Runway

Chapter 1-Big Girls Don't Cry

Authors Note: Characters, etc..don't belong to me. The song featured in this chapter is called "Big Girls Don't Cry" and it is by Fergie.

Da Da Da Da...The smell of your skin lingers on me now,your probably back on your flight to your home town...I need some shelter of my own protection baby,To be with myself instead of calamity.

The cameras burst as she stepped down the runway. She had it all, beauty, fame, fortune. Oh yes, she definitely had it all, lies, infidelity, backstabbing friends. Smiling coyly as she turned, she loved the camera's on her..Any day but today. She choked back the tears as she neared the end of the runway.

I hope you know...I hope you know,That this has nothing to do with you. It's personal. Myself and I..

Two hours ago Manny had gotten the phone call. Craig was engaged. It was time to move on. No more take backs, no more second chances. Only regrets. She had lost her only love.

We've got some straightenin' out to do, and I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket, But I've got to get to get a move on with my life, It's time to be a big girl now, and big girls don't cry.

Slamming herself onto the lounge couch in her dressing rooms she let the tears fall. She wasn't ready to let go. She was only eighteen. She wasn't in the minor leagues anymore though. With supermodel status, came all these things from life that Manny had come to hate.

She thought about how she had always lost everyone in her life. She thought about how much she drank. The drug use. She wanted this. How sickening was it that she wanted this? She'd give it all up for one more chance though.

The path that I'm walking, I must go alone, I must take the baby steps until I'm full grown, Fairytales don't have a happy ending do they?

Emma and Sean were engaged. They had happiness. Why was it every time Manny let herself get close to someone they were ripped away. The door opened, and she jerked around.

There stood her manager, frowning, raising her eyebrows. "Santo's, I didn't hire you to sit around and cry. Get your ass back on that runway. You've got two minutes or your fired." with that the door slammed closed again. She heard the click of Maryann's heels as she stomped away.

Manny had one hundred and twenty seconds to make a choice. Maybe, if she left right now, she could catch Craig. She could remind him that they were meant to be together. Craig waited for her before, maybe he still would. She could also lose her job, her reputation, her apartment, and her new found 'friends'. Staying here, she would lose Craig. Her everything.

She had gotten up, pacing around the room, thinking. Suddenly she slammed her hand into the mirror that was atop the vanity. The glass cracked and rippled all the way up to the frame. Pulling her hand back, she slowly turned it so her palm faced her. Watching the blood run down, she was still thinking.

Turning as quickly as she had gotten up, she sprinted back to the runway. Grabbing the fur trench coat off the hangers as she ran. Next outfit, next chance. Pulling on the coat and flipping her hair, she sauntered back down the runway.

It's getting late, dark outside, I need to be with myself instead of calamity, peace, serenity.

Dripping onto the catwalk was her own blood, leaving a thin trail from the dressing rooms, past the photographers. The room was silent as Manny collapsed.

"It's personal, myself and I...it's time to be a big girl now, and big girls don't cry.."

Onlookers from the crowd, and the paramedics rushed the stage. Manny Santos, lay crippled, unconcious, bleeding from her right hand. Her white Chanel dress, stained crimson. The beaver fur coat, matted, wet. Her legs were splayed, looking disconnected from her body.

She was still and peaceful, as the madness around her swarmed.