24 ‘Inversion of aesthetics? Seriously?’

Ananya was in a daze as she looked out of the window of the car as it zipped down the streets towards her home from school.

No matter how she tried, she couldn't get the image of the boy out of her head.

Who was he?

How come she had never seen him before?

And most importantly, why did her very soul tremble when she saw him?

The questions circled around in her mind and the answers weren't forthcoming.

It would be understandable if the boy was extremely handsome and charming like the protagonists of the romance novels she so frequently read.

But, he was as far away from her mental image of how a romance novel protagonist should look as could be.

He wasn't tall. He wasn't dressed any differently than any other student. He definitely wasn't handsome.

Neither did he have an aura of pathos which might have attracted her.

In fact, he had a smug smirk plastered all over his face when she had laid her eyes upon him.

But… but that feeling… like electricity running up her spine.

It was unforgettable. She had to know more about him.

Turning to the chauffeur smartly dressed in a black suit that was driving the car, she requested, "Uncle, can you get me the information of a boy in my school for me? Noting the pattern on his tie, he is either in my year or the year below. Also, you can't miss him… his looks are extremely… unique."

The chauffeur who had been in their family for over a decade and watched her grow up, raised an eyebrow. "Milady, you'll have to be a little more specific than that."

"Uhh. How to put it… he is quite ugly. The thing is, I don't remember anyone transferring to the school in the recent years and his looks are quite eye-catching. I was just curious as to who he was."

The chauffeur nodded. "Do you want a hard copy of his file or do you want me to email a softcopy to you?"

"I'd like a hard copy, please. You know I don't like to read electronic documents."

"I'll have it sent to your room by tonight."

"Thank you, Uncle," said Ananya with a bright smile.

If anyone at the school saw her smile, they would be surprised as her standard expression there was an icy poker face.

Finally arriving at the Adhikari mansion, the car stopped at the gate to register its credentials with the security guards before continuing on.

Ananya's father was the owner of Adhikari enterprises, a chain of property dealers and private schools, one of which was the school at which Aman studied.

Ananya's mother had passed away when she was very young and she remembered little of her. She only knew that her father had loved her mother enough that he had refused to remarry. As the only child of her father, there was a lot of pressure on her to perform.

And indeed, most of her day was spent shuttling from one lesson to another. Music, dance, tuitions in various subjects and even mixed martial arts. All of this alongside being groomed to take over the company in the future.

It was no wonder that she had developed an aura of superiority when she dealt with her peers. Many looked up to her as their idol.

You would expect her to be frustrated with her regulated life. Stifled by the pressure.

Well, you would be half right.

She had felt that way. Once.

Watching her peers enjoy themselves while she had to 'play that piece again on her violin because she had used too much vibrato and competitions heavily penalized that' had caused her to snap and complain tearfully to her father.

"You don't love me." She had said. "Your company is more important for you."

He had only replied. "Meet the goals that have been set for you and you can request anything you want. As long as it is in my power, I won't refuse."

So, she had worked extra hard that month and exceeded all her teachers' expectations.

She had made only one request. "Accompany me for the whole week. It's my birthday on Tuesday."

She had expected to be refused. Her father was a busy man and in this fast paced world, a lot could happen in a week without him helming the company.

He had only nodded.

That week was the happiest she had been.

The week after the saddest. Watching her father run off caffeine and only two hours of sleep a day as he struggled to make up for missed time, his dark circles growing deeper each day had left her with a profound impression.

Now, meeting expectations had become a habit. Exceeding them, her pride.

The car pulled over in the parking lot and she got off, thanking the chauffeur.

Kicking off her shoes and putting them in the shoe rack, she exchanged them for comfortable slippers before climbing the stairs to her room.

Throwing her bag onto a chair, she dived face first into the bouncy mattress before rolling around on it.

It was only in her room that she could relax fully.

Flipping onto her back, she took a look around her room.

Pastel shades dominated the décor with a pale pink being the dominant colour.

Stuffed toys were scattered all over her bed and her room. If there was anything that could be called her hobby, it was handmade stuffed toys.

Her collection included works from all around the world in all sorts of materials and styles.

But her favourite one was the worn-out five-foot teddy bear that had followed her since she was but a baby. According to her father, it had been bought for her by her mother.

One of the few signs of her ever having existed.

Grabbing the bear by one of its paws, she hugged it and rolled around on her bed some more as she tried to figure out what was wrong with her.

Frustrated at the utter lack of answers, she got up with a huff and went over to her book collection.

There weren't many titles on the shelf but what were there were inevitably from the romance genre.

Pulling out a slim paperback, she flipped to the page number she remembered.

The book read:

"… as the transfer student walked in with confident strides, the entire class grew still. When he turned around, our eyes met and I felt a tingle run up my spine.

"It was then that I knew. I was in love."

Ananya snapped the book shut and replaced it.

It had always been one of her least favourite reads. The plot device of love at first sight had felt so contrived to her... the only reason she had continued was because she liked the personality of the main character.

But reading it again… wasn't it the same feeling she had today?

Was this possible? Could she be a victim of cupid's errant arrow?

Her father had put no restrictions on her future partner unlike the fathers of every second female scion she read about in her novels.

In his words. "The reason I made this company wasn't so I would be fettered by it but rather empowered by it."

But, though her young heart yearned for romance, she had found none outside her books.

The reason for this was self-evident.

None were worthy.

Her collection of medals, trophies and certificates could fill several shelves.

She had excellent genetics since birth and with the resources her father wielded, it was a simple matter to make up her deficiencies.

Why? Just recently, someone had sold off four whole agility stats to the grey market's genetic hospital, which was just what she had needed to reach a perfect 10 in all fields.

Like Gene Extraction, to a much lesser extent Gene Fusion also damaged the soul. So, she had to recuperate between each successive session.

Also, there were a lot of people with cash and genes of the desired types were quite scarce so she had been quite lucky to get her hands on those four agility genes.

She was currently recuperating from her operation and so, for the next few days, she wouldn't have to attend her dancing or MMA classes, leaving her with free time.

Also, she had been pre-evaluated and she was scheduled to join the Indian Institute of Eugenics, come fall.

With this string of qualifications, whenever she tried to look at the boys she knew through rose-tinted glasses, all she saw were disappointments.

Thus, she had gained a reputation of untouchability and being cold and proud.

But this cold and proud princess was perplexed today and the one who was the cause for this was one of the ugliest boys she had seen.

Taking out her phone, her fingers flew over the screen, typing out a query for the search engine.

The resulting answer was:

"Cacophilia, from (Greek. Cacos meaning bad or unpleasant), is the growing phenomenon observed specially among the upper class of society. It is the love or appreciation of all things ugly. Psychologists state that this inversion of aesthetics is a result of human predisposition to consider rare things precious.

"As gene transfer becomes common and the overall genetic scores keep rising due to several government policies encouraging people above the genetic median score of 25/50 to reproduce and discouraging those with scores below, the attractiveness index of the population rises in tandem.

"Cacophilia is a trend that has shown up in recent years with increasing frequency…"

Ananya stopped reading and put the phone away.

She stared blankly at the ceiling as she flopped down on her bed on her back.

The image of the boy flashed past in her mind and the only thought she could muster was:

'Inversion of aesthetics? Seriously?'