"Ring..." goes the school alarm of Waterfall High School. It's time for recess and everyone come out of their classrooms.
"Buckteeth alert, everyone!" shouts Martha. "Watch out for those braces. It'll knock you over! Ooh, shiny teeth Lil, where did you get them?"
Lily fakes a smile and walks back to her locker as quickly as she can. She turns the combination and opens the locker door. Mathematics, geometry and algebra books fall onto the floor. Lily kneels down to grab her books when suddenly, another hand comes for her books and a voice says, "Let me help you." It is Andy, Lily's best friend since elementary school.
Andy is 5'10". Tall guy. Nerdy, with a few pimples here and there, still he is kind of cute, albeit not boyfriend cute. Not those wears-nerd-glasses-and-look-i'm-a-cute-nerd-jock-whatever-they-call-themselves dudes. Oh and his sparkling green eyes. You never miss 'em.
"Are those people teasing you again?" Andy asks.
"They never stop," sighs Lily.
"I can't come over to study tonight. I have an essay that's due tomorrow and I haven't even started!"
"It's okay. Well then, see you tomorrow."
Lily, walking home alone, thinks, "Martha is always so mean. The school prom is next week and I'm sure she's going to be crowned 'Prom Queen'. She is going to show off her crown again. I just can't stand her!"
Lily's foot hits something. It is a jar of candies. There are red, orange, yellow and green candies in the jar that look like jellybeans. Inside the jar, Lily finds something- a piece of paper with complicated symbols and a diagram of the human body.
"I love candies! Let me take them home. After all, no one seems to want them." Lily wonders, "Looks yummy! Some nerdy kid must have put that piece of paper there. Oh well."
At that night, she pops one candy into her mouth before she sleeps.
"Mmm...tastes like heaven...wait now it's chicken, oh no haha it's heaven..." Lily thinks and then falls asleep.
As usual, Lily wakes up and gets ready for school. When she is about to brush her teeth, "Aaaahh!" screams Lily.
"What is happening?" asks Lily's mother.
"Mom, don't come in! I'm okay," says Lily as she slams the bathroom door close.
"Are you sure, sweetheart?"
"Yes!" answers Lily as she looks in the mirror.
She is transformed into an absolutely different person. The freckles on her face have vanished, her pimples are gone, and even her braces disappeared. Lily has become a pretty girl! She rushes into her room and puts on the most fabulous clothes she has in her wardrobe. Lily grabs a piece of toast and dashes out the door without saying goodbye to her mom.
"Ring..." goes the school alarm and everybody hurries to their homeroom. The teacher asks who that new girl behind the classroom is and Lily answers, "I...I...I'm... Lavenda (It's just a name Lily came up just in case anyone asks?)." she is so scared, "I'm Lily's cousin and I'm here to take school for her since she's sick." Everyone claps their hands and welcomes her. Lily feels happy. Later, the teacher also introduces a new student. His name is Anderson and he looks kinda like Andy but not exactly like Andy, he has a sense of coolness that Andy doesn't.
At lunch break, Anderson and Lavenda (?!) decide to hang out together. They introduce themselves to each other.
"I'm Lavenda, Lily's cousin, and you are?"
"I'm Andy's cousin, Anderson. Andy is sick and I'm here to take school for him."
"Ah! No wonder you two look so alike. What a coincidence! Me too!"
They kept on chatting about their lives and Lavenda's cheeks seem to have turned bright red. Anderson smirked.
Suddenly, some other students come over to meet Lavenda. They say, "Hi, we are the student body council. We would like to have you to run for 'Prom Queen'. You are polite, pretty, clever and graceful. You are much better than that Martha..." Meanwhile, Martha is hiding in the cafeteria corner. She hears this and is very jealous of Lavenda.
Lavenda walks home by herself and abruptly, her body starts to glow. She hides behind the roadside bushes then quickly transforms back into Lily. She runs home and looks at the jar of candy. There is a caption on the notepaper in the jar. It reads, "TRANSFORMATION CANDIES (beta)". Lily has gone extremely hyper. "I will get the crown! In fact, I can actually get the crown! Oh after all these years being called Bucktooth, now I get to be PROM QUEEN!"
From then on, Lily eats a candy every night before she sleeps. She spends these fifteen hours of beauty all on campaigning for 'Prom Queen'. She gives out flyers with her face on, notices in every morning assembly and even yells out her name during class (yes it sounds awkward but yeah...). Every day, you hear, "Vote for Lavenda! Vote for Lavenda!" everybody seems to be having a lot of confidence in Lavenda.
