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“Know what, sis? I appreciate it, but I’m going to call it a loss. I’m not finding anyone on this short notice, not that’s willing to do what I ask out of my damn house.”
“What about someone you know? There’s a lot of cute girls where you go to school and I bet they could use some extra money.”
“Hey, come to my house and get naked while I take pictures? I’d get hosed with pepper spray or someone’s boyfriend would show up to beat my ass.”
He put his elbows on his knees, his chin in his hands.
“I’m just flat out screwed here.”
“I hate to see you so bummed out.” Josie put her arm around him. “Don’t like seeing you quit either.”
“It’s my own fault for waiting and for coming up with this idea in the first place.”
“But your grade!”
“It’s okay, sis. Nothing I can do but show up empty handed and with an excuse.”
“Don’t give up yet,” she squeezed his shoulder. “Let’s keep thinking.”
“I admire the effort, but nothing you can do. Me either at this point.”
“Wait a minute,” Josie slid her arm from around his shoulders and turned on the bed to face him. “What about me?”
“What about you?”
“I could do it!” She exclaimed excitedly. “I can pose for the pictures.”This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
“Um, hard no, sis.”
“Why not?”
“Because, well,” he paused as he stared at her.
Dressed in Spongebob pajama pants and an old grey Patriots hoodie with the hood pulled up over her head, her hair sticking out around her face, was a typical Josie look, and nothing remotely resembling what he needed.
“Well, what?”
“You’re not exactly qualified.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Josie demanded indignantly. “You saying I’m ugly?”
“Not at all, but you’re not a model.”
“I can be pretty if I want to be.”
“Sis, you’re adorable, but I need hot, and,” he raised his finger to cut her off. “Let’s remember one important detail. You’re my damn sister.”
“But I’m a girl.”
“Josie, were you listening to what I was saying? I need a woman in revealing lingerie who is going to get her sexy on for the camera.”
“I could be sexy.”
“I don’t want to see you be sexy. Plus, I wanted some topless shots.”
“You wanted them; you don’t need them. Just take some pictures of me posing on the bed, and that’s it.”
“Not what I wanted.”
“But better than nothing.”
“You’re my kid sister, I don’t want to see you like that. Besides, you think you could do that in front of me?”
“I know I’ll do anything to help you, and that’s what I’ll be thinking, I’m just helping you.”
“I love you, sis.” He kissed her forehead. “An A for effort, but you aren’t modeling for me.”
“Because I’m your sister or because you don’t think I’m hot enough?”
“Mostly the former, but no offense, Josie, you’re the girl next door, not the smoking hot look I need.”
“You don’t know that. You only see me like this.”
“You only dress like that. Going to tell me you have silky sexy things in your closet you wear when no one’s home?”
“I have a couple fun things from when I was dating Jimmy.”
“Oh, ugh.” Kenny slapped his forehead.
“I have had sex you know,” she puffed herself up. “Not just with Jimmy either, and know what?”
“They needed a GPS to find you under there?”
“No, jerk, they were pretty happy with what I have to offer.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Really happy. Like couldn’t get enough happy”
“Stop!” Kenny groaned. “Please stop. I’m sorry I made that crack, but come on, Josie, this is crazy.”
“Wanting to help you is crazy? After all you help me with?”
“Wanting to help is great, I love you for it. But you prancing around in something slinky is not anything I need to see.”
“But if its art, and something you want to do for a living, you should learn to be professional and focus on me as a model, not your sister.”
“Hmm,” he pursed his lips in thought. “Decent point there. I was worried I’d be ogling Jenna so much I wouldn’t be able to concentrate. Wouldn’t have that problem with you,” he sighed. “With you it would be the opposite, I’d be forcing myself to look.”
“Thanks,” she grunted. “But it’s mostly about a grade.”
“And that!” He snapped his fingers. “You know my teacher has to see the pics and he may show a few to the class.”
“So? None of them have met me right?”
“No, I don’t hang around with any of the kids in that class.”
“And you get the pictures back after he grades you, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then no big deal,” she told him. “If I don’t care, you shouldn’t.” she giggled. “Trust me, no one would recognize me like that. I bet you wouldn’t know me if I got all girlie for you.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” he sighed. “You better get going or you’ll be late for work.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Take all this stuff down, move my bed back to the corner, then lay here and sulk I guess.”
“Kenny, listen to me. You have two choices. You can be a quitter, get a shitty grade then explain to mom and dad why you got that grade, the one they gave you some money to help out with.
