“I’m beautiful.”  Kelly told her reflection, but she knew she was lying.

In a few months, she would graduate high school and might never see Brad again.  Afraid to let that happen, she made an appointment with a cosmetic surgeon.

“What can you do for me?”  She asked him.

He looked her over:  “Rhinoplasty, liposuction, breast enhancement… What can you afford?”

“Everything!”

Back home, Kelly ransacked her parents’ bedroom closet, shoving silverware, fine china and jewelry into a bag before heading out the door.

#   #   #

She opened her eyes.  “Am I beautiful?”  She asked the doctor, who was standing over her.

“If I weren’t twice your age, Kelly, I’d date you.”

“Can I have a mirror?”

“Not yet, Kelly, you have two black eyes, and there’s substantial swelling.  Give it a few days.”  He turned and left.

Unwilling to wait, she signed herself out of the hospital and went to the school, sporting a mini-skirt, low-cut shirt and spike heels.  Inside the cafeteria, the din was deafening.  She spotted Brad at a table with his crew.  His hazel eyes widened as she stomped toward him, trying to smile in spite of the swelling in her face.

“Hi, Brad.”

She was surprised to watch him run from the cafeteria, followed by everyone else who’d been sitting at the table.  And then she understood the true poisonous nature of jealousy.  She marched from the school with her head held high and headed for the only place she had left to go:  Home.  Her mother sat on the living room couch, shredding a tissue:

“Kelly, what have you done?”

“I wanted to be beautiful, Mother.  Where’s Daddy?”

“In the hospital, recovering.”  Dark rings circled Mother’s eyes.

“You’re lying, Mother.  You’re just jealous of me.”

“Get out.”  Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “I can’t bear to see you like this.”

#   #   #
She sat cramped in her seat on the airplane, pursing her lips at her reflection in her compact.  The man next to her shifted uncomfortably.

“That mirror is reflecting light into my eyes.  Can you put it away?”

She stared at him sharply:  “I’m on my way to being a supermodel, you know.”

He lifted an eyebrow:  “You signed up with an agency?”

“No, but I will.” She snapped the compact shut.  “You don’t know how much I’ve been through… Beauty… Jealousy… It’s a deadly combination.”

“I can only imagine,” he yawned.

She was staring off into the distance.  “In was known to sink ships in the past.  Now, it can crash planes.”

“I sure hope not, but that was a pretty deep statement.” His tone was sarcastic.

“You mean that the ocean is deep, but the sky is light, fluffy and full of air.”

“A lot like you,” he agreed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothin,’ I guess.”  He snickered.

The plane hit a pocket of turbulence and she looked to the man for affirmation, but his head had lolled to one side and he was happily snoring away.

“Beauty, jealousy, deadly,” she whispered to herself, removing her compact and staring obsessively at her reflection.
The End