Resistance is futile (James)
Jun 5, 2010 8:54:33 GMT -5
Post by Amelia Blane on Jun 5, 2010 8:54:33 GMT -5
”I’m going out.”
The current atmosphere in the Blane household was just about as bad as it was possible to get. In fact, Amelia couldn’t recall any time when more tension had been compressed inside the four walls of their home. Then again, her parents had never tried to ship her away to a school for misfits simply because she had survived a shooting before either. Not that they were going to succeed. Amelia Blane wasn’t going anywhere aside from her ballet class. Even so, she could see the worry in her mother’s eyes as she put down her bag at her side to tie her shoe laces.
“Honey, we’ve talked about this already, the recruiter from the Hammel Institute is coming by today, you need to be here so that we can talk about all of this.”
Amelia snorted, and kept getting dressed. Her movements were stiff and automatic, her whole body language conveying her feelings of hurt and betrayal. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not going anywhere and I don’t need any help. I just need to be left alone.” Throwing on her jacket she collected her things quickly so her mother wouldn’t have the time to voice any of the objections Amy knew where building up inside her. At least her father wasn’t home from work yet. He might actually have tried to physically keep her there.
“If anyone comes by you can tell them that they’re wasting their time. I’m not leaving.”
Watson was sitting on the seat of her bicycle. His green eyes followed her lazily as she hurried across the yard and over to the garage. For once Amy was not in the mood for her cat’s theatrics as the grey tabby yawned demonstratively when she moved towards the bike. Shooing him away she grabbed the handle and was down the driveway in a matter of minutes.
Only when she reached the main road leading down to the town center did she allow herself to relax. Getting out of the house had been her way of showing that she wasn’t going to reform to her parents wishes like she usually did this time. She was simply continuing her life as if nothing had happened at all. Besides, that was the truth as well. Amelia couldn’t remember the exact seconds she had been standing in the dark alley way connecting her dance studio with the wider street of their local bank branch, but whatever it was that had enable her to “dodge” the bullets fired at her, there had to be a logical explanation to it. Sometimes bullets simply didn’t hit their targets. Sometimes the least likely option happened. It surprised her that her parents weren’t willing to see this as well, they were usually every bit as rational as she was. It made her worry that this rouse to get her to go off to the Hammel Institute had very little to do with her so called power, and a lot to do with her parents wanting to get her out of the way for a while.
That thought hurt a lot more than she had been willing to show so far. She had always felt completely sure that her parents loved her. She had been told several time of the trouble they had had with conceiving a child. The notion that they might not want her after all, struck her at her very core, but it was the only explanation for what was happening that she could find reasonable.
The memory of her father sitting down with her a few days after the incident and describing her in a way that made her sound like some sort of character pulled out from the “Matrix” movies was still so ridiculous that she couldn’t think about it with a straight face. Aside from that completely surreal situation, however, there had been very little to smile about in her life after the shooting that still had the whole town buzzing with excitement. Sighing she tried to push the dark thoughts away, and turned into the parking lot of her dance studio. Having her head filled with worries would do her no good. She had already made her opinion known; she was staying in Deerfield, regardless of what her parents might want.
By the time the class had finished the brilliantly golden afternoon light from earlier that day had morphed into a grey twilight. Amelia couldn’t help but to feel that the whole world had transformed to match her own miserable mood. The dancing lesson hadn’t gone well. She had been unable to concentrate, and the more she tried to listen to the instructions her tutor gave her, the worse it had gotten. Finally she had been dismissed with the comment that she was thinking too much.
But that was the whole point, wasn’t it? She was supposed to listen to her tutor and she was supposed to think about what she did. That was the reason she taking lessons after all. So why was her skills deteriorating every time she did? It frustrated her so much that it even made her momentarily forget the reason she had been so intent on getting out of the house in the first place.
The second she stepped through the door, however, she got an unexpected reminder. There were two suitcases standing in the hallway. Dropping her bag Amelia stood frozen with her hand on the door handle, looking at them in confusion. Then her parents came into the hallway from the living room, and their expression made all other explanations unnecessary.
“I told you I wasn’t going anywhere!” she snapped indignantly and felt a little ashamed as her mother flinched with obvious hurt at her angry tone. “We called the recruiter and told him you were running a little late. He will be here in a couple of minutes,” her father said, “I’m sure once you get a little more time to think about all of this you will realize that it isn’t all that bad. In fact you might even like the Hammel Institute if you just…”
She didn’t give him the time to finish. Treating her clueless parents to one last angry stare she passed them without another word and rushed up the stairs to her room. The sound of her door slamming shut was enough to make the windows rattle downstairs, but it didn’t elevate her mood at all. If her parents thought the only thing needed to get her out of there was packing her bags, then they were in for a surprise.
