Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.
Beatriz Suarez had finally ended her hellish time at Queens Borough High School. Sure, she did well academically, well enough that most of her tuition at Queens College would be covered by scholarships, but socially, high school had been a nightmare.
Not only did Betty spend four years being tortured by the likes of Kimmie Keegan, she had also never attended one school dance, ironically lost her best friend to that awful right-of-passage known as the Prom, never had even the inkling of a date, had been constantly teased and talked down to, had been nicknamed 'granny pants' all four years (which was incidentally started by that terror Kimmie), had her lunch flipped to the ground by said terror countless times, and to top it all, Betty Suarez had been called ugly every day, yes literally every day, of high school. Whether it was to her face or behind her back, Betty had been made to know without a doubt that she was ugly. From her bad teeth to her bad hair, from her not size zero waist to her hideous glasses, Betty was ugly.
So the night of her high school graduation, while everyone else was attending house parties and drinking themselves into an oblivion that was sure to lead to at least one pregnancy and several DUIs, Betty was at home celebrating with her parents Ignacio and Rosa, and her sister Hilda and her nephew Justin.
Later in her room, in the darkness, Betty lay awake. It was 1am and she couldn't sleep. She felt like she was on the edge of a precipice. That if she could just think clearly enough, she would float, possibly plummet, into something profound. And as Betty started to drift asleep, forgetting what it was she was trying to think of, fate stepped in, and Betty caught the thought that had been alluding her all day, and felt herself fall over the precipice and into a realization.
Betty sat up in bed suddenly, the prospect of immediate sleep fell away and she hopped out of bed. Turning on a light, Betty grabbed a notebook and pen and perched herself on the edge of her bed.
Betty had decided then and there that change was good. That changing was a part of growing up and that life could become better as a result of that change.
Betty had spent her whole young life repeating the same patterns over and over, expecting everyone else to evolve enough to accept her, and that hadn't done any good. If Betty wanted the next four years to be better, she would have to change, even just a little.
Betty didn't really want to change who she was deep down, but she was not going to let life keep passing her by because she was afraid of failing or looking like a fool. After all, Betty had spent her four years of high school looking like a fool or a dork or whatever other label people wanted to put on her.
She was going to dive in head first and take charge. Betty was not going to start and end college as the shy clumsy ugly duckling. She was not going to spend another four years feeling like an outcast.
So Betty did what she does best, she made a list:
1. get a job
2. use money from job to get braces before school starts
3. join Queens College gym
4. work steadily toward my goal of running my own magazine
5. be a better Betty
With the list done, and a new lease on her life, Betty fell into bed excited but exhausted. Sleep overcame her the moment her head hit the pillow.
Despite not getting a chance to interview for a position at Meade Pulications, Betty was excited. She had gone to Manhatten that morning and was back in Queens at her dentist's office in the afternoon.
'Today is the day!' Betty thought excitedly. She had spent the past four years with braces. Going to college with braces had not been the greatest experience, but it was better than starting the workforce with them, she reasoned. She only regretted not being able to get them sooner... but Betty quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. Her family hadn't been able to afford braces before, and it was better late than never.
The pointless morning at the Meade building had been a low point, but her whole day, her whole life really, went to an all time high as she looked at her newly revealed perfect teeth. It felt odd being able to easily glide her tongue over the white surfaces. But Betty couldn't stop smiling at herself as she looked in the hand held mirror at Dr. Farkus' office.
Later, Betty entered her house to find it completely dark. She fumbled for the light switch, but before she could reach it everything became bright and colorful and her family jumped out at her and yelled, "surprise!"
Betty was taken aback as she saw a huge banner with 'Congrats Betty!' painted across it. She also saw the dining room table laden with her favorite foods that had been off limits for the past four years. Hilda and Justin ran over to her and they all started to jump up and down excitedly with Betty flashing her teeth at them in a bright smile.
