucy asked.

“Do I still get to be called a supermodel?” Zoey asked.

“Sure.” Lucy shrugged. And that’s how Zoey started her modeling career.