Fallen

Our sins pile up in our quest for beauty.

 

Everyday I wish, “Pease look at me Drew. Please like me.”

I sat quietly in the corner of the classroom, resting my chin on the palm of my hand as I watched him. He stood in the doorway talking to his friends, always seeming to be surrounded by them, so much that I could never find a way to talk to him alone. I noticed him since I started high school; his light brown eyes, dark hair, and kind face captivated me. I only wished for him to notice me.

            “Stop that!” a kind voice interrupted my thoughts from behind. “You might scratch a pimple if you do that, Emma.”

I shifted in my seat to be greeted by the gentle face of Chieri. “Oh god, I did it again.” I had been absentmindedly scratching a small bump on the left side of my cheek.

“Hm, I bet I know who you were thinking about,” she replied wryly, darting a sideways glance to Drew. “You know, if you want him to notice you, maybe you should just say hi.”

“But Cheiri, I get so nervous I can barely force my words out.”

“Don’t be, you’re beautiful” she asserted as she readjusted the collar of my shirt.

“Cheiri!” two girls called as they entered the classroom. “You look really pretty today.”

“Morning Cheiri,” another greeted.

Cheiri is kind, beautiful, and admired by everyone. I sat silently as Cheiri struck up a light conversation with the two girls that had complimented her. It’s as if I’m invisible standing next to her.

            “Oh, that’s right Emma,” Cheiri said after the girls left. She reached into her school bag, and rustled through the contents as I waited with curiosity. “Here.” She handed me a small, elegant box. “This medicine worked well for me. It’ll get rid of your pimples,” she exclaimed as I accepted the gift. “You should try it too!”

            “Thanks,” I murmured. The bell rang, marking the start of the class period. Everyone rushed to their seats as the teacher entered.

            Cheiri…my only friend. My precious friend, thank you.

 

            That night, I slaved over the textbooks and homework for hours. I didn’t even notice the sun had set and darkness had fallen until my phone beeped once. Immediately, I flipped my phone open, glad for the break as I read the long message sent by the student council committee.

            “A committee meeting tomorrow?” I quickly texted back my affirmation. A committee meeting…Drew would be there as the head of the committee. I could use this opportunity to talk to him like Cheiri said!

            Another beep. A reply so quickly? I eagerly opened the text and read the one-line message:

 

The target is Cheiri Dautry

 

            What? What is this? I read the message again in shock, and scrolled down for more.

 

You can now transfer your flaws and imperfections to Cheiri Dautry.

Injuries, birthmarks, the like.

To her address.

 

            To my astonishment, it listed Cheiri’s phone number underneath the message. After a few seconds, I laughed.

            “Wow, I can’t believe I was actually worried there for a minute.” I collapsed onto my bed, giggling at my own stupidity.

 

            The next day, I heard babbling voices everywhere around the school.

            “Hey did you get a weird message yesterday?”

            “Yeah! I think only the kids in our class got it though.”

            “You know, I think I’ve heard of something like this before. A text similar to this circulated at some other school. There was also a rumor that this girl committed suicide…”

            “Geez, this is scary! Do you think anyone replied to that text?”

            At that moment, the door slid open and Cheiri appeared. The buzz and chatter died down instantly, and Cheiri walked to her seat self consciously, fully aware that everyone’s eyes were trained on her.

            “Hey Cheiri, did you get a weird text yesterday?” I asked after class as we walked to the committee meeting.

            “A text? No not at all,” she answered cheerfully.

            “Oh, I see.” I replied with a relieved tone. Cheiri shot me a perplexed look, but didn’t question me any further.

 

            “…so this activity will push through to next month. I’ll start preparing tomorrow, Saturday,” Drew announced to the small collection of students seated before him. Cheiri and I sat next to each other, across from Drew as he marked the date in his pocket calendar.

            “Drew will need someone to help him, any volunteers?” a brown-haired boy asked.

            Cheiri nudged me roughly in the side. I shot a glare at her, preparing my retort when I realized what she was implying. This could be my chance to work with Drew!

            “I’ll do it!” I shouted as I leapt from my seat. My impractical actions drew a few snickers from fellow committee members, but Drew nodded and said, “Okay, so tomorrow morning, erm…I’m sorry what’s your name again?”

