Beauty Standards

"Something special happening today?" Just as I was about to exit through the big automatic doors of the apartment, a familiar voice called out to me.

I very slowly turned around, not because I had been caught doing something, but simply due to the sluggishness of a body that hadn't seen proper sleep for two days. Eventually, I managed to face the owner of the voice, my caretaker, Ingrid.

She was sitting behind the receptionist desk with a book in her left hand and a cup in the other; coffee without a doubt. Her eyes were only half-open, but she still had an energetic aura surrounding her.

"No, not really. Why'd you ask?" I tried as hard as I could to not sound completely dead, though in my attempt I probably made it even more obvious. She then opened her mouth, seemingly about to answer, which gave me hope that I had somehow succeeded in hiding my exhaustion, but then her jaw suddenly dropped and her eyes fully opened. "Dear lord! Those are some big bags you've got under your eyes. Didn't you get any sleep?"

"No… for SOME reason I couldn't get a wink in…", I dearly hope that this "SOME reason" hadn't received any either.

"Well, do you want me to call the school? It would be bad if you got sick during the very first week of the new school year"

"No, there's no need. I think I'll manage."

Ingrid gave me a doubtful look, "So there really is something happening today?"

"No, there isn't. What makes you think there is?", I couldn't understand her persistence.

"Well, I saw you smiling when you walked past me and you're still doing it, so I was just curious. That's all." Smiling?

As soon as Ingrid pointed it out, I could clearly feel the curved shape of my mouth. I Instinctively pulled up my hand and covered my lips, which in hindsight seemed absolutely pointless.

After witnessing my desperate act of attempted concealing, all my caretaker could do was sigh. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on prying into this matter any further, and if you say that there's nothing special happening, then I trust you. But Grey, there's no need to hide your smile, after all - it looks nice on you"

***

"So is it true that this biology teacher of yours is a total looker?"

"Hmm, well, she's young yet exudes a certain mature aura. Her figure also corresponds rather nicely with the popularized hourglass form, so if that sounds like your type, then yes; I would say she's quite the looker", after proudly summarizing the appeal of Mrs. Ormela, Sadim swallowed the fry he had been waving around during his explanation.

"Oh, that does sound rather promising", the transfe- no, Dawn said. She then clearly began to ponder over the summarization she had been given.

"Do you have anything to add on the matter, Grey? You like biology, don't you?", I had been expecting to get dragged into this conversation sooner or later, but that didn't mean I wished to partake anymore.

"Well, like might be a strong word, but because I think I'm somewhat good at it I enjoy it more than some other subjects… (cough) (cough) math…"

After hearing those words the ponderous Dawn suddenly turned her look straight towards me, "You like biology more than math!? How?!"

Her sudden incursion caught my tongue and I had no words of rebute, but thankfully one more voice existed here at this table, "Nah, you've got it wrong. He doesn't 'like it more', he just hates math", Sadim, in the nick of time, arrived and defended my crumbling fortress.

Her eyes then changed their target to my knight in shining armor, "But biology is such a drag... I admit, the dissections are pretty fun, but then we have to listen to all those long-winded explanations about how the things we dissected were actually part of some "special" species with an exhaustingly long Latin name that no one will even remember or care about after the test is done. Oh, and don't get me started on those tests!"

"How is that any different from math!? The only difference is that instead of Latin you have to remember those long-winded formulas", After my temporary retreat, I finally managed a rebuttal.

Dawn's look hastily returned to me. "No, unlike biology, you actually get a formula sheet for math; precisely so that you don't need to remember everything perfectly"

"Well, okay… But remembering the names of different species is just a small part of biology, there's much more to it"

After hearing those words, an all too familiar smug smile clad the girl in front of me. "More to it? Like what? Do you perhaps like to learn more about the terrain? About how it curves and its various climates?"

She was clearly insinuating something, but I was uncertain about what exactly that was. "Yeah, I think it's interesting." So I decided to proceed calmly.

Her expression remained, "Then what parts of it do you find most intriguing? Perhaps the upper regions, with their mountainous terrain? The narrow middle or maybe the plump bottom?"

Opposite to my calm, she had once again thrown a full-on assault…

"W-well…" Her eyes were wide open, focusing on me with an expectant look.

"Wait!" ...Which is why Sadim's sudden interference clearly startled her. "You aren't really talking about the terrain, are you?"

I witnessed how Dawn recuperated, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, before smiling and once again changing the target of her attention.

"No, that's exactly what I'm talking about."

"Oh, it is? I'm sorry, I thought you were talking about Mrs. Ormela. I mean, it kinda sounded like that's what you indirectly meant." Sadim then entered a pose reminiscent of "the thinker" "Though I suppose it's for the best that that wasn't what you were hinting at."

