The Hill Scene

Ophelia

"It looks like a wedding dress!" Ophelia complained as she stared in the mirror at the dress her mother bought her. "No it doesn't Ophelia, I bought that for you and you will wear it tomorrow. I try so hard to make it a good day, you are not going to ruin it for yourself! Now change and go to bed."
...
Ophelia, a lonely only child just turned seventeen. Though it was her birthday, she didn't care much for it, she didn't have the luxury of inviting friends round. Not that she didn't have friends, she did, however they weren't very good for her. She knew this but to Ophelia, being around bad people was better than being alone. She knew she deserved better, or maybe she didn't, she'd been given these friends by god for a reason so surely they are what she deserves...or maybe...maybe better things were coming.

Ophelia sat looking at herself in her bedroom mirror, wearing the dress her mother had picked out for her. A lovely, white frilly dress that stopped just above her ankles. Ophelia didn't hate dresses, in fact she tried on quite a few at night alone in her room, she just didn't like to be seen in them, not even by her mother. She only felt pretty when she was alone.
"There's no way." She whispered to herself before looking through her clothes and finding a
brown jumper to put on over the dress, making the bottom look like a skirt. It's quite cold anyway she thought to herself trying to find an excuse to tell her mother as to why she was covering up. She quickly turned and hurried out of her attic room and down the stairs for her birthday breakfast, she didn't want to keep her mother waiting too long as she always tried
hard to give Ophelia the best birthdays, especially since what had happened three years ago.

As she entered the kitchen her mother looked at her and scoffed. "Take that off Ophelia, I spent money on that dress for you." Ophelia was a pretty girl, long light brown hair and perfect freckles along her cheeks along with bright blue eyes, her mother never understood why Ophelia doubted her beauty. "It's quite cold so I thought I'd wear this over-"
"Don't bother Philly, wear it if you want but just know that it looks tacky, I don't understand why you won't wear the dress, it's beautiful." Ophelia hated that nickname, she thought it sounded silly. Her mother and her stared at each other for a few moments before her mother gave in with a sigh and handed Ophelia her breakfast.

Her mother's name was Joan, she was tall with short dark hair, she was basically the complete opposite of her daughter. Joan had lots of friends growing up, she knew her daughter had friends but she never saw them. "Why don't you invite your friends Philly?"
"Busy." Is all that she replied. It was hard to get conversation out of her, preferring to keep her sentences short and to the point. She got annoyed by the types of people that would talk without end, it amazed her how much people can say when hey don't really know what they're talking about, just their opinions of other people's opinions, Ophelia preferred to stay out of discussions.
To be honest, Ophelia and her mother's relationship was complicated. Of course they loved each other but she was always closer with her father. Her mother was quite distant when Ophelia was a child, never really understanding her the way her dad did. Then when ophelia's dad died three years ago on her birthday she was the only parent left, and had no idea how to talk to her daughter. She cared for her daughter more than anything, she just never knew how to show it. Ophelia knew her mother was good, but she had no idea how to talk to her, she'd tell her father everything, but she tells her mother nothing. They had love for each other but they were out of sync and affection wasn't something that was often shown between them.

Ophelia was often left feeling alone, her school friends didn't really notice her, notice her silence and sadness or even her happiness, she was just a person that hung out with them. She was never invited to things outside of school, and to be honest she didn't really mind. In her mind, no one was really worth her time. She hoped one day she'd meet a friend that would understand her and would actually make her want to put effort in. She knew it wasn't good to keep being alone, but recently it was all she was comfortable with and the thought of going beyond her comfort zone was scary. She'd have to make due with the loneliness for now.