Excerpt

     A lot of girls at school were talking about trying out, but most of the girls at Hillcrest were jocks. Yasmin McCarty, the most popular girl in our class with one thousand-three people on her social media friends list, could win a modeling competition, but she would never enter because it would be beneath her to stand in line and wait to be judged on her looks. She was always saying modeling and stuff was so superficial, but she was also the same girl who walked around school pretending she was freezing so the teachers would let her wear her designer hoodie over her uniform.

I dunno, maybe some girls just knew they were hot and didn’t need some TV show to confirm it. I loved watching the show, but the thought of going up there to be judged on how I looked scared me. I was afraid of the judges but even more afraid of Ericka. I knew she’d get mad at me if I didn’t try out. So while some girls were secure enough not to need strangers to tell them they were pretty, I spent the whole day trying to figure out the right outfit for my audition (and my dad wondered why my math grades sucked). I mentally went through my closet, and nothing seemed right. My clothes said American Couch Potato, not American Ingénue.

Landry-Character Bio

     

     Landry Lilyanne Albright is an eighth grader at Hillcrest Academy. She was born in Chicago, Illinois to Dr. Tony and Laine Albright. She moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan with her mother when her mom was promoted and her father hopes to move there soon. Landry became best friends with Tori Robins and Ericka Maines soon after enrolling at Hillcrest Academy.

Landry is an only child and enjoys writing and won second place in the Michigan Young Pens writing competition. She has also become interested in modeling after getting through several levels of the American Ingénue modeling reality show competition.

She is currently signed with the Rice-Carter modeling agency in Grand Rapids. She considers Ashanti Russell, Peyton Urich, and Devon Abrams to be her current best friends. Landry hopes to one day date the soap star who plays Colin on, As the Days Roll On, or the cute freshman basketball player, Vladi Yagudin. She loves her English lit class with Mrs. Kharrazzi and enjoys reading. She is on a never-ending quest for a hair product that will end her bad hair days and ways to up her math grade that don’t involve intense tutoring.

Likes: Reading, soap operas like, “As the Days Rolls On,” ice cream sundaes from Ignatowski’s Ice Cream Palace, shopping, magazines, cartoon movies, the Skylar Halston YA mystery series, English lit class

Dislikes: mean people, gossip, math

Role models: Talisa Milan from American Ingénue, Melani Parkington from American Ingénue

Future career choices: Writer, English teacher, model, actress

Motto: Be yourself

Character Interview with Landry Albright from True Colors.

What's the worst thing that's happened in your life? What did you learn from it?

When my friends all got mad at me—first when Ericka and Tori stopped speaking to me after we all tried out for the American Ingénue reality show modeling competition and I made it to the next round and they didn’t. But I learned who my true friends were after that.

Tell me about your best friend.

I have two or three besties. Tori used to be my best friend, but after she got mad at me over that modeling thing…I just don’t trust her the same way. Ashanti Russell is one of my closest friends. We became closer after getting to know each other better. She always has my back. Peyton Urich is another of my best friends. We met when Tori and Ericka weren’t speaking to me. She’s been such an amazing friend. And Devon and I have best friend bracelets together, but…sometimes she gets a little controlling.

What is one strong memory that has stuck with your character from childhood? Why is it so powerful and lasting?

I was in a dance recital when I was four years old. We were supposed to be little ballerinas and have scarves attached to our tutus, but my mom was still in school at the time and she came home late and forgot to give me my scarves. So all the other little girls pulled out their scarves, and there’s a video of me looking on either side of my tutu for my scarves and then bursting into tears crying “Mommy!” as I ran off the stage. My grandmother said I was adorable, but I don’t think it was any coincidence my grandfather died two weeks later.

What is your greatest regret?

That I messed up my introduction during the American Ingénue competition. All I had to do was say, “Hi, I’m Landry Albright from Grand Rapids, Michigan,” and instead I said, “Chicago, Illinois,” my old state and when I went back to correct it, I totally slammed into the next contestant, made the microphone shriek and embarrassed myself. If I could go back in time, I’d totally choose that moment to change.