At the rectangular table, we were sitting, everyone's expressions were clear to see, which meant I had a perfect view of the confusion Dawn was currently broadcasting.

"And why would that be?", curiosity quickly got the better of her.

Sadim didn't answer directly, instead, he took a note from Dawn's previous actions and appeared to be pondering over the question he had just received; looking off into the distance. Then, after some time, he finally met the confused look of the transfer student with his own. "What do you mean? Isn't that obvious?"

Both of their perplexed expressions now morphed into once of confrontation. "I'm sorry, it seems I don't find it quite so comprehensible. Could you perhaps find it in yourself to explain?", with just a quick look one would be forgiven to not sense the underlying darkness behind Dawn's expression because a sunny smile effectively dispersed the shadows. But just one quick look at her eyes would immediately cloud that sunshine.

"Well, I suppose I could explain myself, but if you don't already get it then I doubt my explanation would do much good", Sadim, very much the same as Dawn, skillfully hid his deeper intentions.

She didn't respond verbally, but the glare she was giving more than sufficed as a showcase of her thoughts. To put it nicely, the dark clouds were almost impossible to miss now.

It reminded me of the look she had given me during our first encounter… Though right now her eyes were more akin to a pure black and loud thunder cloud, as opposed to the still thunderous yet drizzling and gray one of two days past.

I glanced at Sadim, expecting to see a mirror of my horrors, but what I saw could only be described as the polar opposite. He had a taunting look to him. If Dawn was a thundercloud, then Sadim wasn't just standing in the storm, he was also holding a long pitchfork and raising it towards the sky; daring it to try and strike him down.

The humid air which appears before a storm, I could feel it filling the atmosphere around the table as these two professional sadists clashed. "I'm sorry, but I don't really get it either. Why exactly would it be bad if she meant Mrs. Ormela?" After almost fainting from the unbearable tension, I managed to put myself back into the conversation.

As my words came flying into the storm, the two of them suddenly turned into living statues, uncomfortably still. Though this only lasted a quick moment, for the next thing I knew, they both turned their heads towards me - perfectly synchronized. "Isn't that obvious?" they both said, also in perfect synchronicity.

Then Sadim suddenly grew a big smile while Dawn sighed. "Aha! So you did understand!", with his newly found energy, the challenger of the sky yelled out.

"It wasn't that hard to get…" it surprised me how defeated she sounded, it was a part of her I hadn't really seen before.

"So… What exactly is obvious?", I still had no real idea about what exactly this battle had even been about.

"You really don't get it?", Dawn said while half her face was buried in her hand.

"Well, not to worry my dear friend, because I am here!" my supposed "dear friend" looked awfully happy about my confused state. "See, the truth is-"

"You really gonna hand him the answer? Just like that?", The roles of the interrupted and interrupter had been switched. The girl whose face was still buried in her palm had spoken with a calm tone, yet her words had been quick.

Sadim put a pause to his theatrical performance and answered the disruptive statement with a curious look.

"I mean if he can't even figure it out on his own, does he really deserve to know?" Is she making fun of me!?

The eyes of my "dear friend" began to wonder as he annoyingly enough thought a great deal about what Dawn had said. Slowly a fiendish smile took form and before I knew it this supposed white knight of mine was far gone. "You make a good point. It would be a waste to simply hand him the answer"

"I wholeheartedly agree, after all, if he simply gets the truth handed to him then it will bring no growth", why are they both talking like I'm not here…

Actually, how did we even get here? This whole emotional rollercoaster ride, didn't it all just start with whether or not the biology teacher was hot? Like, just… how did that turn into whatever THIS is?

…

...

… Wait…

...

...biology?

"You agree, don't you Grey?", I heard Dawn trying to agitate me, but her words seemed so terribly distant as the horrible truth I had just realized dawned on me.

Sadim quickly took notice of my odd behavior. "Wait… did you figure it out?"

"No…" I could hear the quivering of my own voice. "But I realized something else… Biology started five minutes ago…"

My two companions at this table slowly started leaning back into their chairs, as if the truth was slowly but surely pushing them back into reality. Then they, and I, silently looked around the cafeteria, only to find nothing but empty tables.

"It's not that bad, is it?" Dawn, the still naive transfer student spoke with innocence.

I took a deep breath before taking it on myself to break this girl's hopes, "This is biology we're talking about, which means… Mrs. Ormela…"

Now that our hectic conversation had subdued, the calm of the cafeteria highlighted the accelerated beating of my heart. The tension rose to the absolute limit and with light shaking, I turned towards the man who understood the true horror of this predicament we now faced best. The man with the first-hand experience as to what this all truly entailed.

Sadim spoke only one word, but that was all which was needed: "Run"