She shredded the magazine with a pair of kitchen scissors. Things like these made her angry, not because of her distinct feminism, or because she found them superficial and demeaning, but because they couldn’t possibly know the things they pretended to. How could People Magazine possibly know who the most beautiful girl in the world is? They couldn’t, not unless they’ve seen every girl.
“I doubt they’ve seen me…” She mumbled, resting her chin on her palm. “Or else that would be me on the cover, not her.” And then she went to admire herself in the mirror, for the 48th time that day.
“Beautiful,” She gasped. “Just beautiful!” And she was. The most beautiful girl, unattainable, but completely gorgeous.
She went out that night, in need of a pick me up. The magazine betrayal had taken a toll on her tiny shriveled heart. She crossed the street, green dress, high heels, but no beau. She didn’t need one, she told herself often while she stared into the mirror. She didn’t need company, she had her beauty. A taxi halted for her. She got in.
“Take me to Broadway,” She told the cabbie. He grunted in exchange. She turned her lip up at him. She wondered often what it would be like to have a medial job like his. She wondered about it a lot. Work seemed conventional, but not for her. Not for a beautiful girl like her.
The car stopped, at the top of the street.
“Drive farther down,” She told the cabbie. “I don’t like walking very far. My heels, you see.” He nodded, in obvious agreement, and drove a little farther down the way. She couldn’t tell if she bothered him. Things like this were never very clear to her. But he seemed okay, he wasn’t being very rude. When he stopped the car, his first move was to hold out his hand for pay. She paid him, reluctantly.
“Higher fees every day…” She mumbled. But she didn’t care. She left the cab, gracefully, like a princess. Her black heels clicked across the pavement, as she walked the remaining block down Broadway to her favorite store. It was a classy place, not intended for the lowly people of New York, but instead intended for people like her, and her gorgeous lifestyle.
Then, something amazing happened. Something that happens fairly often in the life of a well-heeled girl. She saw something she had to have.
Now I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was some item, something of material value. Something that could make her feel beautiful. And this girl, she had to have all the beauty in the world. So she bought it. I think it was a necklace.
In the taxi cab home later that evening, she’d forgotten about the unjust magazine completely. The necklace, clasped safely around her neck, made her glow all throughout. When she’d tried it on, a handsome salesman exclaimed, “You look rather beautiful in it!” and it was true. And all she (her name was Lucy) had ever wanted was to be beautiful.
But here, my friends, is something I haven’t told you yet. I haven’t yet told you about a man named Noah. He was 35 years old, and quite the pauper. He knew Lucy when they were young. Lucy Carter, graduating class of ’99. They were never close, or hardly even friends, because Lucy only liked men who were well endowed, and could buy her nice things or take her to nice places. 
Regardless of Lucy’s toffee-nosed manner, Noah fell in love with her, due to her exquisite beauty. But he wasn’t the only one. Lucy couldn’t help but turn a few heads here and there. She acquired many admirers. But Noah was the most dedicated of all, and that’s not an opinion. His ardor for Lucy carried far; it must have, since he followed her home that night.
It was 9:36 pm exactly when Lucy heard a knock at her door. She couldn’t imagine who it would be. She flipped the switch downstairs, but the lights wouldn’t come on. She got a candle from the pantry, and her slippers from the closet. And then she answered the door.
He stood, barely a man now. Broken and beaten and exasperated. But that was all on the inside. Lucy only saw him.
“Aren’t you the salesman?” She asked. “From the store, today.”
“Lucy… you didn’t remember me,” He began, but swallowed his words. He didn’t have time to explain.
“I’m Noah,” he tried, pressing the words, making her listen. “We went to high school together.”
“I-I think… Noah Rogers?” she paused, remembering something she had hidden for years behind a tiny greedy soul. Feelings, maybe? She was cold, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care how greedy she was, or how rich. He paid no mind to the harsh words that had long since chased away her friends and family. He simply didn’t care. Because when Noah looked into Lucy’s eyes, he saw a good that no one else would ever see. He saw her beauty.
But people don’t change. They aren’t always so intuitive, and sometimes they don’t know that you will be the only person who will ever love them. So, my friends, do you know what they do then? They lose it all.
He got down on one knee, and there was no going back now. He took out the ring, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop. He looked into her eyes, and he told her everything he had ever wanted to say.
But no matter what happened in that moment, no matter what Noah said, it couldn’t change the fact that she was Lucy Carter, narcissistic millionaire orphan, and her heart was so shriveled and blackened from money and splendor that it couldn’t feel a thing.
“No.” She said, and that was that.
But if there’s one thing you should know, it’s that Noah moved on, and got married, and had children. But Lucy Carter, she rotted away in her mansion.