The current atmosphere in the Blane household was just about as bad as it was possible to get. In fact, Amelia couldn’t recall any time when more tension had been compressed inside the four walls of their home. Then again, her parents had never tried to ship her away to a school for misfits simply because she had survived a shooting before either. Not that they were going to succeed. Amelia Blane wasn’t going anywhere aside from her ballet class. Even so, she could see the worry in her mother’s eyes as she put down her bag at her side to tie her shoe laces.
“Honey, we’ve talked about this already, the recruiter from the Hammel Institute is coming by today, you need to be here so that we can talk about all of this.”
Amelia snorted, and kept getting dressed. Her movements were stiff and automatic, her whole body language conveying her feelings of hurt and betrayal. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not going anywhere and I don’t need any help. I just need to be left alone.” Throwing on her jacket she collected her things quickly so her mother wouldn’t have the time to voice any of the objections Amy knew where building up inside her. At least her father wasn’t home from work yet. He might actually have tried to physically keep her there.
“If anyone comes by you can tell them that they’re wasting their time. I’m not leaving.”
*********
Watson was sitting on the seat of her bicycle. His green eyes followed her lazily as she hurried across the yard and over to the garage. For once Amy was not in the mood for her cat’s theatrics as the grey tabby yawned demonstratively when she moved towards the bike. Shooing him away she grabbed the handle and was down the driveway in a matter of minutes.
Only when she reached the main road leading down to the town center did she allow herself to relax. Getting out of the house had been her way of showing that she wasn’t going to reform to her parents wishes like she usually did this time. She was simply continuing her life as if nothing had happened at all. Besides, that was the truth as well. Amelia couldn’t remember the exact seconds she had been standing in the dark alley way connecting her dance studio with the wider street of their local bank branch, but whatever it was that had enable her to “dodge” the bullets fired at her, there had to be a logical explanation to it. Sometimes bullets simply didn’t hit their targets. Sometimes the least likely option happened. It surprised her that her parents weren’t willing to see this as well, they were usually every bit as rational as she was. It made her worry that this rouse to get her to go off to the Hammel Institute had very little to do with her so called power, and a lot to do with her parents wanting to get her out of the way for a while.
That thought hurt a lot more than she had been willing to show so far. She had always felt completely sure that her parents loved her. She had been told several time of the trouble they had had with conceiving a child. The notion that they might not want her after all, struck her at her very core, but it was the only explanation for what was happening that she could find reasonable.
The memory of her father sitting down with her a few days after the incident and describing her in a way that made her sound like some sort of character pulled out from the “Matrix” movies was still so ridiculous that she couldn’t think about it with a straight face. Aside from that completely surreal situation, however, there had been very little to smile about in her life after the shooting that still had the whole town buzzing with excitement. Sighing she tried to push the dark thoughts away, and turned into the parking lot of her dance studio. Having her head filled with worries would do her no good. She had already made her opinion known; she was staying in Deerfield, regardless of what her parents might want.
*********
By the time the class had finished the brilliantly golden afternoon light from earlier that day had morphed into a grey twilight. Amelia couldn’t help but to feel that the whole world had transformed to match her own miserable mood. The dancing lesson hadn’t gone well. She had been unable to concentrate, and the more she tried to listen to the instructions her tutor gave her, the worse it had gotten. Finally she had been dismissed with the comment that she was thinking too much.
But that was the whole point, wasn’t it? She was supposed to listen to her tutor and she was supposed to think about what she did. That was the reason she taking lessons after all. So why was her skills deteriorating every time she did? It frustrated her so much that it even made her momentarily forget the reason she had been so intent on getting out of the house in the first place.
The second she stepped through the door, however, she got an unexpected reminder. There were two suitcases standing in the hallway. Dropping her bag Amelia stood frozen with her hand on the door handle, looking at them in confusion. Then her parents came into the hallway from the living room, and their expression made all other explanations unnecessary.
“I told you I wasn’t going anywhere!” she snapped indignantly and felt a little ashamed as her mother flinched with obvious hurt at her angry tone. “We called the recruiter and told him you were running a little late. He will be here in a couple of minutes,” her father said, “I’m sure once you get a little more time to think about all of this you will realize that it isn’t all that bad. In fact you might even like the Hammel Institute if you just…”
She didn’t give him the time to finish. Treating her clueless parents to one last angry stare she passed them without another word and rushed up the stairs to her room. The sound of her door slamming shut was enough to make the windows rattle downstairs, but it didn’t elevate her mood at all. If her parents thought the only thing needed to get her out of there was packing her bags, then they were in for a surprise.