This is just something I wanted to try out. I apologize in advanced if I write certain characters vastly out of character, but it's the only way the story fits. Feel free to yell at me in the reviews. Also, there will be abuse in this story. I'm not sure how explicit some of it will be, so be warned if any of you are triggered easily by it. Now, without further ado, please enjoy!
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Eighteen year old Angelica Schuyler was considered by her school peers as a few things.
Intelligent for one. She had the brains to surpass everyone in terms of grades and the wit to render anyone who opposed her speechless. When there was a debate in any class, everyone wanted to be on her side. Those who weren't always made up some excuse to leave the classroom since nobody wanted a verbal thrashing from her. She was also elected class president four years in a row, no one daring to vote against her. There were even rumors that she had been accepted to multiple colleges early.
Another would be bold. Angelica was always one to say what was on her mind. If one of her classmates being harassed or bullied, it didn't matter how much taller or stronger the bully was than her, she would interfere and talk them down. Usually, they would be too embarrassed too face her and would walk away. If a teacher was being unfair towards a student, she would most definitely say something. Sometimes that would land her in the principal's office, but once the situation was explained calmly and with dignity by her, she would be sent back to class without punishment.
She was definitely popular. Everybody in the school either adored her to wanted to be her. Though she kept her number of close, personal friends to a minimum, she was friendly with the entire school population. As long as no one crossed her or did something she found to be wrong (hurting others, rudeness, etc), they would remain on her good side, a side everyone wanted to be on.
Beautiful was the last and most recognized. Her skin was a radiant rosewood color that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight. Her eyes, too dark to be brown, but not quite black, shone brilliantly and stunned anyone if looked directly into and complimented her rounded red lips nicely. Her long, curly dark brown hair reached past her shoulder blades, framing her face perfectly. Her body was curved to near-perfection; wide enough hips and a sizable chest that caused countless people to drool over her.
Yes, it seemed Angelica Schuyler had it all.
Of course, you should never judge a book by its cover. No matter how new or shiny it seems.
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"This is unacceptable, Angelica Schuyler!"
Angelica winced. "Daddy, please," she implored the man across from her, trying not to show how afraid she was. She hated feeling like this, hated feeling weak. But what choice did she have? "I promise, I'll do better next time! I-!"
She was cut off by a sharp slap to her face. "I don't want to hear it, Angelica," snapped Philip Schuyler. "I expect better from my daughter. I won't have a dropout running my company. Do you understand?"
Now, Angelica had no intention of running Schuyler Industries, but she would never tell her father that. "Y-Yes, Sir," she whimpered quietly, tears pricking her eyes.
Philip practically threw the crumpled test at her, landing it in front of her feet. "I'll be gone for tonight," he told her roughly. "You are not to leave this house, do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir."
He nodded in satisfaction. "Good." He turned to leave, grabbing his coat. He didn't even say goodbye as he walked through the door, leaving his eldest daughter alone in the large house.
Once he was gone, she willed herself to pick up the test that had disappointed her father so. Angelica didn't know what subject it was for, she didn't even remember taking it. All she knew was that she couldn't let this happen again. She winced as she gazed at the grade written in bright red pen on the top left corner. What had she been thinking?
A ninety one percent was not the virtue of a Schuyler.
Sighing, she clutched the test firmly in her hands and ripped it in half. And just like that, the horrible grade was forgotten. She jumped when she felt a buzzing on her hip before realizing it was just the phone in her pocket.
Angelica pulled it out and answered it. "H-Hello?"
"Angie!" exclaimed the voice on the other end.
Despite the situation, she let a smile grace her lips. "Hi, Liza," she greeted softly. "What's up?"
"Just calling to make sure you were still coming over this weekend," replied Elizabeth Schuyler and Angelica could practically hear the smile in her voice. "Mom's planning a big surprise and she won't tell me or Peggy what it is."
She cocked an eyebrow, amusement glinting in her eyes. "Really?"
"Uh-huh!" came the enthusiastic response. "Oh, Angie, I can't wait for you to get here! I miss you so much!"
Angelica's heart clenched painfully as she swallowed the growing lump in her throat. "I-I miss you too, Eliza. I miss you, Peggy, and Mom. A lot." She struggled to keep the sadness out of her voice.
"...Are you okay, Angelica?"
She winced. Though she was the most trusting and kind person she had ever met, her sister was oblivious to others' feelings. She unintentionally drifted into her own little world, something Angelica was thankful for at times like these. Still, if her sister was picking up on her downcast feelings, she must not have been doing a good job of hiding it. So, she cleared her throat to cover it up.
"Of course, Liza, I'm fine," lied Angelica. "It just gets a little lonely around here without you guys. Now, how has your week been?" That did it. Immediately, Eliza began to ramble off into exactly what she had done the past week and she sighed in relief.
"Liza, quit hogging the phone!" a voice was heard in the background. "I wanna talk to her too!"
Eliza chuckled. "Fine, Peggy."
"Angie!" Margarita Schuyler practically shrieked into the phone.
Angelica chuckled. "Hi, Pegs."
"Angie, you'll never believe it!" Peggy proclaimed loudly. Then it was her who was rambling and Angelica loved listening to every minute of it.
