LJ Idol Season 8: Week 12; Some Assembly Required
"You're a bit short, so unfortunately your bones will have to be broken and lengthened to give you more height."
Piper looked down at her short chicken legs. "That’s okay, I always wanted to be taller anyway. It’ll be worth it.”
Vanessa walked around to the other side of the naked girl, her eyes moving down the length of Piper’s torso and jotting down notes on her clipboard. "And that mole will have to go.”
"But no one is going to see it. It’s on my butt," Piper giggled. "I mean, unless I get a boyfriend."
"Silly girl. Haven’t you ever worn a bikini?” Vanessa giggled along with her friend for a second before getting back down to business. "Once this is done, your butt is going to be all over the magazines. And you'll get a boyfriend or two, don't you worry. You'll have your pick of the boys."
Piper smiled, but her cheeks were bright red from embarrassment. Vanessa had seen a change in Piper's attitude since they had started talking about "the plan”. She loved seeing her friend smile and laugh for a change. Piper nibbled a strand of her dark hair while waiting for Vanessa to finish up her evaluation.
"The good news is the modification procedure has been refined. It’s painless and has a near perfect success rate.” Vanessa looked up from her clipboard. "And if I’m spending my money on the best surgeons in the world, you better be serious about this. That means STOP eating your hair. It’s gross and not very star-like at all."
Vanessa swatted Piper’s hand to emphasize her point and returned to her notes.
ooo000ooo
"What’s that scar from?” Vanessa examined the girl’s arm closely. She was drawn to the fragile girl who sat alone in the cafeteria for some reason, though she couldn't exactly figure out why that was.
"Oh it’s from one of the million times I got pissed at my mom,” she said. "She’s always too busy fucking one douchebag or another to notice me. I think this last one’s name was Wayne. Anyway she never paid any attention to me. Like ever. So I slit my wrists to make her notice me.”
"Then what happened?” Vanessa listened intently, running her fingertips lightly down the scar. So beautiful, so smooth. She could have had scars like that herself if the doctors had left her alone.
"My mom sent me to a group home. I haven’t seen her since.” Piper leaned back on the bed and stared at the wall. Vanessa noticed the girl’s brown eyes glistening with tears that never did fall, "And last month, my foster parents and I fought. This time it was because I wouldn’t eat their shitty food. They finally got sick of me and sent me here.”
Piper’s chestnut brown hair fell over her face, hiding her from Vanessa’s prying eyes. Vanessa didn’t ask these questions out of pity for the girl. She actually envied Piper almost as much as she knew that Piper envied her. Vanessa was bred for beauty and fame, her freckles might as well been drawn on since each and every one had been placed for a specific purpose. Her hair and eye color were engineered to sparkle and shine. Everything about her was designed to be perfect. She was created to be a star and the ideal of feminine beauty. Piper, on the other hand, was a natural. Being natural came with imperfections. Imperfections that made her unique, which made her perfectly imperfect in Vanessa’s eyes. Imperfections that Vanessa craved with her entire being.
"It looks like you haven’t eaten much of anything, honestly.” Vanessa took note of how thin and frail the girl looked. She looked almost skeletal. Vanessa prided herself on being small, but knew that there was a fine line between being thin and on the verge of death by starvation.
"I don’t like food. What can I say?” Piper started picking at the nail polish from her thumb, her voice softened a bit almost to a whisper "And people only seem to pay attention to me when I start getting too thin. Any attention is good attention, right?”
"I used to think so. But now I’d do anything to not be the center of attention,” Vanessa hoped it didn’t sound like bragging. “Just once I’d like to be able be myself, be my own person, you know? I don’t even have hobbies that weren’t programmed into me. Who knows what I’d really like to do with my time besides acting and looking fashionably beautiful all the damn time.”
"Must be rough,” Piper rolled her eyes.
"Trust me, I’d give anything to switch places with you if I could.”
"Yeah, right,” Piper said. “Why would you want to be like me? I’m invisible to everyone.”
Vanessa barely heard the question. A smile spread across her face as an idea took shape in her mind.
ooo000ooo
"Wow." Piper turned to see her reflection in the mirror, then turned to Vanessa to compare, "We look exactly alike now."
