Ali signed a three-year contract with Elite days later, then jumped on a plane for the Big Apple, where she spent about three days for a crash course in modeling — including the famous runway models' walk — and left for Milan. It was her first time out of the country. Thankfully, Elite helped expedite her passport, her dad says.

"She's never done anything in modeling — nothing, zip — and really wasn't that interested," Marc Stephens said. Sister Maddie often is asked if she is a model, and when Ali's around, "the joke is, Ali says, 'What am I, chopped liver?"'

In Milan, where Ali went with her mother before the rest of her family joined her, she walked for Jill Sander. Then for Prada, whose new faces the fashion industry closely watches, Young said.

"Once she appeared on that runway, then the avalanche of calls came in," he said.

Ali was offered exclusive runway experience with Prada, meaning she couldn't walk for any other designers in Milan, Young said.

Later, she was was booked in some of the best shows in Paris for Fashion Week and opened the Chloe show. Life was hectic, whisking from show to show — Ali did three in one day, and once left her history homework behind in the rush.

"Backstage gets pretty hectic the few minutes before, but ... all the models are really nice and friendly," Ali said.

Ali loved walking for Louis Vuitton and Prada, but the Nina Ricci show was a turning point.

"It was so beautiful ... how they put it together and the runway," she said. "One of the best parts (was) kind of realizing everything. OK, I guess I'm a model now. I realized it at that point."

Now, she's being looked at for the Calvin Klein campaign — casting is Sunday in New York. Vogue has requested her, as have several Italian businesses, Young said. Teen Vogue also has expressed interest in Ali, possibly for a cover.

"People who watch the industry are following her intently," Young said. Her rise, he said, "is phenomenally fast."

Paris Fashion Week has concluded, but this past week Ali's been doing photo shoots and interviews with a European magazine and The New York Times Magazine, which was shot in London, her dad said.

But at least today, Ali's back in Salt Lake City after skyrocketing into the fashion world. She'll return to school and cheer on her team at the State Cross Country Championships.

With the next three years committed to modeling, Ali is unsure what will happen with her schooling; maybe she'll need to check into the Internet home-school program through Brigham Young University.

Still, she hopes her return to East High next week can be business as usual.

"I don't want to be treated any differently, but I don't know" how peers will react to her newfound career, she said. "I guess we'll see."

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com