Flashback-Introducing Betty
I never really understood why my mother went through the trouble of giving birth to me. If she was so hell bent on bringing me into this world, the least she could have done was give me to a nice family who actually wanted to have a kid around. Instead she kept me and acted like I wasn't even there.
My earliest memory is at the age of four when I managed to stub my toe on an errant toy. I foolishly ran to my mother for comfort, raising my chubby arms up with tears pouring from my eyes. She looked at me coldly instructing me to suck it up and quit interfering with her stories on TV. Go eat a damned candy bar and leave her alone.
I never asked for another ounce of compassion from her again.
My imagination became my guardian and food my means of comfort.
I could get lost for days in the elaborate fantasies worlds I would create. There I was a beautiful princess whom everyone loved. I would have all the friends and attention that I ever needed.
One day I would be a warrior, saving the world from certain disaster. Praise being heaped upon me for my bravery. I would be on the cover of magazines proclaiming me a Hero to the world. The next I would be the Prima Ballerina with millions of adoring fans dropping roses at my feet.
I could be Darth Vader, Captain Kirk even My Little Pony if I wanted. Anyone or anything that I wanted to be and everyone would love me.
While my fantasies gave me the attention I craved, food brought me the comfort I desired. The warmth that filled my body with each bite replaced the need for my mother's touch. If I was hurt or angry I would just eat some more. My diet was already lacking because Mom's version of a home cooked meal was a bucket of KFC and side dishes so when I was left daily to fend for myself my choice in meals didn't fare much better.
By the time I reached High School and became a teenager, I was already in a dangerous emotional downward spiral. I was morbidly over-weight, friendless and angry. My once enjoyable childhood fantasies now morphed into a grotesque slide show of my tormentors demise. The creative and cruel ways of torture I found myself imagining would cause even the most twisted horror novelist to pause.
A human brain can only deal with so much rejection and anguish. To no longer be able to push aside the hurt and lies. I was so weary of trying to fit in, to find acceptance in someone else's eyes.
My Senior Year and the eclipse changed everything.
I was tired of being surrounded by so many worthless people who thought they were so much better than me. What made them better? Who decided that only the pretty should have friends? I had grown up surrounded by the same type of people for 12 years. The faces may change but their MOs always remain the same. I knew the ugliness that they held inside, who they truly were behind their beautiful masks. Their popularity was all a lie.
The facade of the High School bullshit hierarchy was begging to be torn down. The world needed to be shown just how fake it all was. What the so called chosen few really looked like when stripped of their illusions.
The manifestation of my power was a total blur. One moment I'm sitting in the bathroom hiding listening to those snot nosed bitches talk bad about me and the next one of them is running out crying because she's suddenly not Little Miss Perfect anymore.
I did that. I showed her what an ugly soul looks like when brought to the outside.
It was only the beginning.
A wise man once said With great power comes great responsibility and he couldn't have been more right. I tried to conform, thinking that I wanted to be one of them. What a joke that was. It only showed in stark clarity how hollow popularity really was.
I lost Ren, my only friend. It was my fault. My desperation to be one of them brought forth his death and no one else could be bothered to care less. It was a drop in the bucket, not even a mark on their calendars. It was time for them all to see just how fragile life can be. I was responsible and had failed Ren. It would never happen again.
I wish I could say that I felt a pang of guilt while I listened to the screams and cries in the gymnasium that day but that would be a lie. I felt alive and superior as each person fell over in fear. When they witnessed the full force of my power unleashed as I showed them exactly how I saw them. They were worthless and ugly. Rotting flesh and melting bones, not even fully human anymore.
Maybe this make believe armageddon would show them the error of their ways or at the least just simply destroy their minds when faced with the awful truth of their shallow existence.
Either way I couldn't be bothered. I was meant for bigger and better things. I walked away from my false life, the one I was never meant to lead. No one would miss me anyway.
I was now in control. I was one of the chosen ones. I now had this responsibility to put my great power to use as I saw fit.
Betty, the girl that no one really truly ever saw was the grand illusion, she never reflected who I was inside.
From the ashes emerged the phoenix, Candice. Strong, confident and powerful. No one would ever be able to ignore me now.