Her phone started ringing. Agents she’d never heard of. Brands she’d only seen in magazines. A producer from a late-night show wanted to know: “Who is the girl on the billboard?”

The casting call was simple. “Seeking authentic faces. No experience needed. Step 1: Show us you.”

Ally didn’t answer right away. She stayed on the bus, rode past her stop, watched her own face disappear and reappear between buildings.

But two days later, her phone buzzed. “You’ve been selected for Step 1: The Campaign.”

Ally Chen had spent three years as a background blur in other people’s campaigns—an arm here, a turned back there. She was the “diverse friend” in stock photos, the “commuter” in a transit ad, the “hands typing” in a laptop commercial. Never her face. Never her name.

Ally thought about her father’s funeral. About the rent she was three weeks behind on. About the way her reflection in a dark window always surprised her—like a stranger she almost recognized.