Do you ever lie?

Well, I don’t outright lie, but when my dad asks about my math grades, I do point out how awesome I’m doing in English and hope he changes the subject.

What do you like best about yourself? Least?

Best? I think I’m a nice person and a good friend. Least? My hair. I’d much rather have Devon’s dark, curly hair or Peyton’s dark red hair.

What is in your refrigerator right now?

Leftover butterscotch and vanilla pudding from the variety packs my mom and I eat all the chocolate out of.

What’s on your bedroom floor?

Dirty clothes—like my Hillcrest school uniform that makes me look like a dead goldfish, my mom’s favorite sweatshirt that I borrowed and got something blue on (when did I have fruit?), and some magazines.

What’s on your nightstand?

Magazines, YA mystery novels, gum wrappers, and my favorite lip gloss.

Imagine you’re doing intense spring cleaning. What’s easy to throw out? What is difficult to part with?

Did my mom put you up to asking this? I hate cleaning my room, but whatever. I guess the easiest stuff to throw out would be all the candy wrappers and to put my soda cans in the bin to take back for a deposit. What’s difficult to part with would be my magazines. I like to hang onto them and look at them at night before I go to bed. And I would never part with my stuffed animals—especially the blue mouse my dad got me when I was little.

If you could spend the day with someone you admire (living, dead or imaginary), who would you pick?

Talisa Milan, my favorite model who won the American Ingénue competition. She’s so busy that I doubt I could keep up with her, but I’d love to see what it’s like to be her just for one day. She hosts a video show, does makeup and hair care commercials, goes to school, and she’s dating a member of the band, The Puking Baby Dolls.

Are you upset your name is not in the title?

Not really. Krysten almost used it for the title of the sequel, but at the last minute she changed it. She told me she might use that one for the third book though.

Did your story end too soon?

I’m getting a sequel and she’s working on a third book, so I’m okay with it as long as she lets Vladi call me and stuff.

Did you and your author agree on the storyline?

Well, at first she told me I had no say in any of it, but she can’t really control what I say or do. I’m just me and she has to figure out what to do with that. She calls it, “frustrating,” but hey, I told her, “You’re the one who became a writer. What did you expect, genius?” So whatever. She’s got to deal with it.

Dream Cast List for True Colors

Landry Albright: Over the years I’ve pictured Landry as Ashlee Simpson when she was doing her reality show. Now, I’d say maybe Elle Fanning could play her.

Ashanti Russell: My original image for Ashanti was Letoya Luckett (original member of Destiny’s Child) and I pictured her at 14. Now I think Zendaya would be a great choice, too.

Vladi Yagudin: Ross Lynch

Talisa Milan: Talisa is the model Landry admires for her work ethic and is sort of the “smart” model (like Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington were when I was growing up) and Landry is always reading what a hard worker Talisa is, so I picture Jennifer Lopez as Talia.

Devon Abrams: Selena Gomez with curly hair!

Mrs. Kharazzi (Landry’s favorite teacher): Shohreh Aghdashloo

Mr. Albright (Landry’s Dad) Ty Treadway

Hana Ito: Fumie Suguri (figure skater)

Yasmin McCarty: Victoria Justice

Peyton Urich: Bella Thorne

Thalia Zimmer: Ciara Bravo

India Allen: Stephanie Scott

Tori Robins: Laura Marano

Ericka Maines: Ariana Grande

Arianna Seymour: Dove Cameron

Colin the soap star (Landry’s celebrity crush): Michael Bergin

Blake Alderson (Devon’s older movie star crush the girls tease her about): Liam Neeson

Mrs. Albright (Landry’s mom): Darlene Vogel

Landry’s Grandma Albright: Michael Learned

Mrs. Urich (Peyton’s mom):  Sharon Osbourne

Mr. Urich (Peyton’s dad): Harrison Ford

Kyle Eiton: Austin Mahone

Doug (Devon’s crush): Spencer Boldman

Manny: Adam Irigoyen

Bradley McMillian (Ashanti’s soap star crush) Shemar Moore