A Recipe for Evil

Who Are You Not to Be?

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?" Marianne Williamson

Amy Miller spends the 1st of January in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She doesn't feel like watching movies or reading like she usually does when she is on vacation. She doesn't even answer when her parents call her for lunch nor does she unlocks the door when they come knocking on it. She doesn't feel like eating. She doesn't even feel like moving. It seems pointless to her. Girls like Myriam are always be the ones to win no matter how much girls like Amy try to fight against the fatality of it.

Myriam can easily get away with terrorizing everybody. In the teenage world, she detains all powers. She is a queen and an evil one as that. St-George High's Queen of Hearts. Wherever she goes, heads rolls. The whole school is too scared to stand against her reign with the exception of Clarisse, head cheerleader and Myriam's only real antagonist. Sometimes friends, sometimes enemies, their relationship is one of love and hatred. Neighbors since childhood, their families share interactions as tense  and as competitive as theirs

Amy turns on her stomach and buries her nose in her pillow. Myriam's voice comes ringing back though her mind, rising from the inmost depth of her subconscious.

"You think your life is miserable? If you ever say something about what you saw, I'll make your life a fucking nightmare. Believe me; the Spanish Inquisition will seem like a walk in the park compared to what I am going to do to you if you don't shut the fuck up."

She feels like crying. She doesn't want to go back to school and face her tormentor. What she feels goes beyond the usual discomfort she has towards the idea of confronting her pairs. 

She is sick and tired of always having to watch over her shoulder in case someone tries to push her into a locker.

She sick and tired of of being verbally harassed.

She sick and tired of constantly being subjected to awful pranks. 

The idea of now having Myriam watching her from behind, readying herself to attack at the slightest faux-pas is making her tremble with terror. 

What do girls like Clarisse or Myriam have that she doesn't? How can they do all those awful things and still be admired by their peers? Amy doesn't understand. Does cruelty really engender popularity?

Amy exhales deeply and pinches the bridge of her nose.

She sits up and gives a circle look to her bedroom. She pushes herself out of bed and walks towards her desk. She turns her laptop on and opens her Facebook page. She goes on Louis' profile, a daily habit she can't resist to indulge in. She laughs sombrely when she reads the first message written on his wall. It's from Myriam. It's filled with unsubtle sexually charged comments. She sighs, knowing the underlying message. 

It is a very obvious threat.

She clicks her way unto the raven beauty's Facebook page. Even though they aren't friends, Amy has access to all of her pictures. In most of them the girl is exhibiting her body through the meaning of very short and tight-fitting clothes. In some, she is by her house pool, wearing a dark purple bikini and posing in very suggestive positions.

It's easy to tell Melissa is the one who took this particular set of photographs because they are followed by a few arm-length shots of both of them dressed in their respective skimpy swimwear. They are holding each other's waist while winking, giving provocative stares, and sending kisses to the camera. All through that set of pictures, Myriam appears to be wearing a genuine smile on her face.