            “Emma,” I replied almost breathlessly.

            “So tomorrow at eight, here at the school, Emma.” Drew smiled softly at me before addressing the rest of the committee. “That’s it for today guys. Thanks for coming.”

            “Nice, you better rest up if you’re going to spend the day with Drew tomorrow,” Cheiri teased as we left the classroom.

            I only grinned at her, immensely pleased with my performance. Warmth spread throughout my body, and I raised my arms in triumph. “I’m so happy right now Cheiri. Spending the whole day with Drew tomorrow? This is awesome…”

            “I know and I’m so proud of you.” Cheiri wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back. “Have fun tomorrow!”

 

            That night, I passed the mirror on my way to bed. To my horror, a small, but conspicuous pimple had appeared on my left cheek. I froze as my hand flew to my face.

            “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered as I reached for the medicine Cheiri gave me. “Will it heal by tomorrow if I use Cheiri’s medicine?”

            However, instead of reaching for the medicine, my hand lingered over my cell phone.

            You can transfer your flaws…

            “What am I thinking?” My fingers gripped the cell phone tightly. Cautiously, I flipped the cover open. “This is just a hoax, right? It’s fake. Something like this isn’t even possible,” I muttered as I punched the keys on my phone with superfluous care.

I want to transfer the pimple on my cheek.

 

            I held my breath as I hit the send button. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but after a minute, nothing happened. No flash of light, no puff of smoke, not even a tingling feeling. Tentatively, I stepped into view of the mirror again, and was met with a flood of disappointment. The pimple was still there.

            What?! So it was a hoax after all. Defeated, I dabbed the gel-like medicine on the pimple before I climbed into bed. Hugging the blankets around me, tears lingered on the rims of my lids as I buried my head into my pillow. I’m so sorry Cheiri. I thought something so horrible and mean. I’m really sorry. I’m too horrible to be friends with someone like you.

 

            The next morning I got dressed quickly, pulling on a pair of cargo pants and a simple t-shirt. My mind filled with hope and expect as I glance in the mirror again. The redness and acne from last night was gone entirely, replaced with smooth, even skin.

            “Cheiri’s medicine worked!” I exclaimed with glee as I ran my finger over the area in disbelief. Or could it have been because… I grabbed my cell phone off the table as I ran out to the school.

            Drew was already in the classroom when I got there.

            “Hey! I’m here to help!” I exclaimed, my voice a couple of higher than I intended. I covered my mouth and looked away quickly. S**t! I overdid it!           

            I looked up at the sound of quiet laughter. Drew was chuckling gently, “You’re funny Emma.” Then, in high-pitched voice, “I’m glad you’re here to help!”

            A smile crept across my face as I realized he was trying to help me to relax.

            “You smiled!” he noted cheerfully. I must have looked perplexed because he went on to explain. “Whenever I talk, you always look away or at the ground. I was wondering if I was scary or something.”

            “No! That’s not how it is at all!” I exclaimed.

            Drew turned to unpack the supplies in a large cardboard box behind him. “Really?”

            “Yes! The truth is I like you very much.”

 

            The weekend seemed to float past in a dream. Working with Drew had been incredible; he continued to make jokes and reassure me while we were working. A feeling of accomplishment swept over me as I looked for Cheiri at school on Monday. I found her in the restroom, standing still in front of the mirror, her hands unmoving as they covered part of her face.

            “Cheiri! I have so much to tell you! On Saturday I met Drew at the school and…” I fell silent as Cheiri failed to face me. I looked into the mirror, and to my horror, as Cheiri’s hand dropped to her side, it revealed a prominent pimple on her left cheek. My hands flew to my mouth in shock, my heart pounding loudly inside my chest.

            What was that? There was nothing on her face last Friday!

            You can transfer your flaws and imperfections…

            No! This couldn’t have happened! Was the message real…?

            “Emma?”

            I flinched at Cheiri’s sudden tentative voice. Trying to erase all signs of guilt and terror from my face, I turned to face her. She gripped my arms and shook me desperately.

            “Emma, the other day you were talking about a text message, right?”

            I didn’t dare open my mouth to answer her.

