Chapter 1:

Best Deal Ever

(KATALINA)

Katalina, Please meet me at my office at 10 AM. I have an exciting offer for you both, but it may cut your break short. :( Don't be late! -Hannah

Hannah, our personal agent and manager, walked into the well-lit meeting room. She was followed closely by two men in suits. All three were carrying folders. I looked over at my best friend and fellow model, Marie. Excitement was written all over her face, mirroring my feelings, and she mouthed to me, "Do you know what it is?"

I shook my head. We had both received texts early that morning from Hannah that said to come to her office. Because, we were back in Omaha for the week, we were staying at our parents' houses. We hadn't been able to speak with each other about the text like normal as we stayed usually in an apartment together in Lincoln.

Hannah sat at the head of the table between Marie and me. The men sat at the other end. Hannah gave us a mischievous smile and then greeted us.

"Katalina, Marie, I would like you to meet Mr. Thomson and Mr. Nelson. There had been a third party, but unforeseen circumstances rendered him unable to come." I looked at Marie, why was she telling us this? "Anyway, I have an amazing job for you both, should you take it."

She folded her hands on the two manila envelopes that lay on the table in front of her. This was odd; she always gave us the envelopes before she spoke. She smiled at the two men across the room before she finally said spoke again.

"These gentlemen are from Syco records" -Where had I heard of that before? - "They, that is, the owner and a group of musicians have heard about you girls."

Oh, it was starting to make more sense to me now. Marie and I had done a few music videos and shoots with different bands and singers. It would be almost common that this record company would want us. I wondered what band or artist it would be.

We had become pretty well known in the modeling industry. It was surreal that way. It had been almost exactly one year since we had met Hannah at that convention, and since then, we had been asked to do many shoots and the highlight (for Hannah anyway) was a spread in Seventeen and the following one in Teen vogue. Both Marie and I contributed our success to the almost overwhelming promotion that 's had done for their new "pet" project. It was almost as if the modeling world had never even thought of the concept of using different body types, the response was so overwhelming.

"Mr. Thomson and Nelson are part of the promotional and image team of this band's management. They, as do I, think that what you girls stand for is perfect for this band's image. It will also rapidly expand your already growing popularity. But, with that aside, would you girls be willing to do a charity and promotional photo shoot with the boys of One Direction?" When she dropped this bombshell, Hannah's smile grew so wide I thought it would fall off her face.

My jaw dropped at the same time as Marie said "Are you serious?! One Direction?!"

I stared at Hannah, "Serious as a heart attack." She spoke with a laugh in her voice.

"No flippin' way!" I turned to the men who sat at the other end. They were grinning as well. "Is she being for real right now?" I asked.

In a British accent, the man on the right responded, "I'm Mr. Nelson. Does this mean you are on board with us?" The accent clinched it for me.

I looked at Marie and shook my head before she could respond. Turning to Hannah, I asked, "Do you mind if we step outside a moment?"

"Take all the time you need."

Before I closed the door, I heard Hannah say, "She's always the most responsible one. Just give them a moment to think through all the pros and the one or two cons."

The door firmly closed behind us, we snuck into a meeting room opposite the one we had just exited. I closed that door as well. We stared at each other for a moment.

"One Direction?" I squeaked out, my voice cracked as I tried to contain my excitement in a whisper. This began a minute of silent fangirling (which is incredibly hard to do by the way). We grabbed each other's arms and jumped up and down. Our mouths open in silent screams, our bodies shook from withheld laughter. This is so not happening! I said it in my mind to try to make sense of it all.

I said it aloud, "This is not happening to us!"

"Believe it, Kata! Hannah wouldn't dream of playing such a mean joke on us!"

A dream? I stopped jumping in the circle. In all seriousness I whispered, "Pinch me."

She did. It hurt like the dickens. "How did that feel?"

"You are getting better at snake bites, my friend. Be careful."

She laughed out loud. "Call your mom."

I didn't argue and whipped out my cell.

It rang four times before my mom picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey mom! I have something important to tell you! You are never going to believe me!"

"Can I guess?"

"Sure, but you will never ..."

"You have been offered to do a charity photo shoot with the band of your dreams?"

There was a moment of silence as I gaped at Marie. The phone was on speaker so she had heard it all.

Marie suddenly narrowed her eyes. "Mrs. Carter, did Hannah call you or something?"

