The Beauty Exam, or True Beauty

Four females were standing in front of Ron.  The girl on the far left had blonde hair, the girl to the right of her had red hair, the girl to the right of her had brown hair, and the farthest right girl had hair that was dyed blue.  "Pick one."  The teacher said.  Ron walked forward to inspect each of the females in front of him.  He approached the blonde first.

"I am allowed to question them, correct?"  Ron said.

"You are allowed to question to your heart's content.  Take as long as you want."  The teacher responded.

"What's your name?"  Ron asked the blonde haired girl, he noticed she had brown eyes that were near covered in make-up.

"Alexa."  The blonde hair girl responded.  Ron noticed as her lips moved that she had copious amounts of lip stick on.  The color was an odd red.  Her clothing"if you could call it that"was lacking.  Her heels did not cover a lot of her feet, her skirt was shorter than Ron cared to know and her shirt was just a few stitches too much to be classified as just a bra.  SEX? was written on the front of the "shirt."

"Very well, Alexa, tell me your story then."  Ron said.

The blonde girl let out a sigh, "I was born.  I go to school.  That's why we are here."

"Is that it?"  Ron asked, annoyed at the girl's briefness.

"Yes.  Teacher always told us that briefness is best, remember?"  The blonde said.  Ron remembered the lesson a year ago.  The teacher always said to be brief.  Briefness is best when in public, too many words and you start sounding like an idiot.  Ron was always a slow learner.

Ron moved on to the red head next to the blonde.  "What's your name?"  Ron asked.

"Olivia."  She said.  Her hair seemingly burning a deep crimson.  Ron noticed her eyes had a deep blue to them and her face had numerous freckles.  Make-up was still applied to her eyes, just like the blondes, but not as much.  Her mouth had no lipstick.

"That's a nice name."  Ron said.  He looked down at the girl's clothes.  Her pants were long and tight and her shoes were normal sneakers.  The shirt she was wearing fit nicely and was a plain yellow.  Ron waited for a reply, but none came.  He remembered, briefness is best.  He had to remember that if he was to pass.  "And can you tell me your story?"  Ron knew he shouldn't have asked again.  The teacher was glaring over at Ron now.

"I was born in this town and have been raised here all my life.  I really like it here and I don't think I am going to leave.  I plan to further my education at the local university and find a job in town.  My family has been great to me and I cannot complain of any social issues.  I'm generally a happy girl."  She seemed to rush the words out, all with a smile on her face.

Ron dared not to ask more, lest the teacher start noticing his conversational tone.  He moved on to the next girl in the line.  The one with the brown hair.  "Name?"  He asked, finally remembering to be brief.  Closer up he noticed that this girl was a bit chubbier than the rest.

"My name is Arianna, nice to meet you!"  She said, cheerily.  Ron saw that her eyes were gray, make-up slathered all over them.  Her face was also heavily done up.  Ron thought she seemed really nice though.  Her clothing was loose, possibly to hide her weight, at least this is what Ron thought.  This time Ron did not ask the girl about a story, he remembered.  Briefness.  As he walked over to the final girl he noticed the teacher smile.

When Ron finally reached the girl with the blue hair he felt a jolt go through his chest as he stared at her close up for the first time.  Her hair was a bit shorter than the rest of the girls in the line and shone a beautiful and deep blue.  Her eyes were a majestic green and her face had a soft look to it.  She was untouched by make-up and wore a yin-yang necklace around her neck.  The clothing she wore seemed to have a attitude of not caring around it.  Her jeans were ripped at spots and her shoes seemed really worn.  Her shirt was emblazoned with an emblem of a band and fit her perfectly.  Ron"forgetting all briefness"took a deep breath and blurted out, "Hey, uh, what's your name?  I really like the hair by the way."  He smiled.

The girl returned the smile, "My name is Nicole, but I like going by Nikki."

