The Price of Beauty

X

Eva entered the kitchen through the back door of her house, bright and early on Monday morning--the weekend after the dreadful Ball Night. Her parents sat at the table, eating breakfast.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Mr. Farrow greeted cheerfully.

Eva kissed his cheek with a smile. "Morning, Dad."

"Where have you been all weekend?"

Mrs. Farrow rolled her eyes at her husband as she forked through scrambled eggs. "Well obviously she was with Vincent, dear. Good for you, Eva."

Eva beamed. "Thanks, Mom."

"Going to school today, hon?" her father asked her.

Eva shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. What do you care?"

They all laughed, heartily.

Eva headed upstairs, feeling proud of herself. Her parents were no longer overbearing, so now Eva can be grateful to have them back in her life.

~~*~~*~~

Eva strolled down the halls of Forest Creek High, with kids shoving past her as they usually did. Eva didn't mind. Things felt more normal this way.

No one remembered anything from the past month, since Eva had their real memories replaced with false ones. To the rest of the school, Ball Night was a huge success and everyone enjoyed their time. Vincent Parker won Ball Night King, Lissa Fox won Queen, and no one was injured or dead.

Eva watched Vince flirt with Lissa down the hall. She sighed, knowing that this was how it would have to be for now. It was the best she could do, with ten years of study. Twenty would have granted her further back in months--and Lissa's existence wiped clean--but after eight years of memorizing passages from The Modification of Time, Eva lost her patience and went with what she could do within her small town. As long as Vince was alive, Eva didn't care. She'd learn to live in the moment.

Eva squared her shoulders and walked over to the couple, her heart thudding. Vince's eyes lit up when he noticed her, and Eva almost fainted. She hadn't seen her best friend up close in so long; it was everything she could do to not burst into tears right then and there.

"Hey Vince," she said, nervously.

"Hey monkey!" he replied. Eva grinned, happy to hear her friend sounding like his old self.

"What do you want, rat?" Lissa sneered.

Eva grimaced. This, she never missed. Eva hadn't gone back to her "ugly" looks or anything, but it seemed Lissa would always see her as so.

"Don't call her that," Vince scolded. Lissa scowled as he turned back to Eva and said, "So, Eva, it feels like we haven't hung out in forever--"

Again, Eva fought back tears. Oh Vince...if only you knew.

"--and I think you should come over after school. We can watch a movie or something after homework. And I promise I won't hog the popcorn this time." He winked and Eva's heart fluttered. She didn't care if Vince saw her as only a friend. She was super ecstatic to have his company again, just the way it was.

"Yeah," Eva replied eagerly. "Let's do it."

Lissa was not pleased with this. "You're kidding," she said, her tone nasty. "Vince, you wanna know what Eva really thinks of you?" Her eyes gleamed mischievously as she pulled out what she thought was Eva's drawing from her handbag, and handed it to Vince.

Eva narrowed her glare, but stood back as Vince unfolded the page and stared at it.

"Um..." Vince looked like he wasn't sure what to say.

Lissa cackled. "She's so lame, isn't she?"

"Lissa, this is just a long list of things you hate about Eva."

The cackling ceased immediately. "What?!" She snatched the page out of Vince's hand and studied it, her cheeks reddening when she saw that it was in fact, a hate list taken from her own notebook.

Eva simpered. Got you.

"Obsessed much?" Vince said, angered.

Lissa shook her head, rapidly. "No wait, this is just--"

"You know what, just shut up, alright?" Vince snapped. "I'm sick of you being a bitch to Eva. She did nothing to you, but you keep treating her like shit. And now you're making lists about her? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Lissa was frozen in embarrassment. Half the hallway was listening in by now. Eva could hardly believe what was happening. None of what Vince said was through any influence of magic! None at all!

"B-But she's--" Lissa stuttered, "she's, like, a freak!"

The hallway filled with titters. Vince scoffed. "What the fuck are you talking about? Eva outshines you any day of the week! The only freak here is you."

Lissa gaped, her words lost. Eva blushed, thankful she had decided to keep her prettier appearance.

Vince laughed. "You are so jealous, it's actually kind of funny. Eva's my best friend. And you're nothing to me, Lissa."

And with that, Vince put his arm around Eva's waist and led her away, leaving a humiliated Lissa behind. Eva hadn't even bothered to smirk victoriously at the stupid brunette. Instead, her eyes teared up, this time out of joy and love for her friend. No one had ever stuck up for her like that, and leave it to Vince to be the first one.

"Thank you," she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder. This is bliss...TRUE bliss.

He kissed her head and replied, "No need for thanks, monkey."

Eva smiled happily. I could get used to this.

"Oh by the way--" He stopped to take a book out of his locker and handed it to her. "--you dropped this, like, forever ago and I keep forgetting to give it back to you."

Eva stared at the cover of Truths in Fables, a book that dedicated an entire chapter on the wickedness of witches.

Witches just like Eva.

Eva chuckled, amused. "Thanks. You know, this just might come in handy someday." Or not.

~~*~~*~~

It was Saturday afternoon, and Eva planned to meet Vince at the park. They were getting closer, and Eva knew today would finally be the day he asked her to be his girlfriend. Eva once thought no one could accept her for who she was, and in the end, it sort of turned out to be true. But none of that mattered now. Eva accepted and loved herself, and that was what really mattered.

Eva dabbed a potion on a scaly patch that had popped up on her chin. She tried limiting her use of magic these days, but a little here and there couldn't hurt of course. The spot disappeared, and she went back to beaming vainly at her reflection again. A swan, but only on the outside.

Eva flipped her curled tresses and left her room with a parting wave. Behind her, a young version of Agnes waved back with a proud nod of approval.

~The End~