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Avelyn sniffed her nose, wiped her red, swollen eyes, and threw the tissue on the floor. Claudia was attached to her arm, and the girl’s short, frizzy hair was tickling Avelyn’s neck. Avelyn looked at Delyse, afraid of what her friend would say. However, Delyse was not the one to speak first.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Amelia.
All three girls turned to look at her, and Claudia rolled her eyes like she had heard that part before.
“You’re complaining because someone is finally taking you away from this hellhole of a school. It’s stupid.”
“Seriously, no one has asked for your opinion,” said Claudia.
“I don’t need to be asked for my opinion to say what I believe is the truth. Miss Delacroix was right. No, not with that part when she tried to make you feel bad because you’re curvier than the rest of us. That was cruel and retarded. But when she told you that Alma Venus has actually given you a chance for a better life. As I see it, this Blackmane guy has the money and power to keep you like a friggin’ princess for the rest of your life. You’ve got issues if you can’t see it.”
“Oh, shut up, Amelia. You’ve no idea what you’re talking about.” Delyse rose from Avelyn’s bed and sat down on the other one. Her voice sounded weak and filled with resignation.
“Well, then, enlighten me.” When Delyse made a gesture of dismissal with her hand and said nothing, Amelia continued. “No, no, let’s not drop it like this. Let me tell you some things once and for all.” She pulled her brown hair away from her face, and made herself comfortable at Avelyn’s feet. “You’re blind if you can’t see what Alma Venus, as bad and fucking wrong as it is, has done for all of you. Ok, maybe not exactly for you, Delyse. In fact, I think you’re the only one who has any right to complain about the whole situation.”
Delyse sighed, but didn’t interrupt Amelia. She didn’t have the energy.
“Claudia, your mother abandoned you at the gate of Alma Venus right after you were born. What do you think would have happened to you if Delacroix hadn’t taken you in? It was a gamble for her, wasn’t it? Your mom didn’t even stick around to see if she could get some money for sacrificing you to the peace treaty with such generosity.”
Claudia detached herself from Avelyn’s arm and straightened her back. She looked right into Amelia’s cold, green eyes, but didn’t contradict her. Her roommate had a point, at least in what she was concerned.
“And, Avelyn, I don’t have to repeat what Delacroix has already made all too clear. I’m sure that if you make an effort to see past your arrogance and self-importance, you’ll see that she wasn’t that wrong.”
“What’s your point?” asked Avelyn, a bit annoyed.
“Have I ever told you how I ended up here?” Amelia continued. “Don’t answer that. It’s a rhetorical question. I haven’t, because you all have always been too self-absorbed and too pleased with your positions as victims to accept that there may be another side of the coin. My parents were murdered when I was 3. I don’t know why, no one ever bothered to give me an explanation. I do know that it wasn’t for money, because the guys just came into our home, shot them in their bed, and didn’t steal anything. I was lying under the cover, waiting for them to finish me as well. One of them entered my bedroom, moved his flashlight around and saw me shivering in bed, but didn’t do anything. He closed the door, and they all left. I spent four years in one of the shittiest orphanages in London. They barely fed us. Each day, we’d have a disgusting pea soup and some old bread, because I’m sure those who worked there and were supposed to take care of us preferred to take all the good, fresh food home to their own children. We had to make do with two changes of clothes, and the classes we had to attend were a joke. Everything was just a sad, fucking joke until I turned 7 and something good finally happened: Monique Delacroix came to the orphanage with two Guardians and checked all the girls there. She picked me. Out of the twenty-something girls under the age of 10, I was the only one she wanted to buy. So, there you go. That’s my story. I was a messed up orphan, unfed and dirty, and Delacroix took me out of that hell and brought me to Alma Venus. The Guardians gave me clothes and a warm bed I didn’t have to share with two other dirty orphans, and I could eat as much as I wanted. Alma Venus gave me a second chance. It gave most of the pitiful girls here a second chance, and it blows my mind how few of them can see it.”
There was silence in the room. None of the three girls could look into Amelia’s eyes anymore. For the first time, they wondered if the reason for which they hadn’t known the story was that they never cared enough to listen to what Amelia had to say. It was true that she had always kept her distance and had been unpleasant whenever one of them mentioned how much they hated Alma Venus, but they had never considered that Amelia had her own reasons to like the school and support the idea of shifter brides.
“Whatever,” said Amelia when she saw that no one was going to say anything.
“Amelia,” started Avelyn. She hesitated for a second, unsure of how to continue. “I’m… sorry.”
“I said whatever.”
“No, I…,” she finally raised her chin and looked into her roommate’s eyes. “I get you. I get your position, but I can’t entirely agree with it. It’s true that some of us are orphans, and some of us were abandoned, but I wish you could see that doesn’t change the fact that Alma Venus, just like hundreds of other boarding schools around the world, is forcing young girls into marriages they don’t desire. It’s wrong, humiliating, and dehumanizing. I wish you could see what the real problem is.”
“And what is the real problem?” There was a hint of sarcasm in Amelia’s voice.
“Society is the real problem,” answered Delyse before Avelyn could continue. “At first, it was just the government, the ones who signed the treaty and agreed to the terms. But then, people started to accept the situation and even embrace it. Now, society expects us to do our part and keep the peace. We’ve all heard rumors about how the girls who are thrown out of the boarding schools are treated. They can’t get jobs, they have to beg or steal to feed themselves. And all that because society thinks that if no shifter chose you to be his wife, then you’re worthless. They don’t want you on their streets, they don’t want to rent you even the filthiest room so you’d have a place to sleep. They’d rather you rot in a shifter brothel.”
Amelia threaded her fingers through her thin, medium-length brown hair and pulled at some knots. She had the habit to play with her hair, twist it, or pull it when she was nervous or upset.
“Yes,” she whispered. “But we can’t change that, can we?”
“No, we can’t,” said Avelyn.
“We have to make the best of what we have,” added Amelia.
“That doesn’t mean we have to like it,” finished Avelyn.
“No, I guess it doesn’t.” Amelia turned her head to look out the window. The moon was peeking from between the tree branches.
“So, now what?” asked Claudia. “What are you going to do?”
Avelyn closed her eyes and thought for a minute. She felt better after telling everything to her friends, but she realized that she had been so caught up in her grief that she hadn’t thought of a solution. Crying and complaining about her situation didn’t help. It eased her soul, but it wouldn’t save her from what was to happen the next day. For a second, she considered giving in and accepting her destiny, but then a part of her rose against that thought. That part of her that could still picture the name Joanna Throne on a fake ID and could feel the smell of freshly baked cookies coming from a small Italian bakery.
“I run away.” And there it was: the decision she feared most was taken by that part of her being.
