No One Has To Know (ON HOLD)

-22-

"Exactly! Beauty is indeed pain!" Alejandro twirled Heather's hair. "But I will say this; I think you look beautiful without makeup. I love counting those tiny freckles on your nose.

"They're barely visible, Alejandro."

"I love a challenge."

Heather rolled her eyes. "You're so weird."

"You're the one who has a secret collection of glitter glue pens," Alejandro smirked.

"That's not weird! It's art. Counting freckles is so random!"

"It is an art to me because you're a work of art, mi amor."

"Oh my god, Alejandro," Heather groaned, rolling off him. She covered her red face with her hands.

"What's wrong with what I said?" Alejandro asked.

"I just—I've never had anyone compliment me like this before."

He sat up on his elbow. "Really? No one has ever told you that you look gorgeous without makeup?"

"No." Heather slowly uncovered her face. "My mom always encouraged makeup. She told me that "a woman could always use a little boost in the looks department"!" She mimicked Martha's snobby voice.

"—Huh," Alejandro grimaced. "My madre told me that women know they are beautiful with or without makeup, and makeup is just for fun."

"I like makeup, but sometimes it does feel like a chore..." Heather's voice trailed off.

Alejandro's face fell. He could see the pain in Heather's eyes. "You know...just because your mom said something doesn't mean it's true. When I look at you, I cannot believe you don't like yourself without makeup. I see your natural face when we shower together and you sleep over."

Heather sucked in her lips. "Ugh! I don't know how you can stand to look at me!" She had been thinking this for the past couple of months, but she held it in. It felt so good to let it out finally. "Literally, my skin is either too dry or too oily without the face powder! And no matter how much I exfoliate, I still break out when I'm on my period! Also, I can't stand how high my cheekbones are! It looks like I've gotten fucking Botox injections!"

Alejandro was speechless. All the self-hatred that Heather was spewing out genuinely shocked him. He noticed that she was hugging herself, and he knew her enough by now to know that she only did that when she felt vulnerable. "Heather, look at me," he stated firmly. She reluctantly turned to face him. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met, and I'm not just saying that because you're my girlfriend. I knew it from the moment I saw you. I thought you were so confident in your looks."

"I—" she choked out. "I pretend to be, but I can't stand to look in the damn mirror every day. You don't understand how angry I am with myself. I want to shatter the glass. I want to change everything about myself and start over. You don't get it!"

Alejandro rubbed her shoulder. "I do get it. I really do, Heather. After...after Amber cheated on me, it made me feel like I did something wrong, that I wasn't good enough for her. And my father only made it worse because I remembered what he said once about a woman who cheats."

"What did he say?" Heather asked, already feeling a bit better. Alejandro's touch had that effect on her.

"He said a woman only cheats on a man because he is not satisfying her."

She blinked. "Wow, that's...if only he knew."

"Yeah, but I still can't bring myself to tell him," Alejandro sighed. "But this isn't about me. The point is—I overcame that because I realized I was more than what other people thought of me. Your mother's opinions don't define you. They may have a lot of influence, but they're not you, Heather. I want you to feel comfortable in your own body because I love you."