Chapter 3: Beauty is Pain

Judy awoke the next morning to her mom throwing out clothes from her dresser. "This needs to go...this can stay...when did I buy her this?...This is cute..." She was just about to close her eyes again until she caught a glimpse of her mom tossing Judy's favorite pair of red converse high tops into a large, black garbage bag.

Rocketing upwards, Judy shouted, "NO!"

"I, uh," Judy's mom said startled.

"Don't you dare throw those out," Judy warned. "They look ratty and torn, but I can't bear to part with them."

Obligingly, Judy's mom took the shoes out of the bag and onto the floor. "Fine. Go get changed and freshen up. We're going shopping in an hour," She said getting up from the floor.

"You know I don't take an hour to get ready. What gives?" Judy asked confused. "I'm like literally ready now."

"Honey...I've picked out an outfit for you. I've also bought you some make-up that you could try out," Judy's mom replied hopefully. She pulled off a simple gray v-neck and a pair of jean shorts from Judy's closet. "Try it on. I think it'll look nice." Then she slipped out of Judy's room.

Judy stared at the clothes. As if, she thought. Just as she was about to shove the outfit back into the unknown depths of her closet, she peered out the window. Jessica Finch!? What on earth is she doing on my street? She thought curiously. And who is that boy she's walking with? Squinting her eyes to get a better view, Judy had a sudden realization. Rocky!? Her knees felt wobbly all of a sudden and sat down. For some reason, she felt betrayal, as if Rocky only belonged to her. She also felt something else. A feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on. Judy never felt this feeling before, but she decided she did not like it. Not one bit.

In a fit of rage and frustration, she swore that Jessica would not beat her at anything this year. Whether it be grades, sports, or fashion, Judy would be the champion. As she threw on the outfit her mom picked out for her, she ranted in her head about how annoying and stuck up Jessica was. Judy looked into her mirror and suddenly stopped. A completely different person stared back at her. It was hard to believe that the girl in the cute gray v neck that clung snuggly to all the right places was her. She shuddered and laced up her red converse sneakers. They made her feel a little better.

What else did her mom tell her to do? Oh right. Make-up. As Judy walked into the bathroom, she noticed that one of the drawers was now labeled as "Judy's!". Cautiously, she opened the drawer slowly, like something would jump out at her or something. However, inside the drawer was a bucket of

at least $300 worth of cosmetics. As she pushed it all aside, there was another bin containing another $100 worth of brushes. Overwhelmed, she felt her knees wobble and sat down on the cold bathroom tiles. She didn't notice that her mom had appeared in the doorway. "Hon, you okay?" Judy's mom asked, concerned. She held her daughter's arm and helped Judy get back on her feet.

"I don't think I can do this..." Judy muttered, her eyes still wide open.

Her mother reached down and pulled out a tube of lip gloss. She unscrewed the cap and slid the pretty pink gloss across Judy's lips. "How about just that?"

The sticky formula and strong bubble gum odor made her awfully uncomfortable and was just about to say so until she caught a whiff of breakfast. This seemed to snap Judy out of her state of shock. "Do I smell bacon, eggs, toast, and pancakes? Man, am I starved!" And like a dog, she traced the scent back to the kitchen. She grabbed a knife and a fork and feasted like a king. The good thing with Judy was that she could always eat and eat, and not gain a single pound. Stink said it was because she had fast metabolism, but Judy claimed that it was because she burned off everything when she did sports and engaged in other physical activities (including chasing Stink and TPing Jessica Finch's house).

However, the lip gloss got all over her food. Judy put down her fork in defeat. "How does Jessica do this every morning?"

"What?" Her mother replied in confusion.

"Nevermind. Let's just go," Judy grumbled. She threw on her backpack and walked to the car. Just as she was about to open the door, Stink suddenly shoved her aside and slipped into the front seat. Just when she thought the morning couldn't get any worse. She raised a fist and prepared to give Stink a good knuckle sandwich when she saw Frank walking by himself. Even though Frank was a dork, she would still pick Frank over Stink, so she ran over to his side. "I'M WALKING!"

"Are you sure, hon? It's on my way..." Judy's mom said, unconvinced. "Besides, you might be late on your very first day of school!"

Judy waved at her mom to show that being late was not one of her concerns. She grinned at Zeke. "You ready for our first day?" Frank was surprisingly unresponsive. He was sick of always being left out with Judy and Rocky. The fact that he was Judy's second choice despite all his kind actions towards her made him upset as well.

The lack of interaction between the two made Judy feel awkward. They walked the rest of the way to school in cold silence.