Chapter 4: Modelling Camp

After this over-exaggerating introduction, there was some cheering, some giggling, and a lot of smiling.

“The next eight weeks will be hard work. This isn’t summer camp. You’ll be tired, you’ll be yelled at, you’ll cry, you’ll starve, you’ll sweat, you’ll cry some more, but in the end those who make it through will be real models. Half of you will show up in Vogue within the next 12 months. 1 of you will make the cover of W this year,” Jill proclaimed. This time everyone was cheering as their dreams were laid out within reach.

Jill introduced the others on stage as makeup artists, photographers, hair dressers, scene stylists, trainers, dermatologists, dietitians, and even a plastic surgeon. “This team, and their assistants, will help me craft you all into professional models. Some of you may think you’re models already, but you’re not. If I don’t know the photographers you shoot with by name, if you’re not on the cover of a national magazine, if you’re not on fashion TV, you’re not a model. When you’re done here, you’ll be a real model, I promise.”

“Okay girls, back to your rooms. We start here tomorrow at 5 AM sharp!”
Jill snapped and led the rest of her staff away. The girls talked excitedly to one another and eventually headed back upstairs to their rooms.

Bela and Jessi were back in their room chain-smoking nervously talking about everything they were excited about and wondering what all was in store for them. They finally turned in around midnight.

Four hours later the alarm blared to life rousing both teenage girls into a semblance of bleary awareness. Bela sat up in bed and fished a Newport 100 out of her pack and heard Jessi’s lighter flick a moment before hers. She smiled sleepily at Jessi and took a deep drag, holding the thick smoke in as Jessi did the same with her unfiltered Camel.

“Oh my god, like its way too early” Bela whined. “I know!” Jessi moaned back, streaming smoke from her lips. Jessi slipped out from under the thin blanket and Bela appraised her new room mates nude form through bleary eyes. Jessi was a good looking girl. Jessi went over to her bag and fished out a bottle which she popped open and dumped several pills into her palm and slammed them back between drags on her Camel.

“You want some?” she asked Bela. “What are they?” asked Bela interestedly. “Diet pills,” Jessi said with a smile. “Sure” Bela shrugged. “Why not?”.

Jessi walked over and handed Bela three round red pills. Bela dry swallowed them without hesitation. “Like coffee, right?” she asked Jessi. Jessi grinned at her, “like three coffees plus a bunch of ephedra. You’ll like it.” Bela smiled back at her. “I’ve been eating them for like 3 years now,” Jessi told her, stubbing out her cigarette.

“Can I shower first?” she asked Bela.

“Sure, that’s fine,” Bela replied.

Jessi headed into the small bathroom the two girls would be sharing, and Bela lit her second Newport off of her first. The shower started up and Bela half-dozed while she smoked and wondered what the day held. All too soon Jessi was out of the shower and towelling off her short fire-engine red hair, and Bela had to get out of bed and get her own shower. The caffeine and ephedra began to hit her before her shower finished, and she and Jessi did their hair and makeup with bright eyes. They were dressed and downstairs in the big room by 4:50 AM, along with a bunch of other girls, some looking exhausted, and some looking wired, like them.Day One

“Okay girls. This is day one of fifty-six. This won’t be the hardest, but it sure won’t be the easiest either.” Jill told the assembled teens. “Your parents paid a lot of money for you to be turned into real models, so I don’t want to hear a bunch of complaining. First, I need you all to fill out some forms. Truthfully. Your parents will never see them, but it’s important we know these things. We aren’t going to get you in trouble, but if you use drugs, or are on birth control, or have any diseases or medical conditions, it’s important we know so we can work out the appropriate diet and exercise programs for you.” she explained as the girls passed forms and pencils around. Bela felt like she was back in school.

The form started out with basic information like height and weight, hair colour, eye colour, did she wear contacts or not, her birth date, and easy ones like that. It also asked about when she’d lost her virginity, her sexual orientation (she put “bi-curious” down for that one), how many men she’d slept with, was she on the pill or other birth control, did she use condoms, did she do anal, and lots of personal questions like that. There were also sections for smoking, drinking, drugs, diseases, medical conditions, eating disorders, abortions, and lots more. It took Bela over half an hour to fill her packet out. Other girls were still going at it.

“Gimme yours,” Jessi whispered. Bela looked shocked, but Jessi quickly swapped their packets and started leafing through Bela’s personal secrets. After a pause Bela flipped through Jessi’s questionnaire and learned quite
a lot about her new room mate.

Jessi was fifteen years old, 5’3”, and only 89 pounds. She was on the pill like Bela was. She’d had an abortion the year before. She smoked weed a few times a week, had tried ‘e’, and cocaine. She took diet pills daily, was occasionally bulimic, and had smoked since she was 11. Bela felt like a late starter. She watched Jessi scanning her file and started blushing, remembering the bi-curious part.

Soon all the girls were done and passed all the packets up to Jill’s assistant. “Okay girls! We’re going to have a light breakfast and then you’ll be doing diet planning with our nutritionist. After that you’ll be split into groups and rotate through consults with the dermatologists, trainers, etcetera,” she told the teens. They followed her out to a smaller room that was setup with coffee, fruit, and fat free yoghurt. Bela and Jessi each grabbed a coffee and a banana. While they ate they were assigned groups of five girls, with Bela and Jessi ending up in the same group.

The nutritionist and two of her assistants came out while the girls were finishing up their meagre breakfast. The woman was in her late twenties and was a waif. She was about 5’6” and probably matched Jessi’s weight. She looked good though, small bones, small frame, thin body.

“You’re all going to lose some weight. Most of you will drop at least 5% body fat, some even more. You may have heard you need 1500 calories a day, or 1200 or some other number. That’s not true here. We’ll setup custom plans for each of you and augment your diet with special vitamins, stimulants, and wonder drugs. Some of you will be on less than 300 calories a day for your entire stay here.” She told the rapt girls.

“How many of you take diet pills?” she asked. About half the girls hands tentatively rose. “As of today, you all do. And not your over the counter caffeine pills, but some real military grade stimulants. Dexedrine. You won’t miss your food when you’re on those. They’ll also help with the lack of sleep. You’ll all start with 5 mg caps today, and we’ll move you up to 15 mg caps in a week or two, and finally onto the 30 mg caps. We’re going to start off limiting you to three pills a day. On this table you’ll find vials with three 5 mg Dexedrines each. Each morning you’ll find more Dexedrine and vitamins and supplements on this same table.” She gestured to a long table against the back wall of the room.