Love is Beautiful (She's so Ugly)

Chapter III.i

That made Candice look back and forced Merida to open her eyes. Everyone was shocked by Jacob's sudden interference.

When Jacob entered the hallway earlier, he had already heard plenty of stories about the "ugly girl" who bumped into Candice. There was only one person they ever called ugly — Merida. So he rushed to the crowd and saw Candice cornering her. Merida wouldn't even fight back, and nobody tried to defend her.

"Oh hey! This b***h here bumped into me, and I bet she did it on purpose!" Candice yelled so everyone could hear.

Jacob glanced at Merida, but she only looked away. He knew what might happen. If Merida really had bumped into Candice, he was sure it wasn't intentional.

Without hesitation, Jacob grabbed Merida's hand and pulled her away from Candice. Everyone gasped loudly. Their eyes were locked on Jacob holding Merida's hand.

"We all know you, Candice, so let's not lie," Jacob said through gritted teeth as he dragged Merida out of the crowd.

After they left, everyone who had witnessed the scene started whispering, and Candice didn't like it one bit. When they were finally far enough away, Jacob let go.

"Why didn't you fight back?" Jacob asked in frustration, a frown on his face.

Merida stayed quiet, tears streaming down her cheeks — not because of the pain Candice caused, but because of the kindness Jacob had just shown her. No one had ever done something like this for her in a long time. It felt so new.

"You've got to learn to fight back if you want to survive school," Jacob said again.

He looked at the crying Merida and sighed. Bad timing — he had forgotten his handkerchief, and her tears kept falling. I can't just leave her crying, he thought. So he pulled her into a hug.

Merida was shocked by the sudden gesture. She tried to push him away, but he held firm.

"Why?" Merida asked softly, almost like she had just exhaled.

Why? Jacob didn't know either. He didn't know why he was acting this way. He didn't know why he kept trying to see something in this girl. Why?

"It seems like I've found a one-of-a-kind beauty in you. It's so fragile that I want to lock it away from the world. The cruel world and its insensitive people — they don't deserve you," he finally said.

For the first time, Merida felt that maybe — just maybe — she wasn't as invisible as she thought.