Ugly Duckling: No One Wants Me [Completed]

Chapter 2

As soon as I press the intercom I check the time, I am 30 minutes late. I'll never hear the end of this. The gate opens a few seconds later. I rush to the front door I don't even get the chance to knock, the door is swung open and I am standing in front of my furious mother.

"Why do you always have to come late" she asks very angrily. "Well mama ngiyaxolisa (I'm sorry), Nobuhle told me after 7 that I have to use amataxi (the taxis) to get here" I tell her hoping she stops shouting.

But this is my mom we're talking about. "Why do you depend on your sister's car? Remember you're the one with qualifications you don't need a man to take care of you. So why do you want Nobuhle to fetch you with her car that her husband has bought for her?" she asks.

I don't answer her I just walk into the house. Nobuhle's husband bought her a car 2 years back and my mom told me that I should also get married so my husband can buy me a car. I told her that once I have my qualifications I will buy myself a car I don't need a man to do that for me. Well I've been working as a freelance writer for 3 of South Africa's biggest newspapers, but I know that a car is a liability it doesn't determine a person's wealth. I want to own a house first. Right now I'm renting a flat. Well my sisters may have the beauty in the family but I definitely have the brains.

As soon as I walk in I bump into Richard's cousins, Thabo. He walks towards me to give me a hug. After hugging me he tells me that I look beautiful I know he means nice dress. Because about a year ago when I started showing interest in him he told me it will never work out I'm just too damn ugly for him to date me. So since then I hardly talk to him. One of the other guys also says the same.

"That dress suits you, you have a very nice body, pity I can't say the same thing about your face" he says that out too loud the whole house laughs.

I thank him and walk away. My parents never defend me, so I learnt to take all those comments and say thank you. A lot people always say that I have a nice body but as soon as they see my face they run into the opposite direction. So yeah I am the ugly duckling and no one wants me. My self esteem is so messed up that's why I chose to be a freelance writer. Even though I'm used to these comments sometimes they are too much. I passed most of my modules with distinctions obtaining both my degree and honours qualifications with cum laude. The comments people made about my looks really motivated me. I had to show them that I may not have the looks but I definitely have the brains. I made it to The Star's front page twice when I obtained my degree and honours. So many companies wanted me but because of my low self esteem I took part time posts.

"The yellow looks good on you" Nonjabulo tells me and she walks away.

My sisters are used to getting all the compliments when it comes to looks, marriage and kids things that I don’t have. But as soon as someone comments about my qualifications and body I see sour faces and they try to change the topic back to looks, marriage and kids. Well my grand mom also told me that there's no point of having the best house, cars and qualifications if I don't have a husband or a child. I never felt good enough. What am I supposed to do when guys don't ask me out, force them to? I've never met a guy who can hold a decent conversation. They all brag about material things. Things that don't impress me. I need a guy who's smart, someone who can think out of the box.

"Are you going to stand there, or you going to come eat", my mom asks.

I stand in between Richard's cousin as soon as I dish up everything on the table they mock me and the whole room starts to laugh.

"I always tell her that if she keeps eating like that, no man is going to marry her but she won't listen, Buhle my beautiful daughter can you dish up for Mbali. No wonder she says she doesn't need a man because she acts like one" says my dad.

I am used to such comments so I just ignore them. I'm about to dig in when the plate is rudely taken away by my mother. They may treat me like this every time I see them which is becoming less and less but a person can take things to a certain point and right now I can't stand this. So I stand walk out the door, and leave the Mabuza premises. I wait for the taxi for almost 20 minutes. After 2 hours I am back at my flat. I take off my shoes and go straight to bed. I must have been sleeping for more than 5 hours cause I woken by someone banging in the front door and it’s already dark outside. It's summer the sun sets after 7pm. I walk to the kitchen and peep through the peeping hole and I see my parents and sisters standing on my door. I open the door and walk in looking very mad.

"Why do you always cause a scene. It's not like all the stuff that was said today is new. I mean you don't have the looks and eat so much like a boy" Nobuhle sneers looking at me.

"I'm surprised she's not eating" says my mom.

"She was sleeping, I hope you're not pregnant..." Nobuhle doesn't even finish the sentence when my parents burst out laughing.

"Mbali preg? Who'd impregnate her, she doesn't even have a boyfriend" that's my mom.

They are busy talking they don't even hear me calling the security. As soon as they knock they all stop talking and turn to me, with a smile on my face, I open the door and move aside. The security takes them out, but not without a fight. My mom and Nobuhle are very dramatic. Nonjabulo was always sweet and we were kinda close but that's before she got married she changed, she started looking down on me. When they are in the hallway I wave them goodbye and close the door. I don't have the energy to do anything. I take a quick shower change to my pjs and I take my laptop to watch the new medical detectives episode that are recently uploaded. I must have fallen asleep because I am waken by my alarm. I switch it off and I go back to sleep, I wake up 3 hours later. I make breakfast after eating I take a quick shower, gosh I am so lazy to comb my hair so I wear a doek, make my bed, wash the dishes and I go to my closet to look for an outfit. I buy food every week, I hate going out but I go out at least once a week. I usually go out to buy groceries on a Saturday but yesterday I wasn't home. I take a taxi to Campus Square. The queues at the stores are crazy but it's the festive season, parents are already spending their bonuses on stupid things. I decide to buy food that will last me for a month from now, because during the festive I won't find anything.

As soon as I am done I take a taxi back to the flat. I check my personal email account. I have 2 email accounts one is for my personal stuff and the other is for work. I last checked my personal email in May, gosh. When I refresh my inbox, I get 540 new emails. This is shocking given that I do not have friends and stuff like that. I got through the first 50 when I'm about to give up I see an email from the University of Johannesburg for my Master's application gosh I even forgot that I applied for Master's degree and they accepted my qualification months ago and I am only seeing it now wow. I should check out my personal email account more often. I hate cooking so I eat a jam and butter 8 slices sandwich and I go to sleep I need to work tomorrow.