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Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from Istockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

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Sarah Carerra Book 2: Summer Medley

Chapter 2.13 - The Perfect Shot

We apparently didn't have any facilities at the other photo shoot location, so after a short break, Julia had me change into the other outfit they wanted to shoot with before we left the tent again.

She wasn't joking about ‘simple’ either. My second outfit consisted of a pair of jeans, a pair of simple shoes, and a nice but simple blue button-up top with capped sleeves. Even with such a simple outfit, it still seemed to look spectacular on Sarah.

When I stepped back outside of the tent to get Julia's approval, I was surprised by the number of cameras that started clicking from the nearby crowd. I had hoped that they had dissipated while I was in the tent, but apparently I was naive.

"That looks good," Julia approved before turning me over to Stephanie again.

Once she was done, Dad steered me toward the car. I was really glad that we had parked right next the cordoned area, and I was quickly in his car with nothing but a small wave to the crowd. Not long after that we were out of the parking lot and driving to the other photo destination.

"How are you doing?" my dad asked me while he drove. I opened my eyes, and looked over at him.

"I'm tired," I told him truthfully. I was too. I had already realized that I didn't have the stamina that I'd had before the surgery. All of the walking, posing, and stress of the photo shoot was already taking its toll on me.

"I know, Princess," he said. "It's going to be rough for a bit until you get your energy back. I'll do what I can to give you the time you need to recover. As I understand it, this next destination won't be as intense as the beach. Plus, there won't be any people around to worry about."

"Thank goodness," I sighed. I loved my fans, and I was willing to do a lot for them. But they certainly had worn me out quickly. I just hoped that I hadn't left too many disappointed people back at the beach.

Fifteen minutes later Dad pulled up to a gate where a security guard was waiting. He stepped up to the driver's window when my dad came to a stop. Dad showed him some kind of pass, and he stepped back to a booth and opened the gate. I was curious where we were as the car started moving forward again. Shortly after, we were following another car toward the end of what appeared to be a runway. I didn't see any planes around, but this airport appeared to be in good condition.

Dad stopped the car, and I got out finding Jay, Greg, and Max waiting for me.

"There she is," Jay said with a smile and motioned me over to the group. "This won't be quite as intense, Sarah. We just want to take a few shots of you on the runway with the ocean as a backdrop. I think that this will look spectacular, and I hope we can get a good shot from this group to use on your album."

I nodded my understanding. He then stepped over to what I assumed was his car and opened the trunk. He pulled out a black electric guitar. I grimaced slightly. I wasn't opposed to posing with a guitar, but I wished it could have been mine. If it was not mine, then it would have been better if it was an acoustic guitar. I didn't have much experience playing an electric guitar.

But he was the creative director, and I took the guitar from him before following Greg out to where they wanted me to stand.

The scene from the beach was repeated: Greg and Jay worked together to get me into a desired pose, and I did my best to comply. We tried having me hold the guitar like I was playing it, posing with it on the ground, lifting it into what I thought were weird ways, and even some without it in the shots.

Jay seemed to like what we were doing, but he didn't quite have the enthusiasm that he'd had at the beach. He seemed frustrated for some reason. Eventually, he decided to try something else.

"Alright, Sarah," he said. "Here's what I want you to do. Stand with your feet apart, and place that guitar between them, holding it in front of you." I complied with his instructions. "Good, now I want you to move around a bit. Get your hair flowing. I want to see some of those trademarked blond locks flying around."

"Okay," I said and tried to do what he wanted. He became more excited and we continued in that vein for a bit. Then, I tried to get a few shots where my hair would fall in front of my face.

"Ooh," Jay exclaimed and continued to watch his monitor as shot after shot showed up. I turned my head to the side again and let my hair fall in front of my face.

"Oh heaven above, I think that was it!" Jay said loudly. "Sarah, that was brilliant! Do it again."

We kept working in that vein for a while longer before he decided that we'd had enough.

"Good job, Sarah," he said, coming over to shake my hand. "Greg said that you were easy to work with, and that was one of the easiest photo shoots I've been on. Thank you."

"You're welcome," I told him. "The two of you were really easy to work with too. You knew what you wanted, and I'm just glad that I was able to give it to you."

Jay chuckled at my words, and I noticed Greg was doing the same. I smiled along with them.

"I really like how these last ones turned out," Jay continued. "We'll get them back to the studio and see what we have and then get you in to take a look at them toward the end of the week, okay?"

"Sounds good," I said, happy to have this day over with. I felt like I could sleep until Friday now.

Dad and I walked back to the car. My original clothes were already in the back seat, and I was glad that I didn't have to go back to the beach to change. We could go straight home.

It was only five minutes after Dad had left the airport that I had fallen asleep in the passenger seat.

