𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

𝟏 | 𝐜𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫

Antoinette

        In all nineteen years of my life, I have never noticed just how invariant my lifestyle was until this very moment. Although it may sound ignorant to say, but I think the last major change that I had is when my father died, and my entire life got caught in a whirlwind.

Every single day my life consisted of the same things.

It's no major surprise that I get a little uncomfortable when discussion of change takes place. After waking up and doing my self-care in the morning I was on my way to my first ballet related activity of the day. Every other day when all my ballet related things were over, I went to Maya's bookstore and bistro for a few hours and worked. On some Saturdays I had recitals and others I spent doing extra practice with Mistress Darya. Sundays were my free days; those were spent with Asa until 5 pm when Andrew and I had the tradition of having a family dinner.

Oddly enough, I didn't exactly mind the lack of excitement that my life had. Therefore, when my friends went out attending parties, smoking, and drinking, I didn't feel like I was missing anything because I knew it was an experience I was never meant to have. A huge reasoning for that is because boring is all I know; my brother never exactly gave me space to go out and live a reckless teenage life.

Honestly, I don't even think that I lived a teenage life that someone would consider to be normal.

Someone my age may see my lifestyle as something insufferably boring. Like I said before my life has always of consisted of one thing, Ballet. Even if I wanted to feel pity on myself for not being able to have the full teenage experience, I didn't exactly have the time for it.

Ballet has been my passion for as long as I can remember, and I don't know what I would do if that didn't work out in the future.

If Ballet didn't work out for me, I could already see the future that my brother would plan for me. There was no doubt in my mind that he would find someone of high status around for me to marry. That conclusion would only happen by force because I'd rather not spend the rest of my life bearing kids and being seen as nothing more than an extension of someone.

I didn't shame the women who desired that lifestyle though, everyone wants to feel taken care of and rightfully so. The lifestyle seemed ideal and perfect until realized those rich men loved the power that they had. A good percentage of them found pleasure in the fact that they could cheat on their wives, abuse them, and do other horrible things to them because of the simple fact that they knew that the women lived off them and couldn't do much.

Growing up in wealth you quickly realize that not all things that glitter are gold.

As I looked around Andrew's home, I'm not sure what was happening. But the more that I think about it, I'm not ever sure of what's happening around me. My body leaned against the staircase railing while I watched groups of people rush between two different parts of the home.

This happened at least twice a month so the hecticness of it all didn't grab my attention, it was the fact that they were going in and out of the west wing. I'd been restricted from going inside of that side of Andrew's home... I honestly didn't even know how it looked. Although I know I probably shouldn't be so interested in it I was.

Knowing Andrew all too well I would never ask him about the west wing, he'd just tell me it was none of my concern in the kindest way possible. In the words of my brother the only thing I should worry about was "Being pretty and dancing gracefully in front for the pleasure of a huge crowd."

Nothing related to what my brother did for work and what was in the west wing was taught to be my concern.

I picked up an apple slice from my bowl of fruit, ensuring not to take my eyes from what was happening in front of me. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy it when everyone was running around the home like doomsday was set to happen in minutes. It gives me something besides the drama that happens at the bookstore to be entertained by.