To The Beautiful You

23. PRETTY

23. PRETTY

third person
PERSPECTIVE

Valerie looked at her reflection in the mirror, her skin wasn't doing too well. The scarring from her acne made her felt like the most gruesome person alive. She frowned to herself as she gazed closely at her skin. It felt painful, each and every day she feels miserable just by looking at her reflection.

Your pretty face — how could Vincent find her pretty? Her face was frightening to even stare at. To be frank, she never understood the stigma behind her appearance. Valerie never used to be concerned with her looks until the people in her previous school pointed out how ugly she looked.

And from that day onwards, she grew to despise her skin. She couldn't leave the house without makeup, whether it be a light concealer or a simple mascara. She couldn't stand to see her face bare.

She glanced at the empty foundation in front of her. Why did it have to run out today? She thought to herself. She even misplaced her concealer, even though she remembered leaving it on her dressing table. What further made things complicated was the fact she couldn't find her favourite lip tints and mascara.

Everything simply disappeared into thin air.

She throws on her coat, too lazy to remove her school uniform.

As she leaves, she takes a deep breath, hoping time would pass by swiftly. It's quite dark outside, since it was the middle of winter.

She entered the cosmetic store. Her eyes immediately falling on the latest released foundation.

"Would you like some help?" she turned her head to find a pretty worker with light blonde highlights. She held a strange expression, it was as if she was about to burst out laughing any moment.

"No thank you, I'm just checking." Valerie mumbles, wanting to end the conversation.

"As if any of that could cover her face." the worker whispered to herself, but Valerie was able to hear the harmful words.

She gulps, clenching her fists. She felt like crying.

Valerie quickly grabs the foundation and quickly moves towards the till. She keeps her head down, placing the foundation on the counter. It was clear to her that people despised the mere sight of her face, was she that disgusting to look at?

"Here's your change, thank you for shopping with us."

Valerie heads straight outside, not wanting to be in the brightly lit cosmetic store any longer. However as she does so, she bumps into someone harshly, leading her to tumble on to the ground.

"Are you alright?" she could recognise the melodious voice from anywhere. It was Ben.

She doesn't speak. She was too scared to show him how she looked without her makeup. Instead she quickly stood up by herself, turning away in an attempt to hide her face. But Ben pulled on her arm gently.

"I apolog—" he pauses as he looked at her face. Valerie felt sick to her stomach. She could feel his judgemental stare as he looked at her makeup free face.

He released her arm.

Before she could say it was okay, he had already turned away.

"Ben." she whispers, her eyes were filled with sadness. "Why were you so hostile? Does looking at me really feel that disgusting?"

She takes a deep breath, clutching on the the plastic bag tightly. The tears were beginning to leak, she didn't expect Ben to treat her like that. Even if he didn't recognise her, she didn't expect him to feel so repulsed by her appearance.