Zero Wins

Oliver, a girl by the age of fifteen, and her dearest friend, Zero, meet with a stranger named Cecil. He sells her a bottle, and Zero gets more than he paid for it.

Zero had been suspicious of this character the moment he saw him, and he found he was vexed more so when he dangled a bottle before the most supersticious, magic-believeing girl on the face of the Earth -- Oliver Twisted. His toothy grin, his shady wares, his black pinstripe suit with the red tie; he reminded him of the stereotypical Satin posters except the goatee. Cecil Beezle, he called himself. What perked up his anger lived the factor that Oliver found herself in a wonderland in the young man's tent.

Jealousy? Zero didn't believe that was the case.

At least, he didn't want it to be.

"How about it, Pretty Little Miss?" whispered the con-man; he made sure to glance at Zero a few times. "Would you like to own a bottle to store your sadness?"

Zero looked at Oliver's glowing smile, despite her eerie complexion. In his eyes, she had a beauty she didn't realize. However, there hadn't been more than guff about her look, considering she was dead-pale with colorless lips and baggy bruises under her eyes, which were large and everseeing as well as bi-colored. As far as birth defects go, she took on the easy part, but as for beauty standards in the present day and age, she had been too thin, too small, to 'unattractive', and a little on the scary side.

Cecil smirked to himself. "How about it, sir? Won't you buy this pretty piece for your lovely mistress?" he asked Zero.

Oliver turned to Zero with a hopeful grin. "Did you bring any money? Is it in the Panda-Pouch?"

Zero checked the pocket of his black and white hoodie, which she reffered to as the Panda -- the same hoodie she taunted him about endlessly on a daily basis. He fished out his wallet and waved it in her face. She took it from him on the first try, and with her trove of treasure at his expense, she stared longingly at the bottle. Zero decided as she made her purchase, he would move around the shop as a little peek at the other goods.

Zero takes a look at a sample of love potions. It ranged from weak to strong, weakest being a baby pink as strongest being a dark crimson. They sat on a platter with a note written in a neat cursive reading 'Free Samples'. He smirked at the idea of Oliver downing a cup, only to follow him like a love-sick puppy. She had always beat him down, and a change wouldn't be bad, but he would hate her more so than now if she hung on his arm like Sarah B.

Oliver came up behind him and tapped his shoulder. Zero turned to the petite doll-like zombie creature in need of attention. She swayed backward; he had always towered over her, but she usually looked down on him because she usually had him on the ground. To have to look up made her oddly uncomfortable. Cecil passed into the back room as Oliver returned the wallet.

"So, how does this bottle of sadness work?" Zero asked her.

Oliver smiled sweetly. "Cecil said it works pretty easily," she said, standing on her toes to lean on him, which still didn't get too far. Zero stared at her for a moment, but she was confident, which was good... right? She tried to reach up eye to eye on her own movement, but it would take him to lower in order to reach her goal. Knowing this, as well as knowing if she told Zero, he would merely shrug her off, she took matters into her hands. She gripped the Panda's collar and caught him by the lips. It was quick, much too quick for Zero's accord, and with absolutely no tenderness from either party. She pulled away and looked at the bottle, which was now glowing red.

"How does that work?" Zero breathed, panicked, as well as baffled and a little appreciative.

"Well, he said if I get really happy, my sadness will hide in the bottle. You said when girls get kissed, they get really happy. Your words, not mine. You should bask in the fact that I even took your advice." Oliver was smug. She knew Zero, even if it had been the tiniest bit, became lighter at that action, no matter how miniscule.

Author's Note

How was it?