When I awake, Carmen is sitting in a chair at the far end of the room.

"Sleeping Beauty awakens," she drawls, running her hands through her hair. She's changed into a sweatshirt and trackpants, the dirt and grime washed from her face.

I roll my eyes at her. "Whatever."

"Just wash up and be prepared for dinner, although I have no idea why we're supposed to feed you," she says 'you' like a piece of moldy, sticky, decomposing matter that she found on the bottom of her shoe.

"Same, Carmen," I say her name in the most venomous tone I can muster, "I don't think someone like you should be fed. It's just a waste of resources."

And with that, I do a small hair flip and canter towards the bathroom. Corinne: Three. Carmen-still the same stuck-up ,over-confident girl who seriously gets into fights with me even though she knows I'll win: Z-e-r-o.

Take that, I think as I open the door of the bathroom, twisting the smooth knob.

And then I stop short.

Oh sparks. Sparks, sparks, sparks!

The girl that stares back at me in the mirror has a horrified expression plastered on her face. She should. A giant red, swollen patch of skin covers her left cheek, and the eye above the wound is swollen shut, purplish-blue. Her lip is cut, and there's an ugly scar on the cheek that isn't red and swollen.

And that girl is me.

"You've gotta be the most beautiful girl, Amber," I tell myself as I stand in front of the mirror, frowning at my neon rainbow hair and golden eyes that I thought looked pretty good yesterday. It's too dull now, and so ugly.

Shaking my head, I undress and slip into an mid-thigh off-the-shoulder dress, and put on a necklace and some bracelets.

Then I step in front of the Edit machine. Without hesitation I run my forearm across the blade sticking out of the Edit machine, It quickly disappears, and I let my blood drip into it as I use my other hand to select the colour and style of hair and my new eye colour, along with makeup and additional facial features. I never touch that section. I want my face to be smooth and flawless, although dimples and freckles are considered cute nowadays.

Upon completing Editing my face, and also minor Edits to my legs - to make them slimmer, smoother, and hairless, I step out the door and onto my hoverboard, my school materials all placed inside a purse that rests on my wounded forearm, which I sprayed with the healing potion before I left, and my sunglasses resting on my nose.

With my head held high, I fly towards school.

I am beautiful, I tell myself, although something in me aches for the humble, adorable, innocent Amber that used to exist with Chance. I ignore it, like I do everyday.

A sob escapes from my throat. I'm so ugly. What happened? Don't they have the healing potion or something?

This is the Black Hole.

I reach for my bottle of the substance in my pocket, but I realise, to my horror, that's it's missing. My hands find nothing inside my pockets.

Sparks, I must've left it on the pod.

A tear slips down my face, and although it comes in contact with my wounds, it doesn't hurt. Strange. That must've been some really strong morphine, or some weird Black Hole concoction.

Tear after tear rolls down my face, and I swipe them away, not feeling any pain. I shake my head. What am I thinking? At this moment I need to be strong, stronger than I've ever been.

With that thought I switch on the tap and cup some water into my hands. It's cool as I splash it onto my face.

Wait a second. Wait a second.

The knob was smooth. I could feel the material of my pants. The water was cold.

Oh sparks.

I can feel.

A small squeal escapes my mouth, and I don't know whether to be afraid or happy. I've always never been able to feel pain...from today on I'll always have to bear with it like others did...

And...and I can feel again. What happened? What did they do to me? Was it something in the fire?

The world starts to shift around me at a dizzying speed in flashes of green, and I cannot find my balance, crashing into objects all around the bathroom. I try to hold on to something, but my feet keep turning, and my head smashed into various objects - the sink, the wall, the toilet paper and towels.

Stop! I try to yell to myself, but I can't control my body, and sink to the floor instead. Shutting my eyes, I place my head in my hands as tears pour down my face.

When I finally can raise my head again, I see the mess I've created, and slowly climb to my feet, putting them back in their positions.

Then something catches my eye. It's a photograph that had dropped out from Carmen's jean's pocket. And I know the girl with the dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes in the picture is Carmen.

And next to her is a boy that I recognize all too well.

It's Chance.

He has his arm wrapped around Carmen's shoulders, and they're both smiling the widest smile I have ever seen them wear.

They've been together.

Oh sparks, you've got to be kidding me. Chance and Carmen?

I shut my eyes, before placing the picture on the cistern and putting on a flannel, underwear and some jeans that are left in the bathroom labeled with my name.

I need to know what happened between them.

Curiosity piqued, I take the picture, and step out of the bathroom. I can feel the dread, the pain after knowing the truth.

"Carmen?" I say, my voice hoarse.

"What," she rolls her eyes.

"I...who are you to Chance Adams?" I say at last, after rolling the words around in my mouth.

