Charlie's Outfit:

“Fuck it, I’m not dealing with that right now,” you say as you drop the maid uniform and start dressing in the clothes Charlie loaned you, the warmth from the dryer is a relief from the slight winter chill in the house at the very least.

You go to sit down to watch a show, and are flipping through different streaming services when you see a challenge show with “big cash prizes” and remember you still don’t have a job, to pay your increasingly twisted mother.

With a groan you turn the tv off, and pull out your phone to start looking. Even if it wasn’t something that paid too well, the idea of not getting more rules, and of having a place to reasonably escape from home on a regular basis sounded good too.

There were plenty of search results for beginner entry level jobs, all of course requiring multiple years of experience plus a few degrees, but a few stood out to you as potential promising jobs. Two janitorial jobs, one at a beauty salon, the other at a gym, as well as a job handing out fliers for the local theater. You bookmark the three and are looking through descriptions to try and figure out which one is most likely to pay you more when a message from Krista pops up.

You click into it and see a link at the top, followed by a quick blurb.

“Hey check this out if you can, a local business needs someone for a quick photoshoot, I don’t know what all it will entail, but sounds like they are taking just about anyone. Get down there and get some money!”

“Checking it now, thank you!” you send before clicking the link. It takes you to an official looking website where local businesses are able to network with one another and seek out help. A quick browse of the store in question’s previous job requests was mostly unloading product, testing merch, and similar. All the requests had five star reviews so it seemed legit. You just can’t remember ever seeing a shop in town called Black Sheet Apparel.

Going back to the current job offer you read it again, “Photoshoot models needed now. $50 to $100 based on performance. Free merch. All body types welcome. First come first serve. Must be 18 years of age to apply.”

It was only posted a few minutes ago, you quietly thank Krista because clearly she had been paying attention to listings for you if she caught this as fast as she did.

The job offer said to send a selfie, name, contact info, and if you had any prior modeling experience.

With a shrug you take the best selfie you can manage, which is admittedly not very good, fill out the rest of the information and send the request off. You figure your chances of getting it are slim to none, but at least you can say you tried.

You return to your search, spending a couple of minutes trying to pick between the three jobs that you saw earlier. It seems like they will all pay a little different, but have slightly different perks to go with. But you don’t get very much time to search through them before you get a text message from an unknown number.

“Hello Everly Thrust! This is M. Tonya Stroker, owner of Black Sheet Apparel, I just saw your request. Would you be able to come by the shop today within the next hour or two for a photo shoot? The earlier the better so we can get you ready for the pictures.”

You check the address on the request again, you can catch the bus and probably be there in forty minutes. You pause remembering what you’re currently wearing, and get a little worried about it, but then you remember where you have a box of masks left over from the pandemic. You can use that to maybe keep a little anonymity, you hope.

“I can take the bus and hopefully be there in under an hour. Do I need to bring anything?” You text, getting up from the couch and heading to the closet for the mask.

“Just some form of ID for shop records. I will see you soon.”

You quickly grab one of the disposable masks and do a quick run around getting a few of your things together, you think about messaging Krista to say you got it, but decide not to until you had actually got it done. You didn’t want to be embarrassed if you couldn’t do well enough once you got there.

Then you lock the doors and hurry out into the chill air, headed for the bus station.