Unknown Beauty | ✔️

Chapter One: The Nobody

~Author's Note

No second copy is to be made of my work. None of my characters, plot, or story is to be plagiarised and named as your own. If you wish to use a small part of my work, message me and I will consider it, though I expect I would say some form of credit must be given to me. Sorry. I know I'm kinda rude. *waves*

Fallon brushed away the oily strands of hair that disrupted her vision, inhaling a shaky breath and taking in her reflection. After a few seconds, she couldn't bear to look, and turned away, traitorous tears filling her eyes. Would she ever be beautiful? As gorgeous as those women in the magazines with the confident smiles and smooth-as-silk hair? Or was that too far-fetched? Probably, she told herself. With one last, lingering glance, she exited the bathroom, tying her knotty hair in a bun and pulling on her undergarments and a singlet. It was followed by a long sleeved shirt, and then another, then a short sleeved one, which was concealed by a baggy hoodie. Then, she stepped into leggings and faded jeans.

What? She refused to let others suffer from her appearance as well. Hearing her mother's voice call, Fallon shoved on her chunky glasses and slipped her blocky phone into her pocket. Whispering a half-hearted goodbye to the stuffed animals on her bed, she hurried out the room and downstairs, grabbing her rucksack as her mother came into view, holding up an old cauldron with fizzing, translucent liquid inside.

"This is perfect, I have finally mastered this tier two potion! Right? This isn't too clear?" Brooks, Fallon's mother, questioned, raising an arched eyebrow and daring Fallon to disagree with her.

Fallon stiffly walked up to her, planting a short, practised peck on Brooks' cheek, "Not at all, mother, it is as perfect as you say," she responded, her tone clipped and void of emotion.

At that, Brooks nodded in satisfaction and walked off towards the kitchen, muttering something about slime and toads' eyes exploding. Fallon followed her into the kitchen, instantly noticing the jar of glowing cricket limbs cracked open, the dried contents littered over the counter and emitting a ghostly, emerald glow. The jar of frozen frogs was left open and the green amphibians were beginning to thaw out, and with a flurry of sparkles, they were all jumping about, croaking loudly. Fallon existed in no normal world, but in one where magic roamed freely. Only a select few were able to handle magical duties, Brooks being one of them. Fallon sighed to herself; if only she had inherited the ability, she might have felt a little more positive about herself, "Off to school, Fallon, you cannot be late again or I will tighten your weekend curfew!"

Fallon had wanted to mention that she never went out anyway, having no social life to begin with, but only nodded numbly and clutched an apple from the fruit bowl, "Drop that apple, Fallon, I expect you to lay off eating until dinner. I saw all the junk you ate yesterday and that will not go unpunished."

She had expected it ever since her mother's thin lips had pursed in disagreement yesterday as Fallon had hungrily pursued an extra snack bar - more than she was allowed. With a curt nod, Fallon escaped the kitchen and avoided the several frogs lurching forward at her, dodging into the hallway, yanking open the front door, and stepping out before her stomach could growl in protest. She wasn't an overweight girl, (though her mother might have said otherwise) in fact, she barely ate anything at all. Her relationship with her mother, Brooks, was unfriendly - that was for sure. Brooks had treated Fallon like an unwanted pet all her life, though Fallon tried to convince herself it was a complicated way of expressing love.

By the time Fallon was done with recollecting her mind, the old walls of her school were becoming visible on the other side of the road. Fallon crossed, dawdling over shyly and dipping her head down as other people who were laughing loud came close to her. One brushed past her shoulder roughly but didn't look back. Good, Fallon said to herself; she didn't want to be noticed. With a quick glance at her watch, she squeaked and hurried into the school boundaries, sprinting towards it as she couldn't see anyone in sight. All of a sudden, she collided with something rock hard and bounced back onto her butt painfully. She felt tears coming on - being the crybaby she was - but held them back, instead scrambling to her feet, humiliated. That wall wasn't there before, surely?

"Sorry, my bad," said a deep voice.

Fallon swallowed and stepped out the way as the person walked off without a second glance. She looked up, suddenly wondering why on earth the clouds looked so bold and clear today, why colours seemed much truer. And why- Eyes widened like saucers, Fallon pulled on her hood and dropped her head to coax her hair into her vision, panicked and crouching in the corner. No-one saw her, right?

Calbee's POV

"Callie, c'mon, let's just skip today!" Sky suggested, his bright green eyes gleaming in excitement.

I shook my head but looked at my watch, noticing that we were already a couple minutes late and Ma'am held a tremendous grudge against us, therefore willing to grasp any chance of punishment, "Oh, Sky, the things you make me do," I laughed, taking his offered hand and starting the mini-trek towards the park, as we always did on skip days.

Looking up when I feel something pull my hand from Sky's, I noticed something tiny and weak bumping into him. I was meaning to lean forward and tell it to back off, but realised it was just The Nobody. The Nobody was one of the students in my year who hid itself in baggy clothing, hence by I couldn't give it a proper he/she pronoun. Who knows what was under there? Rumour had it that it was a horrible boy who hid himself because looking at his underdeveloped features might put you in complete shock - being in a magical world, that sounded plausible, but I preferred to keep the mystery. And apparently, so did everyone else - no-one bothered The Nobody or tried to talk to it, meaning it was left to be the lonely little student who sat by itself during lunch. Sad, but true.

All in the space of five seconds, my careless smile dropped off my face. Sky muttered a few words and then walked off again, but not before I realised that the concealing hood was swept right off The Nobody. I told myself to look away before I was shocked or turned to stone, but all I could do was stand and watch as confusion coated her features and she pulled her hood right back up. Her. She was... beautiful. I felt oddly self conscious seeing her. Her dark, smooth hair and moon-kissed, clear complexion said it all. Sky pulled at my hand restlessly, wanting to go, but I felt this pull in my chest to go speak to The Nobody, "Wait, I-"

Not waiting, Sky bolted forward, pulling me along helplessly as I struggled to find my footing and at the same time, look at The Nobody who was cowering in the corner.

~Author's Note

I'm aware that I made up the phrase 'moon-kissed' but I meant it to mean basically the opposite of sun-kissed - not necessarily any less gorgeous though. I'm also aware I named Calbee (Callie) after my favourite brand of prawn crackers.

Also, first story, yay! :) I don't know when updates will come with school and all but I'll try update as often as I can. This chapter is 1140ish words, so it is deliberately short. Other chapters will be 2000/3000 ish hopefully. Lastly, @Midnight_Fire_15 , you are effin' amazing <33 HEY NON-EXISTENT READERS - GO CHECK HER OUT! 😂

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