There she goes again.
With that platonic smile plastered across her face. He was surprised to see her ginger-colored hair in slight disarray, she usually took great care with her hair, combing and straightening it every morning. Since they were young, there wasn't a single day that went by without her in her perfected glamour. As soon as she got her hands on 'make-up', she had always took proper care to apply it evenly, always taking a step ahead to keep herself primed for the public, even if it meant masking her natural beauty underneath all of that shit. But recently, he noticed that there was a slight change in his cousin's appearance. That was the first sign.
Her usage of mascara seemed to dwindle day-by-day. Whenever he observed Gwen, he noticed that her mascara seemed a little smeared. Her lipstick (or lip gloss, whichever she felt like using for the day) smudged over the side of her face. He noticed that she's been rubbing her lips with the back of her hand, this pained expression on her face. She looked like she was trying to get rid of some invisible germ that took root on her lips. And each and every time she did that, he saw the muscles in her jaw tense up. That was the second sign.
And seeing her without that gunk on her face, he noticed that she lost the natural blush she had to her face. It was replaced by a much more paler and tired-looking Gwendolyn. Whenever they shared a conversation, she always kept her eyes cast downwards, as if she had a secret to keep from him, to hide from him. If she hadn't done that, she wouldn't have made her situation even more obvious than it already was. Her eyes looked… dead; with those darkening holes surrounding her eyes, eyes that seemed to be little too pink and a little too puffy. Those eyes that used to glow so brightly and so strongly suddenly became dim and weak; it was like a fire that lost its glimmer through a lack of oxygen.
It felt as if he was the one causing this startling change in her. Maybe it was because he didn't know what was eating her. He didn't even know if it was caused by some outside force or by something within her. He just knew that she was changing, but he wasn't so sure of how it came to be or how it started, but it all pointed to one thing, something really bad was happening. The only thing that he just couldn't figure out was if he was already catching on the warning signs or…
…or if Ben was already too late and witnessing the after effects.
Author's Note: After much revising and editing, I give you "Perfect Scars" a darker and much more sinister view on Ben 10: AF. This is just practice for me since I really need to shapen up on my angsty skills. I'm not that confident on writing this type of genre, but I was really pumped to write this awhile back. Hopefully, I can convey the character's feelings through here. If I can't, then I fail as a writer.
But continuing on, the story will be rated "T", but I'm discouraging any "innocent" readers from reading this one fiction. I'm to say that not everything's going to have a fluffy moment (but I will say that there WILL be moments like these) or having a lovey-dovey feel. I'm hoping to explore the romance between Gwen and Kevin and co-relating it to Gwen and Ben. Hopefully, I'll have a spike inspiration during a seven-day period.
And by the way, I need to do "research" on 'Are You Ready to Play?" before I commit to the second chapter.