Bottled Beauty

Bottled Beauty Ch. 5

NOTE: I DO NOT OWN THIS STORY. This is written by an amazing writer named Bianca. I am just posting it to share. The only thing I do own is the cover art.

When I walked into school the next day, I felt like a celebrity.

     “Can I carry your books for you?” a short boy with black glasses asked me, appearing at my side as soon as I had walked through the door. He looked as if he had been battling his nerves for some time before approaching me, but the boldness had won out.

     I wasn’t dressed out of the ordinary. Jeans. A short-sleeved shirt. But I knew that he was experiencing the effects of the perfume. I had looked at myself in the mirror that morning and noted the subtle changes that made me, an average teenager, look beautiful.

     “Um...” I said when the boy stayed by my side. “Sure.” I had never had anyone offer to carry books for me, and he took them with such vigor that he almost yanked me to the ground.

     “I’m so sorry!” he apologized, appalled at what had happened. “It’s just... Celia, I’ve never realized how pretty you are!”

     “I’ve been getting that a lot recently,” I admitted as we strolled to class.

     However, he wasn’t my only ardent follower. As I made my way down to history class, a group of students started amassing around me. A posse of sorts. It felt so odd and yet at the same time, it was nice. Nice to have people I barely knew fawn over me.

     “Your hair is gorgeous!” one girl with thin black hair sighed, fingering her own locks sadly. “What shampoo do you use?”

     “No, her eyes are gorgeous,” a boy with a tower of books in his arms said, staring at me with a lovesick look on his face. “Like pools of water. A sea. Or a brilliant blue sapphire...”

     When I reached my history classroom, I was surprised to see Milo outside waiting for me, dressed in a navy button-down. “Celia?” my friend asked, frowning at the swarm of teens behind me.

     “Hey, Milo,” I said, smiling at him brightly. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have biology or something?”

     “Yeah, but I wanted to give you an update on the perfume...” He looked at the crowd, obviously eavesdropping on our conversation. “Um,” he said, addressing them awkwardly, “could you guys go away?”

     They didn’t move. Instead, they all turned to me in unison to see what I would say. Despite the awkward feeling of having at least thirty pairs of eyes on me, I felt a small rush of power.

     “Um, yeah, guys,” I said to my followers. “I’ll see you after this class, okay?”

     There were a few grumbles, but eventually the short boy handed me my books, the crowd dispersed, and Milo and I were alone.

     “Celia,” he said, looking at me. His face was serious and inquisitive at the same time. “Did you use more perfume?”

     “Just a little last night before bed,” I admitted. I looked up at him. “Can you tell?”

     He shook his head. “You still look the same to me.”

     “Oh,” I said, a little surprised. “That’s weird.”

     “Celia, I don’t like that perfume bottle,” Milo admitted. He shifted from foot to foot, as if unsure of what to say. “Did you see that crowd behind you?”

     “Of course I did.”

     “Celia, they’re all drooling over you,” Milo said.