One step at a time.

Several days later, our moms escorted Brooke and me into their studio. All the papers had been signed, and we were excited to start our new careers. We followed the GPS directions to a large office building off Market Street. We parked and rode the elevator until we reached the fourth floor. We followed the signs and pressed the Johnson Portrait Photography buzzer on the door. We could hear footsteps, and Leana opened the door with a smile.

“Hi, everyone!”

Brooke introduced her mom and smiled. I did the same.

Leana reached her hand out and laughed. “I’m Leana. Why don’t you all come in? I hope you can stay with us today and see how things are done. Until everyone is comfortable, it’s good to have an adult here.”

Brooke’s mom smiled. “In the future, Brooke’s older sister, Melody, will come by with the girls. She’s turning eighteen.”

Leana nodded. “Well, if that’s all right with you, that’s good enough for us. We won’t shoot minors without a chaperone ever.”

We all turned when we heard another voice. George was walking towards us, holding a long, bright yellow cable. “C’mon back, and we can show off the magic. I want to walk everyone through what we do here.”

The morning flew by way. Leana showed us the dressing rooms, lockers for our stuff, and a large hair and makeup area. We followed Leana into the dressing rooms. She pointed to several racks of clothing, each one with tags pinned to the outfit. Each outfit had shoes and outerwear. “You find the clothes marked with the number one and put them on. I’m going to be here to help you. I’m not following you into your dressing room unless you ask. After you get dressed, I will pin the clothes to fit them properly. I’m going to help you with hair and makeup, too.”

George waited in the massive studio with high ceilings and big black poles across the ceiling, holding huge lights in big black boxes.

George saw me staring at the lights hanging from the ceiling.

“Haley, all those lights do different things. We store them up there, and I can bring them down on individual cable controls.”

I watched him walk over and start pressing buttons on a big panel on the wall. We all watched as the lights moved up and down and changed direction. “Everything is done remotely, making it easier for me to set up a shoot.”

There were three areas where they took the photographs, and each had a green backdrop. “That color green is a neutral shade. We can use our computers to change the color or insert a scene. We try for flexibility.”

I was nodding. “What other things do you do besides clothing photos for manufacturers?”

He smiled. “We do portraits for individuals and families. Weddings, Quinceaneras, and pet portraits. We can change the lighting to fit whatever our needs. Catalog photography is pretty simple. You stand in front of the green screen, and we take your photo. Leana will help with the poses, and I will shoot. Then we look at the monitor, choose the best, or shoot again.”

Leana nodded. “Once we get into a routine, it’s pretty simple and goes by quickly. We are going to work until three o’clock today. We’ll break for lunch at noon. Altogether, you will be paid for the seven hours in the studio. And right, you get a paid lunch break, too.”

We were ushered back into the dressing room, where Brooke and I hung up our clothes and put on outfits marked with the number one.

I wore white tights and an orange and black jumper, while Brooke wore green tights and a pink and navy jumper. We smiled at each other.

Brooke leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Twinsies.”

Leana found our size in shoes and gave us each a pair of white sneakers. “Remember, everything you try on goes home with you today.”

Once we were dressed, Leana sat us in front of a mirror and worked on Brooke’s hair. I was green with envy because her beautiful hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. Then she turned to me.

“Haley, I can give you various hats or even a wig to try on. But honestly, you have such an angelic face; I think you look good with your short hair.” Then she picked up some gold clip-on earrings, cleaned them with alcohol, and adjusted them to fit.

I looked at Mom, who smiled and nodded. I knew I would get my ears pierced by how she looked at me!

After Leana finished with Brooke’s hair, she used a little airbrush to apply a light coat of foundation to our skin. “This flattens out your complexion for the bright lights. It also removes the glare. You’ll get used to it. Then she applied color to our lips and a bit of mascara. Since we’re not doing close-ups today, we aren’t going to work on making up your faces. But remember, you’re now professional models, and your job is to smile and look happy for the camera.”

I glanced at the moms sitting on stools. They were both grinning and looked like they were having fun.

After fifteen minutes, we changed into outfit number two and repeated the process. I thought the clothes were nice. They were all from the same brand name, and we had done eight different outfits before long.

Leana looked at the clock on the studio wall. “Break time, everyone. Time for lunch.”

As Leana led us into the dressing room to change our street clothes, their door buzzer went off. I watched George grab a roller cart and disappear. When he returned, he had platters of cheese, cold cuts, water, and a huge tossed salad. We all followed him back to the dressing room, which became our lunch room.

As we were helping clean up from our lunch, my Mom smiled and laughed. She looked at Leana. “We’re so jealous of the girl’s new outfits that we’re going shopping. We’ll be back at three o’clock to pick you both up.”

I was exhausted. I didn’t think about how we were both standing and modeling clothes most of the day. I wasn’t used to being on my feet all day. The highlight was when Leana handed us each huge black plastic bag full of clothes to take home.

“They are all neatly folded, and everything is in good condition. Some of the clothes were pinned to fit perfectly, so be careful you don’t discover a safety pin. Check each item carefully.”

As we were walking out the door, Leana smiled at everyone. “Well, have a good couple of days, and I will see you two on Tuesday. It’s a new work week, and you will each work twenty hours. That’s a thousand dollars a week until summer is over.”

We looked at each other and grinned. We knew that we had just walked through a magic door. Brooke’s mom looked at her phone as we waited for the elevator.

“Your dad just texted me. After you get home and clean up, you’re invited to our house for a barbeque.”

Mom smiled after we carried all the clothes down to the laundry room. “Well, now that you’re a working girl, I suppose you want to buy a new car.”

My head swiveled. “Huh? But I’m twelve!”

Mom grinned. “ Too soon? Well, maybe we can schedule a mother-daughter mani-pedi tomorrow after church.”

I suddenly realized that tomorrow would be my first day in church since I’d gotten out of the hospital. Everyone would be staring at the damaged trans girl. I realized that this was going to be my future. I sighed. “Okay. Can we look through the piles and pick out something nice from today?”

Mom nodded. “Do you want me to get the needle and the ice cubes before or after you shower? I know I have some cute gold hoops that will look beautiful on you.”

I started to cry. “This is all too good to be true.”

Mom hugged me. “Oh, no, honey. You just endured a trial by fire by your crazy father and spent weeks in the hospital after that. You deserve some happiness.”