The Ugly Side of Beauty

Chapter Thirteen: Blunder

After a few weeks, most things went back to normal. Aunt May had blocked Nate's number from my phone--because I couldn't do it--and I no longer received any more impromptu texts. Everyone of my friends went back to normal, with the glaring exception of Tom, who treated me much like the way he used to treat Cindy; with a polite, disinterested smile.

One day, about a week after the third semester exam, Chocolate decided to host an impromptu beach party again. 

We wandered around, making footprints in the sand. Jolene kicked sand down some crab holes and Cindy stomped over it to cover it up. I stared out at the waves, deeply inhaling the sea breeze as the evening sun swept the beach, making it glisten. 

Chocolate was laughing raucously with the rest of our classmates near the barbecue, and I smiled softly. It wasn't fair how interesting she was, with her extreme emotions and personality. I wished I was half as interesting. The more I learned of the Penangites, the more I saw how individualistic they all were. All were not without some quirk or other to tell them apart, in special ways. 

Jolene appeared beside me suddenly, making me jump. 

"L," she began uncertainly. "I know it's a tough subject for you, but..." She looked to Cindy who nodded her encouragement. "Can you tell us what actually happened to you?"

My eyes widened in shock. I thought we all had a sort of silent agreement not to mention who I was before.

Cindy saw my deer-in-the-headlights look and sighed. "It's not that we're morbidly curious. We've been your fans for the longest time, following your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter...And you had that tangle with the tabloids and just fell off the face of the earth."

Jolene nodded solemnly. "Imagine yourself in our shoes; the new friend you thought you had turned out to be your favourite idol ever, and you're not allowed to talk about it at all."

I shivered a little, but this time it was because of the wind. For some strange reason, their words didn't send me spiraling like before. Maybe it was this place, and these people; I was healing, I could feel the change. Maybe it was the calming sound of the sea. What was I, part mermaid? I mentally rolled my eyes, and took a deep breath.

"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone," I opened my mouth, about to begin, when shouts erupted from the barbecue pit. The three of us frowned and turned to look over, to see what was happening. Our classmates were gaping and yelling, staring at their hands...their phones?

Chocolate dashed over, the look of abject horror in her half-dazed, half-disbelieving face. "Oh my god, L, oh my god!"

My heart started thumping wildly in my chest, making the blood rush in a roar in my ears. "What? What, Choc?" Was someone hurt? A serious burn? Why was she staring at me like that? Was this about me? What did I do?

Chocolate rasped out her breaths, panting hard, totally winded. Well there was no way she wouldn't be, the way she practically flew. "I don't know how this happened, I swear, none of us would have told on you."

Then our classmates started turning to me, their eyes wide in their heads, gaping mouths open like they were trying to catch flies. 

A sharp panic; I grabbed Chocolate's shoulders. "Chocolate, what are you talking about?" I asked desperately. 

Chocolate shook her head, still winded and possibly--I saw her wincing--cramping.

Jolene abruptly gasped behind me, and I whirled to face her. She was reading something on her phone, horror creeping into her face in increasing doses. "Oh, no, oh no, L."

With a sinking heart, realisation begin to dawn. No, no way.

Cindy had her hand pressed to her mouth, her face white as she read over Jolene's shoulder. 

Ah, I knew it. Somewhere deep down, I was in denial about my secret. I had wanted to think the best of them, these new friends of mine. I wanted to change for the better. I wanted them to like me. I guess in the process, I forgot what human nature was. 

Two could only keep a secret if one of them was dead. 

Jolene shook her head, and handed her phone over to me, her shocked expression making way to anger as she scrutinized the other members of our group, perhaps trying to figure out who let the cat out of the bag. 

Slowly, I brought the phone up to my face to read:

Breaking News!

Internationally famous supermodel Lorelei D'Vina, once praised for her unearthly natural beauty, fell from soaring heights as events in her life took a turn for the worse. The real reasons for her entry into the Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell in New York are still unclear. Nonetheless, ongoing investigation suggests it has something to do with matters of the mind and heart. 

There was a few pictures of me modelling for Louis Vuitton's latest season bag. Below the picture was the caption: "D'Vina sold out Louis Vuitton's latest line nearly before it was released."

Lorelei D'Vina, aged 16, had begin her modelling career at the tender young age of 3, and had worked with high end international brands such as Chanel, Prada, Gucci, Armani, Louis Vuitton and etc. The average person couldn't fathom just how busy and stressful her life must be, all the while having to remain in school as well. Nathaniel Gordon, D'Vina's partner at the time, had mentioned time and again how he would have liked to see more of her in real life instead of posters and advertisements.

They inserted a few pictures of my advertisements hanging from banners in malls, and some posters on pillars in the branded shops.

The teen supermodel had a terrible nervous breakdown, and tried to cut her own face out, seeming to think that it was her face that brought her misfortune. She dropped off the radar completely after being admitted to New York's finest asylum, and the fashion world had been missing its favourite superstar. Just a few days ago, however, we received an anonymous tip that D'Vina was laying it low on the beaches of tropical Penang, a small island in Malaysia. A few pictures accompanied the statement, but they were too blurry to be published. 

A branch of our fact checkers are now on their way to Penang to confirm if the anonymous tip proves true, and we hope it is, so that we can finally get to the bottom of D'Vina's mysterious fall from the heavens. 

Well, crap.

I didn't know what to do, literally. Oddly enough, my heart calmed, a strange calm-before-the-storm type. The rest were watching me, holding their breath, waiting for it to hit. I sighed, and took off my glasses. If the article was published it meant that their fact checkers were here already, somewhere, looking for me. I handed Jolene her phone, and let the wind blow my hair down. 

Gasps of utter shock from out classmates: they were seeing the real me for the first time, and I wiped off the last of my ugly makeup. They stampeded over to me, and demanded answers.

"Excuse me!" A loud voice called. It was Aunt May, staring at my real, undisguised face in surprise. "Come on, Lorelei, we need to get you home." She must have seen the article and rushed out here. 

I nodded and waved to Jolene, Chocolate and Cindy, giving them a meaningful look. The look said 'find the damn culprit and help me beat that person to a pulp'.