A Strange Case

Chapter 1

Victoria was that one girl in town that children avoided and the adults spoke about in whispers on hot Sundays. The one girl that you would think lives in some old and creepy house at the end of the block. No one dared believe that she was the daughter of two doctors that hugged children when they got shots and gave stickers,lollipops,and occasionally a stuffed animal just for check ups. They lived in a wonderful house;it was a little small,but in a warm and cozy way. There was no way that that horrible girl could even know the Seakets,let alone be related to them. Even Victoria herself sometimes forgot that she wasn’t who she seemed. Because the real Victoria was so much more. The real Victoria cried every night from the taunts and rumours that surrounded her. The real Victoria was kind,thoughtful,and friendly. Why did she hide these traits?She hated her parents,because of their abusive ways,verbally and physically. Sure they were beautiful people in public,but in truth they were nightmares. Victoria wanted to be  as  separate from them as possible,even if it meant  being a nasty wretched girl when anyone was around.

    Today was no different. Victoria dressed in her classic outfit. Black tanktop,navy blue skinny jeans,and her signature combat boots. She poured herself a bowl of special editon Lucky Charms and absentmindedly played the small puzzles on the back of the box.She faintly heard her mother’s alarm clock ringing. She had 5 minutes. The ritual began.Victoria poured out the remaining Lucky Charms,and replaced it with a new bowl of Wheat Chex-without sugar.She pretended to spoon a mouthful of soggy cereal into her mouth as her mother dragged herself into the room. She opened the pantry,then whipped around to Victoria.  “You ate the rest of the Cheerios,didn't you?” she growled “You fat girl,eating all your mother’s food.” She came around and smacked Victoria,causing a black eye. Tears streaked down  her face as her mother prepared another cereal.   

    After wiping off any remnants of tears,she began her traditional makeup routine. Deep purple eyeshadow with blood red lipstick. Thick black mascara that made her eyes pop. And she repainted her purple nail polish,as it had become to chip. Her father now came into the room,dressed in his coat,ready for work. “Do something to your hair,” he frowned. “It makes you look like some sort of sick witch,”and with this statement,walked out the door the drive in his Ferrari to work.Victoria stuck her tongue out at the receding car. She walked to the bus stop,where she met her one and only true friend. “What up?”she said. “The clouds in the sky,” joked Ella,dressed in HER usual attire. Ella was wearing neon yellow jeans,a hot pink shirt with a random design on it(this time a kitty),blue sneakers,and baby pink lipstick. “What happened to your eye?’she asked,noting the black eye her mother had caused. Victoria noticed that her “friends”had come around the corner and had heard Ella’s remark. Regaining her composure,she said, “In a fight-that I won. Why you asking,kid?” and stalked away,leaving Ella once again confused by Victoria’s personality swap.

    As she walked over to Derek and Swan,they asked her a hundred questions about the fight that she had just mentioned. Victoria wearily made a story involving a college student with a gun,a dark alley,and bottles of whiskey and drugs in that alley. Satisfied,Swan turned to Derek and began a conversation about how much life sucked. In her head,Victoria came up with  thousand ways to retort the twin’s subject. Being alive is of the tiniest of chances;why waste it on being sad? There is such thing as sugar;reason in itself. And,a bitter voice thought,who were they to talk about how their life sucked?To think that things were bad when they ran out of a certain kind of cereal,or they missed a TV show,when Victoria lived in a house of abusive parents that locked her in her room when she said “Yes,Ma'am” a wrong way?

    Tears were threatening to make an appearance,and Derek noticed. “What now,crybaby?” he asked. “You were born,” she managed to make out,before controlling herself. Sawn laughed as Derek scowled. Soon,the bus came,and the trio sat in the back with a kind of miserable,gothic aura. Swan was on her phone,Derek was listening to Hard Rock,and Victoria was looking out the window morosely. Or so it looked. Victoria was really looking at the houses flashing by and wondering who was in them,starting at the sight of a bunny or dog and grinning invisibly,and pretending that Ella was really sitting next to her. She could see the real Ella in the back,sadly glancing at the friend that seemed to abandon her at times.

    At school,Victoria could act herself;at least during math and science. Both normal and gothic sides of her was bored to death by the concept of these subjects. Even bringing up the word “math” could make her yawn. During lunch,she skipped over to Ella and started a hand clapping game before Swan came around the corner and demanded that they speak about death. Then it was the last period:Band. Victoria always played the easiest instrument:the flute. After all,it was hard to focus on difficult concepts when her mother awaited her in only an hour. All too quickly,band ended,and Victoria was forced into another boring bus ride home.