Midnights

❤️ Part 2: April Prelude ❤️

❤️ Prelude: April ❤️

Art by HappyClementine on twitter

April Fooze is not sure when her family became the worst thing to happen to her.

Maybe she's being too dramatic though.

After all, it's not her family.

It's just her mom.

The woman treats her like she's the devil's spawn.

Ask her mom her honest opinion of April and she'll tell you this:

"April's a problem child. She's a slut. She's disrespectful. She's never going anywhere in life. She's the worst thing that's ever happened to this family. She doesn't bring anything to this family."

Of course, her mom would never say it in front of anyone in fear of looking like the terrible human that she is. Otherwise, she'll face actual consequence and she'll probably lose the family members she actually cares for.

The cruel woman's privately told April plenty of times though.

If April's with any of her seven siblings the woman treats her like she's the favorite child. If they're in front of her father, she acts like she's the most helpful and patient daughter there is.

All of middle school and high school, she tried her best to fit into her mom's perfect bubble. She wore the least revealing clothes, barely wore makeup, kept her grades up and played teacher's pet well.

April may not have the best relationship with her mom but her dad's always given her everything she's asked for. He's rarely home though. And more than half of her siblibings slowly started to dwindle out. Things only got worse when less people resided in the house.

Despite everything, the redhead still hoped that things would change with her mom.

It took her until senior year of high school to realize nothing she ever did would make her mother treat her better.

And it's not until she meets Smedison that the thought of running away seemed plausible. For some reason, she found a kind of escape in the man. He was observant, kind, cute and listened to her when she had no one else to speak to. Natalie, her best friend, got hit with her own struggles so April felt guilty continuously throwing everything on her.

When her mom learns about her boyfriend, she likes Smedison a lot. She treats him like her own. In her eyes, he's a smart kid with a bright future.

Someone who shouldn't get entrapped by the devil's spawn that's her daughter.

Once again, her mother would never say this to anyone directly. She says it to April without knowing Smedison's listening on the phone. Without knowing that April's confided in him about her own personal hell at home.

And April swears she sees light when Smedison doesn't believe a word of the bullshit her mother spews about her.

It comes as no surprise that instead of going to senior year graduation, she elopes with him at only 18.

They move to Liberty City where he does summer classes at university to become a surgeon.

Before graduation, she'd already decided to become a doctor and applied to a few schools for the coming semester, including his university.

Sometime after they get married, she gets accepted to the same school as her new husband. While waiting for summer to end and her first semester to start, April stays home playing the perfect housewife. It felt like it was all finally coming together.