            “Something about a weird email,” she pressed on frantically. “Things like ‘transfer the injury on my leg’, or ‘the birthmark on my face’. And then just like that, they really did appear!”

            The email was real?

            “Hey, do you know anything?” Cheiri asked me again.

            “No…I don’t know,” I replied quietly, worried that if I was too loud, my guilt would be revealed. ”I’m sorry Cheiri, but if I find something, I’ll let you know right away.”

            “Will you?” Cheiri asked with despair. “You will, won’t you Emma? I can trust you.”

            “Yes, we’re friends after all,” I replied softly, and backed out of the restroom, leaving Cheiri staring at herself in the mirror again.

 

            Throughout the week, more and more abnormalities appeared on Cheiri’s face. Some were so bad, that she had to go to the nurse’s office.

            “What were those wounds on Cheiri’s face?” one student asked.

            “Could it be…”

            “The text message was real? It couldn’t have been.”

            “Then that means someone replied!”

            I kept my head down throughout every class, refusing to take part of the gossip that flew around the school. I did that in exchange for a pretty face. I’m sorry Cheiri.

           

            Later that day, Cheiri returned from the nurse’s office. Throngs of worried students gathered around her.

            “Cheiri, what’s wrong?” Drew asked after class. “Did you get hurt?”

            “Oh, it’s nothing,” she replied, smiling gently as her fingers brushed against the bandages around her head. “Nothing to worry about.”

            “Aw, Drew’s worried too!” his brown-haired friend teased. Then speaking to Cheiri he continued, “He went around asking ‘what’s wrong with Cheiri’, and worried a lot!”

            I listened to their conversation silently, a feeling of annoyance picking at me from within.

            “Hey, weren’t you worried too?” Drew shot back at his friend.

            Drew, how do you feel about Cheiri? I wanted to asked him, but the answer came to me on its own. That’s right, I’m like an idiot. I get nervous every time I greet him. And my feelings don’t mean anything either. Cheiri can take everything away from me in an instant.

            It’s unfair. It’s so unfair.

 

            That night, I clutched my phone, punching in letter after letter, word after word of my reply. There was no hesitation. No emotion following my actions. I hit send without a twinge of remorse.

 

            “Hey look, don’t you think it’s getting worse?”

            “Where did those scars come from?”

            “Her eyes look so swollen.”

            “It looks like everyone’s sending a reply.”

From then on, through an invisible force, Cheiri changed. Everyone’s envious frowns began to fade. And I, was terrified that she would find out that I was also sending replies to the text.

            “Emma, can I talk to you for a second?” Cheiri asked one day after class.

            “Sorry, the teacher wanted to see me after class, so maybe tomorrow, okay?” I packed my bags quickly, eager to escape confrontation.

            “You’ve become, quite pretty lately,” Cheiri said in a somber tone.

            “Re…really? Maybe it’s the new makeup I’m using,” I stammered as I headed for the door. Cheiri didn’t rise to follow me, and I left her alone in the classroom. I’m terrified.

            Terrified that…

            Near the doorway was Drew and his friends. “Look, there’s Cheiri,” one murmured. “She sure had changed a lot.”

            …she’s no longer Cheiri.

            I glanced at the expression on Drew’s face. His mouth was pulled into a small frown, his expression filled with regret, and perhaps sorrow.

 

            Cheiri stopped coming to school after that.

 

            Meanwhile, I was an entirely different person. I laughed openly, and wasn’t shy and reserved like before. My skin was nearly perfect, my blemishes and scars gone. My hair was soft and shiny, and floated behind me like a light cape.

            “Drew!” I called, and ran to meet him. Our lips caught each others, and our fingers entwined.

            It had been a few weeks since Drew had asked me out. At the same time, I was showered with compliments from classmates and even strangers on my hair, my face, my outfit, my….everything,

            “Hey, I got you this,” Drew said as he pulled out a flower hairpin. Delicately, he pinned part of my fringe back. “It looks really pretty on you.”

            I beamed, and wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his one last time before class started.

            “Everyone, take your seats,” the teacher began in a solemn tone. “It’s about Cheiri Dautry.”

            The class froze, the previous chatter all gone now as they remembered their former classmate.

            The teacher continued, “Their house caught on fire this morning. News of the family as of yet remains unknown.”