“Crap I didn’t think of that.”
“Or you can let me help you. I’m not a model, and maybe I’m not the sexiest girl around, but I’m willing to try and you have a chance of getting at least a C and that’s better than failing because you didn’t try.”
“True, but sis, it’s too damn weird.”
“How about this,” Josie wasn’t taking no for an answer. “We start, and if either of us feels uncomfortable or creeped out, we stop.”
“I don’t know.”
“Please let me help you? You’d do anything for me, I know you would.”
“Okay,” he caved. “But like you said, it’s too awkward, we stop.”
“Promise.”
“Alright well head to work. Jenna picked noon because she had something else scheduled later in the day. We can always do it later.”
“Nope, I’ll get Lisa to cover my shift. We’re going to do it early so you have a lot of time to put it together, and so you can’t back out on me.”
“Josie, are you sure about this?”
“I’m going to shower and run a couple errands. You be ready for one o’clock, okay mister photographer?” She gave him one of her big Josie smiles.
“Sure,” he forced himself to return the smile. “I can’t believe we’re going to do this.”
“You’re right,” her smile turned sly. “You’re not going to believe it.”
Kenny rubbed at his eyes and forced himself to keep searching. He was now on craigslist looking under ‘gigs’ and had found quite a few local models looking for paid work. He clicked on the browser open to his G-Mail, but as had been the case the other two dozen times he’d looked in the last hour, no one was getting back to him.
The closest he’d gotten was the first CL ad he’d replied to where he’d-as he had with all of them- left his number. She texted him within five minutes which had gotten his hopes up. He said what he needed, and she responded with two pics of her in a black lingerie set.
She was damn hot and willing to do what he asked, but the deal fell through when she asked where his studio was, and he admitted it was his house. He knew that was going to be an issue and had checked with the building that rented studios by the hour and being Saturday, they were booked right up until closing.
Not that he could afford the hundred which would leave him with only $250 to offer a model. Most models were not going to do something risque for a couple of hundred dollars for some no name kid who wanted them to come to his house. Kenny had himself to blame. He should have played it straight with the studio, and for that matter not gone with the theme he’d chosen.
Finding a girl to do some basic shots that he could take in the park, the beach, or anywhere in public would have been a lot easier and cheaper, but he’d wanted to punch out of his weight class and do something more difficult.
Josie’s offer was sweet and well intentioned, but ridiculous. Even if he could put aside her being his sister, the harsh truth was she simply didn’t have the look. Kenny tended to look at women, and even men at times, as a subject of a picture, paying more attention to their features than most people would.
Despite her efforts to be as plain as possible, Josie was a pretty girl. She still had the slightly round face of a girl who hadn’t quite matured yet, and without makeup looked younger than she was.
Her baby face accompanied by her big brown doe eyes that peered out under beautiful naturally long lashes did little to dispel that look of childlike innocence. Her big, borderline goofy, smile didn’t add any maturity to her either.
Josie’s lips were full, and by far the most adult feature on her face, one that he knew guys noticed because of ‘what they’d be good for’. But even those, in combination with the rest of her face, appeared more bratty than sensual.
She pouted for their father to get what she wanted, and Kenny was well aware a little girl pout could be seen as sexy, but in her case, with nothing else overtly sexual about her, it just came across as petulant.
As for her body, as her brother he’d never paid attention of given any thought to it. Even in the summer she wore loose t-shirts and her shorts tended to be loose fitting and down to her knees.
Josie hated the sun and never went to the beach and hadn’t gone swimming since they went to camp when they were kids. Kenny really had no idea what she was ‘hiding’ as Danny put it, under her clothes.
Her crack the guys she’d been with liked what they saw unnerved him more than made him wonder if she had enough to work with as far as what he needed. Kenny checked his e-mails again, then leaned back in his chair.
It was quarter past one. Josie was late, but he was fine with that, it had given him time to look up to the last minute. She’d be pissed if he found someone, but she’d get over it. She’d probably be pissed, or worse, hurt, when he’d have to tell her she wasn’t exactly qualified for the shoot.
No, he didn’t have to say anything like that. He’d take a few pictures, then tell her it was too messed up and he didn’t feel right. He had no doubt that would be true anyway. Kenny had only agreed to this because he could tell she wanted to help and wasn’t going to let it go.
He heard a car door outside his window and pushing his feet on the floor, rolled himself over to the window. Josie’s car, what else but a VW bug, was there, but she’d already headed into the house.