Love is Beautiful (She's so Ugly)

Interlude

 Lisa's Boiling Point

"The nerve of that guy!" Lisa exploded, stomping her foot as she stopped in the locker aisle. Her chest rose and fell like she had just run a marathon. "Curse that asshole!"

Her parents were already ruining her day, and then Leo just had to throw gasoline on it. She was at her boiling point. The truth was, Lisa had a terrible temper—always had. And when she couldn't take it out on others, she turned it inward. Hurting herself was easier than hurting people... but that didn't make it any less monstrous.

"What the hell took you so long, Lisa?" Candice asked the second Lisa arrived at their meeting spot. "What's with the long face?"

"I'm just having a damn bad day!" Lisa snapped, rolling her eyes with a heavy sigh. She planted her hands on her hips, glaring at Candice. "So? Why are we here?"

Candice's lips curved into a wicked grin, the kind that always made Lisa uneasy. "Guess who fell right into our trap?"

Lisa arched a brow. "Who?"

"Jacob!" Candice squealed, followed by the group's chorus of cruel laughter. "Can you believe it? Who would waste their time on ugly little Merida? Told you he was just passing the time with her!"

Lisa frowned, lowering her gaze. She liked Jacob once—because he was nice. Because he was different. And sure, she hated when he got tangled up with Merida... but to just toss her aside like that? That wasn't the Jacob she thought she knew.

"Are you not happy, Lisa?" Candice pressed, her grin sharp as a blade. "We finally showed that ugly duckling where she belongs!"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Lisa forced out a laugh, cold and hollow. "That's... great."

But her unease slipped through anyway. "Don't you think we've hurt her enough? The plan with the drinks—you're not really going through with that, are you?"

Candice's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean? Don't tell me you're going soft for that loser?"

Lisa's stomach twisted. She knew that look—Candice didn't forgive betrayal.

"What? Of course not!" Lisa snapped, shaking her head quickly. She plastered on a smirk, burying the guilt clawing at her chest. "Who cares about a nobody like her? Let's do it. It's not like it'll hurt us."

Candice relaxed, satisfied, and the others broke into giggles again. But inside, Lisa's thoughts screamed. She was scared. Not of Merida—no, Merida was harmless. She was scared of herself. Scared of the person she was becoming.

Candice clapped her hands together. "Right now, Merida's helping with the play. The girls will lure her in—easy as pie."

"She's dumb enough to fall for anyone acting nice," one of the girls snickered.

"Yeah, she sure is," Lisa muttered, forcing herself to agree.

Later that afternoon, as Lisa headed to the cafeteria, she caught sight of Jacob... with Elise. Her stomach dropped. If he still wasn't over his ex, then why even bother dating Merida?

Disappointment stung sharper than she wanted to admit. This just proved it—liking someone was fine until you actually got to know them. Then the butterflies died, one by one.

Lisa turned her head and kept walking, pretending she hadn't seen a thing. But guilt gnawed at her. She wanted to say sorry to Merida. To admit she'd gone too far.

But with Candice around? Impossible. One loser was already enough for their circle.

That evening, Lisa sat in the theater, nerves gnawing at her stomach. On stage, Merida's hands floated over piano keys, pulling a sad melody from the air.

In the half-light, Lisa's gaze drifted. Brandon and Leo sat near the front. The old best friend. The new one. And both—both—watched Merida with the same look of quiet awe.

Lisa's chest tightened. How could one girl be admired by two while she... while nobody ever looked at her? Just once, she wished someone would.

She left halfway through, unable to bear it. Outside, she texted Candice a long paragraph: I don't want to hurt Merida anymore. I'm out.

The reply came fast. One word, all caps: BITCH.

Lisa scoffed, deleting Candice and the others' numbers. Fine. Alone again. Who cares? It was the last year of high school anyway.

She lingered outside the theater, waiting. Careful to avoid Candice's crew, she only wanted to warn Merida before the trap closed.

But then it happened. Merida got lured out. The girls led her straight to the karaoke place. Lisa's pulse spiked. She crouched in a narrow alley, watching, frozen.

"What do I do?" she whispered. "She's going to get hurt."

The drama club girls slipped out laughing, leaving Merida inside. Lisa panicked. Maybe Jacob could help—he had before.

But before she could act, a blur shot past her.

Leo.

He moved like the wind, disappearing into the building. Lisa blinked once, twice, five times, but the world was still in slow motion.

Candice's scowl dragged her back to reality. The plan had failed—Leo ruined it.

Moments later, Leo emerged carrying Merida in his arms. A cab screeched to the curb. And just like that, they were gone.

Lisa stepped out of the shadows, face unreadable.

"That loser..." she muttered, voice cracking as the words left her. "He really went for her. "