Survival of the Fiercest by Anna Carey Read Free Book Online

just…I can’t.” Lola picked Heath Bar up and buried her face in his back.
    â€œGunther Gunta ?”
    â€œYeah, that’s it.” Lola said. “You’ve heard of him?”
    â€œ The Gunther Gunta?” Andie was stunned. Gunther Gunta was number one on Andie’s list of Designers to Work With, ahead of Marc Jacobs and Vera Wang. For her twelfth birthday she’d begged her dad to buy her a Gunther Gunta vintage couture dress, even though it was only appropriate for the Oscars, the Emmys, or a runway in Milan. After Winston’s tailor made some serious alterations, she spent a whole week wearing it around the house, practicing her runway walk in wedge heels. “Lola—do you have any idea who that is? You have to go!”
    Andie grabbed last month’s Vogue off Lola’s nightstand. It wasin the same exact spot she’d left it last week, when she was trying to school Lola about fashion. She opened to a spread titled “Gunther Gunta: Man. Myth. Maniac?” and pressed her finger into the page. “He’s a fashion icon—bigger than Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld, Versace. He’s Indian, but he was born in Paris and moved to Germany when he was three. People claim he was designing dresses before he could talk, fashioning scarves out of his baby blankets. His first fashion show was in Munich when he was only seven.” Andie looked at a photo of the young Gunther watching his own fashion show and smiled. Even as a kid he had glasses an inch thick, his red beret sitting lopsided on his head.
    Lola looked at the spread. In the center there was a blurry paparazzi shot of a short man lying out by a pool, his hairy gut hanging over his Speedo. A newspaper covered his face. “ That’s him?”
    â€œHe’s been in seclusion for the last two years—that’s the only recent picture they have.” Andie tried not to sound so annoyed. Lola didn’t know Armani from Arkansas, and she was meeting Gunther Gunta tomorrow. It wasn’t fair. Andie had watched footage of his early fashion shows and read every article about the alleged breakdown that put him in seclusion. Two weeks after critics called his fall 2007 collection “an utter abomination,” Gunther disappeared. He was discovered a month later lying in an alley in Paris, muttering to himself as he gnawed on the end of a stale baguette. Andie had read so much about Gunther, seen so many interviews, she felt like they were friends. She’d even rehearsed what she would say if she met him: Don’t listen to the critics! Your fall 2007 collection was an utter inspiration.
    â€œYou have a big day tomorrow. I should let you rest up.” Andie headed toward the door. She felt confused, like when she’d found out Cindy—her always prudish best friend—had kissed a boy before she had. Lola was supposed to be the sister who didn’t intimidate her.
    â€œWait—didn’t you want to tell me something?” Lola asked. The quilt was thrown over her shoulders, like an ugly patchwork shawl.
    Andie eyed the crumpet on Lola’s dresser, remembering why she had come there in the first place. She was talking to Kyle Lewis— Lola’s crush. “Just…” She looked at Lola’s face, which was still pink and swollen. Whether Lola was modeling for Gunther Gunta or not, Andie knew the moment she left, Lola would bury her head back in the blanket. “Don’t worry. You’re perfect for modeling. Gunther will love you.”
    Lola smiled, revealing a small glimpse of her usual, enthusiastic self. “Cheers,” she whispered, pulling Heath Bar into her arms. And with that, Andie left.
    Â 
    Â 
    TO: Andie Sloane
FROM: Kyle Lewis
DATE: Wednesday, 6:02 p.m.
SUBJECT: Hey there
    Signed on but you’re not here. Anyway, here are the links for those YouTube videos I was talking about. I can’t stop laughing at that one with the pit