The Perks of Being Too Beautiful

Ch3; Once Again

Chapter Three

It is 5AM when the sun begins to rise. I wake up to find that Cullen isn't in my room. He isn't in the bathroom or the living room either. I go into the kitchen and find a note from him telling me he went somewhere this morning, and he will be back at 6. I decide.. to wait for him, and lie on the couch.

Tom and Jerry is on TV but I can't stop wondering about where Cullen had gone. Maybe it had something to do with his father being back. I begin to wonder if Cullen kept something about his family from me that he doesn't want me to know about. I think about the times I saw his mom. His mom is extremely young, had Cullen at age 16, but she looks physically older. She is weak, and already has poor eyesight and white hair. She is often in pain and can't do everyday tasks for a long time. But she is a very happy, and a generous woman and always smiles. She always offers to do things for me that I know will be great difficulty for her. Cullen loves her very much.

It is the exact opposite for his father. I only met him once three years ago. Cullen and I were having a movie night at his house and his mom was in the kitchen fixing up some snacks for us. It was late at night and it was storming, perfect weather for our movie night where we would snuggle underneath our fort. Cullen, his mom, and I were laughing when suddenly the door opened and a man walked in. Everyone stopped laughing right away and froze. I didn't know what was going on but Cullen's mom quietly told Cullen to take me back into the bedroom. Cullen obeyed and quickly took me away from the living room. As he was pushing me, I took a quick glance at the man. He was wearing a suit, and stood tall and straight. He looked young, like in early 30s but it was hard to tell. He had Cullen's expressionless face, except more colder, like he demands to be listened and obeyed. Cullen took me to his bedroom and closed the door. "What's going on?" I asked him. He held me tight and didn't say anything. He buried his face into my shoulder. Outside, I heard yelling. The man's low, husky voice screaming at Cullen's mother, and her trembling voice crying. I couldn't make out most of what they said, but I heard her say that she wasn't going to leave Cullen the way he left. It was 2AM when it quiet down and Cullen's mom said it was okay for Cullen and I to go back outside. Things were broken, glass was shattered. Cullen's mom told me that the man was Cullen's father who left when Cullen was a little boy. They didn't tell me a reason why, and I was afraid to ask. I never talked to him about his dad again.

My eyes begin dozing off when Cullen comes back. He slaps my face awake and throws my glasses to the other side of the room. "Cullen!" I yell.

"Stop wearing those fake glasses. We both know it's not real, and get your hair out of your face," Cullen demands. "Why don't you wear actual clothes for once?"

"What the hell! Why are you so--"

Cullen shoves shopping bags into my face to shut me up. "These are for you."

"You went shopping?" I stare at the bags, "how did you get the money?"

"My dad." Cullen sits on the couch next to me.

I am silent for a while. He went to see his dad?

I pull out some of the clothes out from the bags. The clothes looks similar to most of what the girls at our school wear. It is very fashionable, bold, and chic, the opposite of what I wear. What I wear are old oversized tees that I cut up and paint on. Cullen calls them rags but I like them. The more messier, the more cooler it is to me. I look at the clothes Cullen bought. He still knew to buy rock clothes though, but still.

"Cullen, I'm not going to wear these," I say, putting the clothes back into the bags.

"Too bad. I bought them for you so you're gonna wear them," Cullen says, crossing his arms.