1950s Summer

Chapter 4- Park Benches

"Hey, wake up Y/N." Abby was gently shaking you awake.

"Ughhhh." You just rolled over ignoring her.

"Come on. You have to eat or Alicia is going to be mad at you." She was fed up with you already and it was still the first day.

"I'm an adult Abby. I can fix my own food later." You just wanted to sleep more, but you were hungry. You didn't have the energy to get up though.

"Ya we're all adults Y/N. Just get up and quit complaining. You sound like a child." Abby walked out and left the door open. Abby always left the door open when she would leave a room. It irritated you like nothing else.

You rolled out of bed slowly, and brushed your hair, so you would be presentable at the table. You saw Carol walk out of her room and look at you. She stopped at the doorway to your room, not saying anything.

"You don't need to do that, you know. It's just going to be the usual at the table." And with indifference, she walked off. Not staying to hear you reply, if you had one to say, but you were speechless so it didn't matter.

You were through with both of them bossing you around, like they had nothing better to do. It was attention, but not the kind you wanted from them. Elaine was the only one who was outwardly nice to you. Abby was only nice when no one was watching like it would damage her facade of a hard exterior.

____

Age 13

You were out in town sitting at a park bench while you read a book and ate some chips. You were at that awkward stage in life where you were not a child, but you weren't a teenager, and your body showed it.

It was disproportionate to your face and nothing you wore would match it enough or hide it well enough. That day, you were wearing a plain skirt and short sleeved top. It was proper enough to be a presentable outfit while being light enough to not die from the heat of the sun.

You were engulfed in your story when you looked up to see that a group of girls walked by you. They were older girls, a little older than Elaine at the time. They looked you up and down, ripping apart your body to no ends. You didn't hear exactly what they had said to each other, but you knew it wasn't good.

Abby was with you because Alicia always forced one of the girls to be with you while you were in town and it happened that it was Abby's turn to look after you that day.

Abby walked towards you briskly and grabbed your arm, yanking you up. She walked up to the older girls and looked them dead in the eye.

"You think you guys are so cool huh. Well I wouldn't rely on it because you all couldn't be more fake, and makeup covered skin will fade away until you're only left with your ugly self. Too bad you can't fix your personalities with makeup." She stormed off, still grasping your arm tightly. The girls were in shock and stood there with their mouths flung open. Abby had got them good.

If Abby had said that to you, you would have cried. It wasn't even that the comment was mean, but her tone and facial expressions could kill by itself.

We walked to the other side of the park, which took a while to get to, and she sat you down at another bench. She took a deep breath, calming herself down.

"Hey don't listen to those girls. They're just mean." Abby sighed out as she took some of your chips.

"Thanks Abby, really." You were as sincere as a 13 year old could get and smiled at Abby.

"Ya, don't mention it." She looked off into the distance. You didn't know why she was defending you when all she did was pick on you, but it was a nice change of pace. "What are you reading?"

"Umm. Something Alicia gave me." Alicia loved giving you books to read, to be as smart as you could be she would tell you.

"Ew. You are such a nerd." She said, rolling her eyes and grinning. It was back the same Abby you knew, but you wouldn't forget this moment.

_____

You walked downstairs, to the table that was set up all fancy. Alicia liked to make a nice dinner the first night you arrived. She always made sure that you felt you were celebrated here. Wine glasses were set up and the fancy silverware was put out neatly on each placemat.

You took your spot, the one that was against the wall and next to Carol. Alicia always sat at the end with Abby and Elaine across from you and Carol. No one sat at the other end of the table, except for a guest every once in a while. Carol's father would come by sometimes to eat with us, but this house wasn't meant for fathers. My father never came, and neither did Abby's. It was like an unspoken rule that women ruled this house, back then, now, and forevermore.

Everyone sat down and started to dish up their own food, there was not much conversation and quietness floated in the air. Elaine broke the silence by going on about how excited she was to finally be getting married. She spoke about the future she wished to have with her fiancé. Her eyes lit up when she was talking about the family she was going to build. It was sweet, but all filler noise to you.

You snuck looks at Carol as she ate and listened to Elaine. Carol was never a big one to talk about anything really. Especially at dinner, when the focus would be solely on her. She would hate every second of it.

If it weren't for her being so good at everything she did, she wouldn't have compared to Elaine's kindness and outwardness. Elaine was a classic extrovert and it was hard to not love her. She was great, but compared to Carol, she was nothing.

Carol was quiet, but always would win whether it was a card game we were all forced to play by Alicia, or grades, sports, people. She was the one that captivated people with just the look into her eyes. She captivated you without any resistance. Carol also never was the one to start a conversation normally which made you want to talk to her even more. She was hard to please, so if you got a smile or a laugh from her, you would know that it was well deserved.

Elaine would laugh and smile at everything, even if it wasn't worth the expression. It would be a pity smile so you wouldn't feel bad. It was a nice gesture, but it wasn't special the way it would be if Carol were to smile at you.