Phase One: Decomposition - ON HOLD

one

  AMY 

"Amelia," my mother calls from downstairs. 

I throw my blanket over my head and bury my face into the first pillow within my reach. 

"Five minutes," I groan, my voice muffled by the cushion. 

Turning to the side, I look over to my bedside table at my clock. 7:24 AM. Who wants to wake up this early on a Saturday? Then again, I am already awake, so there's no turning back now. 

"Amelia, get down this second!"

Too tired to argue anymore, I jump out of my bed, slam the door shut, and trudge down the stairs. As I reach the bottom, I find my mother standing at the foot of the staircase. 

As soon as she sees me, her eyebrows knit themselves together. With her arms crossed over her chest,she stares at me with her striking eyes, squinting. 

"What took you so long?! You have to get ready," she roars. "Eat and get ready in fifteen minutes. Now." She points a threatening finger at the dinner table before leaving me to awkwardly stand alone in silence. 

Only after twelve years did I realize that I should never reply to my mother when she's pissed, which she always is. Yes, I was pretty young when I realized this and I learned that 1.she will scold you for disobeying and/or complaining to her, and 2. she will pay no attention to what you have to say, simply because anything not beneficial to her is tuned out and ignored. 

(Iam useless, tuned out and ignored.)

I march back up to my room and walk over to my closet. My wardrobe consists only of sweaters,jeans, socks, and underwear. I am not very fashionable, but my style suffices.

Before changing out of my pajamas, I look outside my over sized window. I have a perfect view of the Olsens' house from here, and it is actually quite picturesque. Carefully stepping onto my bed, I reach out and close the curtains behind my headboard.

TYLER

My family and I moved into the house across the Nelsons just yesterday. From what I understand, Amy, the only child of Mrs. Nelson, is coming over for breakfast this morning. The first time I heard about Amy, I thought to myself, she is definitely someone that I want to meet.

According to my younger brother, Danny, who happens to be in the same homeroom class as Amy, she is very pretty and intelligent. Danny also said that she's quite shy, and I'm most certain that will change after she meets me. Although I know close to nothing about her yet, there is something different about Amy that attracts me to her. I have no idea what it is, but I'm just so desperate to find out.

Speaking of Amy, I've been watching her until now, when suddenly she closes her curtains.

AMY

I eat a bowl of dry cereal at the dining table after I put on decent clothes in my room. My head is bent low as I try to finish this as fast as I can, actually chewing more than I can swallow.

Mom is watching me, and I bet that if I choked on my breakfast, she would just leave me to die.

After cleaning the dishes, I put on my red Chuck Taylors and tie the shoelaces. As I am doing so, I hear footsteps approaching me. Avoid eye contact. Avoid eye contact. She stops in front of me, her slumped shadow hovering over mine.

"Stand up straight, even if it hurts. They are going to blame me for not correcting your bad posture," she says with a commanding tone. "Keep your hair away from your eyes. They will dislike you for being messy."

I understand that she wants me to give them a good first impression and for me to lookproper, but the fact that she is such a hypocrite is just unacceptable for me. I tilt my head up slightly to catch a glimpse of her, but just enough that she doesn't see me looking at her.