            Shocked, I couldn’t move my body as chatter and gossip grew louder and louder among the students.

            “No way! Are you serious?”

            Cheiri…

            “Do you think it was suicide or something?”

            Are you really gone?

            “Did they die in the fire? Did her entire family die?”

            What should I do? If you’re really gone…

            “Was this all because of that text message?”

            …then there’ll be no one to send my text messages to.

 

            Once I returned home, I changed into skinny jeans and a cute blouse, and glanced into the mirror before I headed back out. My face felt swollen, as though I was about to get another pimple. And right when I’m about to go on a date with Drew. Slightly annoyed, I headed out, rubbing my finger against my cheek worriedly.

            “Didn’t I tell you it would only get worse if you keep touching it?”

            I froze at the sound of the chilling familiar voice. Not daring to turn around, I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders, almost as though they were embracing me.

            “It’s been a while, Emma,” Cheiri whispered into my ear.

            I reeled around, raising my arm and pushing her off hands off my shoulder. In terror, I collapsed onto the ground, scrambling away from her figure.

            It’s…Cheiri?! She ddin’t die in the fire?

            “What? H…how? Ch…Cheiri!”

            “Are you surprised? That the one who was curse is still alive?” she asked in the same nonchalant, chilling voice.

            Her face… It was like new. All the scars, the wounds, the pimples, the ugly marks �" they were all gone. Replaced by her fresh, perfect skin that she always had.

            “You know, Emma,” she whispered, kneeling down to speak to me, “I had received your email from the start.”

            My body, filled with terror and panic, froze in place.

            She took out her cell phone from her pocket, and flipped it open. Scrolling through the messages, she showed me the screen.

The target is you, Cheiri Dautry.

 

            Cheiri scrolled down, and I read the rest of the message with increasing dread.

 

The only way to counter the curse

Is to exchange your life for the one you love.

 

            I looked up from the small glowing screen, and into Cheiri’s gentle eyes. The same eyes I had remembered that were so kind and loving towards me. They hadn’t changed at all.

            “Even when I realized this email was real, I knew I could kill Mother. It didn’t matter that she had raised me by herself. When her new boyfriend raped me, she accused me of seducing him. And all I wanted was for her to be happy…

“I knew everyone had sent a reply. Everyone was the same. I knew what they thought of me in the back of their hearts, underneath the ‘We like Cheiri’ facades.

            “I was in the way. Isn’t that right, Emma?”

            My mouth struggled to form the words I was trying to say. “N..no. It wasn’t like that…”

            “Where’s your phone, Emma?” My shaking hands fumbled in my purse, but my phone was nowhere to be found. “It started sometime yesterday,” Cheiri said in a delicate voice, as though she were complimenting me. “Is your pimple getting worse, Emma?”

            “What…no! There’s no way…!” I clutched my head and shuffled away from her. My back hit the wall. “You’re lying!”

            “You were sending replies to that text to me for quite some time, Emma.”

            My phone! I searched frantically through my bag again, dumping all its contents out. Lip gloss, mascara, my wallet, and a pocket mirror fell to the ground, but my cell phone was no where to be found.

            “It’ll gradually get worse. Everyone only cares about themselves…you should know that very well, Emma.”

            Tears poured from my eyes, and my hand flew to my mouth, trying to silence my hiccupping sobs. Defeated, I cried into my hands, tears dripping from my fingers.

            “Emma,” Cheiri reached a elegant hand out to me. “Which will you choose?” I looked up into her gentle, smiling face. “The life of someone you love, or your own beauty?”

 

            “It’s horrible, to pass away at such a young age.”

            “”Tragic. And the boy was in high school too.”

            “Even his classmates came to the funeral. He must’ve had many close and loving friends.”

            I stood in front of the casket, hands pressed together in a solemn prayer. In front stood bouquets of flowers, and two candles framing a picture. I stared into the light brown eyes of the boy in the picture with sorrow and longing. His dark hair was neatly combed in the photo, as it was in real life.

            Cheiri…should I fall into your arms?

 

To fall prey

To beauty.

Author's Note

Hey guys I'm back after a 1 year 4 month hiatus. My writing skills are indeed out of shape. Please suggest any grammar, development, or other tips! Thanks!