The Ugly Side of Beauty

Chapter Six: Houses

Like how Lorelei is getting on so far? Don't worry, it's not gonna be so boring the whole way ;) Things are gonna start getting juicy from the next chapter onwards. Besides, aren't you curious to know what is this 'incident' thaat drove L insane?

Xoxo, Lavender ^^

When the holidays were over, the school was abuzz with activity over their upcoming sports festival. There were four coloured houses, Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. The houses would compete against each other in short put, long jump, high jump, pass-the-baton race, cheerleading and the hundred meter race.

I whistled cheerfully as I bit into a piece of cake that my aunt had set on the table.

“You’re in a good mood today,” she observed with a smile on her face. I nodded at her cheerfully. “You’ve become quite beautiful again.”

I paused with a piece of cake halfway to my mouth. That couldn’t be true. I spent a lot of time every morning making sure that I looked as ugly and repellent as ever. “What?” I spluttered.

“Yes, you have. There is a cheerful glow about you.” She said with some satisfaction. “And your voice is almost restored.”

Oh, I see. Is that bad? My emotionless voice was part of the whole ugly package. Was I getting beautiful again because my tone is returning? This brought a terrifying coldness over me.

“Is that so?” my voice fell flat and relief reverberated through my body. My aunt looked slightly disappointed but nodded.

“Just a little.” She touched my hand before taking her plate away to the sink. I couldn’t eat anymore and thanked her before leaving for school.

I made sure to check my reflection in the rearview mirror before getting out of the car. I didn’t want anyone else thinking I was beautiful. When I got out, I saw Jolene there, waiting for me. Things had been strained with her recently because Dan and I were growing closer by the day.

“Hello, Lorelei.” She smiled. Her smile was still the same as the one on the first day of school, so I held out hope that maybe we could settle things. But she was the only one still calling me Lorelei, everyone else had adopted Chocolate’s nickname for me.

“Hello, Jolene.” I greeted her back. We walked side by side as she started chattering away about her latest ideas for our house, the Red house. We were lucky to be in the same house as Chocolate as well. I saw that not many friends were grouped together in the same houses. Unfortunately, Nick was in Blue house—Red house’s toughest rival—Tom was in Green house and Dan was in Yellow house—the most laidback house.

“I just can’t wait to win again this year!” she went on and on. I raised an eyebrow.

“Again?” I asked curiously.

She nodded. “Red house always wins. Blue house comes second all the time and Green and Yellow take turns being last.” She chuckled delightedly. I tried to think that she was laughing because she was happy to be in Red and not because she finds it funny to joke about Green and Yellow.

“Why is that? Do the teacher purposely put athletic kids in Red and Blue?” I wondered aloud. Jolene flipped her blonde curls and nodded.

“It’s kind of obvious, really. Red and Blue houses are for the kids who have great academics so that they have good all-round records; all the better to be accepted into college.” Jolene shrugged as if it was a given. Personally, I thought it was logical albeit being discriminative to the other kids.

“So why is Tom in Green?” I asked her. “And Dan in Yellow?”

Jolene tapped her chin. “Maybe it is random after all. Oh, right!” she snapped her fingers. “They’re there because of legacy. If you have family in any of the houses, you’re naturally put together. It has something to do with solving transportation problems.”