My mother laughed, "She called your parents too, Marie. She wanted to make sure it was okay with us before . . .well, I'll let her explain that all to you. However, she wanted the decision to be up to you guys as much as possible. Just so you both know, both the Edwards and us said that it was all right for you two to say yes. But! Only if you both say yes."

Marie fist pumped and let out a loud, drawn-out 'yes.'

I smiled at her and then glanced back at the phone. "Mom? Did you pray about it?"

Marie settled down, my mother's connection with God was amazing. So far none of her advice had turned out badly, some of it had even turned out to be accident preventing. But, that's a story for another time.

She let out a breath and I feared the worst. A hushed few seconds passed as we waited pensively.

"I think this is where God wants you both to be!"

Now I let out a shriek and jumped up from the crouched position that we had both sunk into. Mom laughed along with us and then told us to get in there and say yes. I told her I loved her and hung up.

(HANNAH)

The British reps and I stood waiting at the windows of the room. It was one of my favorite views in the whole building. It showed off the Lincoln downtown so wonderfully. I had wanted our headquarters to be in Minneapolis, but Lincoln was starting to really grow on me. It moved at a slower pace than other big cities, but it was still a city and cities move nonetheless. Besides, there were shorter lines at coffee shops and people were kinder and less rushed.

I frowned. Would the girls agree? I sure hoped they would, this was the offer of a lifetime. An exclusive deal from one of the hottest boybands in history: I was almost overwhelmed myself. The supervisor of all model relations had contacted me excitedly at four in the morning, forgetting the time change, and told me that the board wished to congratulate me on my work for the girls. I was getting a raise and other gifts. I smiled to myself

I broke off my quiet musings and concentrated on my guests. They were both rather short, I was a short girl, but they stood only a few inches taller than I did. I imagined them standing next to Kata or Marie. They were some of the tallest teenage models in their industry. It would be interesting to see how they matched up with the boys.

"Is the coffee to your liking?" I asked, mainly trying to start small talk.

"Yes," Mr. Thomson said. "It's almost better than what I drink at home." He winked at me.

"Are they posting this on facebook?" Mr. Nelson looked semi worried.

I scoffed, "I can assure you they aren't. They know better than to spread around that they have a deal when they don't. It wouldn't matter anyway as the only people on their facebook are family and friends and it's on private." I looked directly at them. "Besides, I know that they use the Facebooks only when they are away from home to communicate."

"What about Twitter?"

Peering at his Mr. Nelson's face, I could see that he was just continuing the conversation: he believed me. I relaxed and even let out a small giggle.

"Katalina has never used her twitter account."

"What?" Mr. Thomson appeared shocked. "She has tweeted though? I've read some myself, I thought."

"Oh, yes. There have been tweets sent out, but almost none of them are from her and none of them were typed by her. You see," I continued when their faces still registered confusion, "she doesn't know how to use it and doesn't want to learn. Any tweets you see are from Marie, another friend of hers, or myself. I have her twitter password and often send out updates to her followers."

I shook my head, "It's her way of rebelling I guess. I guess you could ask her later if you want."

Mr. Nelson nodded. "Maybe, if I get to know them better, I will. That's very interesting."

We continued to talk about business and other people we indirectly knew. It was about five minutes later before any of us noticed that the door had opened and the girls had returned.

Katalina looked like a queen. It was almost scary how she could do that in an instant. It was her version of a poker face. Her back was perfectly erect and the in-charge look on her face told you to do what she said or get out of her way. Indifference and calm radiated off her. I crossed my arms.

Marie had assumed the typical spacey teenager posture. Her face gave her an I'm-a-model-I-don't-care-what-you-think attitude. Her whole demeanor said she was bored with anything and everything that was happening. My foot began to tap as I waited their choice. Katalina cocked her head the tiniest bit and her eyebrow rose slightly. It gave her a questioning look, daring us to speak first.

Mr. Nelson fell for the bait: "Have you ladies reached a decision?" His voice sounded weary, as if he just wanted to be away. I didn't look at him. I'd seen greater men than him fall for their little ploy.

Katalina looked at Marie and she gave her a bored expression. She sighed as if she didn't want to have to be the one to tell the news. My heart almost sunk.

A flash of laughter raced through Katalina's eyes and the whole facade dropped. "Yes! We are so going to do it! Even if 1D wasn't in it, it's for charity right?"

She clapped her hands with glee and turned to me, "What do we need to do?"