Unmasked Beauty

Hidden Secrets

Thoughts whirled in Nikki"s head as she walked back to class, shoes tapping on the marble floors. She took her seat as the teacher was passing out worksheets. She walked over to Nikki's desk and whispered, "Is everything alright?" Nikki didn't know what to say. Not wanting to be interrogated by the teacher, she came up withan excuse. "Uhhh...y-yes..." she stumbled. "She..uh..got sick.." The teacher stood up. "Alright then", she said, looking confused.

At that moment Rebecca came back in, looking perfectly fine. People stared at her as she sat down next to Nikki. After school Nikki asked what had happened. Rebeccas smile faded. "Uh...I felt nauseous."she quickly exclaimed. "Then why did you scream at me to get out?" Pressed Nikki. "I didn't want you to be exposed to barf city," She said, laughing nervously.

Nikki kept going. "And that mask in your hand?" "What mask?" Asked Rebecca innocently. "The one I saw you holding!" Said Nikki, really confused. "Nikki, there was no mask." "Trust me, with my looks, I don't need one!" She flipped her hair sarcastically and laughed again, more genuine this time.

Nothing happened for the next three months. They were best friends doing everything together. Especially Rebecca, the most selfless girl Nikki had met. Nikki didn't think about the incident much anymore, but it always had a place in the back of her mind.

One particular day, it was a Monday, to be exact, Rebecca had been scrolling through her Instagram, and briefly double-tapped a photo. Her eyes glazed over in a way. Snatching Nikki's phone from her hand, she proceeded to take a quick selfie, then deleting it again and again. Nikki was dumbfounded, almost chuckling at her friend's strange actions.

Giving Nikki her phone back, Rebecca sighed and applied another coat of lip balm. She later went crazy on her social media, posting and deleting selfies, hateful messages, and so on.

Finally after she had done this for a while, obsessing over herself so much she was going mad, Nikki stopped to talk to her. Rebecca, what is wrong?" "You didn't use to like this a month ago!" Rebecca gave her a stare. "But I'm too pretty to not do this!" she told Nikki. Nikki let out a breath of disbelief. "You've got to be kidding...right?" She stared at Rebecca for a few moments, then turned to walk away. She knew something really abrupt had happened to her, and she was determined to figure it out.