Origin of the ‘U’ Word Rule

***

“Damn, I wasn’t able to find the shoes I wanted in the entire Bratislava…”

A few hours after the final period has ended, Ravel found himself running around the city in order to buy some comfortable shoes. Having bought nothing due to his excessive requirements, he’s coming home disappointed and empty-handed.

When he enters the house and announces his arrival, Ravel is met with silence.

Are they not home yet?

Ravel heads to the first floor where his bedroom is located. Walking upstairs, he bumps into his mother who is descending the stairs.

Ravel’s mother is a stunning woman with long, pitch-black hair. He obviously takes after her, having inherited those striking deep blue eyes.

“Oh, you’re already home, sweetie? I didn’t hear you,” she gently places her hand on his cheek while smiling.

“Hi mom, where’s dad?”

“He’s upstairs in the bathroom, the sink has broken down so we called the same plumber who fixed the kitchen sink and you wouldn’t believe it! It’s a girl about your age, she’s very sweet. You should meet her!”

“Whaaaat?!” Ravel wastes no time and rushes upstairs, accidentally stubbing his big toe on the edge of the stairs in his haste.

“Careful, sweetie! Are you that excited to meet a girl?” His mom furrows her eyebrows as she watches him dash.

Ravel makes his way to the bathroom through an open door and halts before the scene.

“Hey son, you’re late, it’s already fixed!”

His father cleans his hands after helping to fix the sink. He is a man of a bigger figure, with brown hair, a well-groomed beard and brown eyes. The father and son couldn’t be any different.

“Meet this charming, but mainly skilled young lady, Fantasia!”

Fantasia has been kneeling below the sink, after she is addressed by father, she stands up, dusts off her knees and with a wide grin offers a handshake to Ravel.

What’s this? I was supposed to introduce her to my parents and not the other way around!

“It’s very nice to see you again, how many months has it been since I fixed those pipes in your kitchen?”

This is not how I imagined it, not at all…

“Oh, so you were the one who fixed our kitchen sink, too? I thought your father came back then, Ravel was so silent about it,” Father looks a little puzzled, not getting all the secrets about that day.

Ravel looks at her extended hand, hesitating to shake it, frowning at all the words that are being formed in his mind.

A wave of embarrassment surges through his entire body. Ravel hasn’t mentioned a single word about Fantasia yet. Not a word about her, about the dinner, about their relationship, not even about the Beauty Contest. His parents thought that he was spending all that time with the trio of his friends.

“Hmph, so you’re that kind of a person. Okay, I understand that not everybody has proper manners,” she retracts the hand, playing huffy.

“N-no, I-“

“Ravel! You’re being rude! Apologize!” His father’s voice rings out in a stern tone.

You have no idea, dad.

“No worries, sir, I am used to this,” After a short pause, she continues. “Well? How are you going to pay? With cash? Or with dinner?” Fantasia lets a stingy remark out of her mouth, watching Ravel with a corner of her eye.

“Dinner? Ahahah, you’re very funny! Well, Ravel? Do you wanna invite this young lady to a dinner?” Father hits Ravel on his back a couple of times while asking the question.

“Stop, stop! I can’t take this! You’re a horrible person, Fantasia, you know that?” Waving his arms hysterically, Ravel has had enough of his embarrassment.

***

The Unique family and Fantasia gathered in a living room, seated on comfortable coaches around a table with refreshments. Ravel, sitting beside Fantasia, has spilled the beans. All of them.

“Alright… alright… I’m in shock,” Ravel's mother claims calmly, her face betraying no visible emotions. She had always been adept at concealing her feelings, never displaying signs of irritation or nervousness.

“So… this young lady fixed our sink… you didn’t have cash since we forgot to leave some at home… so you treated her to a dinner because on top of having no cash, she got hurt because of your clumsiness, you’ve been dating for a couple of months now and you both even entered a Beauty Contest? … Did I leave anything out?” His father analyzes the situation with a hint of a surprise in his face.

“And Ravel won the special Judge Prize!” Fantasia enthusiastically fills in the gap.

“Hey!!” Ravel gets irritated.

