Mutant Can Be Beautiful

      Charlie was bullied every day but she didn’t tell her mom everything for she didn’t want that big of a deal over it. She told her mom maybe once a week that something little had happened so her mom wouldn’t freak and get mad at her sisters.

      Charlie had a good personality. She helped people across the street and pick up things they dropped. One time a Neopian couldn’t reach something on the top shelf so Charlie got up there and got it for her. There wasn’t one bad thing Charlie had ever done, yet she still didn’t have a friend because of her looks. Charlie felt like sometimes she was painted grey. Sometimes she would hide in dark corners and cry, their words were so harsh and painful to hear. She sometimes wished she was away from here so no one could torment her. On one fateful day, though, everything changed dramatically.

      “Hey, look, it’s Charlie!” Flora yelled as Charlie walked by. Everyone started to laugh at Charlie and she sighed. As usual, she was being picked on for her mutant look.

      “Hey, Charlie, did you get uglier or what?” Haley said and everyone laughed harder.

      “Really,” a pink Zafara, named Jennifer, added to Haley’s comment. Some started to have a giggle fit.

      “She didn’t get uglier, she got way uglier!” a spotted Uni, named Fancy, yelled before she broke out into laughter.

      “Why is a girl named Charlie? I mean who is stupid enough to name a girl Charlie?” a island Lupe, named Mindy, said loudly. These were the typical insults Charlie got daily and by the same neopets.

      Everyone started to laugh and some of them were tearing up from laughing so hard. Charlie’s eyes started to water, but she held back tears.

      “Why don’t you guys leave me alone? What have I done to you?” Charlie yelled at them.

      “You want to know what you did to us. You showed us your face!” Flora said and gave everyone a high five. Charlie looked away as she started to tear up. She had never heard that one before and it hurt a lot. After a couple of seconds tears were flowing down Charlie’s face. She walked away until she turned the corner, and, still able to hear them laugh, she ran home so she could be away from them.

      Would they ever leave her alone? That was a question Charlie always asked herself. When she got home, she ran up the stairs and into her room and started to cry harder than ever before. Her mom heard her, so she climbed the steps and sat next to Charlie on her bed.

      “What’s the matter, Charlie? Are they picking on you again?” she asked as she wiped Charlie‘s tears away. Her mom was always there for her.

      “Of course, Mom, they always are. Why do I have to look like this?” Charlie’s eyes started to water again. She hugged her mom, holding back the tears.

      “Honey, they may think you're not pretty, but they’re ugly on the inside, unlike you. You’re the pretty on the inside, which is what really counts.” Charlie’s mom smiled as they hugged.

      “Thanks, Mom,” Charlie said and let go of her mom. “You always make me feel better no matter what. I love you.”

      “I got one more surprise for you, Charlie.” Charlie’s mom pulled out a faerie paint brush. “This is for you.”

      Charlie smiled but shook her head.

      “I don’t need it to be beautiful. It’s not what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside that counts,” Charlie said. Then she thought a moment. “I will take it, though, Mom, since it is a gift, and you paid a lot for it.”

      Together Charlie and her mom went to the Rainbow Pool. Charlie got painted faerie, then she hugged her mom before making her way to where her sister and the others hung out.

      In the afternoon, she finally made it and she saw her sisters. Someone pointed in Charlie’s direction and the two sisters went up to her.

      “Who are you?” Haley asked. Everyone’s eyes were on Charlie, so she thought a moment before saying something everyone would remember.

      “Me, I’m someone who was beautiful on the inside before and now the outside too. My name is a name you have heard before, Charlie.”

      When Charlie was done, everyone gasped loudly. Everyone started to mumble until Flora yelled out.

      “How could this be? You were a mutant!” She started to get angry. “You can’t be prettier then me!”

      “Or me!” Haley added. They were getting angry and looked like they could steam.

      “I was always prettier than you. It’s not what's on the outside that counts but the inside, and my mom, someone very special to me, told me this.” Charlie said. Everyone nodded their head in agreement and walked over by Charlie. Some of the neopets picked her up and a disco Kougra, named Ashley, chanted loudly, “Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!” Some of the other neopets joined in chanting and soon the whole group was. The sisters stood there in disbelief before screaming in rage.

      Everyone just laughed except for Charlie. Charlie would never make fun of anyone, for she knew how it felt. She jumped down and everyone got quiet. Charlie went up to her sisters.

      “Let's go and be beautiful inside and out. It’s not hard to do. All you have to do is be nice to others. Think you can do that?” Charlie asked the two girls. Then Flora smiled.

      “I can, can you?” Flora asked Haley.

      “No! This is crazy! You guys are ugly to think she is pretty. It‘s probably a costume. Charlie was never pretty and she never will be.” She left them by themselves.

      Charlie and Flora shrugged and skipped off together. They helped people cross the roads and other things and sometimes even got rewards for helping. One time someone gave Charlie a Tyrannian petpet paint brush so she kept it and when she got enough money, she bought a dandan and painted it. They were happy and her dandan, which she named Calypso, liked Flora also. Calypso, Charlie, and Flora would sit at the park reading books, even though Calypso didn’t understand them. They played hide-and-seek, but Calypso won the most. After the long days of play, all three would sleep together.

      Their sister Haley, on the other hand, was friendless because no one wanted to hang around her and her ugly attitude. Charlie had more friends then she ever thought she would. Charlie tried a lot to get her sister to be with them, but she was too mean. The two never gave up, although it seemed hopeless that her sister would change. All the neopets there on that day now know that it isn’t what’s on the outside that counts but what’s on the inside.

The End