The Cult of Ugly

Veronica King lived in a bubble. 

She was one of the Beautiful People. The ones who make it to magazine covers, the ones who pout in front of cameras. The ones who kill and get away, the ones who smoke away in the mist. She also was a high school student. That made her a white shark in the social sea.
Veronica King was in most eyes, the epitome of teenage perfection. She had pretty high scores on most subjects, did ballet, was a pretty good gymnast and dated the Ape. Here, the Ape does not mean any abnormal fetish on the part of Ms King. The Ape was simply another jock on the school's football team; the only reason she was with him ,and not one of the others, was that he had made the transition from Tree to Earth.
Life was swell for Veronica King.
On the other end of this social spectrum was the smallest fry possible, Betty Madelle. She was neither beautiful nor was she a genius. She was just plain ordinary. It was almost as if she went out of her way to be so.

Ms King had a little problem. She could not understand the little hurdle in schooling called Algebra.
She had survived so far, but like all warriors destined to fall at the gates of Troy, Veronica had fallen.

"Is there no way, Mr. Thomas, to help me?", she said.
A casual observer might notice a teenager concerned about her grades. But Mr. Thomas was anything but casual. He was a seasoned player in this field and he was pretty sadistic.
"Miss King, Need I remind you how important is it that you get at least a B+ on your next paper?"

"I know, but it's just that- Betty girl, that you claim is a Math freak, she's plain ugly. I would rather die than be caught with her."
"Miss King. I have to take my wife to dinner out today. I don't have time for this. Jesus- ugly!- What's that got to do with anything? It's your problem Miss King and you better learn to deal with it."
The tone of finality was unmistakable. Veronica knew she had no choice.

Miss Madelle was present in the same room when this particular exchange occurred.
She had long before learned how to ignore. She did so again. However, Miss King never knew that word.
"So, Hi. Betty! You look good today."
"Cut the crap, King. What do you want?"
"It's good that you are direct, Betty. I like that. I need to learn Math. I don't know what you need and I don't really care. Still if there is something I can-"
"Party."
"What?"
"Party. I am having a party tomorrow night. Can you come as Guest of Honor?"
Veronica King was used to weird Betty. She even loved to hate gothic Betty. But friendly Betty threw her off balance. She wanted to say 'Are you crazy?'. All she said was, "I'd love to".
After all, she was a party animal.

The day of the party she called Miss Perfect-Bottom and Miss Cute-Lips. She even threw a biscuit or two to the Ape. 

Then she got ready to go.

Betty Madelle's house was pretty suburban. It had the All-American feel to it. There was no loud blaring music, no trashy girls hanging around and no cars.
That is pretty strange, thought Veronica.
A party without any of the above was no party at all.
The door was opened by another pretty ugly girl. This one had a whole gothic thing going on too. In fact, any place Miss King laid her eyes on all she saw was Gothic. And a lame-ass poster of some gothic band called The Cult of Ugly. 

Probably just as ugly as her.
Presently Betty came down from her room to greet Veronica.
At least that was what Veronica thought. Betty however went straight to another of her hag friends. They were discussing something oblivious to Miss King's existence. A fat, ugly kid called Joe was mentioned. A few snatches of conversation even mentioned Veronica as the Guest.
Veronica was ,like most of her people, very impatient. She barged in and dragged Betty away. Betty immediately resumed her friendly Betty act.

"Hey, Veronica when did you get here? You having fun. Grab a drink in the kitchen. I am busy playing host." said Betty with another sickly sweet smile that angered Veronica.
To hell with this I will just grab a drink and be off, she thought. The kitchen had only one bowl - rum punch.
Veronica King did not normally fall down to the level of punch. But there was something strangely intoxicating about this one. The smell, that is it. I will just drink a bit and scoot. Miss King filled a glass with punch and drank warily. She breathed in the smell and couldn't stop herself. She downed it in one gulp.
Then she remembered the smell. It was that hospital one...

Last thing she remembered was falling into the big, sweaty hands of Joe.
When she woke up, she was on a hard wooden bed of some sort. There was a sodium light overhead and she was surrounded by hooded people.
She tried to get up. The only thing she managed to do was breathe. She wasn't trussed but she still couldn't move. Then she remembered the smell and it all came back to her.
For the first time, in her charmed life, Veronica King understood what utter helplessness meant. True fear gripped her with cold, clammy hands. She opened her mouth to scream but found no sound escaping her. She heard one sound though.
She couldn't understand the sound.
It seemed familiar yet she couldn't recognize it.

Then Betty Madelle bent down till her ips were inches from Veronica's and said, "Hello, Veronica. Are you having fun? I know you don't like being among ugly people. Do not worry, we hate you as much. Thanks for coming to the party. I know you didn't tell anyone that you would be here. You wouldn't like that getting out, would you? Your secret is safe with me, Beautiful Miss Bitch. As you yourself said, 'You would rather die than be caught with me.'"

Veronica King thought she saw something glinting in the yellow light. A low throbbing sound pervaded her consciousness. Then she got it. They were chanting.

In unison, as one organism, the basement was full of hooded people chanting in a toneless, mesmerizing beat - The Cult of Ugly. The people moved in closer. Betty kissed Veronica.

The Cult members produced a crown. They anointed Veronica and named her their Queen. Veronica couldn't believe her luck. But she wasn't surprised for long. After all, she was one of them.

Them beautiful people. Safe in their own bubble.