The Price of Beauty

II

Eva ran and ran. Where she was headed, she did not know. All that mattered was getting as far away from that dreadful school as possible. Halfway to her neighborhood, Eva halted from exhaustion. Panting heavily, she tried wiping her face dry, only to have fresh drops fall from her eyes once again.

Where am I going? Home? No, Eva couldn't go there. Her mother would yell at her for ditching school, and her father would come home and ground her. Her parents valued education and hard work, and were very strict with her to do well and be responsible. Eva tried, but many times she fell short of their expectations. She was always a disappointment some way or another, a walking failure in brains and beauty. Eva sometimes wondered if her parents were ashamed of her.

"You're too hideous for this world anyway."

Lissa's words rang in her ears. Yes, her parents must be ashamed. Eva was a curse to the world. No one could love her, not like this.

Eva tore her watery eyes from her neighborhood and took another direction. She dashed into the surrounding forest, not caring whether she got lost. She just wanted to be away from all the shit people in her life.

Eva ran at full speed for a good three minutes before finally slowing to a walk. The trees grew thicker and darker as she made her way deeper into the woods. After a while, she let herself fall next to a large tree trunk to cry her eyes out. Why did everything have to be so unfair all the time? Eva was a nice person, so why couldn't anyone like her like she deserved? Why couldn't Vince?

What the hell does he, or anyone else, see in that rotten whore Lissa? God, I'd do anything anything to get rid of her! Eva sobbed some more, letting her glasses rest on the ground beside her so she could weep freely. She knew why Vince chose Lissa. Lissa was beautiful, and beautiful people always got whatever they wanted.

After an hour of crying, Eva groggily stood up. She heaved a shaky sigh, put her glasses back on, and scanned her dingy surroundings. Eva hadn't realized how deep into the forest she'd come. Patches of daylight poked through the thick branches of leaves above, allowing her little light to work with. She cautiously started walking back the way she thought she came, but stopped when the path split into multiple directions and got confusing.

Which way? Eva thought worriedly. The reality of being lost hit her hard, and the feeling worsened when odd noises and howls arose from the deeper thickets of the woods.

Trying not to cry again, Eva took a deep breath and chose the farthest left. She was bound to end up somewhere eventually. As she walked, she noticed the heavy grass becoming thinner and a new gravel path close by. Hope swelled in her chest. Yes, I'm getting somewhere.

Eva followed the gravel until she came across a little old log cabin. Smoke wafted from its chimney, and Eva found it really weird. Who would ever want to live in the middle of this freaky forest alone?

It was random and a bit unnerving, but Eva was desperate to get directions out of here. If anyone knew the woods well enough, it should be whoever lived in that cabin.

So Eva timidly went to the door and knocked. The door creaked open on its own. She heard the crackly voice of an aged woman call sweetly from inside, "Come in, child."

Eva hesitated, feeling very nervous.

"No need to be frightened, I won't bite," said the old lady.

How did she know? The door was only ajar, and the voice had come from farther into the dark cabin. There was no way the woman could have seen Eva's reluctancy.

Shivering, Eva slowly pushed the door in and stepped inside. The cabin was one dim room, lit by only a few candles. A woman with long, straw-like gray hair sat on a chair in the middle of the space, with her back facing Eva. She was utterly still, and did not move even when Eva had come in. The image made her insides squirm, and Eva questioned whether being here was a good idea.

"Um, excuse me?" she squeaked.

The woman stood and turned away from the chair. Eva gasped at the lady's horrifying appearance. Her body was short and greatly hunched, heavy wrinkles creased her pale shrewd face, the nose and jaw was much too protruded, and when she smiled, all Eva saw was yellow and black rotted teeth.

"Hello," greeted the hag, her black beady eyes studying the young girl before her. "You wanted something dear?"

"Um, never mind," Eva mumbled quickly. She turned to the door, only to see it slam shut on its own. Eva gulped.

What did I get myself into?