Love Torment

Three

That café had been completely transformed in a sense. The counter by the entrance still had customers forming a sort of a line to get their beverages and baked goods. There were still a few tables lining the walls of the café to accommodate those who felt that they needed a seat. The biggest space of the café, the middle of the chaos, was located before a stage they had set up for the DJ. The majority of the people were in the open space dancing to the music. A few people formed groups in the corners of free space to simply mingle.

To no surprise, Jess had already managed to get herself acquainted with the wanted persona. She seemed as if she was a woman on a mission. I didn't know anyone who made socializing seem like a serious duty. She led me past the counters and through the crowd to a booth in the far corner of the club

What was beauty? Anyone living in the current time would tell you that beauty was subjective. There was a sense of truth in that. Though, there were things that everyone could mutually agree on the level of desirability it had. People liked pretty things. The big terror on marveling at pretty things was the desire to have it. When people wanted pretty things, morals tended to fly out the window in a sort of craze.
Pretty people. Pretty people were wanted by so many people. It was a sad sort of truth, people didn't like them rather they liked how they looked. To be with a pretty person was like winning a trophy. You were better than all the other girls because the hot guy picked you. I knew in the depths of my heart that pretty people were lonely. They were all alone the prejudices of people. They weren't loved for themselves before their looks.

As progressive beings, humans say they cast aside beauty standards while not so secretly falling for every thirst trap Tik Tok. I didn't hate the rules. I appreciated beauty much like the next person. I also seemed to pray to hold the privileges that came with pretty. That's why Jess and I would rock up at every event with glamour and shine enough to be admired. To make the process of socializing easier. People wanted to talk to you if you were pretty enough.
That's why I wasn't the slightest bit shocked to see Jess walking towards a group of boys. Five of them, each with a beauty that seemed almost inhumane.

I mean, just to drop the edgy open-minded ultraistic 'different' girl act for a second, they were probably the best thing I had seen all year. I mean, Jess brought me to hot people all the time but they just hit differently. Where did Jess even FIND such hot people? I CERTAINLY didn't remember ever seeing them at school. Was there a separate section for hot people? What kind of discrimination was that?

As the non-shallow person that I was, I trained to the one I deemed most attractive. I guess that was where the subjectivity came to play. They were all attractive, everyone could agree, but the one I deemed most attractive would be based on my personal preferences.

I had rejection inferiority, deeply rooted from a tragic-tragic childhood, that's why I naturally picked the one who looked the nicest. Softer and more innocent features.

As a person who deeply cared about appearances, I needed someone who didn't give a shi- My eyes were drawn to the curly-headed boy who wore a plain hoodie paling in comparison to what his friends were wearing. It went to show that he didn't care to look good because he couldn't be bothered by appearances.

Someone nice, not shallow, introspective and seemed more interested in the wandering thoughts in his head than what his friends were talking about. The blank, aloof gaze he was sporting was telling me that much. I simply wondered what was beneath the look sported seemingly meant not to draw attention.

When we reached our destination, I saw that there were two spaces perfectly-remaining for Jess and me I. Jess took the first spot as she greeted the guys and I sat next to her at the edge. I let my eyes meet every one of them with a shy smile. My emotions weren't anywhere near being shy but it was somehow easier like that. People were nicer to shy people.