Chapter Four

Nicole arrived at school the next day exhausted from lack of sleep and incapable of thinking anything else other than the mysterious app on her phone.

The screen had changed to provide another form of torture to be inflicted on Roxie. In some ways, this punishment was more painful than being smashed by a boot. And it allowed Nicole the chance to get even; repay an eye for an eye. The lower half of the screen was divided in half. On the left side was a large image of Roxie's face. To the right were icons of hair, eyes, nose, ear, lips, skin, and accessories. It was very similar of a menu when a person was creating an avatar of themselves for a game. Except, these options were meant to make the person in question ugly or ridiculous instead of a flawless beauty. Nicole could give Roxie a pig nose with an outbreak of acne. Buck teeth with a clown nose. Bald with an extra chin.

The imprisoned Roxie remained unchanged as the image below was altered as Nicole experimentally pressed buttons. There was a small Go! button in the lower right hand corner. Nicole figured Roxie herself wouldn't look this way until that button was pressed.

Isn't this better? Mockery for mockery. You'd just be humiliating Roxie, like she humiliated you all those times.

Nicole had just huffed and ground her teeth as she got ready for bed. The night was long and sleepless as Nicole tossed and turned with her conscience.

As she went through her morning classes, Nicole couldn't help but wonder if there would be an inquest into Roxie's disappearance. But there were no cops at the school; teachers weren't asking for anyone to step forward with information.

By the time lunch came around, Nicole couldn't deny her curiosity any longer and approached Melissa, one of Roxie's hanger-on's.

"Where's Roxie?"

"I don't know." Was all Melissa said before turning back to her salad.

All of Roxie's friends didn't appear concerned. And why should they? Naturally they would assume Roxie was home sick instead of being trapped in a phone app. They would assume Roxie would be back tomorrow or the day after.

Nicole returned to her table and chocked down her peanut butter and Nutella sandwich. While the morning had dragged by, the afternoon was passing way too fast. Soon school would be over. And while that meant freedom for everyone else, for Nicole it meant she would have the temptation to "play" on her phone. School was providing a unique opportunity to push the thing aside and focus on something else; impossible as that was.

The last class of the day was Art. Nicole appreciated drawing. She didn't expect to become a famous artist or even have a related career, but it was fun. And an elective course she felt more comfortable with than sewing or cooking. Things like Door Dash and thrift stores existed for a reason. Putting pencil or chalk to paper, just making lines that somehow formed an image of beauty was magical.

"All right, class," Mrs. Manyan, the art teacher, said once everyone was in their seats. "Today is freeform. Consider this a pop quiz. By the end of class time today, you need to hand in a still life featuring one of the styles we've previously looked at. You must remain in this classroom. Go!"

The room was filled with the sound of moving paper as the students brought out their supplies. In the middle of the room was an already staged still life. A bowl filled with apples, bananas, and an orange dotted with cherries stood on a stool covered in a shiny blue piece of cloth. Everyone was getting busy sketching the image in charcoal.

I want to do something different. After all, she didn't say it had to be the fruit.

Nicole searched the room for inspiration. She could draw one of her classmates drawing the still life. But it seemed wrong without their permission. There was the cluttered bookcase of clay sculptures (which would be much too intricate to do correctly in this time frame) or the dirty sink. In the end, it was the windowsill that caught Nicole's attention.

Beside the windowsill was a vase of dead flowers. If Mrs. Manyan left them there on purpose or had simply forgotten their existence was up for debate. Nicole turned her chair and began to paint. She magnified the vase standing on a pile of books. Nicole made sure to capture the sunlight illuminating the object of her attention. She even added a wilted petal falling to the tabletop. Much brown was used, highlighted by pinks and yellows that were the roses original colors. She finished with minutes to spare.

When the final bell of the day rang, Mrs. Manyan accepted each piece of artwork with a nod. Nicole handed hers in last, and Mrs. Manyan stopped her.

"I'm curious. Of everything in this classroom, why that?"

"I don't know," Nicole answered honestly.

"Well, I'm impressed. You're the only student who spent time searching for beauty. And you did a great job highlighting the small life these flowers still held with the colors you chose. You spent your time well." Mrs. Manyan winked.

"Huh?"

"I'm just saying that time is precious. When you're younger you don't appreciate it as much as when you get older; even when a few young people can comprehend its importance. And my philosophy is: why waste something so precious creating ugliness? Time is better spent creating beauty or drawing attention to the beautiful things of this world."

"You're right. You're right," Nicole mused as she repeated the sentence to herself. Why create ugliness? "Thank you. I needed to hear that."

Nicole walked to her locker feeling lighter than she had since Roxie had been sucked into her phone. Through last night and today, Nicole hadn't been able to put into words why it felt wrong to use this app on Roxie. Unlike in the first options Nicole had been given to use, this was equal repayment.

But what was the point of that? Nothing would be gained. What lesson would Roxie learn? She would just do the same level of pettiness back to Nicole (because wouldn't she deserve retribution then?) or another easy target. But if Nicole refused, the ugly act would remain unfulfilled. And the time Nicole would have spent on the app, creating a hideous face for Roxie, could be spent in a better way. It was exactly like Mrs. Manyan had said; Nicole could spend her time turning Roxie into a thing of ugliness, or she could do something else.

Something beautiful.

Unafraid of temptation, Nicole pulled out her phone and opened the app. Roxie had taken to pacing across the screen, clearly bored with her imprisonment.

"I'm not going to do it," Nicole declared out loud. "I won't be using this either, so just let her go already."

The screen flickered once again. But there was still no Exit door. Roxie didn't magically reappear on the sidewalk. The layout changed back to the format when Roxie first appeared on her phone. But the list of buttons on the right weren't items of torture.

"Oh, what now?" Nicole asked as she scrolled through the new options.