*  *  *

The opening of a car door awakened me some time later. I glanced around, trying to get my bearings, and noticed that we were in the garage at home. Dad was looking at me from his seat.

"I'm sorry, Princess," he said. "I didn't realize that you were that tired. Come on inside and sleep in your own bed. You should be able to get plenty of rest the next few days."

"Okay," I replied and swung my legs out of the car. I was still exhausted. Sleep still sounded like the best plan for the rest of the day.

I followed Dad inside, but my mom stopped me long before I made it to Sarah's room to get undressed. She had been in the front room, but came into the kitchen to meet us when she heard the garage door.

"Hi, honey," she smiled a large smile. "You look beautiful. I really like that wig."

"Thanks," I replied while tiredly returning her smile. She hadn't had a chance to see what Julia and Stephanie had done to me before we left this morning, and I was glad that she approved.

"She's exhausted," Dad told my mom, and I watched the smile on Mom's face change into a look of concern.

"Are you okay?" The worry in her voice was undeniable. I nodded back to her.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired." I sighed. "I don't quite have the energy I had before the concert."

"Don, don't work her too hard," Mom sternly said to Dad. I chuckled inwardly because Dad was doing his best to give me the time I needed to recover. He'd already pushed off the music video that we were originally supposed to start filming tomorrow. I couldn't imagine doing that for three days. I felt exhausted after just one day doing only a photo shoot.

"He's not, Mom," I defended my dad. Mom looked at me for a few seconds before she seemed to accept that answer.

"Come on then," she said. "I'll help you take off the wig."

I nodded, and followed my mom back to Sarah's room. Once I had slumped into the chair at my vanity, my mom started pulling out the pins. I sat there with my eyes closed, letting her do the work. I hoped I could go to bed early.

"How are you doing, honey?" Mom revealed her ulterior motive to helping me. I wanted to sleep, but she wanted to talk.

"I'm okay," I told her again. "I'm just tired."

"I know, but that wasn't what I was asking," she said with a caring look on her face. I understood immediately.

"I'm um...I'm doing good," I replied. "It's taking some getting used to mentally, but physically I'm not that much different than before."

Mom laughed. "Oh, Megan, you are nowhere near the same as you were before! You're a girl now. That means everything has changed."

"Not really, Mom!" I replied with a bit of exasperation. "Sure things are different down there, but nothing really changed. I'm still the same person. I still like the same things. I'm still the girl I was born as! My life hasn't really changed."

I shouldn't have snapped at her, but I was too tired to do anything else. I could see the hurt look in her eyes as she finished pulling out the last pin and then removed the wig. I felt regret as I watched her place it into the armoire.

"Look, Mom," I said in a softer voice. "I'm sorry. I know that you are happy that you have a daughter now, but the truth is I've always been your daughter. You said it yourself. I haven't changed anything other than my clothes and my hair since becoming Megan. Sure, I've gotten to do a lot of the more traditional girly things, but I always liked them before."

Mom closed the doors to the armoire before turning toward me. She now had a humorous grin on her face.

"Oh Megan," she shook her head. "You don't know how much you've changed. You definitely aren't the same person that I knew two months ago. Yes, you always did have feminine tendencies, but you've truly blossomed since becoming Megan. You have so much confidence and so much courage now. You walk into a girls’ room and don’t think twice about it. You like to wear dresses and makeup. You never would have done those things in public two months ago. You never would have gotten up on stage before, but now...I think it's almost second nature to you. I can see how happy it makes you. I can see how happy you've become. I'm not trying to upset you when I tell you this, honey. Yes, you are the same wonderful, caring person that you’ve always been. It’s just that I'm so amazed at how much my little girl has grown up. I'm proud of you."

Without another word, she wrapped me in a hug. I hugged her back with all of my might. I loved her so much. I was so glad that I had somebody like her in my life.

"Have you had any lunch yet?" she asked me a moment later. I shook my head. "Come and get something to eat, and then you can get some more sleep."

I smiled. That sounded like a great plan.

*  *  *

A knock on my door woke me up the following morning. A glance at my alarm clock showed me that it was already 9:00 AM.

"Megan?" Dad asked through the door. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Come in."

The door opened and my dad walked in with a smile on his face and a tray of breakfast in his hands.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me. I sat up and accepted the tray of food with a large smile.

"Great now," I replied, garnering a laugh from him.

"Listen," he said. "I need to run into the office for a while, but how would you like to go car shopping this afternoon?"

"Really?" I asked excitedly.

"Yes," he smiled. "But there is one caveat. You'll probably be using the car as both Sarah and Megan, so we probably don't want to get something too flashy. If people recognize it as Sarah's car but see you driving it, that could cause trouble. Get dressed as Sarah and think about what you want to go look at, okay?"

"Okay," I replied excitedly. I already had some ideas for cars that would work for both of my identities. I couldn't believe I was getting my own car!