But because of this major popularity, She sometimes shouts at her friends when they really didn't do anything to cross her. Lavenda becomes all arrogant and doesn't care about other people's feelings.
"Get out of the way! Can't you see the Queen is trying to walk here? And For Your Information, I am the Queen. I will be the Prom Queen. Now leave, peasant!" shrieks Lavenda.
Days go by. Prom night is two days away...
On prom night, juniors are clothed in casual wear and seniors are wearing elegant tuxedos and gowns. Lavenda is one of them. She is wearing this long purple gown and that pair of earrings makes her more beautiful than ever. She is the center of attraction. However, Martha on the other side of the dance floor is resentful of Lavenda's popularity. She can stand her no more, she really wants to become 'Prom Queen' and begins spreading rumors.
She whispers to everyone, "Lavenda is so narcissistic. And here's a little secret: she even smokes in the girl's bathroom. She is only acting all the time. She wouldn't be a suitable candidate for 'Prom Queen'." This gossip soon goes to the student body council. While they are thinking about whether to disqualify Lavenda, Anderson goes over and stops the discussion.
"Martha just made the whole thing up. I know Lavenda and she isn't that bad. She has integrity and virtue in her character. She is the nicest person I've ever met. Please believe me," Anderson explains.
One of the council members smirks,''You don't have to defend Lavenda. I mean like everyone at school knows that you have a crush on her.''
''but still, you can't judge a person on what rumours they have. By your same token, I mean like everyone at school knows that Martha's a diva, you said so yourself. She wouldn't want anyone to steal her crown, that is why she vilified Lavenda. I think you people know in your hearts that Lavenda isn't some two-faced hustler, it is the reason why you nominated Lavenda in the first place, and now you want to kick her out of the competition? That is an action of proving yourselves wrong. Now do you, or do you not, want to disqualify her?" Anderson conveyed in earnest.
The student body council considers the explanation and decides to allow Lavenda to stay in the campaign.
The time of announcing 'Prom Queen' has finally come. The student body council gives the cue card to the teacher-in-charge.
He announces, "The 'Prom Queen' for this year is Ms... Lavenda Simpson! Congratulations!" Lavenda is so overjoyed that she bursts into tears. She runs on stage and sits on her throne. Martha standing below the stage is cross. The prefects take out the crown. The crown sits on a velvet cushion and rhinestones are sparkling on the crown.
At the moment when Lavenda is crowned 'Prom Queen', her body starts to glisten. The freckles on her face are back, her pimples are back and sadly, even her braces are back. She has transformed back into Lily! Everybody is astonished. There is only silence in the air. Totally unexpectedly, everybody's attention turns to the corner of the ballroom as something is glowing. It seems to be a person. It's Andy!
"You...you are Andy! No, Anderson! No, Andy! No...never mind." Lily gasps, "Andy!"
"Yeah...about the candies, long story short, they are my Science project." Andy says. "I know it sounds weird, but, yes."
"So...if I took your homework, then how can you transform yourself?" asks Lily.
"Actually, I took some home for experiments before I hid them on the road. Thank goodness you haven't finished the candies, or else I'd fail my favourite subject."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
"No. I mean I'm sorry to every one of you. I know I sometimes can't control my feelings and I yell at you so madly that you run away. I admit that I'm wrong. Will you guys forgive me?"
"Okay, seems like there's a little misunderstanding here. The voting of 'Prom Queen' shall begin in a few minutes. Please stay tuned. Thank you." The student body representative announces.
The principal goes on stage and says, "Just wait a minute here, I have something to say to you all. I think you've all heard of stories like Ugly Duckling, but I think you always forget the meaning of it. And I am here to reiterate the message: Real glamour and beauty is not just makeup, perfume, branded products. It's about being a role model, being beautiful on the inside and caring more about others than you do about yourself. This is all I have to tell. Now enjoy your prom, children."
"Very well then, I'm sure we all have learnt a lesson we'll never forget. So maybe we'll let Ms. Simpson here keep her crown." The representative says as he rolls his eyes.
The music goes on. Everybody is dancing, except Martha. She is so mad. Lily walks over and says, "You really want this crown, don't you?" Martha nods happily, "Yes, I do!"
"Here, take it." Lily hands her crown over to Martha.
"Friends?" asks Lily.
"Friends!" answers Martha gladly.
***THE END***