C2 CHAPTER 2: UGLY

Juanita’s life changed forever and that could be seen by how people looked at her with scorn, pity, and disgust whenever they looked at her face. Thanks to the fire, Juanita received burns she failed to get rid of.

For a girl, her face was everything and yet Juanita’s face was simply too scary to look at. There was no money for her to get surgery and get rid of the burn scars on her face, neck, and some parts of her body.

The money that was needed was simply too much and her family couldn’t even afford it. Her family tried their best to make sure that she was in the best condition and she was very grateful for that.

Even though her face wasn’t likable and she didn’t make many friends because of that, she was a studious person and managed to win scholarships which lessened the financial burden on her family.

At her age, she was supposed to be doing some part-time jobs and earning some money for themselves but she wasn’t able to do that. No restaurants accepted her or shops where she could have been an assistant.

In the end, she was forced to work behind the scenes which were better than doing nothing. Being more of a nerd because of her tricky situation, Juanita worked online part-time as she did some proofreading and editing for online authors.

The job was tiring as she had to read and make sure that no mistakes or errors remain after she was done but the money was worth it at least. Juanita never knew that making money was that easy seeing how one could make $200 by just proofreading five chapters.

But before she could start that job, she had to study again but luckily it didn’t take too much time as all she had to do was read some books and refer to others to see how this work was done.

While earning some experience, Juanita even did some work for free which was a bit painful but that was the good advertising she couldn’t let go of. While trying to make ends meet, Juanita also managed to find a kitchen job where she was the dishwasher.

It was bad for her hands but money was money and at the end of the day, it never showed anywhere how she got it. Juanita didn’t want to survive only on her parents’ money.

Those two were hard-working people and she didn’t want all their hard-earned money to just go to her. Because of her, her parents last went on a vacation in a very long time and she felt bad for them.

During her university days, Juanita fell for a senior, this was her second chance at love, and even though she knew that she wasn’t suitable for him and was a bit ugly, she never gave up on her love.

She thought that her sincerity will move him and he will be with her but who knew that everything that he did for her in the past was because he felt pity for her and it wasn’t that he was interested in her.

The rejection and knowledge of this truth, strike her so hard, that it took her a while to come back on her feet. She was doing her second year at that time and because of this heartbreak, she lost her B-grade scholarship and got a C-grade one.

It was very painful and as someone with no friends, she could only hide in the library when there were no classes and use the free Wi-Fi there to do something about her life.

Even when life was tough, she never thought of ending her life. She was someone who greatly believed that one day in the future, the wheels will change and fate will finally smile on her. It was just a matter of time for that to happen.

When things were down for her, she met this young student who was in the same year and same class. Her name was Irene Oshea and this girl stalked her daily that she ended up running away from her.

Irene meant well but Juanita was not used to this as everyone alienated her because of her ugliness. It was only after a while that Irene blocked all her exits and told her directly that she just wanted to be friends.

To get rid of this annoying fly, Juanita agreed to hope that the other will not pester her but Irene was someone out of this world. She was very persistent and sincere.

It was the first time after so many years that Juanita felt some genuine warmth and concern from someone who wasn’t her mother or father. After seeing that the other wasn’t playing, Juanita finally accepted her friendship and her life even became brighter than before.

Juanita's state of mind became clear once more and she finally started her online job and mainly did it when she was free and delivered great works every time.

Doing this work helped her a lot as she was able to save a lot of money.

Her parents forbade her from working so she never told them that she was doing some part-time jobs and even if they saw her on her computer, they only thought that she was studying and left her alone.

With Irene and her boyfriend by her side, Juanita’s life was better than before and she even healed from that scar of being rejected by the guy she fell for after being in the pit for years.

They graduated with honors and her parents were very happy for her and attended the graduation ceremony. After graduation, the time for job hunting began and it was the most horrifying moment that Juanita faced in her life.

But she refused to give up. They didn’t care that her results were good, by just looking at her face, automatically they canceled her out. This setback kept sticking onto her for six months but she wasn’t panicking.

She didn’t lose any hope and kept on sending out her resume to companies. At the same time, she didn’t stop proofreading as this had become her major source of income as she was jobless.

Her parents being good to her, they also sent her allowance monthly. After six months, Juanita found a job in a small company where she worked as an office assistant but helped with accounting at the same time.

She worked there for three months wholeheartedly even though she was being paid nuts. It was only after working there that someone found her talented and she got headhunted.

Juanita then went to that company where she became an accountant assistant and she had been there ever since.