It was moments like these that she was glad to be the oldest. Even though things were hard for her, she was happy to shield her sisters from her own harsh reality. Peggy would have never been able to handle it and Eliza's trusting and kind spirit would have been crushed, shattered beyond compare. No, it was best for her to be the one to deal with it. Yet, she couldn't help but think of what had happened to cause the Schuyler family to be divided like this.
Ten year old Peggy was crying as she hugged her knees to her chest as tight as she could. Eleven year old Eliza held her, trying to keep her own tears at bay. Twelve year old Angelica was simply standing near the staircase, her ears trained on her arguing parents. They were both screaming at each other in the living room and she was struggling to keep the brave face on for her sisters.
"How could you do this to me, Catherine!" boomed Philip thunderously, causing even Angelica to wince.
"Well, maybe if you had been home more often, I wouldn't have had to!" screeched Catherine Van Rensselaer-Schuyler back at him. "John was there for me when you weren't, Philip! He was there for us! I wouldn't be surprised if one of the girls accidentally called him 'Dad' instead of you!"
"How fucking dare you!" their father shot back. Angelica bit her lip; she had never heard him swear before. "He was my best friend and you're my wife, the mother of my children!"
There was a soft ping and Angelica assumed her mother had thrown her wedding ring onto the carpet. "Well, maybe I don't want to be your wife! You can go to-" Everyone froze as a loud crack sounded through the house. None of the girls even dared to breathe as a deafening silence filled the air. Catherine as the one to break it as she softly muttered, "You hit me."
Angelica flinched; the tone of her mother's voice terrified her. It was cold, hard. She had never heard the woman sound like that in her entire life and it sounded wrong coming from her mouth.
Philip must have realized what he did. "Kitty, I-"
Catherine cut him off, "You fucking hit me." Her voice was much stronger this time, much angrier. "How fucking dare you, Philip Schuyler!"
"K-Kitty, I didn't mean it, I swear-!"
"WE'RE OVER!" exploded Catherine. "Girls, pack your stuff!" Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy didn't dare to move. They were too terrified of both of their parents at that moment to do anything.
"You can't take my kids from me!"
"You just hit me! There isn't a judge in the world who wouldn't give me full custody after that!"
"And you cheated on me!" Philip shot back. "With evidence like that, you really think you'll get full custody if the judge thinks you'll have random men around my daughters?"
Catherine grunted in frustration. "I'm calling George, then! I don't want them around you right now!"
"Fine!" he relented before muttering under his breath, "You probably screwed him too."
Their mother had stormed out of the house after that and they were picked up by a family friend, George Washington. They had stayed with them for a few months before the custody plan was settled. Catherine was given full custody of Eliza and Peggy while Philip had gotten Angelica. Angelica got to see her mother and sister's on the weekends and Eliza and Peggy got to see their sister and father during holidays.
The only solace the eldest Schuyler sister found was her school work. She strived to be the best in everything she did, if only to keep her father off her back. As long as she was number one, she would be left alone.
"Angie, we have to go," said Eliza suddenly. "Mom's calling us for dinner."
Angelica chuckled. "Okay, I'll let you go. I love you guys." And she really did. They were the most important people in the world to her.
"We love you too!" chorused Peggy and Eliza. "Bye, Angie!"
"Bye, guys." As the line ended, Angelica sighed heavily. College could not come fast enough.
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As stated before, Angelica only had a certain number of close friends. Said friends waved her over to their usual table at lunch the next day. She smiled despite herself. "Hey, Theo, Mari," she greeted. These were the only two people in her life that she trusted completely.
Theo offered her a kind smile. "Hey, Angie." Theodosia Bartow was almost as smart as Angelica and nearly as beautiful. With her slightly lighter skin and thinner frame, she turned her fair share of heads. Her hair was a dark, golden brown and was usually braided down her back. The two of them had the best grades in their year.
Mari grinned at her. "What took so long?" she teased. "Presidential duties?" Maria Lewis was quite the stunner herself. Her skin was lighter than both Angelica's and Theodosia's and her wavy chestnut hair, which covered her right eye, flowed down her back. She was curvier than Angelica and a great deal shorter. She didn't have the grades her friends did, but Maria was smart in her own way.
Angelica smirked back. "Something like that." Actually, that was exactly what had held her up, but she would never admit that out loud.
Maria suddenly nudged the girl next to her. "Your boo is making his way over here," she pointed out.
Theodosia blushed, she too having spotted Aaron Burr. "I'll go see what he wants." She quickly got up and rushed towards her boyfriend all too eagerly.
Angelica scrunched up her nose. "I just don't understand why she's with Burr." The boy, for lack of a better word, disgusted her. He had flirted with all three of them more than once over the years. Just the previous summer, Theodosia was complaining about what a pain he was and suddenly they were together? It didn't make any sense.
Maria shrugged. "Maybe he finally charmed her," she suggested. "'Sides, even you have to admit that Burr's not bad. And he obviously cares about her."
She pursed her lips. "Yeah..." Neither girl uttered another word on the subject and simply ate their food. Who were they to judge their friend's choice in boyfriends?
After lunch, Angelica went about the rest of her day as per usual, blissfully unaware of the awful surprise that awaited her when she got to her house on this particular day.
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I think this is off to an okay start. Freaking FF deleted my original ending, so I had to improvise a little. I apologize if it seems rushed. Also, the thing about Catherine cheating on Philip with someone named "John." That''s meant to be John Bradstreet, a friend of Philip and someone who people thought she was cheating on him with. I thought that'd be a nice little touch. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think!