Beauty’s Only Skin Deep
Copyright © 2018 by Bruno & Brown Press
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2017
Second Printing, 2018
ISBN 978-1-7321238-1-6
www.sunshinegbruno.com
Books also written by the author:
Kill the DJ
Election Year 2050 (April 10th, 2018)
Chapter 1
Lauren-Anne
I walked up to the building nervously, clutching my rosary. White Grimm High School. I’d be spending nearly every day here for the next four years. I might as well make the best of it.
“Lauren! Lauren-Anne!”
I turned around. My best friend, Meg, was running toward me.
I grinned. “Meg! Hi! How was your summer?”
Meg and I had been best friends since kindergarten. Despite that, we had never hung out during the summer. On the day after summer break started, Meg and her family would leave for the Hamptons. They wouldn’t come back until the day before school started.
“Oh, it was fine.” She smiled as she said, “I had a boyfriend while I was there.”
“What? Oh my gosh, tell me everything!”
“Once we find somewhere to sit. I don’t want anyone to hear. I don’t need any kind of reputation on my first day of high school.”
“Ok, tell me at Penny’s after school.”
Meg nodded. “Alright.”
We stood next to each other and stared at the big building in front of us.
I looked at Meg. “Are you ready?” I asked.
Meg shrugged. “I have no choice, do I?”
I smiled as I shook my head.
“Alright then, let’s go.”
And with that we entered the building, merging into the crowd of hundreds of students.
Brittany
As the bus pulled up to the curb, I gaped at the gigantic brick building in front of me. Above the front doors, there was a plaque that said, “White Grimm High School”. I watched as all the students seemed to walk in pairs or groups. There wasn’t a single student walking alone. White Grimm was a small town. Apparently, there were less than twelve hundred people living here. I was probably the only new student.
Not paying attention, I backed up off the seat. I bumped into someone.
“Hey, watch it!”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
The girl’s look softened as she said, “I’ve never seen you around before. What’s your name?”
“Brittany,” I answered.
“I’m Tiffany,” She stepped back to let me get off the bus in front of her.
“Nice to meet you, Tiffany.”
“Are you new?”
I nodded.
“Where are you from?”
“Los Angeles.”
Tiffany looked elated as she said, “Los Angeles? Wow, that’s great! I’ve never met anyone from California. Most of the students were born here. We’ve all known each other since kindergarten.”
“Great,” I said sarcastically. My worst fear had been realized.
“Hey, if you need someone to eat lunch with or something come find me, ok?”
I smiled. “Alright, I will.”
Tiffany smiled back as she said, “I’ve got to go. Bye.”
Tiffany
As I walked away from Brittany, the new girl, I thought about what I had just done. My friends and I had been the most popular girls in school for the last two years. We weren’t the type to invite the new kid to sit with us. But that had been junior high. We were high school freshmen now. We were at the bottom of the food chain. Brittany was pretty and we needed all the help we could get.
I walked over to my friends, Judy and Betty, and asked, “Have you figured it out yet?”
“Figured out what?” Betty asked.
“What Judy and I talked about on the phone last night.” I turned to Judy. “Judy, I told you to call Betty after we got off the phone last night!”
“I’m sorry. I forgot,” Judy told me.
I sighed. I was exhausted even though it was only 8:50 am. “Last night I told Judy that her and you need to find out who the most popular girls in the school are. That way we can become friends with them, and as a result, we are also the most popular girls in school.”
“Oh, that’s a clever idea,” Betty said.
Judy pointed to two girls standing by the auditorium doors and said, “I think that it might be those two. Everyone keeps looking at them and a few people went up to talk to them. Besides, look at how beautiful they are.”
I nodded. They were beautiful. I immediately decided that I didn’t like them.
Judy said, “Alright, so we’ll observe them for a few days. Make sure that they really are the most popular girls. Then we’ll figure out a way to hang out with them. Right, Tiffany?”
I shook my head. We didn’t need to observe them. I already knew that they were the most popular girls. It was obvious. I could tell that they were. And I told Judy and Betty that.
“What do you mean you can tell?” Betty asked.
“Look at them. Everyone loves them.”
Betty nodded slowly as she said, “I love them and I don’t even know them.”
“I know, me too!” Judy agreed.
This wasn’t right. My friends weren’t supposed to like these girls more than me. But even as I told myself that I hated them, I could feel a growing admiration for them.
Suddenly the auditorium doors opened.
“Come on, ladies. Let’s make our entrance and show White Grimm High School just how great we are.” I said as I positioned myself between Judy and Betty.
Meg
Lauren-Anne and I took our seats in the middle of the auditorium. We weren’t like the teachers’ pets, who liked to get front row seats, but we weren’t like the cool kids who sat in the back rows either.
Everyone around us was chattering excitedly, catching up with friends. When I say “friends” I mean the kids that you like, but don’t like enough to hang out with outside of school.
Everyone grew quiet as a woman walked toward the stage. I could see why. This lady looked mean. Even so, she had a strange beauty about her.
“Good morning, White Grimm High School. Welcome to the school year of 1955 and 1956. I am your principal, Ms. Ruffinio.”
Oh boy.
