Chapter 2 – Risks Make Stars
With a full belly and a positive attitude, Mindy heads out to school. It’s a normal school day today with a special event. Several representatives from the universities in and outside of Hillside City have come to see the talent in her school. Since Mindy is friends with the teachers, they bring special attention to her and Mindy does her best in front of them. She helps people, shows off her projects and reports in style. There are students who have been jealous of her efforts to become famous and have enacted their plan to embarrass her in front of the representatives. They take a bathroom break and use it to rig Mindy’s locker so that she’ll get dirty from the mud and dirty water when she opens her locker. Once the trap is triggered, it hits its mark and Mindy is covered in filth but gains the sympathies of the representatives especially since she doesn’t react too mad.
Her parents bring her a new set of clothes and she washes up in the school showers. Now she’s back to impressing the representatives as if the trap never happened. In fact, she thinks that the trap was a blessing because of how impressed they are with Mindy’s self-control. The current activity she is participating in is a race between her and the best athletic girls in the school.
“This should be a good way to work off my anger,” Mindy says to herself.
The race begins, and Mindy is already ahead of everyone. The pent-up anger, stress, and will to impress drive her to run her fastest. Her mind races alongside her as she sees clones of herself with the suffocating mask on their face. That same mask jumps onto Mindy’s face and starts to suffocate her.
“I’m just tired and stressed out. This is all this is,” she thinks to herself as she keeps running at full power.
From everyone else’s point of view, Mindy is way ahead of everyone and appears to be running at almost supernatural speeds. Some people are worried that she’s trying too hard and will exhaust herself. This is an interesting sight regardless and the representatives record this event on their camcorders. The first lap out of two is done as Mindy struggles to breathe in the mask. She is still running with everything she’s got but her body can’t keep up with her spirit. The other versions of her begin to catch up until they eventually pass her and win the race. Mindy passes out as the suffocating mask jumps off Mindy’s face and runs away. When Mindy wakes up, she sees that everyone has disappeared and it’s later in the day. It appears that they just left her in the dirt of her defeat, but she wonders why they would do that. Curious about what’s happening, Mindy walks around the school until she hears noises coming from the atrium. She goes there to see one of her bullies being given awards, scholarships, and media attention. The girl thanks all of her friends, family, and teachers while throwing in a snide remark about Mindy before pointing her out at the entrance of the atrium.
People start to make fun of her. They throw things and insult her while they express their disappointment in her performance.
Mindy shields herself with her hands while saying, “No, no, no!”
She brings her head up to see that the race is still going on and she is still in the lead by a decent lead. People around her were wondering why she was running with her head down for a few seconds with her eyes closed. The suffocating mask is no longer on her face, so Mindy manages to run to the finish line with no problem. The crowd cheers for her as they take pictures of her. She looks back with a smile, but then there’s a loud bang that comes from across the street. It looks like there’s a break in happening to a neighboring house. Seeing the opportunity to impress people, Mindy continues to run and jumps over the fence to play vigilante. Even though her parents never taught her to do this, they still taught her how to defend herself. Some of the people at the school tell her not to do this while others watch. Just as the burglar runs out of the house because the owner is shooting at them, she runs at him and does a jumping kick to the burglar’s face and knocks them out.
The people from the school clap and cheer for Mindy. The homeowner thanks her then goes to shoot the burglar but is stopped by the adults from the school.
Back at the school, a representative asks her, “What made you sprint to help that person who was getting robbed?”
Seeing that she’s still being recorded, Mindy tries to give a memorable answer. “Because it was the right thing to do. The lives of people are important and invaluable to ignore especially when they need help.”
A particularly dressed man steps up to Mindy through the crowds of representatives with a smile. He wears flashy clothes like a celebrity and tells her, “You have the looks and voice to become famous. All you have to do is accept my offer and you will become a star!”
The rest of the representatives quickly try to get Mindy’s attention, but her eyes are set on this man. Her eyes sparkle as her smile grows until her white teeth show.
The look on her face shows the man that his words did their job. He holds out his hand with a welcoming smile and she instantly shakes it. The man’s smile grows as he takes Mindy by the hand and leads her away to his limousine.
Mindy asks as the car drives away from the school, “Where are we going?”
“I’m going to make you famous. Isn’t that what you want?”
