Beauty becomes the Beast

Every day, Trina walked by the street, wanting to hide her face to shield the people its ugliness. She had dark skin, a flat wide nose, not even a nose bridge to put a little slope on her face, medium almond shaped brown eyes, and thick thighs that rubbed against her denim. She had flabby arms, sagging when she would raise them in the air. She could hear snickers in the bus whenever she couldn't sit, clutching her hand at the railings to keep her upright.

She kept signing up on the Reality TV Show "Extreme Makeover" but she was always rejected. Even ugly people like her couldn't get a chance of being pretty. She wanted to have fair skin, small thighs and a nose bridge that could make people jealous over its steepness. But maybe she wasn't destined to become pretty after all. Her phone rang as she got down by the bus stop and to her surprise, it was the Extreme Makeover team calling. Here she was thinking of not getting a chance but now, she was latching to that slither of hope.

Her mother would be delighted! She would finally accept Trina after all. Ever since she had a conscience of her own, her mother was never there to support her at school occasions. She did not even attend Trina's high school graduation which was the most important event her entire life. She would always yell at her for not looking decent enough, no matter how many times she bought and wore decent clothes from the thrift shop. They were poor for they could barely even buy a dress that cost less than a hundred dollars.

The money Trina’s mother could earn was only enough to feed the two of them.

A huge bus with “Extreme Makeover” printed on its façade stopped in front of her as she stood on the street, her feet tapping noiselessly on the gravel ground. A man wearing a black shawl around his neck entered, chirping at her for being on time.

“Are you ready for the Extreme Makeover?” he asked, the cameras suddenly surrounding the two of them. She gulped nervously, her heart beating loudly against her chest, nodding feebly at the man. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, his face didn’t have any trace of freckles, wrinkles or pimples. He had money to make himself look young. A surge of jealousy rose through her but she pushed it away, happy that she was chosen to be the next one to get an extreme makeover.

It took a month to finish polishing her look. She felt light at heart as well as light with her body, noticing they took some fats out of her body. She could feel her thighs were thinner as well because she could lift them flawlessly. She had a smile on her face, her lips curling upwards.

Before she underwent through surgery, she called her mother enthusiastically but she was disappointed because her mother went mad and still called her ugly even if she would get a perfect look. What would she do to make her mother love her?

The fashion artist handed her bunches of clothes and she caught it perfectly, wearing the slightly loose fabric onto her body, her curves accentuated by the dress. She couldn’t wait to see what she looked like whilst she wore a pair of five-inch killer heels. No one was there to welcome her happily. She had no friends, even her mother disowned her—no matter how many times Trina convinced her to come to see her that she was pretty—but she had herself. She smiled.

“Are you ready to see your new look?” the host, the man who asked her if she was ready to get an extreme makeover, who still had a black shawl curling on his neck, asked, a light gleam on his eyes.

“Yes,” she answered confidently, feeling her lips curling up into a smirk.

When the cloth covering the mirror was taken away, her brown eyes widened in surprise.

Her hair looked vibrant and shiny, her skin was tan and her body—her thighs were the perfect definition of flawless—was just right on her. She touched her face, feeling the bridge on her nose steeper than she could ever imagine, her black hair falling naturally just above her waist. She couldn’t believe it!

She thanked the team for making her look pretty in the eyes of the society. She dashed her way back home, planning to surprise her mother with her ‘new’ look. She took the bus, but now she was the one sitting, when a bunch of guys offered her a seat. It felt good, knowing that she would not have a hard time sitting down anymore.

When she arrived home, her mother jumped up and hugged her in her arms. She couldn’t believe it. Her mother was displeased albeit Trina told her multiple times she was going to be pretty as promised.

“You look stunning,” her mother complimented. She flushed.

The past days were the best days of her life. She felt respected around everyone. Everyone wanted to be with her, trying their best to catch her attention.

But she snorted at them, rolling her eyes, thinking how pathetic and how ugly they were. She felt better seeing their faces falling, a rejection seeping in their eyes. She would not let them get away for all the things they had done to her.

She only hanged out with good-looking people. She got herself a boyfriend, named Hermes, who looked like a male model walking out from the magazine. It was unbelievable it happened but now it was possible since she was pretty. Everyone was wooing and kneeling down to her feet, would do anything for her just to get her approval.

But one day, she caught him cheating on her. It was the worst form of heartbreak, she thought he loved her. Occasionally they would exchange those three words, for they had been together for almost two years. Seeing he was pressed against another woman who had a smug smile on her face, she couldn’t help but let herself tears fall out from her eyes.

“Babe, I can explain,” Hermes calmly said, his eyes masked with no regret. It made Trina hurt more than she ever thought.

“There is nothing to explain!” she screamed, her eyes now bloodshot red. The woman who was only wrapped around a bedsheet walked out, purring at Hermes seductively. She wasn’t as half as pretty then she was!

“Nobody loves you freak!” she said, which made Trina’s blood boil. “You are a beast on the inside. No one loves a beautiful person,” the woman admitted and Trina smirked, rolling her eyes at her, “who rots on the inside.”

The burn was aching her lungs and she looked at them from left to right. “Hermes doesn’t love you because all you care about is you and your prettiness,” she added whilst tears spew down on her face, running and running across the street, not minding where she was heading to.

A fast-running car zoomed past the empty street, causing her to fly at the other end of the road. Her breath was short-lived, her skull bleeding and she could feel her heart stop beating.

She closed her eyes.

And everything went black.