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A Nice Girl's Story

I am Annie. I am Jane. I am all the plain-looking next door neighbors of your life.

Jul 9, '087:06 AM for everyone

In a pocketbook dimension I play the part of the heroines best friend the one who is her sounding board, walking diary, and emissary to the gorgeous hero (sigh) rolled into one. I am not pretty. But I am not ugly, either. When older relatives used to see me, they said to my parents, What a nice young lady you have there. Thats what I am. Nice. Ive got hair that wouldnt stay in place, and skin that bears traces of the acne versus all-kinds-of-treatment wars. My eyelashes are beautiful, but they need to hide under the weight of three hundred-grade glasses; otherwise, I couldnt determine if I was batting them at males or at walls. Ive got nice lips, a nice smile, and a nice neck. Nice. Theres really no other word to describe me. I certainly couldnt be called beautiful. Beautiful is a word applicable to Priscilla. Beautiful Priscilla. She was my best friend in high school and had this luscious, maddening, seductive straight hair. Seniors went crazy over that hair. They loved to see it falling, like water down the back of her white blouse. Dark water which rippled and swayed as she walked.

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AileenSantos.Com - A Nice Girl's Story

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Anyway, I could never be described as gorgeous, either. Gorgeous could describe Vikki, my best friend in college. She towered above us and brightened a room like a torch. Her face was always radiant with perfect skin, and her cropped red hair (yes, red) always knew just how to curl up and tease her swan-like neck. Every available and unavailable professor had fantasies of marking that neck, but no one had ever succeeded. Finally, no one and but no one has ever entertained the notion that I am stunning. Stunning could only be Karla, my best friend at the office. You couldnt even begin to take apart each stunning feature she has, because you could become overwhelmed. Statistics could never show it, of course, but I firmly believe that half of the companys profit is founded on Karlas smile. So, where do I fit in with this grand scheme of things? I become the beautiful girls best friend. It doesnt matter at what age, or at what school, or at what office its always the role I fall into, whether I liked it or not. Im just so nice, they couldnt help it. And you know something? Being best friend to the most attractive females on earth is often more degrading than being a nobody. Let me replay a scenario from a common day in my life: Guys are surrounding us. Boys, men, nerds, hunks. My best friend and I are at the center of this feast, and the males are asking my best friend various leading questions and dropping a few innuendoes. Each time my best friend answers, she leans closer to me, trying to include me in the conversation. Valiantly, I try to join in, offering my humble opinion regarding what makes males attractive to females. Loyally, my best friend provides vocal support for whatever I say. But the guys give me as much attention as they would to the background music of Basic Instinct. None of the male species ever really cared about my opinions. Just my best friends. In their minds, I had nothing interesting to say, I didnt have a love life to talk about. Which was true. Was true. Because the funny thing is, someone fell in love with me when I was nineteen, and proposed to me at twenty-two. He is funny, loving, intelligent, attractive, and now my husband. On our wedding night, I asked him to explain what it was that made him choose me above all the females in the universe (even above Vikki, whod been classmates with us for years). And he told me a crazy story. About a singular time, way back in college, when all of us were having an overnight practice for a drama presentation the next day. We were all stressed out, haggard, and irritable from less than two hours sleep and he saw me, just waking up, with a nice smile on my face. Ever since that moment, he said, he knew that his greatest wish on earth would be to see me waking up next to him each morning, for the rest of his entire life. I didnt believe him, of course. So one day, at great risk to my sanity, I asked him to pick me up at the office and introduced him to Karla. Karla the Stunning One was naturally excited to meet her best friends husband, and easily focused on him her megawatt charm... he didnt even flinch. He just draped his

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AileenSantos.Com - A Nice Girl's Story

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arm around me and told her, Yes, Im her husband. in a tone someone wouldve reserved for claiming a relation to the royal family. Back home, my husband my funny, loving, intelligent, attractive husband asked me why I acted funny around Karla, who was supposedly my best friend. And I told him. And he looked me in the eye and said he could be assigned out of the country to do an interview with Cindy Crawford for all he cared... he would still, and always will, come home to me. Maybe its because Cindy Crawford is rumored to be a lesbian? I asked, sweetly. But the next morning I woke up, and I caught him watching me, staring at me, as if I were his sunrise. The way he always watched me, for many mornings of our lives. It cant be my looks. So it must be me. Just me. Its a great feeling, to be truly, truly loved. ***

I met Priscilla again at our high school reunion. Still beautiful. But I could no longer see her hair shes Sister Priscilla now. She said she always wore her hair long in high school because she liked to pretend she was wearing a veil. Just the other day I saw Vikki coming out of the church. Still gorgeous, still single. With a three-year-old daughter in tow. She said her equally gorgeous boyfriend had preferred playing the field to becoming a father. And last night, Karla confided to me why she still couldnt settle into a steady relationship. Each and every guy shes met had always fallen in love with her looks. But not one of them ever had the time to fall in love with her. Karla, who could bring a canvas to life with bright and vivid brush strokes... could never find a guy who could see beyond the beautiful picture that was her face. So maybe in the grander scheme of things, Im the lucky one. Because everything that is beautiful is there for me, waiting, each time I wake up... Watching.

I'm no longer sure where and when this short story of mine was first published. But I'm uploading it here as a sort of "back up" to my offline files, haha. :-)

Tags: aileen santos, beauty, dating, friendship, friends, hopeless romantic, inspiration, love story, love, marriage, men, romance, romantic, self discovery, true love, women, teens, beautiful, shy, shyness Prev: Sundo Next: I Will Remember You
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11 Comments Chronological Reverse Comment deleted at the request of the author. annabiaritz wrote on Jul 9, '08

Threaded reply

is this a true story?? :) it's soooo sweet and breathtaking :) i wish i could be this girl :) perhaps someday! :)

jackiejustified wrote on Jul 9, '08

ohhh very nice indeed!

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erikacayton wrote on Jul 9, '08

i love it :)

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judecartalaba wrote on Jul 10, '08

It is great that you shared this piece to your online friends here in Multiply. ;-)

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I have read this piece way back in our TLF days and I can truly say that you are ONE writer that touches the readers' hearts. Share mo rin ang 'Super Heroes School' and 'Giovanni Antonio'. ;-)

helloconnie wrote on Jul 12, '08

I miss Aileen the Writer :o) Love this piece!

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ardeepineda wrote on Jul 15, '08

ang galing! haha =D

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shaicoggins wrote on Jul 17, '08

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I, too, remember reading this in the magazine. Not sure if it was the one published with my short story in the same issue. Woman Today, I think, it was. Brings back memories of our little writers' club. I miss that soooo badly. I've never had another one like the one we shared. ;-)

judecartalaba wrote on Jul 29, '08

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Hope one day, when you get back in the Philippines, we could get together and do a Writer's Day, Shai. Or maybe we can arrange an event where you could be a guest speaker? How's that? ;-)

mgtablarin wrote on Aug 9, '08

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this is a heart-warming, tear-jerker short story... simply amazing and quite powerful in itself!

shaicoggins wrote on Aug 9, '08

Hi, Jude. Sure, why not? Just let me know. :-) Will keep you posted.

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