The Price of Beauty

Prologue

What Eva wanted more than anything was acceptance. Acceptance from her parents, her peers, and most of all, her best (and only) friend, Vincent Parker.

They had met years ago at the local playground, when five year old Vince had taunted Eva on her lopsided sandcastle. She then threw a handful of sand over his head, and that was pretty much where it had all started. After weeks of horsing around, the two had developed a close friendship that lasted for years.

Eva Farrow was a cute child, but as time went on, puberty took its toll on her. She became skinny, lanky, and awkward. Small, red, ugly bumps surfaced all over her forehead, and unlike many girls her age, she did not develop curves at all. In fact, one could say she was as flat as a board. She was cursed with terrible eyesight and wore thick, heavy frames that magnified her boring brown eyes twice their size. Her long chestnut hair was a poof of gnarly frizz that she kept groomed in a tight ponytail.

Eva had never given her looks a second thought when she was a tween, but that all changed when she entered high school and Vince came home from a summer spent in California with his family. He had come back bigger, tanner, and smoother than before. He no longer looked like a silly little boy, but a handsome young man. Eva had to tilt her head upward to talk to him now.

It brought him into a new light, and seeing Vince swarmed by a bunch of other, more attractive girls at school was a little discomforting for Eva, especially since those girls would skim her up and down with distaste, as if they couldn't comprehend why a guy like Vince would ever want to be seen with a thing like Eva.

For a while, Eva tried accepting Vince as just a friend, but lately, she found herself yearning for something more...satisfying, concerning her relationship with the boy. Little did she know, Eva would soon obtain everything she desired, but for a terrible price.