Changes

Chapter One

Part One...

Amity

Change, it's what I wanted, it's what I needed, but I wasn't going to get it anytime soon. Who am I kidding? I wasn't going to get it ever. I wish I could blame my parents completely for how controlling they have been, but it was my fault for not sticking up for myself. For not ever being brave enough or strong enough to call them out on how they have treated me.

I can't say I'm the only one because I know that my sister has to face it too. Though she does get more freedom than I do, and fewer grievances as well. In part, I had already grown numb to everything, it was my way of coping. Pretending that all the control, all the pressure, and all the expectations delivered upon me at such a young age, didn't bother me. Yet, it did, it bothered me in an overpowering and suffocating way that left me broken.

I truly believed I could get out of this one. I had been to so many Galas in the past to last a lifetime. What's missing just one out of the possible millions I had already been forced to attend previously? But sadly I already knew it was a choice I could not make. Nothing ever was if I had thought long enough about it. However, I decided not to. Instead, I decided it would be better not to argue and accept my life and the responsibilities forced upon me as they are. My parents would never take no for an answer in the past and I have no semblance of a belief they would ever change their minds. They were stubborn in that way. When it came to arguing with them, which I had only done some times and those times were terrifying in their own right; I just simply couldn't get them to cave. 

So here I stand, in front of a mirror, as my mom fixes me up 'appropriately' as a Blight must always look the part. When I was younger the Galas were fun and felt like a dream. I got to dress up in pretty, extravagant, and expensive dresses and wear makeup. After getting ready I would dance and laugh and talk all night with the other kids. Even back then I had expectations, but at least back then I was allowed to be a kid. As I grew up, the fun and childlike nature I once held was ripped away, replaced with expectations and standards, and responsibilities a Blight must follow and uphold. The environment of the Gala lost the adventurous, light-hearted magic it once held. There was no fun left of it.

I let out a sigh as I listened to my mother give me a lecture on what to do, say, and how to act. The same thing she always does every Gala as all the important families will attend and the family cannot afford to be embarrassed by me. Anything to protect the Blight name as always. Nothing new here. Nothing changed.

As I said, I needed change, but I wasn't going to get it. I wasn't going to stick up for it or be brave enough or strong enough. That wasn't me, not Amity Blight. She was just too scared. It was what I wanted, what I needed, but I wasn't going to get it anytime. Not anytime at all. So I sat and listened as I always did, nodding when I needed to, blindly agreeing to everything she said. But then something she said caught my attention.

"You know, that Noceda kid is going to be there again. It would be in your best interest to steer clear of her. The family would like to avoid any more instances like what happened last year. You agree, don't you? I know you don't like that kid, Lucy I think her name is, but having another public display of hatred like your argument from last year would be an embarrassment to the family." My mother further went on, but her words led me to become stuck, frozen in my seat.

I remember what happened last year. Usually, I'd keep my head on better in such a public place but Luz has a way of bringing out the worst in me. She was coming to the Gala, again, and the news made my skin crawl as pure rage began to build within me. This was expected, it shouldn't surprise me that she was coming as she'd done this every year, but it was the last thing I had ever wanted. Her continuous presence at these things was as unavoidable as it was annoying.