"Alright," he said. "I'll be back after lunch to pick you up."

I smiled back at him, and he left the room. After he had left I turned on the TV in my room while I ate the breakfast he had brought me, but I couldn't really find anything worth watching. After I was finished eating, I decided to get up and do some research on the different cars I was thinking about.

I climbed out of bed and started my computer. I used to spend a lot of time on my computer, but I rarely sat at it since I had started my new life. The video games and programs that had kept me entertained before Megan came along were nowhere near as important to me now.

While the computer started the boot process, I picked up my breakfast tray and stepped out of my room and walked down the hall to the kitchen.

"Morning, Austin," I said when I saw him sitting at the counter eating his own breakfast.

"Hi, Megan," he replied after swallowing. "Is Dad really taking you car shopping today?"

"Yeah!" I replied excitedly.

"Are you going to drive me around?" he asked with hope.

I laughed. "Maybe. I think that depends on how busy I am with Sarah."

He looked downcast at that news. It seemed like I had some piece of Sarah in my life each day. He must have realized that I wouldn't be quite as available as he had hoped.

I finished washing the dishes from my breakfast and then returned to my room. I sat down at my computer desk and opened my Internet browser.

Luxury was definitely something that I was looking for. I knew that I could buy a pretty nice car for relatively cheap, or at least what Sarah might be able to call cheap. I surfed around a couple of the luxury brands I knew: BMW, Mercedes, Lexus. They had nice cars, but I didn't see anything that just screamed to me to buy them. Perhaps I'd have to see them in person.

Around 11:30 I decided to get ready. I didn’t know when Dad would be home to pick me up, and I didn't want to waste a minute of the time we could be using to shop. After taking a shower, I stepped into Sarah's room to get dressed. It only took me about 45 minutes to put on some clothes, do my makeup, and place the wig on my head. I was picking out a purse and placing the items I needed inside when I heard the front door close. Dad must be home.

I stepped out of Sarah's room and headed for the front room. But I couldn't see or hear Dad.

"Austin was that..." I trailed off mid-sentence when I saw him sitting on the couch with someone. A girl, of all things. Austin and a girl? "Your father?" I finished as an afterthought.

"Sarah Carerra!" The girl shrieked at the same time that Austin grimaced. I hoped I hadn't accidently interrupted something important between the two young lovebirds! I couldn't believe that my brother was finally hanging out with a girl!

"Uh, hi," I said, not sure what else to say. She jumped up from the couch and ran over to me, wrapping her arms around me in a hug before I could stop her.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" she chanted over and over. When she finally let go of me and stepped back, she had the biggest smile on her face. "I'm your biggest fan!"

I looked over at Austin. It was immediately apparent that he was not happy with me. I tried to give him an apologetic look, and was happy to see the tips of his mouth curl up slightly. At least he knew I hadn't done it on purpose.

"Austin!" the girl turned back to him. "Why didn't you tell me that you know Sarah Carerra?"

Austin frowned again. I was really sorry that I was putting him into this position. I didn't want to make this any harder than it had to be for him. I knew Austin wasn't the most outgoing boy, so whatever he had done to get a girl to come over to our house must have been hard for him.

"My dad is Sarah's agent," he finally told her.

"I've known the family since I was a kid," I told the girl. "Austin is like a little brother to me."

"That's so awesome!" she exclaimed.

At that moment, I heard the door to the garage open, and I prayed that it was Dad coming to save Austin and me from this situation.

"Megan?" I heard him yell to get my attention. "Are you ready to go?"

I could hear him walking through the kitchen when I yelled back, "She's already gone, Don."

He stepped around the corner into the front room, seeing the scenario for the first time. "Oh," he replied at the sight of the girl. "Well, are you ready then, Sarah?"

"Yes," I replied, happy to leave this girl with Austin. I'd already intruded enough.

"Wait!" she nearly moaned at the thought of me leaving. "Can I at least get your autograph?"

I looked at Austin again. He nodded slightly, and I felt a pit form in my stomach at the mess I had made to his day. He must not have known that I was going out as Sarah, or he would have warned me about her coming over.

Dad walked into the kitchen and came back with one of the press photos.

"What's your name?" I asked the girl while uncapping the pen and taking the photo from my dad.

"Susan," she replied. I quickly wrote a short message and signed the photo.

"It was nice to meet you, Susan," I told her while handing her the photo. "Take care of Austin for me."

I saw Austin roll his eyes at my words, but Susan nodded her head vigorously. I gave them a wave, grabbed my purse, and followed Dad out through the kitchen. I could only hope Austin would forgive me.

*  *  *

I sighed as I climbed back into Dad's BMW. He had a nice car. Why was it so hard to find something nice for Sarah?