“Don’t I have to get my parents’ and teacher’s permission?”
“I’m an official sponsor for my organization. Your parents and school allow this. Sure, it was in the fine print, but they were still notified about this.”
“I heard about it, but I didn’t think it would happen. Can I call my parents to tell them where I’m going?”
“Sure, but it’ll have to wait till after your transformation. You want to make your parents see you as the star you are, don’t you?”
“You’re going to make me look like a star?”
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s part of the job.”
“What do I need to pay? I’ve been saving up money for something like this.”
“Haha, aren’t you a good girl. You don’t have to pay for it. It’s on the company and don’t worry, you’re worth the price.”
“Thank you so much, mister…”
“Just call me Adrian, beautiful. The good life starts now for you.”
Mindy gets giddy as her dream starts coming true. She is driven to an expensive hairdresser in the city. At the hairdresser, Adrian gives Mindy several hair and makeup options that would fit a star and she makes her choice. As she takes her seat and looks into the mirror, Mindy sees the suffocating mask on her face. She is startled for a second but then shakes it off.
“Excited, Mindy?”
“Very.”
“Good. Now, close your eyes, and when you open them up, you’ll be a completely different person.”
Mindy smiles as she closes her eyes. She feels a brush go over her face. Suddenly, she feels like she can’t breathe in or out as if her face was just erased. Not wanting to ruin the makeover, she stays calm and thinks positively. She can then feel someone carve new eyes into where her old ones used to be with what feels like a pencil. Then a nose, then a mouth. Her hair is pulled off then a new set of hair stabs its way into her skull.
“Ok, now open your eyes.”
When Mindy opens her eyes, she sees a crazy new version of the suffocating mask for a split second before she sees her new face in the reflection. She couldn’t see it for long, so she doesn’t bother remembering the details and focuses on her new face. The edges of her hair are slightly spiked up. Her hair is also now colored pink. She has dark pink eyeshadow and darker eyeliner. Her lips are colored with dark pink lipstick and her cheeks have some light red blush on them.
“Well? What do you think?” Adrian asks.
“This is amazing! This is exactly how I imagined myself looking like a star.”
“I’m glad you enjoy it. Now you look even more beautiful than before.”
“Thank you so much! I can’t wait to show my parents!”
“We still have to get your new clothes before you do that.”
“Oh, of course.”
Adrian takes Mindy to an expensive clothing store in the city. At the store, Adrian presets Mindy several options. She doesn’t approve of many of them, so she just chooses the one that looks the best to her. Mindy chooses to wear a short red jacket with a white tank top, black miniskirt, with thigh highs, and red heels.
“Isn’t this a bit too showy?” Mindy asks while trying to stretch out the outfit, “I mean my stomach is showing and this shirt is a bit too short.”
“I think it’s absolutely perfect! But you are missing…this!”
Adrian gives Mindy a black choker that she puts around her neck. The outfit seems a bit more complete to her now, but she can’t help but feel a bit weird and uncomfortable.
“Are you sure that a fourteen-year-old like me is allowed to wear an outfit like this?”
“I don’t see why not. Dozens of stars wear outfits like yours at your age. Besides, I thought you liked showing off your legs, which is a great choice by the way. It doesn’t hurt to show a bit more to show people how confident you are, does it?”
“No, not at all!”
“Now you can show your parents what you look like. I’m sure they’ll love it.”
“They will? I hope so.”
Mindy takes a picture of herself and sends it to her parents. Seconds later, her parents respond and say they don’t like the look too much, but they’re willing to accept it because she’s a star now.
“What did they say?”
“They don’t like it too much, but they’re willing to live with it.”
“Oh, well they don’t know true beauty when they see it. Now we’re going to get out of this city and bring you to your new home.”
“Um, ok. Where are we going?”
“Los Angeles, California, where the brightest and best stars live.”
“That’s really far.”
“What? Did you think we would make you stay in this crazy city? You have to be among stars to shine even brighter.”
“I guess.”
“You’re not thinking about backing out of your dream, are you?”
“No, not at all! Let’s go! I’m ready to show the world what I’m capable of!”
“That’s the spirit!”
Adrian takes Mindy on his private plane out of Hillside City. Mindy looks out the window as she leaves her hometown and enters into her new life.
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