Carmen sits bolt upright, her eyes wide as she stares at the opposite wall. "Oh," she says. "You're that Amber, aren't you?" She turns to face me. "You aren't called Corinne. It's your middle name, isn't it? Amber Corinne Evans."

My blood runs cold. "H-how did you know that?" I manage to stutter.

"Chance told me...he..." Carmen presses a hand to her forehead. "When Chance...when he came down to the Black Hole, he met me. He told me that no one loved him anymore. He told me there wouldn't be anyone to love him anymore."

"What? That isn't true-"

"Let me finish," Carmen snaps, and inhales. "So I took him in, brought him to the Headquarters as well. He became my best friend, since we both thought that no one liked us. Then...I don't know, I...started to fall for him."

I close my eyes. Chance probably loved Carmen too, that's why he hesitated when I asked him if he loved me.

"Then when I asked him to be...my boyfriend, he told me about you. He said that you were always there for him, and he'd loved you ever since you guys were toddlers.

"I asked him why he came down to the Black Hole, then, if he had you. He told me that your parents weren't really...supportive of your relationship, and that would affect you. Especially because he knew your parents were...dead-"

"How did he know?" I ask, eyes wide.

"The same way I keep in contact with Dustin," Carmen shrugs.

"But Dustin told me that Chance killed my parents. You were there, weren't you?" I say.

Carmen shakes her head. "That's for another day. Eventually you'll find out, but for now just ignore it."

But how can I?

I picture Chance, sitting with Carmen, rejecting her after so many months-no, years-with her. Yes, he was right. My parents never were supportive of us. They thought that we were just fooling around. Then they fell into the Black Hole, and then I thought all was lost. But I had Troy. And my friends.

"I told him then, to go back up to look for you. He told me it was already too late. He said that whatever, or whoever, that fell into the Black Hole would be lost forever."

I nodded slowly, and Carmen frowned. "I told him that was nonsense, and that he should fight for the things he wanted. So he took my advice and broke the sensor-"

"Wait, what? Chance broke the sensor?" My jaw drops. He would do that for me?

Time stops in my mind. I have to digest all this information.

I wasn't even anything to him. I was just a speck of dust in his eyes. He wouldn't do that for me.

This is impossible.

"Yeah...I haven't seen him since then," Carmen looks away. "But he's fine, right?"

"Yes, he's okay." I bite my lip.

Suddenly, I start to pity Carmen. Even though we might not have started off well, I still feel bad. I can't imagine those years that passed by, when Chance rejected her. She must've been so heartbroken. If it was me, I wouldn't be even here anymore. Yet, Carmen held on so well.

Tears sting my eyes. There's no reason to fight Carmen now. Instead, I feel remorseful.

"I'm really sorry, Carmen." I apologise.

"No need for that, I'm come to terms with his feelings. Besides, there's no forcing love." Carmen sighs.

"Carmen, is Dustin your brother?" I say, and it hits me, all coming together.

"Yeah, why?" Carmen eyes me suspiciously.

Oh. Carmen is the one who's just like me. She threw herself into the Black Hole. And she's been communicating with Dustin. But then why would Dustin take me down here if he knows Carmen's doing well?

"There are things that you need to know about, and talking about me is the only way that he could lure you down here. Dustin is a good person, Amber Corinne, not who you think he is." Carmen says.

I said everything out loud? My face starts burning and I can actually feel it now.

"Like the mirror in the bathroom? It likes to make you feel insecure, so that you'll itch to use Edit again." Carmen says.

So that's why it didn't hurt just now!

"But once you get used to it..." Carmen shakes her head, "it doesn't affect you that much anymore."

She must be so downcasted right now. I shouldn't have reminded her of her bitter past, whether it's about her jumping into the Black Hole or Chance.

But when you're living in a word where Edit is so common, it's hard to not have a bitter past.

That's what Edit does-it tears away all of your innocence, just because of one word:beauty. You'll never be the same again.

But people out there are still wanting to take the risk, if not ever being happy again. They're willing to do it. It disgusts me. After my own experience with Edit...I've found out that everyone is beautiful the way they are, no matter how scary they look, no matter how tall or short they are, no matter what color their skin is, no matter how thin or fat that person is.

The world is tearing those people apart, those who aren't "perfect" enough to be considered beautiful. Yes, I admit that sometimes I freak out looking at people who aren't like me, but Edit...Edit is shaming those people, putting them down.

Destroying their lives.

•

Hi there, the seven-chapter update was just a little bonus because I'd finished writing earlier.

This chapter is dedicated to YA-SBAM and AmandaHXY for their constant support and friendship.

So what'd you think of the plot so far? Is there anywhere I can change or amend? I'd love to hear your feedback, so don't be shy :).

The song attached to this chapter is Try by Colbie Calliat. Hope you like it! It's a song that really inspired me to write Edit.

Remember that you are all beautiful!

-NeverEverGiveUp-