"I really like that name, it has a nice flower to it"I mean flow!  It has a nice flow to it."  Ron said nervously.  "So, Nikki, tell me about yourself."  He said, self conscious of just how he was standing in front of Nkki.

"Well, I really like music and to paint.  I have a whole bunch of paintings hung up in my room, it's pretty cool.  I know how to play the guitar.  I love to read.  My favorite author is probably Franz Kafka.  That's about the short description of me."  She laughed.  "How about you?  Tell me about yourself, Ron."  Nikki said.  She shot a glare over to the teacher.

Ron never heard of a female asking the male a question during the exam before.  But he answered nevertheless, "Well, I really enjoy reading also and I am familiar with Kafka.  Quite the creepy dude.  I write in my spare time and am looking to someday become a published author hopefully.  And that's my short description."  Ron smiled.

The teacher stirred in the corner, "I think this has gone on long enough.  Time for you to choose, Ron."  He said.  Ron walked over next to the teacher and looked over his options.  "You have A, B, C, or D, Ron.  Pick wisely."  The teacher said.

Ron looked over all the girls and after a minute or two of thinking of which was the right choice said, "I choose D, Nikki."  Nikki smiled.

"Wrong.  You fail."  The teacher said.  "You should've been paying attention in Society class.  A was the right choice.  Her clothes qualify for societal beauty.  She has her required make-up on, just as every female should if they hope to be beautiful.  Her hair has been bleached blonde, also just how every female should.  Blonde is the color of the quarter-decade, we went over this in class.  And just to pound this lesson in even more, so hopefully you'll remember next time.  I noticed how you talked to B, not brief enough Ron.  Also, her hair is red!  Red hair is not beauty!  Now you tell me what is wrong with C.  I'll give you some points if you get it correct."

"She… she's fat."  Ron said lowly, ashamed of his words.

"Yes!  She's fat.  She's a regular cow!  Everyone that's passed pre-school knows that fat will never be 'in."  The teacher scolded.  Olivia was on the verge of tears.  "Furthermore, she wears too much make-up, probably trying to hide away the fat, huh!?"  Olivia was crying now, her eye-liner running down her face.  The teacher straightened up as straight as any man can stand, "And finally… D!  D is the worst of the worst, and you picked her!  Look at that atrocious hair!  Never in class did we go over blue hair being 'in!'  And she doesn't even have make-up on!"  The teacher was screaming at this point, beyond the point of being hysterical.  His eyes seemed like they would bulge out of his skull at any second.  "D is the ugliest of the ugliest!"  The teacher screamed.

The teacher went on and on.  Soon the word's started to disappear to Ron's ears.  All he could feel was anger building up.  He felt as if a fire was building up inside of him.  He couldn't handle anymore.  "…And the Law of Societal Beauty states""

"Shut up!"  Ron yelled, blasting through the teacher's lecture.  "I've had enough of your bullshit!  You drone on and on about what beauty is but how could you know what beauty is!?  You have other people tell you what it is and then expect it to be the same for everyone else.  All these years you've been belching out the same shit.  You get us while we're young.  You start telling us what is beautiful then and we have to accept it because we don't know any alternative.  I'm lucky that I chose never to listen to you in those early years.  I'm fortunate that I chose to day-dream during your 'beauty lectures!'  All these years I've been just barely passing on purpose.  I wanted to graduate from this damned school so I could go somewhere in life.  But you know what?  It's not worth it.  Not if I have to become a fucking sheep like you or 'A' over there.  Fuck you, teacher, and fuck everything you're teaching.  I'm getting as far away from this country as possible."

            The teacher just stood and stared in disbelief.  Never in his years of teaching has a student ever argued with him.  "Expelled."  Was all he could squeeze out of his mouth.  Ron walked over to Nikki.

"You can come with me if you'd like."  Ron said.

"Sure."  Nikki responded.  Ron took her hand and led her through the door to the outside world.  Ron knew what true beauty was now, because he had just found it.