Fantasia Is NOT Ugly!

***

“Ravel of 5.A, please step forward.”

A female member of the Student Council announced Ravel's name, beckoning him to approach the Principal.

And so, we reached the pinnacle of our high school journey.

In the grand vestibule, the Promenade was underway. A ceremonial event where green ribbons were bestowed upon the graduating students, symbolizing their transition into the next phase of life. It was a moment of celebration and reflection, a testament to the years of hard work and growth.

It’s been a crazy ride full of ups and downs, when it comes to the studying.

“Congratulations!” The Principal shakes Ravel’s hand and Eleona, standing next to the Principal, pins the green ribbon on the left side of Ravel’s jacket.

But I still had a lot of fun.

She shakes his hand and congratulates him with a wide smile as well.

Eleona has been voted as the Personality of the School year. She’s taken on a job to present the graduates with their ribbons and deliver a formal speech.

Ravel gets back in the line among other students from all four of the 5th classes. Seko, Yutaka, Zhang and Leanna all are lined up on the stage, already wearing the green ribbons.

“And now, let’s hear a few words from our Personality Queen.”

The announcer invites ‘crowned’ Eleona to the speaker’s desk.

“Dear graduates. Another year has passed and now it is time for you to say goodbye to this school and embark on your new journeys. I had the honor to be friends with a lot of you, but now, I’m going to miss you. I am standing here as a Personality Queen, because it was an endeavor of certain individuals among you to start a new era, the era of a Personality Contest. That’s what I’d say was the greatest contribution of your generation to this amazing school.”

A big round of applause resonates through the venue, while Eleona finishes her speech and wishes all the best to the graduates.

“That’s my girl, twice as dangerous as the Personality Queen!” Zhang enthusiastically exclaims loudly but his voice has been overshadowed by the handclap.

Zhang and Eleona have been dating ever since the end of the eventful summer 2023. Even though the medical field has advanced significantly in these three years, Eleona decided not to treat the hyperpigmentation. Zhang concurred, as he’s always said it’s become an integral part of her.

“And now, let’s hear a few words from our Student Council President, too!”

A new Student Council President has been elected after Silveria graduated from Bratislava High two years ago. Ares.

“Dear all, I’m going to be much quicker with my speech…”

Zinia watches Ares from the audience, getting emotional as her heart swells with pride.

Ares has decided to come out of his own shadow and to start changing things he cared about actively. Him and Zinia are still a couple. Everybody expected Ares’ father to reject Zinia because of her family circumstances, but he had a change of heart and turned out to be a pretty decent guy. In fact, Ares’ father was the one who bought that tiara used at Beauty Contest coronation. On Zinia’s birthday, he presented the tiara to her. She returned it to the school and now it’s displayed in the center of the hallways as a memento of a bygone era of orthodox beauty standards.

After the official speeches concluded, the students were released to enjoy the rest of their final day of the school year. The group has come together to walk outside of the vestibule.

“Feel like going for a run today?” Seko asks Leanna.

“Y-yeah, I’d love to!”

Seko and Leanna spend majority of their time together but they both refuse to call it dating. They’d watch movies, work out, go for meals, but they say they’re just friends. There’s a secret wager among our group where we bet on who is going to confess first and when that’ll be. Given Leanna’s shyness, I went with Seko. He did vote for her in the Beauty Contest, after all. But then again, Leanna has been asking Silveria and Fantasia for love advice quite a lot.

“So where’s your princess, li’l Joe?” Zhang directs a question at Yutaka.

“Don’t call me that! She’ll get jealous again!”

“Haaa? Why should royalty get jealous of plebs?!” Silveria’s been waiting outside of the school to join the group.

Yutaka often laments how Silveria always acts like a tsundere when we’re all together but when they’re alone, she’s very sweet, even clingy. She’s older than all of us but she can behave like a little baby when it comes to her lover that she’s been waiting for ever since her elementary school days.

“Hey, guys. I think it’s about time so I’ll see you later!” Ravel says goodbye to his friends for today, as he rushes to a certain location.

And what about me? Well… I’ve been feeling a little down for the past six months. But whenever I feel lonely, I think back to that fateful evening on 22nd of July, 2023.

***

“Fantasia… When was the last time somebody called you the ‘U’ word?”

“You just ruined the flow of compliments!” Fantasia scolds Ravel for his bad timed question.

“No, seriously… do you remember?”

“I don’t remember such little things as insults… but I encounter them almost on a daily basis, so… uhmm… uuuuuhmmm…”

Fantasia tries to recall the last time she was called ‘ugly’ or other derogatory words, but nothing comes to mind.

“Exactly…”

“No, wait! Uhmmmm…” She presses her fingers against her temples, as if summoning her inner spirits.

“It’s been quite a while, right? I noticed it first at the restaurant…”

***

I tried to analyze why it was that Fantasia stopped being bullied or called weird names.

Maybe it was because of what Carlos explained. Psychology says that when people see a ‘social proof’, they tend to get influenced by the crowd and just go with the flow.

While true, that’s not entirely why the people around started accepting Fantasia.

If that was the only reason, it’d have meant that the change in behavior of people was led by external circumstances.

But no.

The change came first and foremost from inside of Fantasia’s soul.

At first, I thought that all of our friends have contributed to this. However, they humbly pointed out that they were nothing but side quests in our game play.

I was the one who truly changed her.

There’s a popular saying in my country: ‘The happier a woman is, the prettier she becomes.’

And thus, the answer to achieving my goal was simple.

Happiness.

I finally grasped its profound significance and its effect on person’s appearance.

Fantasia’s happiness and inner beauty shone through so brightly that it was inconceivable for anyone to see her as anything but beautiful.

It was never about making the world treat her better.

It was about letting her express herself in the most genuine way.

Ravel has reached the airport, his destination. Looking for someone, his mind drifts to that evening again.

When we celebrated Fantasia’s birthday till the late night at our school, Fantasia insisted to read my whole poem in one sitting, so we didn’t get to sleep at all.

Oh, that’s right. The poem I wrote had become the longest love poem in the world that would later be recognized in the book of World Records. Granted, I am nowhere near Andrej Sladkovic with my talent, but my ‘Fantasia Is Unique’ was longer than his ‘Marina’.

I never imagined that when I challenged the whole world for Fantasia, I’d actually talk to the entire Earth’s population through this poem that started as nothing but an innocent birthday present.

“Ravel!”

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Ravel is finally able to hear that soothing voice again.

“Fantasia!!”

Fantasia’s now blue dyed hair is shorter but still long enough to fall onto her shoulders.

He runs towards her while she’s pulling a travel suitcase, as Ravel embraces her tightly.

“I’ve missed you so so much…” Ravel’s eyes shed silent tears.

“Thank you for letting me make such a selfish decision, to study abroad in Spain as an exchange student for six months… “ She returns the tightness of his hug, her eyes welling up with tears.

“I’d do anything to make your dreams come true, love!”

“I promise I’ll never leave your side again!”

They say one should never judge a book by its cover, yet people always assess one’s worth based on appearance alone.

Especially when it comes to girls.

Heh. But there are no unattractive girls in the world… there are only those who have yet to experience real happiness.

So don’t you ever forget that…

Fantasia is NOT …!

Final Chapter of ‘Fantasia Is NOT Ugly’: END