Free Modelland by Tyra Banks Page A

will continue until she perishes!”
    A gray-haired woman on the ground made a face. “She’s so beautiful, she doesn’t need it! Give me that power. It’s wasted on her!”
    “Tell me about it,” Mrs. De La Crème muttered, clutching the side of her precarious face.
    “Our fourth Intoxibella … Leemora!” The smoky mountain swirl revealed a dark-haired Intoxibella with seductive narrow eyes. “Her power? Excite-to-Buy … the ability to sell!”
    Leemora made an inverted V with her hands and then thrust the point toward the spectators. Tookie touched her hair, acutely conscious of how wild it was. “CheveuxMal,” Tookie suddenly said aloud, feeling like an alien invader had taken over her thoughts. “I need it! Now!”
    Beside her, Mrs. De La Crème patted her face. “I should pick up some more Wrinkle Redux.” And similarly, everyone aroundthem murmured other names of skin products, clothing brands, and diet soft drinks that they suddenly craved.
    “Gentlemen, get ready for our fifth Intoxibella … meet Sinndeesi!” The swirl unveiled a platinum-blonde with hazel eyes whose body swayed in a hypnotic dance. Sinndeesi’s smile was blinding, and her Sentura undulated toward the crowd in a come-hither fashion. “Her power?” the BellaDonna teased. “Seduksheeon!” As Sinndeesi’s hair blew in the wind, all the men in the crowd stared. “I’m ready to sin with Sinndeesi, right here, right now!” one of them yelled.
    “Our sixth Intoxibella … Katoocha!” said the BellaDonna. A cocoa-skinned, large-eyed beauty with close-cropped hair spun in the air. Unlike the other Intoxibellas, who wore the most fashionable couture, this Intoxibella wore an outrageously mismatched tattered blouse-and-skirt combination. “Her power is SixxSensa, a remarkable supernatural sixth sense. Katoocha can see into the future of fashion—which means this unusual outfit will be on your body next year! Oh, and did I mention that Katoocha has enhanced sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell?”
    “Wow,” Tookie murmured. She wouldn’t have minded having all those powers.
    As Katoocha faded back into the atmosphere, the BellaDonna cleared her throat. “Unfortunately, once again this year, Modelland has not produced the ultimate Intoxibella, a Triple7, a girl possessing all seven powers. While this is disappointing, it by no means should dull the adoration you give our last newly ordained Intoxibella of the evening. Completing our presentation of this year’s Modelland graduates is a girl who possesses the power of … Teleportaling!”
    An Intoxibella with a pixie haircut and aqua eyes whirledinto view. “Her name is quite fitting!” the BellaDonna narrated. “Exodus!”
    Tookie shot up. Exodus? Was that a sign?
    The sprightly Intoxibella fell backward into an immense hole that formed behind her and disappeared.
    “Creamy, she banished right before our eyes!” Myrracle covered her mouth with both hands.
    Then something rumbled a few feet away from Tookie. The ground split, making a jagged Z across the sidewalk. It widened and widened, making the earth rumble.
    “Look out!” a woman to Tookie’s right yelled. “Earthquake!”
    The hole grew larger and larger. Everyone stepped away from it, fearing for their lives—everyone except Tookie, who tiptoed closer to the edge. Out popped a human-sized Exodus. The glorious creature posed triumphantly, then whipped her head around and locked eyes with Tookie and smiled. “Hi there. What’s your name?” she asked.
    Tookie stared at her, tongue-tied as usual. Myrracle pushed in front of Tookie. “Myrracle De La Crème!” she screamed, assuming the Intoxibella was talking to her. “You’re so pretty!”
    Then Exodus rose into the sky and flew back to the top of the mountain, reappearing seconds later in immense, translucent form.
    The BellaDonna’s voice boomed through the sky once more. “Every. Girl. In. The. World. Has. The. Power. Within. Her. To. Become.