Amelia isn't a a child aching for confrontation; in fact, she's quite the opposite. She prefers sticking to shadows, hashing it out with words rather than fists. By the time she's ten, she can talk herself out of damn near anything – anything but the tenth birthday party she was desperately trying to avoid. There's not a single birthday party in the vault, aside from Amata's, that she's actually been invited to, but there are so few children that she just knows her father will invite them all, and that include that rotten Wally Mack and his friend Butch DeLoria. Butch, she supposes, isn't too bad – he's a rotten jerk and she wants to hate him, but not only is it hard to hate someone when you know they don't know one of their parents, but he also doesn't make things personal like Wally Mack does. There are no insults from him about how her father is useless or she's a huge loser because her dad is or anything of sort, not from Butch. With Butch, it's all “you're dumb,” “you're fat,” “you're ugly.” That, she can handle; she knows she's actually pretty smart, and she knows that it will be another couple of years before she loses her baby fat, and well, she's always sort of thought that ugly was a matter of opinion. It doesn't bother her if Butch and his band of misfit toys (she's heard her father call them that about six times before this day) think she's ugly. She has no interest in them – well, not all of them, anyways. By now, she's had a crush on Freddie Gomez for going on two years, and it's not even something she understands; sure, she isn't exactly under the impression that boys have cooties, but weren't girls not supposed to notice boys until later on?
“But, Dad!” The party is supposed to be a surprise, she knows that, but Amata has never been very good at keeping secrets. “I don't wanna go! I don't like surprises, and I don't like parties! Can't I just... Stay home and read?” she asks hopefully, doing her best to look innocent and kind and so unbelievably hopeful, because she knows that works.
It doesn't this time.
“Sweetheart, you aren't supposed to know about the party,” her father reminds her gently. “It would be a tad bit suspicious if you just decided that you wanted to stay home the day of.”
“But I didn't just decide!” Amy protests earnestly, looking slightly put off by the fact her father would even suggest such a thing. “I hate surprises and I hate Wally Mack and you know he'll be there and he'll go just to be a jerk, and because he's being a jerk, Butch and Paul will think they can be jerks too!” Paul's always been her favourite of those three – even when he's a jerk, he seemed too apologetic for her to take anything to heart, exactly the opposite of Wally.
Her father gives her a stern look. “If I don't see you in that room when the time comes, I'll be very disappointed in you, Amelia Marie.”
It's roughly four hours later that she finds herself stood in front of the door, glaring hard at it like time will fast-forward if she keeps it up. She clenched her little fists at her sides, takes a deep breath, then opens the door and steps in. It's insanely bright in the room in comparison to the dark corridor, and she jumps and screams when people yell surprise.
She's honest when she tells Amata she knew, but her friend doesn't believe her. She guesses her present incorrectly (or rather, hopefully), and Amata threatens to give away the issue of Grognak the Barbarian if she really wants a date with Freddie 'the Freak' Gomez instead (and, well, Freddie wouldn't belittle her like this, she thinks, so she' comes dangerously close to saying 'okay, give it away'). Later, she starts a fight with Butch, after he tries to steal the sweetroll that Mrs. Palmer gave her, by asking if he was hungry because his mom drank up all the ration coupons again (and, okay, she knows that was out of line, but Butch was being a jerk and it was her birthday and who did he think he was, anyways?).
Dreams -- FLW, prequel to "Nightmares", 1a/1
“But, Dad!” The party is supposed to be a surprise, she knows that, but Amata has never been very good at keeping secrets. “I don't wanna go! I don't like surprises, and I don't like parties! Can't I just... Stay home and read?” she asks hopefully, doing her best to look innocent and kind and so unbelievably hopeful, because she knows that works.
It doesn't this time.
“Sweetheart, you aren't supposed to know about the party,” her father reminds her gently. “It would be a tad bit suspicious if you just decided that you wanted to stay home the day of.”
“But I didn't just decide!” Amy protests earnestly, looking slightly put off by the fact her father would even suggest such a thing. “I hate surprises and I hate Wally Mack and you know he'll be there and he'll go just to be a jerk, and because he's being a jerk, Butch and Paul will think they can be jerks too!” Paul's always been her favourite of those three – even when he's a jerk, he seemed too apologetic for her to take anything to heart, exactly the opposite of Wally.
Her father gives her a stern look. “If I don't see you in that room when the time comes, I'll be very disappointed in you, Amelia Marie.”
It's roughly four hours later that she finds herself stood in front of the door, glaring hard at it like time will fast-forward if she keeps it up. She clenched her little fists at her sides, takes a deep breath, then opens the door and steps in. It's insanely bright in the room in comparison to the dark corridor, and she jumps and screams when people yell surprise.
She's honest when she tells Amata she knew, but her friend doesn't believe her. She guesses her present incorrectly (or rather, hopefully), and Amata threatens to give away the issue of Grognak the Barbarian if she really wants a date with Freddie 'the Freak' Gomez instead (and, well, Freddie wouldn't belittle her like this, she thinks, so she' comes dangerously close to saying 'okay, give it away'). Later, she starts a fight with Butch, after he tries to steal the sweetroll that Mrs. Palmer gave her, by asking if he was hungry because his mom drank up all the ration coupons again (and, okay, she knows that was out of line, but Butch was being a jerk and it was her birthday and who did he think he was, anyways?).