The youngest Schuyler sister, and the only one written by me, up now! Alex will probs be next, so heads up. -C
From the moment she started remembering what she thought, she knew that she was not the one with all the bells and whistles. Margarita, Peggy for short, was not the exciting one in the family. Not Angelica, all cool rage and sassy comebacks that her mind couldn't start to spin. Not Eliza, all beauty and grace and kindness all spun into one masterpiece. She's just...Peggy. The classic youngest child that's gifted nothing but the title.
And even though Peggy didn't want it to end like that, she knew her life was determined by her sisters. She knew that she wanted that proud, fond look that Angelica gave Eliza when she did something right. She wanted Angelica to look at her and think that was the best sister that she could have possibly gotten. She wanted Angelica to believe she was truly, through and through, a Schuyler.
Eliza was a different story. She didn't long for the praise or the pride. She longed for the hugs. Not the quick little embraces she had gotten. The long, meaningful one that seemed to consist of an entire conversation. The way they would show reassurance and encouragement all rolled into one.
So, Peggy was on a mission. A year behind Eliza, two behind Angelica. School was always going to be a struggle. Math twisted around in her head, numbers dancing in the weirdest way. They would flip and turn, and they just didn't make sense.
But Angelica and Eliza got it. So, Peggy would.
Choir was something she loved, but every grade was with each other. Angelica could do deep raps, beautiful and feminine but deeper. Eliza could hit every high note on the staff without sounding even the littlest bit strange or twisting her face. Peggy couldn't hit the high notes...She could hit the sultry low notes, but when she did that, people gave her strange looks.
Angelica and Eliza didn't get strange looks. So she wouldn't either.
Reading wasn't as hard as math, but the letters were as troublesome as the numbers. She would have to strain her eyes, give herself a headache to understand it well. After she read the words, she would have to go over the words again to understand it.
Angelica and Eliza never needed help. So she wouldn't ask for any.
And in gym, when they ran the mile. Her thighs rubbed together, and she tripped over her own feet. Her knee was good and skinned, and everyone stared at her. The coaches paused and stared at her. She shrugged it off.
Angelica and Eliza got good times. Peggy could too.
Then, a new era of her life began. And it wasn't quite like before, competing against the ghosts that her sisters had left. It was something all need. All exclusive. Fifth grade, the first grade where both Angelica and Eliza were gone.
The first grade someone deemed it necessary to pick on her.
Someone had practically ripped her jacket off her arms. Yelled at her that she didn't deserve to be so happy, so cheerful. That she should just shut up. All she was is Peggy and clearly, clearly, Peggy wasn't good enough. They ripped her skirt, pulled at her flab of flesh, yanked on her curls. They made her cry.
Peggy couldn't go home that day, choosing to stay in her classroom until her eyes stopped watering and wait until her sniffles went away. She wiped away all of the snot and hoped she looked presentable.
The next day, she were a brighter skirt and a bigger smile. Peggy was never one to go down without a fight. One of the bullies comes over again, hits her in places where the bruises won't show. But, this time, Peggy wanted to hit him back. But she's better than that. She's not going to submit because they saw so.
Then, when she comes home, Angelica was comforting Eliza about bullies. Her blood ran cold, and she just stared and gaped at them. Eliza sniffles, asked if she was staring if she looked like a mess. Angelica gave her a look that could curdle blood. She shook her head, telling her not to tell the truth. And all Peggy can see was the fact she could be the one in Angelica's arms being comforted if she would have told someone, hadn't stood up for herself.
Peggy almost punched a wall.
Middle school was a thrill ride compared to fifth grade. She wore her favorite clothing, but she was growing out of the skirt phase and into a sundress phase. Peggy just liked the way the fabric swished between her legs...It felt really oddly...Freeing?
And Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy were all in the same place. They could dance around the school after classes. They could laugh, could giggle and whoop and just be together.
It felt like she just got there when Angelica left again. But this time, she was not going to be the one left behind. She started studying harder, working harder. She made her mind hurt and ache in so many different ways to make herself smarter and better. And when a teacher suggests moving her up a grade, she knew that her plan worked perfectly and amazingly.
Eliza and Peggy went to high school together. TOGETHER. Somehow, that made her glow inside. She could face anything...As long as she's safely within her sisters' shadows. Because somewhere along the way, Peggy lost herself and found herself as a Schuyler Sister. And that's all she had to be. Maybe she should just accept that as what she was...?
Then, someone asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She...She couldn't be Eliza's little sister for a job, or Angelica's. That's not those types of things worked. Maybe...Maybe she could be a...Nope. She had no freaking idea what she wanted to be when she grew up.
She got involved with more people, and Angelica hated her new friends. Called them bad influences. And Peggy replied that Angelica never cared before, so it's a little too late to care now. And she went out with them and had fun.
And Peggy found what she loved. She loved the rush of acting, the bravery and the feeling you got when you became someone entirely new. The character wasn't a younger sister. She had different plights and worries. And Peggy shouldered them like they were her own.
She got the lead in the play. On opening night, all of her new friends bailed her. They didn't show up. Peggy pounded out the lines like a real actress though, and people clapped and cheered. Afterwards, bouncing down the steps in her fancy gown, she was met with a splattering of applause. Her parents stood there, beaming...But most of all, her sisters were there. Angelica gave her that proud look, and Eliza gave her that long hug. She got flowers, and everything...And life was good.
The next year, she got the lead again. But this time, Eliza and Angelica didn't come. Angelica was at a debate, and Eliza was with her boyfriend.
The year after that, she took the lead but told nobody. She performed for herself, and little did she know, there were college scouts in the audience.
And she got accepted into the college, and she went there...
But all of her insecurities of middle school were back. Of fifth grade. When she didn't have anybody on her side. Because there were boyfriends here. Boyfriends and futures...
And futures that didn't seem to involve Peggy...Even her sisters', no matter how much she tried to insert herself in.
