Pretty Hurts

Prologue

*London King*

"Chin up, shoulders back."

Those were the 4 words I've heard my entire life, even before I could form a complete sentence.

Since the young age of 2 I have been put in every pageant you can think of.

I always wanted to go outside and play like a normal child, but I wasn't allowed to.

The pageant life has been my greatest success as well as my greatest misery.

What started out as something so cute and fun for me turned into my own personal hell as my mother forced me to be someone I wasn't.

From the age of two I knew that I would have vision problems. I once wore glasses but when my mother saw how it affected my work (pageants), she took it upon herself to get me eye surgery at the age of 10 even though the doctor said it was dangerous and he recommended that we didn't do it at such a young age.

When my teeth began to grow crooked she got them fixed so fast I barely got to see the gap that I inherited from my father.

And my weight? She watched it like a hawk and I was on a strict diet.

Everything that made me who I was, she changed it to be what she wanted.

I was the spitting image of who she always wanted to be, except her mother (my grandmother) didn't have the means to afford those things, so at a early age my mother decided that if she ever had a daughter she would be a pageant queen, and I guess her wish came true.

As we started our second half of practice , I made sure I did everything that was asked of me to the best of my abilities . I smiled widely and walked gracefully across the floor waving my hand in a royal manner.

"Excellent London! Very beautiful " My instructor yelled out to me from the sidelines.

Only god knows I was happy to hear him say so. My mother was watching me like a hawk and if I made one false move or even slipped up at the slightest , she'd have me on my knees begging for mercy by the time we got home .

As class began to wind down, so did my anxiety , I had performed well today which meant the rest of my day would be smooth sailing , or so I hoped...

"London hurry up and gather your things , Chef Monica has an excellent dinner cooking for us and we shalt not be late". My mother said, she spoke to me with so much poise. It almost sickened me how perfect she was.

Everyone saw her as a joy and any kid would be lucky to have such beautiful and successful mother as mine , but I knew better . She was the mother from hell. She was a wicked and evil woman willing to do anything to get me to the top.

Was that a good or bad thing?

Gathering the rest of my things , I threw my bag over my shoulder and followed my mother toward the exit .

"Ooh Lynn , may I speak with you for a moment?" my instructor called out to my mother.

"Why of course my dear!"She smiled with a light laugh before turning to me . Her face becoming hard and her eyes turning into slits, and if I'm not mistaken her nostril began to flare.

"You better pray , she says only good things about you London. One negative comment and there goes your dinner, do you understand me ?" She griped lowly tightening her jaw.

"Yes ma'am, I understand" I responded quickly and respectfully.

Walking over to the instructor my heart beat quickend and my palms got all sweaty. I prayed to god she didn't say the wrong thing .