Perfect You

Perfect You
Elizabeth Scott

Thanks to Jennifer Klonsky for her infectious enthusiasm and belief in my work; Michael
del Rosario for making sure I get everything promptly and not minding when I call and
leave one-word ("Yay!") messages: Lucille Rettino, Orly Sigal, Kelly Stocks, and Paul
Crichton for all they do: Victor lannone and Hector Martinez for their amazing kindness;
and, ofcourse, Robin Rue, who continually proves why she's the best agent around.
Thanks also go to Katharine Beutner, Diana Fox, Clara Jaeckel, Susie LeBlanc, Donna
Randa-Gomez, and Janel Winter for reading drafts and providing encouragement. I am
so lucky to know all of you!
As always, thanks to my husband for his love and support.
This book never would have happened without two people:
JessicaBrearton and Amy Pascale. Amy, you told me what I didn't
want to hear, but yes, you were right, and I'm glad I kept going!
Jess, you listened to me worry--and then worry some more-- and still cheered me on
every step of the way. Thank you
both for reminding me what true friendship is.

Chapter One
Vitamins had ruined my life.
Not that there was much left to ruin, but still.
I know blamingvitamins for my horrible life sounds strange. After all, vitamins are
supposed to keep people healthy. Also, they're inanimate objects. But thanks to them I
was stuck in the Jackson Center Mall watching my father run around in a bee costume.
I sank into the chair by our cash register as Dad walked up to two women. They looked

around when he started talking, searching for a way out. They wouldn'tfind one. In our
section of the mall, there wasn't much around, which was how we could afford our
booth.
I watched the women smile and step away, an almost dance
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I'd seen plenty over the few days I'd worked here. After they left, Dad came over to me,
grinning, and said, "Kate, I think I made a sale! Those two women I just talked to said
they'd tell their husbands about the reformulated BBuzz! tablets. Isn't that great? Now I
think I'll fly--get it?--down to the department store and see if I can give samples to
people as they walk out."
I handed over the samples--small plastic bags stamped with the Perfect You logo--and
watched him lurch down the hallway, off balance because of his costume. As soon as he
was gone, I got out my history homework.
This was not how I'd picturedmy sophomore year. Not that the first half had been
wonderful so far, but this was definitely an all-time low.
Four hours and one history chapter later, the mall closed. Dad and I boxed up the extra
vitamins he'd been so sure we'd sell, and then I waited while he ran the box back to the
storage space we rented from the mall.
"Pretty good day, right?" he said when he got back. The antennae hewas wearing
bobbed up and down as he talked. "Todd and I sold one bottle of B Buzz! in the
morning, and I bet those two women come back tomorrow. Don't you think they will?"
I shrugged, because it was much easier than telling Dad I was sure they wouldn't. It was
also easier than mentioning that we owed eighty bucks for the rented bee costume, and
that was far more than the amount we'd takenin from the one bottle of vitamins it
supposedly sold.
When we got home, Mom was sitting at the kitchen table
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flipping through the checkbook and frowning. She'd been doing that a lot lately.
"How did it go?" she asked, putting the checkbook down.
I left before she could say anything else, heading back to my room. I took a second to

stop in the living room and stand in front of thetelevision though, watching as my
brother, Todd, lifted himself up off the sofa long enough to say, "Kate, you freak, move.
I'm watching something important."
Last week Todd decided he wanted to be an actor. So far all it meant was that he spent
even more time than usual watching television. For a college graduate, he sure was on
the fast track to nowhere.
"You can't learn to act watching...