Lost in the Rhythm

The Blight Parents Commit a Homophobic Hate Crime

The twenty-fourth was definitely a day that would go down in infamy as far as Amity was concerned.

Not only had it been the first time she'd ever woken up next to an actual girl, and the day of the best drum major audition she was sure she could have pulled off, it was also the first time she'd ever gone out of her way to disobey her parents. And the first time she had to face the consequences of disobeying her parents.

At first, she hadn't been worried. The audition replenished her confidence, and she didn't feel a hint of fear as she got in her car (which was very cold, having been left in the student parking lot overnight) and made the thirty minute drive back to the manor. Whatever those bastards had in store for her she could handle. She was sure of it.

At least, that was, until she pulled up the long gravel driveway and saw Odalia Blight standing with crossed arms on the expansive porch.

Hands shaking, she pulled into her spot on the driveway (since only her parents were allowed to park in the four-car garage, for... some reason). She cursed her temporary cockiness. Seeing her mother in person kicked her straight into fight-or-flight mode, but even though she knew she could have backed out of the driveway and outdriven her parents before they could even get into the garage, she forced herself to pull the key out of the ignition and make her way up to the porch.

Oh well. If she had to go down, she'd go down fighting.

She greeted her mother coldly, and Odalia's frigid cyan eyes narrowed. She gave her daughter a clipped "good morning" in response, and stiffly pushed the doors of the manor open. "After you."

Amity flashed her mother a grin bright as silver. "Thank you. I take it the party last night was a success?"

Odalia didn't say anything to that, shutting the door with a bang as soon as Amity was safely inside and away from the cold. She pushed down the fear rising in her chest. Maybe she could go quietly to her room and avoid any further conflict. She gave an exaggerated yawn, just in case that'd help.

It didn't.

Something pushed down on her shoulders, and she yelped. It was a good thing the Blights only ever bought the most expensive and cushiest couches, or she might have snapped her neck. Now, Odalia towered over her, but her head was still spinning from a combination of exhaustion and dizziness.

"Hi," she said.

Odalia stared down at her with ice-blue eyes. How much easier would it have been if she'd inherited those, Amity thought absentmindedly. With a look like that she could have turned Luz into putty in her hands on day one.

But that was hardly important. Right now she was trying to escape death, or something along those lines.

"Where were you last night?"

The question was simple, but by some anti-miracle, Amity didn't have an answer. "At the concert" probably wasn't the right one, and "making out with a girl" was probably even worse. Her third option was "out drinking with Boscha," but that still broke twenty too many rules.

Well, she was fucked.

"Spit it out," her mother snapped. "I know you're trying to come up with the best lie right now. I hate to shatter your dreams, but no lies are good ones. You might as well just tell me what you were really doing." She paused. "And what's with your collar? You're supposed to flip it down, not up, you know. Did anyone ever teach you how to wear clothes?"

"Well," Amity began. Maybe starting with the things she'd done right would sate her mother. "I did really well at the drum major audition."

"Is that so? Then how come I received truancy notifications for every class of the day yesterday?"