We had been to five different dealerships now. Every single one of them was excited to see me, and I'd never been waited on quite like they had waited on me before. Every place brought me a bottle of water and asked me if there was anything else they could do while Dad and I walked around the lot with a salesman. Every salesman had a gleam in his eye as he told me about each vehicle’s features.

But all of them were disappointed. Nothing seemed to be right. I couldn't find a car that felt enough like Sarah and enough like Megan to satisfy both of my lives. We'd looked at BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Cadillac, and Acura, but none of them had what I wanted. I was beginning to think that I didn't even know what I wanted.

"I'm sorry, Dad," I told him. I could see the grim look on his face. I was sure that if I didn't have the money to buy a luxury car, then I probably wouldn't be having this problem. Most kids my age didn't have this opportunity. Those that did almost always used their parents’ money to buy a car. I had the unique opportunity to purchase my own luxury car with my own money at the age of sixteen, and I wanted it to be perfect.

"It’s okay, Princess." His words were comforting, but I could see the way he held his lips together as he spoke. He was ready to give up. "Let's try one more dealership. If you don't like what they have, we'll call it a day."

"Okay," I told him. I agreed with his mood. I was ready to give up too.

Dad continued driving. I didn't know where we were going, and I didn't know what else there was to pique my interest. But piqued is what happened to me when we pulled into the last dealership of the day.

"Audi?" I asked. I'd heard of them before, but I didn't know anybody who owned one. However the cars that were sitting on the lot certainly looked interesting.

We stepped out of Dad’s car, and soon we had the same reactions that had happened at the other dealerships. A few people started scurrying, and a salesman started heading our way.

"I'd suggest an A4 or an A6," Dad told me quietly. I understood immediately that he was trying to convey his opinion to me before the salesman reached us. "The A4 is cheaper and sportier though, if that makes a difference."

It did. I might be all girl now, but that didn't mean that I hadn't been influenced by boyish tendencies when I had been living my life that way. Sporty sounded good to me.

"Ms. Carerra!" the salesman said excitedly as he approached. I was still amazed at how many people recognized me now. Three weeks ago I had entered a diner as Sarah, and while many of the other patrons had recognized me, they didn't know who I was. Now, everyone I met could place my name with my face. Unfortunately, I was also aware that my collapse and the press conference fiasco had probably been the cause of much of that recognition.

"What can we do for you today?" the salesman continued. Once again I saw that gleam in a salesman’s eye. He knew I was likely paying in full today. People like me weren’t worried about credit approval.

"We were hoping to look at some A4's," I told him. I also saw the smile on my dad's face at that statement. Apparently, that was the car he had hoped I would go with.

"Sure, sure," the salesman said and then motioned in a direction. "Right this way. Can I offer you some water or a snack while we look?"

By this point I'd had enough water handed to me to drown a cat. "No, I'm fine."

The salesman led us over to a section that had some nice looking cars lined up in a row. Immediately I liked what I was seeing. For some reason, the sleek lines and smooth curves really looked good to me. He showed us around many of the features and options that the different vehicles had, and we finally ended up looking at a black one sitting on the end. I truly liked what I had seen.

"I like them," I mentioned, and I almost laughed at the sigh of relief from Dad.

"Which one do you like the best?" my dad asked me. I looked around. I'd had my eye on one of them the whole time we were walking around, one the salesman hadn't shown to us.

"What about that one?" I asked while pointing to the dark blue one that was sitting on a different row. It was the only one around that was that color.

"That one?" the salesman asked nervously. Why was he acting that way? Was there something wrong with that car? We walked over to it, and I saw a small twitch in Dad's expression. "This is actually an S4. It's more expensive, but it comes with a bigger engine and a sportier design."

Ohhh - both of them were worried about a price increase over what we had been looking at. "Too expensive?" I asked Dad. It was my money, but he had a better grasp on how much things should cost. Whether I could afford it or not, it was the best color on the lot.

He stepped over to the window and looked at the price displayed. Eventually, he shook his head. "No," he replied. "It is a bit more expensive, but it's still in the price range I figured we'd be looking at today."

I smiled excitedly. I'd finally found a car that I liked. "Can we test drive it?"

The salesman looked very nervous again. I could guess quite easily why. I might be somewhat of a celebrity now, but I was still only sixteen. I was asking him to place a very expensive vehicle into the hands of someone who hadn't had much driving experience. It looked like he was trying to decide what to do for a few moments before he finally said, "I'll go get the keys."

The S4 was more than I could have asked for! The second I started it up and heard the engine roar, I was ready to sign on the dotted line. When I got it out on the street and pushed on the gas pedal, it was a done deal. By the time we got back to the dealership the salesman, who had been sitting next to me in the passenger seat, knew it too.

My dad did the negotiating, and within an hour, I was driving it off the lot and following my dad all the way home. Perhaps it was the boyish part of me that wished Dad would drive faster.

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