"I told you I knew the finest surgeons on the planet. When you have all the money in the world, you can buy practically anything. Even a new body apparently."
Vanessa smiled back at the girl that was now her mirror image. She loved seeing the glee in Piper's eyes, though she missed the beautiful brown they used to be. She was now staring into her own baby blues, the ones designed to change with the light so perfectly that they could go from darkest blue to almost green.
"Eye color changing has come a long way. They got everything just right, they now sparkle just like mine...” Vanessa said almost wistfully.
Vanessa examined the girl's body and didn’t find so much as a freckle out of place or a hair that wasn’t lustrous.
"In another lifetime, I want to be a scientist. I want to understand just how they do this. It’s almost creepy when you think about...”
Vanessa smiled when she realized that was talking to herself. Piper was too busy admiring her reflection and checking out every nuance of her new body in the mirror.
"I'll never be invisible again..." Piper's voice trailed off, a smile spreading across her face, "Vanessa! People will see me!"
Vanessa kept her own thoughts to herself. She could have told Piper a million different ways about the pitfalls of fame and notoriety. But the girl wouldn’t hear her. Only living a life in the fishbowl of celebrity would teach her. Vanessa felt a slight twinge of guilt as she watched her friend. What kind of monster was she to dangle that life and that world in front of a girl that was starved for attention and affection? She knew that Piper was physically incapable of saying no to the offer but she’d made it anyway. Vanessa shook her head and pushed those thoughts away as she looked at her own reflection in the mirror. She already knew what work she would have done to her own face and body to finally and thankfully make her invisible to the world.
She stared at Piper twirling this way and that, captivated by her new reflection. A feeling of sadness washed over her as she silently grieved for her lost friend, a girl she’d grown to love and admire for the person she was. That girl was gone forever.
But for now, Piper was happy and she reasoned that that had to count for something. And now, Vanessa was finally free to pursue her own happiness and could be herself. The hard part was figuring out who that was.
(This is part of a larger novel idea I have. Another piece of this world can be found from an earlier entry: What does narcissism have to do with me?. Thank you for reading. Please check out the other wonderful entries at
therealljidol!)
Piper looked down at her short chicken legs. "That’s okay, I always wanted to be taller anyway. It’ll be worth it.”
Vanessa walked around to the other side of the naked girl, her eyes moving down the length of Piper’s torso and jotting down notes on her clipboard. "And that mole will have to go.”
"But no one is going to see it. It’s on my butt," Piper giggled. "I mean, unless I get a boyfriend."
"Silly girl. Haven’t you ever worn a bikini?” Vanessa giggled along with her friend for a second before getting back down to business. "Once this is done, your butt is going to be all over the magazines. And you'll get a boyfriend or two, don't you worry. You'll have your pick of the boys."
Piper smiled, but her cheeks were bright red from embarrassment. Vanessa had seen a change in Piper's attitude since they had started talking about "the plan”. She loved seeing her friend smile and laugh for a change. Piper nibbled a strand of her dark hair while waiting for Vanessa to finish up her evaluation.
"The good news is the modification procedure has been refined. It’s painless and has a near perfect success rate.” Vanessa looked up from her clipboard. "And if I’m spending my money on the best surgeons in the world, you better be serious about this. That means STOP eating your hair. It’s gross and not very star-like at all."
Vanessa swatted Piper’s hand to emphasize her point and returned to her notes.
"What’s that scar from?” Vanessa examined the girl’s arm closely. She was drawn to the fragile girl who sat alone in the cafeteria for some reason, though she couldn't exactly figure out why that was.
"Oh it’s from one of the million times I got pissed at my mom,” she said. "She’s always too busy fucking one douchebag or another to notice me. I think this last one’s name was Wayne. Anyway she never paid any attention to me. Like ever. So I slit my wrists to make her notice me.”
"Then what happened?” Vanessa listened intently, running her fingertips lightly down the scar. So beautiful, so smooth. She could have had scars like that herself if the doctors had left her alone.
