The Chronicle of a Social Pariah
Chapter 2
A wise man once said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Said man was probably not thinking about the twenty-first century.
In modern times, people have homogeneous thoughts when it comes to beauty. Why do you have to be skinny, curvy-where-it-counts, blonde, and overall perfect to earn the adjective "beautiful"? I'd have a few things to say to the idiot who came up with that picture of beautiful.
Maybe it's my near nonexistent social life that keeps me from going blind with the socially accepted version of beauty, but I have always appreciated it in any form it comes in.
Take my best friend, Ian, for example. With his light, mousy hair and oversized glasses, most wouldn't spare him another look. If one were to look closer, they could appreciate his easy smile and deep brown eyes. I often teased him about how girls would be all over him if he ever thought about contacts. He'd just laugh with me and say that I was enough trouble as it was.
My phone vibrated and I pulled it awkwardly from my pocket. When I saw that it was Ian, I opened it and worriedly scanned his text message. He never texted me; This had to be bad.
>>wtf r u??? we need 2 talk<<
I fumbled with the keys, but was able to hit the send button a few seconds later.
>>Meet in library<<
I pocketed the phone and hurried off to the media center. It was nothing special. With only a few hundred books, it was almost entirely filled with empty shelves. I didn't like coming to the library simply because it was so depressing.
I sat down at one of the tables and twiddled my fingers. I went through scenarios of what could be so urgent that Ian couldn't wait another period for school to end. His parents had seemed fine the last time I'd seen them. They were madly in love with each other, so I couldn't imagine that they were getting a divorce. His only sister had died three years ago in a freak accident that had shaken his world. He talked about her sometimes, but it couldn't be about that.
A distant thunder of noise made me jump. I had mistakenly thought that I was alone. I shifted in my seat and scanned the room until I saw something move from behind one of the shelves.
I was contemplating calling out and asking who was there when a tall boy stepped out from one of the aisles. Although he was on the other side of the room, I couldn't take my eyes off of his light red hair.
"Angelina, you wouldn't belie-oh my god."
I met Ian's eyes and grinned sheepishly. "What?"
His eyes were practically bulging from his head. "What do you mean 'what'? Have you seen yourself! I heard the rumors, but I never thought..."
"Ian, sit down. You look like you're about to have a heart attack."
He didn't move. "My god, Angie. You're beautiful."
My heart skipped a beat. Beautiful. Someone had finally called me beautiful. I blushed and smiled shyly. "Beautiful? Really?"
"Yes, so beautiful. What happened?"
"I don't know."
"So did you accidently sign up for Extreme Makeover or were you attacked, knocked unconscious, abducted by aliens, and given the body of a supermodel?"
I glared at him. "Gee, thanks-and here I was thinking that you didn't mind how I looked before."
"You looked fine before, but yes-now you're not even recognizable. The only reason I knew it was you was your necklace."
