*COMPLETED*
A terrifying rumor taunting the city of Lakewood Pierce has everyone afraid to look in the mirror. To stare at themselves and say a simple "hello". Adolescent children prettified to the bone out of fear that something will get them not...
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Amy reluctantly pulls out a chair from the kitchen table, the four legs scrapping lightly against the grey tinted tile, making her cringe. She slowly closes the distance between her body and the cold surface of the black painted seat. The eyes of her father at the opposite end of the table watching her the entire way down.
His retinas immediately avert to Amy's sclera, the white part turned red with irritation. He immediately knew that she'd been crying, then, a sudden pang of resentment toward her rises within his mind.
She was listening to us, he silently scolds her from across the table. He heaves a huffing sigh of infuriation.
It's Amy who is going to receive the punishment for the wrong actions, not Levi. In fact, Levi is completely pushed out of the picture, though it was him who had done the eavesdropping in the first place, Amy just had tagged along. She knows deep within her mind what's coming her way, and she can't do anything about it but let it happen.
"So," Mr. Hayes begins to spat, clearing his throat to get her attention. "Did you enjoy what you heard, Amy?" The way that he had said her name is enough to spread chills through Amy's entire body. Amy begins to tremble, not out of coldness, but out of sheer fear.
She's silent for a moment, how am I to respond to that? She asks silently.
"I said, did you like what you heard, Amy? Or are you now all the sudden deaf?" His words are cold, harsh, uncalled for. No one else is in the room, no one else is around to stop him and his unfiltered words. He continues to speak, not caring that Amy is already in disarray.
She's quiet still, and luckily, she doesn't have to say anything concerning the matter again, for Mrs. Hayes and Levi come walking into the kitchen. Smiles spread across their faces as if nothing had ever happened just moments before their arrival.
The room falls silent, the air tense and constricting. Amy inhales a long, deep breath of that tense air, and nearly chokes up, even more, earning her a hard stare from her mother. Levi takes a seat to the right of Amy, his small hand reaching for hers under the table.
She can never feel any anger or resentment toward Levi because he's always been so kind and sweet. He never meant for her to be pushed into his shadow. He never meant any of it, and he still has no idea that this is still going on. In a way, his little mind is gullible and clueless to the real truth of the world around him.
"Amy, have you found a job yet?" Mrs. Hayes asks, taking a seat next to Levi, grabbing his plate and serving brightly colored fruit onto the perfectly white surface. Juices from the fruit begin to flow all around, the white surface now a mix of purple, red, and orange.
"No," she sheepishly responds, her head hanging low and her body slumped. "Oliver is trying to help me find one that suits my talents," she adds, trying to convince them that there is still hope.
"We're financially tight here, Amy, you are aware of this, right?" Mr. Hayes appoints, resting his elbows on the polished table, leaning in closer...more intimidatingly.
"Yes, I know," she lifts her head, "I promise that I'm still searching for one. Actually," Amy takes in another deep breath, her lungs needing a refresh. "I've been eyeing one job that I might be interested in to apply for. It's at the homeless shelter off of Emerald Way, they have an opening for a food collector and a cleanup person. I was thinking about going down there today, with Oliver," she says, recalling the sign she had seen a week ago for the job opening.
You would think that her parents would be so honored that their child wants to help people in desperate need, any parents would be...but not them. You'd be strongly mistaken to make a claim such as that.
"How much is the pay?" Mr. Hayes questions, disregarding every other word Amy had spoken.
"Nine dollars an hour is the minimum wage. They get paid by the state, so I could get a raise if I work very hard, which I promise with my whole heart I will," she eagerly says, trying yet again to convince them.
Her mother and father consider this for a moment, their eyes meeting for a split second before breaking away.
"Alright, go down there today, and apply for that job, before someone else takes it," Mrs. Hayes orders.
Amy's face lifts with happiness, a rare sight to see. But what she doesn't know, and what her parents try so hard to hide from her, is that they aren't in a financial crisis at all, they're far from it. The family is nearing a million dollars in the bank account, and yet they still have the guts to say they're tight on money. They only want that money so they can go spend it for themselves, with no remorse so they don't have to waste their own money doing unnecessary vacations and trips to the casino. Amy stands, her stomach empty from not eating anything.
"Oliver had invited me to go with them to the county carnival this evening," she voices, "Can I go?"
"Yes, you can go."
It's one thing that her parents are users, lying cheats, but it's another thing that they give Amy the freedom she so desperately needs.
And it's only a matter of hours until she gets the ultimate freedom she has ever dreamed of.
