Gene was handsome, so he lived on the Pretty side of the city.
The city, and every city for that matter, was divided into two halves; one for the Uglies, the other for the Pretties. Their names were descriptions of themselves, the Uglies were ugly, and the Pretties were pretty.
The Uglies were on the smaller half of the town, which was rundown and the buildings were crowded together. They were in charge of all the hard work and labor in the city, keeping all of the negative stuff in life contained. They got into fights with each other all of the time, and were always infected by some sort of disease.
The Pretties were the exact opposite. Their section of the city was massive and high-tech, a paradise of never-ending fun and opportunities. There were calm, beautiful parks, and the buildings were evenly spaced out so no one became claustrophobic or cramped. They had all the good stuff in life, and never got into fights with one another except for when it came to what to wear to a party.
Gene took in a deep breath, enjoying the cool breeze as he was taking his morning stroll. He loved how peaceful and quiet the mornings were on the Pretty side of the city, a complete opposite of the nighttime hours. At these hours, the Pretties were just beginning to go to bed, after a long night of partying and drinking. It was the complete opposite for the Uglies, who were just starting to wake up and... well, Gene didn't know what they did exactly. He knew they sure didn't throw big parties, though.
His smile disappeared as his eyes travelled across the water, landing on the Ugly side of the city. That place was so rundown, it was probably invested by filthy rodents and bugs. Gene had learned a bit about their side, in one of his classes. The classes weren't mandatory, but he hadn't known what else to do with his time. He knew their water wasn't as clean as theirs, though.
As usual, he saw that one specific Ugly across the water. Irene, he still couldn't get over how hideous their clothes were. Pretties had a variety of clothes, most of which were flashy and colorful. Uglies, however, had dark clothes. The brightest clothes they had were a nauseating orange, so bright they were like sore thumbs. They seemed to be one piece of clothing too, and Gene always saw the Uglies wearing them when they were working.
The Ugly saw Gene across the water, too. They raised their arm, waving to him. It was a thing of respect and praise, for an Ugly to greet a Pretty whenever they saw one. The Pretties ignored them most of the time, because they were unable to stand their hideous looks.
Gene stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, which was red like an apple. He turned away from the Ugly, managing not to gag when he saw their face. Well, he couldn't really see their face, because they wore a metal mask to shield their true looks. In his classes, Gene had learned that some Uglies were so ugly that they had to wear masks to make themselves look somewhat normal.
He made his way back to his home, a mansion he shared with some other Pretties, including his younger brother. He greeted the wardens as they passed by, making sure no Uglies were sneaking out of the Pretty side, after sneaking in.
He opened the door to his room in the mansion, and was greeted by his younger brother passed out on the couch. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, half of his brother's body wasn't even on the couch. Irene, that blue haired idiot would have such a hangover when he woke up that night.
He plopped onto his bed, closing his eyes and getting some sleep.
~~~~
That night's party was a costume theme.
Gene had decided on going as a Vampire, a classical choice, but still a very popular one. Even though the skeletons were all the rage this month, the costumes for them were nothing but a black bodysuit with cartoon bones printed on.
He had meet up with his usual group at the food tables, Zenix and Sasha joining him only a few minutes later. They were called the Shadow Knights, and they were known for breaking the city's rules and causing trouble. Hell, one time they had been caught trying to sneak into the Ugly side.
Sasha had decided to dress as a Fallen Angel, with real feathers on her costume wings. She was wearing thick layers of black eyeshadow and mascara, making her dark violet eyes stand out against her pale white skin. Zenix had gone with one of the tougher costumes, dressing up as an assassin of some sort.
After a hour or so of partying, Gene could have swore he saw someone leave the party. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but this person was sneaking out of the mansion, like they were afraid to get caught by the others. After excusing himself from his group, he headed off in their direction, following them outside of the mansion.
The strange person looked over their shoulder, to make sure they hadn't been followed. When they saw Gene not that far behind them, they went into a panic and started running. In that small second where they were staring at each other, Gene could see a slight reflection of the moonlight against a metal surface. Silently cussing, he started to run after them.
Damn costume, Gene thought grumpily, nearly tripping on the outfit a bunch of times.
The strange person had been running for the stone bridge that connected the two sides of the city, one of the few structures of the Pretty side that didn't have modern technology in it. They seemed to be getting faster and faster as they neared it, running with a stronger desperation than before. This desperation to get to the bridge increased whenever they looked over their shoulder, and saw that Gene was still pursuing them.
So they're an Ugly, Gene thought, now feeling a bit sick. No wonder they were trying to sneak out. Question is... how did they get this far into our side anyway?
Gene didn't know why he was still chasing after the Ugly, but he knew he wasn't going to stop when his feet hit the cold stone bridge. Up ahead, the Ugly tripped on a loose section of the stone. They let out a small yelp as they fell, their face hitting the stone with a loud clatter.
Gene caught up to the Ugly, grabbing them by the shoulders. The Ugly let out a startled cry, trying desperately to get out of his grasp. Gene flipped them over, so he was looking at their face. Or... what should have been their face. Instead, in the pale moonlight and artificial lighting of the bridge lights, he was meet with a mask of cold, solid metal.
It was the Ugly from across the river.
(Update on my chicks: They're still alive. I'm not hurting them just because they only let me get two hours of sleep that one night.)
