Dominions

Chapter 2: Elle

Elouise Mayweather hated her name. She felt that it was entirely too girly, and if there was any truth to a name matching your personality, that idea was lost for Elouise. For as long as she could remember she went by the name Elle. Much to her mother's dismay.

"Elouise, I was thinking for your birthday party this year we could have it at the party room in the Holton Hotel? I saw a wedding there last spring and it was simply divine!"

Elle's mother was the prom queen type. She won prom queen every year of her high school career. She also competed in beauty pageants until the age of 18, when she was slated to compete in Miss America representing Texas, but a tragic accident left her unable to attend. She fell in love with a man who told her that he was going to give her the world, when in reality, he gave her Saffron, Texas.

Elle's father was the typical all-American football player. Star quarterback, never single for longer than seven seconds, and constantly had the school cheering him on. He graduated from an ivy league, and immediately went into the oil and gas industry. He quickly made his fortune and decided that with his good looks and charm he would make a great politician, and boy, was he right. At the age of 43, Elle's father became the mayor of Saffron, Texas.

Both parents were popular, talkative, and charming. They had the world at their fingertips, and each of them were excited to get married, have a fantastic all-American family, and be the talk of their small town.

And then they had a daughter like me, Elle thought as she listened to her mom drone on about her seventeenth birthday. She had learned that it was best to let her mother get it out of her system because the only thing interrupting and telling her mother no would do, was cause a fight. And while she didn't believe in celebrating birthdays like her parents, Elle didn't want to fight with her mom on this day.

"It will be beautiful! It can be a little drop of southern class, and we can serve nice steaks and potatoes with some sort of a veggie-"

"Mom," Elle said with a gentle voice. "I told you, I didn't want anything to happen this year. Every party is just another excuse for you and dad to invite your friends to gawk at your money. I don't really want any part of that."

Elle tried to tell her mother as gently as she could, but she could see her mother's face start to shift. Elle knew that she was disappointing her, and knew her mother wished that she was more of a girly girl, or into things like clothes and parties. If she was honest with herself, which is something that didn't normally happen, Elle wanted that too. How much easier her life would be if she could just be the person her parents wanted her to be. To be the girl that the town expected her to be, and she tried. She really did try to become that girl.

After a while, she realized that it was easier to stay a mystery than to let people know what she stood for.

"Why can't you just be grateful for what we give you?" asked her mother, staring into her cup of coffee. "We want to hand you the world, but you constantly throw it back at us, Elouise."

It was the same fight they always had. The one where Elle was called selfish and spoiled, and she was left to once again explain that wasn't the case. At the end of the day, the simple truth was that Elle didn't want any of the things her parents offered. Nor did they offer to hear what it was she did want.

"Mom, it's not like that-" began Elle, but she was interrupted by the coffee mug hitting the wall. Hot coffee splattered across the kitchen. Drops of the hot liquid landed on Elle's ankle and she winced from the pain. The housemaid ran into the kitchen to see the glass shards scattered across the room. She turned on her heels to go grab a broom and mop from the cleaning closet.

"Look what you made me do!" cried her mom as she stood up from the table and placed her face in her hands. "You can never just leave well enough alone. I just wanted to throw you a party for your seventeenth birthday but even that is not good enough for you!"

Elle glared at her mother from across the table and slowly got up from the table. She walked out of the kitchen. "There you go again! Always running away! Acting like a self-entitled little bitch! You're going to regret how you treated us, Elouise!"

Elle walked down the hallway and quickly rounded the corner into her room. She slammed the door closed and locked it before her mother had the chance to follow her in, and sunk against the door. The ever-familiar sensation of tears fell down her face as she closed her eyes and wished for something to change. There had to be more to life than what she had lived.

"My sweet girl. I'm so sorry this is the life it picked for you." 

Elle instantly froze and looked around her room. "Is someone there?" 

Elle sat there and waited for someone to respond. The voice she heard had been so clear. She got up from the door and walked over to her closet and opened the door. She half expected to see a woman standing there in between her clothes. When Elle was satisfied there wasn't a crazy woman in her room, she convinced herself the voice she heard must have been in her head.

"Happy birthday, Elle," she whispered to herself as she took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. "You're going crazy."  She walked over to her closet and put on her usual jeans and dark t-shirt, and walked over to the window that she used to sneak out so many times before. She didn't want to risk going back out into the hall and dealing with her crazy mother.

Elle flung her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed her car keys from her desk. The window, which served as her escape route for years, was attached to a large flat portion of the roof.  The roof was her safe haven in this small prison. Elle knew all she had to do was lock the door, and there was always a way to get out of a situation her parents forced her into. 

Elle climbed out her window and carefully trotted along the roof to the edge of the house, where a garden ladder sat bolted to the large Victorian home. She placed her foot on the first rung and shimmied down the house. Once her feet hit the floor she took a deep breath, composed herself, and put on the winning smile she was forced to wear every time she walked out of the house. 

"Good morning, Elle!" said her neighbor.

"Good morning, Ms. Alston," Elle replied with a smile.

Elle had to learn once her father got into office that appearances are everything. There was no room to have a bad day. There was no time to be rude to someone or come across as disrespectful. Her father drilled into her head that every citizen is a potential vote when it came to re-election, and Elle always found it easier to wear a mask than actually open up to people.

"A little birdie told me that your birthday was today!" Ms. Alston called. "Happy birthday, dear!"

"Thank you," said Elle as she opened up the door to her silver Ford Focus. "Have a fantastic day!" she got into the car and closed the door right as her mother came out onto the porch and gave her a scornful look. Upon seeing Ms. Alston standing in her driveway, she quickly smiled and waved at her daughter, but Elle knew what she wanted to do.

Sorry I couldn't be more like you, mom. She thought as she backed out of the long driveway and started her drive to school.