pizzaface | ✓

4.

AS SOON as Noel came home he was surprised to see his mom bustling around their two storey home. His mom was usually laying in bed watching old Desperate Housewives episodes with a bowl of grapes. But today the house smelt of food—lots of food.

"Mom! What's going on?" Noel had since thrown his backpack off and pulled down his hoodie so he could breath properly.

His mom walked out of the kitchen with a smile on her face. "I'm preparing a buffet, Ron and his daughter are moving in today."

"Today? Oh, I didn't know it'd be so soon."

His mom only shot him a smile before bounding back into the kitchen, her black ponytail swinging as she went.

Noel burst into his room his eyes taking in his scatter of posters, tapered to the wall and the ceiling. He brought out his laptop from his drawer and put up an episode of Steven Universe – his current obsession. Noel had yet to tell anyone but he was planning on creating a cartoon himself, something was so special about watching animated pieces. People had the ability to create new worlds and realms through the process of repeated images, this alone fascinated Noel and he knew he needed a distraction. Something that could make him happy too.

Before he knew it, his mom had opened his room door, her eyes light and hopeful, Kim was excited about what was going to happen next, about what this could mean for them.

"Ron's here, come downstairs for food."

Noel nodded apprehensively. He wasn't ready for Ron to come yet, his home was the only place where he felt mildly comfortable and he knew Ron's presence would take that away from him.

So with that Noel bundled downstairs, not shocked to see Ron already sitting on the dining table. What was strange was the absence of his daughter.

Was she not moving in?

Once Noel sat down at the table, Ron flashed him a smile, but Noel noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes and he wasn't entirely sure why.

Ron had met Noel previously, when they had lunch at a seafood restaurant a few weeks ago. Yet the lighting was dark and he had quite a bit to drink that day so he didn't notice how bad Noel's skin was. You could barely even see his features.

Noel shot a smile back at Ron, but his fingers were gripping into his fork too tight for Noel to be okay. His mom, however, was oblivious and was busy pouring hot pasta into their bowls while chatting away excitedly.

"Ron, where's your daughter?"

"She's staying with her mom today and tomorrow before she moves here permanently. Her mom is moving to New York so she's going to stay here to finish junior and senior year of high school."

Noel carried on eating his food quietly. The past times whenever he had met Ron he readily included him in conversations, however today Ron's eyes avoided looking at Noel, staring at his food, Kim, or the wall, but never Noel.

"Can I be excused?" Noel spoke quietly.

His mom nodded absentmindedly, still engrossed with conversation, that by the time she took her fifth bite, Noel was gone.

-------------------------

Prior to popular belief at his school, Noel did use products to clear his skin. It was exactly 9:52 pm, and his bathroom light was on. His mom had recently replaced the mirror as this was the third one he had smashed to pieces.

First he wetted his face gently, he made sure to not touch his face too much as he did this as it was too painful, he also cringed way too much when his hand made contact with all the bumps.

Then he grabbed his 'Milky Dew' cleanser he brought from Target, this was probably the eighth cleanser he's tried in the past fifteen months, but he wasn't counting.

Afterwards he'd tone with 'Poppy's rosewater miracles', it stung a little bit, but after a while he had gotten used to the stinging, it was normal, right?

Then he'd moisturize with sunscreen and 'Mario's Moisturizer', before finally topping it all of with a face mask he used three to four times a week.

For some reason, Noel could never figure out why his acne never got any better, he tried everything, but nothing ever worked.

It wasn't always this bad, it was a slow gradual process, through middle school he always suffered from a few pimples from time to time but it was never something he gave too much thought about, (except that one terribly horrific time that Noel didn't like to think about). Through freshman year his skin was okay for the most part and believe or not, he used to have a small group of friends. He also used to participate in a lot of clubs, like art, theatre, even football for one term (but he quickly stopped when he kept on coming home with bruises larger than his arm).

Then came sophomore year this was when his skin started becoming noticeably worse but not in a way that it really bothered him too much. One day somebody recommended him to use a product called 'Funbacta' during the summer and by the time he started junior year, Noel's face was a trainwreck.

It didn't matter how many skin routines, regimens, face washes, masks, it seemed Noel's face was doomed to be a mess.

But to Noel it wasn't how his face looked that bothered him, it was the people around him, the way they reacted, Noel felt like he couldn't do some of his favourite things like theatre, because they never casted him for any roles and always told him to work behind the scenes, or art where the teacher was always telling Noel rudely to wash his hands every five seconds, or even to hang out with his friends, who found it difficult to even participate in a five minute conversation with him.

That was what bothered Noel.

But for now, he'll carry on trawling through a multitude of products till he found the product that'll give him his life back.