♡THE STORY OF ELECTRA HEART♡

PART THREE

♡Beauty Queen♡

            “Let’s head to the square!” she declares, snapping from her trance.

            Electra burns out her cigarette on her thigh and tosses it into the street, getting the hell out of the neighborhood. The square’s a cluster of shops at our small town’s epicenter and most of the kids like to hang out here. There’s a boutique shop that sells vintage clothes that Electra is absolutely in love with, and every time we go to the square, that’s the first place we go.

            A couple kids from school gawk at us as we move down the sidewalk, but that isn’t anything new. Electra is a local celebrity and I’ve grown to accept that. Aimlessly, she pops in a stick of bubblegum, and places another in the palm of my hand. Bubblegum is Electra’s foolproof plan of not getting caught smoking because it completely masks the smell.

            “Anything you’re looking for in particular today?” she asks me.

            “A new varsity jacket because Lafina took my other one,” I admit.

            “Why do you wear those ratty things?” she wonders aloud.

            “It’s my signature thing! Jesus, Electra. Not everyone can dress like a fucking pinup,” I snap at her.

            She simply shrugs and we stroll into the shop.

            “Electra darling! You look fabulous as always!” trills the shopkeeper, who is utterly infatuated with Electra. She is literally obsessed.

            Electra simply ignores her and begins searching through clothes.

            “The modeling agent called again,” she announces, pushing me to the side.

            Oh no, not the bloody modeling agent again. This crazy bitch sent Electra’s school photo into an agency from London, and they absolutely adored her. Since then it’s the only thing she talks about, especially when we shop here.

            “Electra’s going to be a model,” they all whisper.

            Well, she’s certainly pretty enough to be one. A representative from the agency even came all the way here to take a few pictures of her. He told me I had nice cheekbones, and Electra made the man leave instantly. I stole not even an ounce of the fame from her and she flipped out. Since then other modeling agencies have contacted her, and she’s taken photos with all of them, but I’m forbidden to go on the set. Electra isn’t even famous and she already needs every light focused on her. I always tell her that I support her “career” but I know deep in my heart that she’ll never make it.

            Even more radical than the modeling agencies is the fact that there’s a fan club for her at school. People literally worship her and her beauty. Ironically, it’s the people who love her the most that she hates the most. I’ve concluded that this is because they turn her from a person into a body, and she is one hell of a body.