Loving Annabelle Moore

"No one could ever love Annabelle Moore"

At least that what her sister, Lanelle, reminds her of daily.

Annie has long since stopped trying to prove her sister wrong.

Annie insults people; tears them down, manipulates them, uses them and then basks in the benefits of her cruelty towards others because it makes her feel powerful.

Annie likes power, but it's always ripped away from her.

She doesn't have any power when her sister hits her and screams at her on the nights that she gets bored.

She doesn't have any power when her mother forgets that she has more than one daughter.

She doesn't have any power when her father looks at her with such unrestrained disgust, it's almost as if he already knew that she was gay.

And it's not like Annie has any power over that either.

Or the fact that she's in love with Catherine Smith whose only impression of Annabelle is that of an unlovable tyrant.

No one could ever love Annabelle Moore, but that doesn't stop Annie from loving in her own little, frankly twisted, ways.

She shuts her mouth and bites her tongue when her sister beats her because she loves Lanelle.

She forgives her mother for forgetting about her existence because she loves her mom.

She makes sure to never be in the same room as her father for his sake because she loves her dad.

And she says the most meanest, vicious things to Catherine in order to hide her affections, because if Lanelle found out that anyone made even a minuscule attempt to show Annabelle any love, she'd crush them like she crushes Annie every single day.

But maybe somewhere...someday... someone will learn to love Annabelle Moore, and hopefully, it'll be herself.