"My mom sent me to a group home. I haven’t seen her since.” Piper leaned back on the bed and stared at the wall. Vanessa noticed the girl’s brown eyes glistening with tears that never did fall, "And last month, my foster parents and I fought. This time it was because I wouldn’t eat their shitty food. They finally got sick of me and sent me here.”
Piper’s chestnut brown hair fell over her face, hiding her from Vanessa’s prying eyes. Vanessa didn’t ask these questions out of pity for the girl. She actually envied Piper almost as much as she knew that Piper envied her. Vanessa was bred for beauty and fame, her freckles might as well been drawn on since each and every one had been placed for a specific purpose. Her hair and eye color were engineered to sparkle and shine. Everything about her was designed to be perfect. She was created to be a star and the ideal of feminine beauty. Piper, on the other hand, was a natural. Being natural came with imperfections. Imperfections that made her unique, which made her perfectly imperfect in Vanessa’s eyes. Imperfections that Vanessa craved with her entire being.
"It looks like you haven’t eaten much of anything, honestly.” Vanessa took note of how thin and frail the girl looked. She looked almost skeletal. Vanessa prided herself on being small, but knew that there was a fine line between being thin and on the verge of death by starvation.
"I don’t like food. What can I say?” Piper started picking at the nail polish from her thumb, her voice softened a bit almost to a whisper "And people only seem to pay attention to me when I start getting too thin. Any attention is good attention, right?”
"I used to think so. But now I’d do anything to not be the center of attention,” Vanessa hoped it didn’t sound like bragging. “Just once I’d like to be able be myself, be my own person, you know? I don’t even have hobbies that weren’t programmed into me. Who knows what I’d really like to do with my time besides acting and looking fashionably beautiful all the damn time.”
"Must be rough,” Piper rolled her eyes.
"Trust me, I’d give anything to switch places with you if I could.”
"Yeah, right,” Piper said. “Why would you want to be like me? I’m invisible to everyone.”
Vanessa barely heard the question. A smile spread across her face as an idea took shape in her mind.
"Wow." Piper turned to see her reflection in the mirror, then turned to Vanessa to compare, "We look exactly alike now."
"I told you I knew the finest surgeons on the planet. When you have all the money in the world, you can buy practically anything. Even a new body apparently."
Vanessa smiled back at the girl that was now her mirror image. She loved seeing the glee in Piper's eyes, though she missed the beautiful brown they used to be. She was now staring into her own baby blues, the ones designed to change with the light so perfectly that they could go from darkest blue to almost green.
"Eye color changing has come a long way. They got everything just right, they now sparkle just like mine...” Vanessa said almost wistfully.
Vanessa examined the girl's body and didn’t find so much as a freckle out of place or a hair that wasn’t lustrous.
"In another lifetime, I want to be a scientist. I want to understand just how they do this. It’s almost creepy when you think about...”
Vanessa smiled when she realized that was talking to herself. Piper was too busy admiring her reflection and checking out every nuance of her new body in the mirror.
"I'll never be invisible again..." Piper's voice trailed off, a smile spreading across her face, "Vanessa! People will see me!"
Vanessa kept her own thoughts to herself. She could have told Piper a million different ways about the pitfalls of fame and notoriety. But the girl wouldn’t hear her. Only living a life in the fishbowl of celebrity would teach her. Vanessa felt a slight twinge of guilt as she watched her friend. What kind of monster was she to dangle that life and that world in front of a girl that was starved for attention and affection? She knew that Piper was physically incapable of saying no to the offer but she’d made it anyway. Vanessa shook her head and pushed those thoughts away as she looked at her own reflection in the mirror. She already knew what work she would have done to her own face and body to finally and thankfully make her invisible to the world.
She stared at Piper twirling this way and that, captivated by her new reflection. A feeling of sadness washed over her as she silently grieved for her lost friend, a girl she’d grown to love and admire for the person she was. That girl was gone forever.
But for now, Piper was happy and she reasoned that that had to count for something. And now, Vanessa was finally free to pursue her own happiness and could be herself. The hard part was figuring out who that was.
(This is part of a larger novel idea I have. Another piece of this world can be found from an earlier entry: What does narcissism have to do with me?. Thank you for reading. Please check out the other wonderful entries at
therealljidol!)