I was told that my mother was a good woman. To be honest Annamarie Highsmith was really just a stranger. She wasn't my mother she was just someone who came to visit me every year on my birthday. No, my parents were named Hanna and Andrew Branwell. While I didn't have any brothers or sister of blood, I did have my two best friends, Sydeny Udelhofin and Amelia Tatu. So honestly, I was a bit disappointed when she showed up at my home in the Institute on my birthday.
The light knock on my door told me all I needed to know. Hanna and Andrew were loud, fun people who rarely knocked on my door. The only time they ever did if something serious was happening, or something sad. Was it sad that I had told this woman I hated her since I was five and yet here she was still trying to make me see that she "loved" me.
"Anna, hon Ms. Highsmith is here to see you." Andrew said, his fluffy, brown head popping through my door. His face was friendly, and it had always made me smile as a child. That was another thing about my parents, they never called Annamarie my mother, they usually called her by her first name or Ms. Highsmith. Personally, I called her an evil, little witch. She was a vain woman, who looked nothing like me.
She had always said, that with my sandy blonde hair, and emerald green eyes I looked like my father's ancestors.
"They're a proud family, even after everything that they've done and went through. So proud." She would say, during her visits. I had never met my "father" and Marie never talked about him. I didn't even know his name, let alone what he looked like. Of course, given that she had given me up, and the way she avoided names and places, I was the product of an affair.
It only made me despise Marie more, and left me uncertain of my father. Was he good man? Was he the one married? Did he know about me? Did he wonder about me? Did he have nay children? Were they nice? What did they look like me? I didn't know what to think of either of my birth parents, so I avoided thinking of them whenever possible.
There was another knock on my door,
"Anna you've got to get up, Ms. Highsmith doesn't have all day. She's got a plane to catch." This was Hanna who was a bit more energetic than Andrew. I groaned.
"Why do I have to go? I didn't ask her to come here! In fact, I have told her, multiple times that I didn't want her to come here." I whine as I roll out of bed. Hanna smiles at me, a bit sadly.
"She's all alone Anna, she probably treasures these visits with you. It's the only time she can see you, try to be nice to her okay?" she says, as she kisses the top of my head. "No hurry up and get ready." and with that, she leaves me alone in my room. Fuming silently, I got dressed and went down to the art room.
Marie hadn't changed to much over the past year, her hair was still a warm honey color with a few streaks of gray. Her figure was taught, and strong as ever. She looked nothing like me, no one could ever see the two of us side-by-side and think Wow look at that mother-daughter group! They look so much alike! She turned to me then, as if she sensed that I was there.
She takes me in, from my messy ponytail, to my scuffed up green converses; she smiles and its dazzling.
"Anna, you've gotten so old, you look more and more like your name sake each year." She says, as she sits down. My name sake? You mean I wasn't named after her? I shrug unsure how to answer. "So, sixteen huh? Gosh, I remember when I was your age, I used to do the craziest things. I'm sure you're a lot smarter than I was when I was your age. I joined a cult, helped start a civil war. You're too smart to do any of those things aren't you? So much better than your mother." she says reminiscing.
"You were part of the Circle then?" I ask, she so rarely shares anything about her so I didn't know she was around Valentine. She turns to me, smiling sadly
"Yes, I was I was young and foolish and Valentine was so, manipulative. He lured me into the Circle, that was how I met your father and his wife." she says bitterly. So he was married then. The thought makes me a bit sick, knowing that here I am, unwelcomed by both mother and father, because I'm the result of a bad decision.
"I have to get going, but I have something for you," she has something for me? When did she start bringing me presents? She pulls a small, square object out of her bag, and hands it to me.
It's a picture frame, with a picture inside. There's a woman in the picture, it's Marie, she's young and she's smiling but that's not what grabs my attention.
It's the man, the on with the ice-blue eyes and oh my god that's my nose! After further inspection I find that this man also has my wide eyes and sharp chin.
"I thought you would like a picture of your father." says Marie, before she leaves me standing there, dumbfounded by this picture.