“Woah, I’ve always known my boy was handsome, but to defeat such a strong competition like lady Swan here?” Mrs. Unique nods her head repeatedly, clearly impressed.

“Mhm, mhm,” Mr. Unique joins her in nodding his head in agreement.

“Oh no, no, I actually withdrew before the voting! So he defeated other strong competitors, hehe~!” Fantasia pats Ravel on the head.

“Oh? And why did you withdraw, sweetie?” Ravel’s mom opens her eyes wider.

“Many reasons but to be honest I had no chance either way, I was too ugly compared to the others ahaha~,” Fantasia doesn’t realize she used the word she’s not supposed to say out loud.

“Don’t you EVER call yourself that ‘U’ word!”

Fantasia gets startled, for to her big surprise, the one lashing out at her was Ravel’s father, who jumped out of the coach he was sitting on, having almost teary eyes and a serious expression on his face.

He beat me to it.

“Fantasia! You’re a pretty young girl, don’t degrade yourself like that!” Mr. Unique continues.

“What’s with this family?” Having recovered from the shock, she experiences a sense of déjà vu.

“Excuse him, sweetie, my husband is very sensitive about that word,” Mother steps in with an explanation, gesturing for her husband to sit down. “When he was around your age, he was desperately in love with a girl that everybody else was deeming unattractive. In order to fit in with his not-so-bright friends, he made fun of her as well but he went a little far with it, calling her ‘ugly’ in front of the whole school during the festival.”

No, don’t do it now, dad!

“I was such a stupid boy… I liked her and yet I made her cry so much… and for what? After that, she hasn’t gone to school for a week, when finally the teacher revealed she was transferring to a different city. I never found out where. But somewhere in this country, there’s a girl to whom I haven’t apologized for my childish behavior and the last thing she ever heard from my mouth was how …insert the ‘U’ word here… she was,” Ravel’s father starts sobbing, the mother takes his head and puts it on her chest, gently stroking his hair.

“It’s okay honey, shh…. She’s probably forgotten all about it, it’s been years… Sorry, Fantasia, it’s my husband’s trauma. He was very strict with our boy to teach him that girls should never be referred to as… unattractive.”

“Oh my god, it’s so embarrassing,” Ravel shoves his head deep into his hands, feeling incredibly awkward in front of Fantasia.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Unique, for triggering such a painful memory. But let me say something! Your son has been treating me very nicely despite my tough beginnings at our school! He never made me feel inferior. You’ve raised him very well~,” Fantasia takes Ravel’s hand and offers a genuine smile.

“Ravel! Your girlfriend is such a cute young lady. How come you’ve kept her a secret from us?” His mother asks the right question.

“Aah, I almost forgot, I’m supposed to be mad at you! Well? Why did you keep me a secret?” Fantasia puts her hands on Ravel’s thigh that’s close to her, leaning forward and gazing directly into his frightened eyes.

“H-hey, I didn’t mean to- “

“I knew right away, from the way your parents spoke to me when I came here, that they had no idea about any Fantasia Swan!”

“W-what’s gotten into you?”

“What? You’re asking me what??” Fantasia tenses up before recoiling slightly. “…Uhm… I don’t actually know. Why am I feeling angy?”

“Well, any girl would feel ‘angy’ in your place, it’s normal that when you like somebody, the smallest thing will thick you off,” Ravel’s mother explains with a warm smile while simultaneously stroking Mr. Unique’s face, calming him down.

“Really? Girls are supposed to feel like this…?” Fantasia’s mind drifts away to the moment when Leanna spoke directly to Ravel from the stage during the first round of the Beauty Contest, realizing the two emotions might be similar. “Oooohhhh…!” She finally lets go of Ravel and settles back into her seat.

“So why didn’t you say anything about having another job at our house??” Now Ravel takes on the role of building tension.

“I forgot, hehe!” Fantasia says as if it’s something that could be forgotten so easily.

Girl, never change.

The real reason Ravel was hesitant to introduce Fantasia so early to his parents was, that he had never mentioned any of his previous girlfriends either. But he feels that with Fantasia, it’s just meant to be.

CHAPTER 31: END