After the Suarez family had had their fill of popcorn, candy apples, licorice, nuts and other hard and sticky foods, Betty retired to her room. Her family had been disappointed to hear about the interview or lack thereof, but Betty had waved them off, insisting that tomorrow would be better and that she just wanted to enjoy the victory of getting her braces off.
As Betty sat on her bed reading Pride and Prejudice for the fifth time, Hilda sauntered in with her hands behind her back.
"Soo, I know you don't want to think about the job interview today, but I got you something for tomorrow," Hilda said with a huge grin.
Betty looked up at her older sister with a feeling of apprehension. "You didn't have to get me anything Hilda. The banner, the food, heck the braces being off is enough for me."
"Yeah, but what kind of sister would I be if I didn't get you an amazing new outfit that I found for 80% off after buying ten other things for myself," she said with a laugh, and pulled out a shopping bag she had hidden behind her back.
Normally, Betty would never dream of wearing anything her sister bought for her, but after holding up the brightly colored yet surprisingly professional dress in front of herself while looking in the mirror, she thought about how good it felt to have new perfect teeth and figured 'what the heck.'
Betty heard the phone ring downstairs and Justin called up a minute later, "Aunt Betty, it's for you! Some guy from Meat Publications!"
"Oh my god!," Betty cried and ran downstairs.
Betty grabbed the phone from Justin, "This is Betty Suarez."
"You applied for a job at Meade Publications, is that correct?"
"Mm hmm."
"Well we have a position for you if you're still available."
"Are you serious?" Betty questioned, feeling dumbfounded.
"Yes, can you start tomorrow?"
"Yeah! I - yeah, of course I - I can start tomorrow," Betty stuttered out, her mind racing.
"Good. You'll be working as an assistant for the new editor-in-chief."
"Um, what magazine is this for?"
"Mode."
"Mode?" Betty asked perplexed, not remembering if she had heard of the magazine before. Justin squealed and jumped up with a huge grin on his face and raced out of the room.
"Yes, you need to be at human resources at 8am."
"Yeah, I'll be there first thing in the morning."
"See you tomorrow."
"Okay. Thank you. Bye!" As Betty hung up, Justin returned with a copy of Mode magazine in his hands. "Assistant to the editor-in-chief!" Betty cried out happily.
"I didn't know you wanted to work for Mode," Justin said, putting the magazine on the kitchen table.
"Well, this wouldn't have been my first choice, but..." Betty started, thumbing through a copy of the large glossy high fashion magazine, "If I do good here, I can go anywhere in the company."
"Well just try and dress fashionably. Do you have anything?" Justin asked skeptically, but Hilda came in holding up the new dress and heels with a huge smile on her face. 'Thank god for Hilda,' Betty thought. "Actually, I do," Betty said out loud, her huge bright braces-free smile in place.
Betty walked confidently off the elevator and onto the 28th floor of the Meade Publications building.
Hilda had insisted on blowing out her hair till it was bone straight and securing Betty's growing bangs to the side. "With that smile and dress, you can't go in with your old hair style," Hilda had declared. Her father had come into her room and held out a small rectangular box. "And not without some new eyes either mija," her father had said affectionately. Before Betty could protest, her father went on, "I got these for you for when you started your new career. Justin says these are coming back into style, whatever that means."
Betty had opened the small box to discover a new pair of darker red glasses with a more modern rectangular frame. "Aww Papi, this is way too much," Betty had sighed, tears beginning to form. But Hilda had taken command and further insisted that new hair and new glasses wouldn't do much without better looking eyebrows.
So Betty had found herself on the receiving end of a torture she had always avoided but Hilda had fervently wanted to do for the last ten years. Betty went along with the program to appease the wicked look in Hilda's eyes, but mostly to continue to ride the wave of change that had swept Betty along when she had first made her list four years ago.
So now with her new teeth, hair, glasses, eyebrows (thank god no longer stinging or red from invasive plucking), a little makeup and a new outfit, Betty felt smart, more confident and for the first time... beautiful.