Lethal Beauty

I - Perfect Score

Two weeks ago.

FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.

"HAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHA!"

"I've never seen a high school student fail an entrance exam in a university three times in a row!" said one of his classmates sporting a spiky hairstyle that he was certain killed more spiders than any other household products.

"What a hopeless idiot!" said his friend, one with yellow braces. "Since you're a pretty boy, just find a rich husband and be a housewife instead. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Abel Hershel Rosenthal couldn't even recall the reason why he was friends with these bullies. He must've been desperate for friends if these were the kinds of people, he went out with in his whole senior high school life. Sighing, he gathered his belongings went to his bike, and pedaled straight to his house.

Abel lived in a small town in Puglia with only around 10,000 people in population and one of its most special characteristics was the cone-shaped, white-tipped houses that looked as though they had been perpetually dusted by snow. They called it "trulli" and it clustered in pockets of Puglia like wild fungi. Abel loved his town, they were coined one of the most peaceful towns in southern Italy, and biking was among his favorite hobbies.

"I'm home!"

"Good!" Janne Rosenthal, a fifty-year-old something was his grandmother, famous in their town for having exotic beauty due to her oriental ancestry. She has long, curly hair, a petite figure, and barely any wrinkles on her face. In the simplest of terms, she was a classic beauty.

Not waiting for Abel to even change his clothes, Janne already made him carry a dozen garments that he almost lost his balance. "What is this?"

"We have lots of wealthy customers waiting for their clothes. Don't ask any more questions and just help me, you lazy lass..."

Abel couldn't hide the scowl on his face. "Just so you know, I failed another college entrance exam."

"Don't worry about it. You can stay here with me and be a seamstress. Who cares about college?"

"I do!" Abel was frustrated. "I don't want to be a seamster."

"What's wrong with being a seamster? Don't think I'll just accept you. You need to earn a certificate first but I'm not worried about that. You're already familiar with fittings and alterations. It's going to be a bright future."

Abel rolled his eyes as he carried more of his grandmother's materials to the van. "Yeah, sure. I can't hardly wait..." he mumbled to himself.

⛧☾༺♰༻☽⛧

As far as he could tell, he wasn't actually that stupid, but he wasn't very bright either. To be fair to himself, he scored higher on quizzes compared to those two morons he called 'friends', and yet he was the only one in the group who couldn't pass a college entrance exam. Forget about the elite universities, there was no hope for that. But he should be able to at least be accepted in a decent college, right? Or should he accept the fact that there was probably no hope for him and he would probably just accept whatever his school offered or, like his grandmother very well pointed out, become a tailor like her!

Now, being a seamster wasn't such a bad thing and his grandmother was already well-known in town so he would never run out of clients. However, it wasn't his dream. He wanted to be a historian! Travel the world, study ancient relics, and become a scholar. In fact, history was his favorite subject and the only one he had taken seriously.

So, why in the world couldn't he pass a single college entrance exam?!

Again, for the sake of fairness, he had only taken at least five. Two of them were from a prominent university and he was only trying his luck. It was most likely the case of the nerves.