The Academy: Ensnared

10. As You Wish

A/N//: By the way, there are spoilers for Twilight: New Moon, Divergent: Allegiant, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, and Harry Potter (everything) in this chapter. Enjoy <3

Even after baby oil and hours of rubbing herself raw, the marker was left in faint lines over her pale skin. The ink of the marker had sunk down into her pores, making it nearly impossible to remove. The markings almost looked like odd veins of sorts, but when one looked close, words and shapes jumped out. After wiping away at the condensation on the mirror, Amelia stared at her body in the mirror of the bathroom. Christopher had left her only fifteen minutes previously to cook dinner. She took the time alone to examine her skin, to really examine it, and the markings that were left behind. She could see the faint remnants of certain words. Slut. Whore. Cunt. They carried on and got worse as she looked for them. They were on her chest, stomach, and back. There were words decorating her breasts. She even had drawings on her inner thigh of the male genitalia pointing to the space between her legs. Any bare skin she had was used as paper. The scent of the marker still lingered in the air around her. It had stamped itself onto the inside of her nose. It was so strong and powerful and probably all in her head, but it was still there. She had tried so hard to erase the things that were written along with the scent. She had scrubbed for even longer after Christopher left, but some markings were not lifting from her skin. She had tried so hard and failed. Now she was mesmerized by her own reflection. She was examining what her classmates had done. She had been there for fifteen minutes already, searching for anything she could have missed. By now, she was positive she'd seen everything.

Amelia closed her eyes. She couldn't allow herself to stare any longer. The marks would eventually fade, she decided. What would take time to heal was the lasting mental trauma. She didn't believe in what the words said. They were empty and devoid of any real emotion from their writer. They didn't have any real meaning. They were only placed upon her because her peers had been told to put them there. This thought made the punishment no less brutal. She was going to have lasting mental scars because of this. She'd take time to overcome the humiliation. She had been degraded because she could not follow orders.

Back in high school, she had been harmlessly scolded by teachers. When they told her that the bell did not dismiss her, she boldly retorted that it couldn't tell her when to arrive. She had promptly shown up late the next day. Back then, she'd only receive a detention or two, if it was bad enough a suspension. She had been untouchable, for the most part, in high school. Amelia knew now that if she showed the same confidence and wit here, she'd face consequences, and these consequences were some that she never wanted to endure again. The rules at the Academy were different. This was an entirely new world, and she wasn't sure she could handle it.

Thus, she had come to a crossroads. She could leave the Academy that had degraded her and diminished her self-worth, or she could stay. Leaving left her with no home and no place to go. Her parents were done with her shit. Staying meant she'd risk her mental strength.

The realization hit her like a freight train. Her parents, the people that had loved her unconditionally since birth and all the way through her life, had disowned her. They had cast her aside and decided that they no longer wanted a disgrace like her. What was she supposed to do? She felt unequivocally alone. Her protectors had had enough. They had decided they were sick of her games, of her playing hooky, and of her getting suspended from school. They no longer wanted a daughter who'd only slander the family name they'd worked so hard to achieve. She hadn't appreciated her parents when they were there, and now, she was paying the ultimate price. It had taken the stripping of her monetary status, of her popularity, of her ownership of herself, and of her name to teach her this.

And then there was that nagging devil in the back of her head, the ones that sent doubts barreling her way. Maybe... Maybe her parents never saw her as anything more than the successor to the family name and company. Maybe after she completely sullied her parents' reputation, they wanted nothing to do with her. They had other children. She had a younger sister at home who could easily replace her. Her parents were effectively severing her from their lives. Again she thought of two venomous words towards them. Screw you.