PITY PARTY
By Taliya Caddle
CHARACTER LIST:
Liya: A troubled teenager who is indecisive about a lot of things. She can easily become discouraged and is a target of most bullying at school. To prevent that again, she now does whatever she can to look more presentable so people can like her.
PITY PARTY
by Taliya Caddle
Place: New York, Brooklyn
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At Rise: The sunlight seeps through the windows of a curious bedroom with clothes hoarding space and many drawings of outfits piled upon a messy desk.
Liya(17) paces in her bedroom back and forth while holding up two dresses, one in each hand, contemplating which one to wear. Her closet is almost bare, having pulled down everything in an effort to quell her indecisiveness.
What dress should I wear? The pink or blue one? The pink one screams “dainty in spring, the fabric is a nice rose gold that could turn heads, whilst the blue one shouts “ Luminescent night” on a quiet stroll during an afterparty. Then, guess what my cousin does? (pause) She throws a fit, and I get upset. I told her that both dresses are important to me. Everything has to be perfect, and I can’t go to the party looking ridiculous. You know what she said, she didn’t like either dress! She wanted me to wear that ugly yellow dress. The color is too similar to what I wore to prom! The yellow is too bright. Everyone was staring at me as if I were a bumblebee. It definitely wasn’t fun when no one offered me a dance, especially when the nickname Bumbiya stuck. I had no choice but to go to the prom looking like that! My parents forced me. You have no idea what it’s like to feel humiliated in front of hundreds of people. I left that prom with tears. The worst part was that I could never redo it! This party at Stella’s house is supposed to reverse all the humiliation from before. I need to WOW everyone at this party so they know who the real deal is! Liya, (long pause) why do you do this to yourself? The more I look at these dresses in my hands, the more I feel like there’s something wrong with both of them. Then again, I could try mixing the two colors! Yeah, that could work. Red and blue make purple, so I could settle for a purple dress. Liya, you’re a genius! Alright, let’s see here. No,(pause) no,(pause) no, (pause) AHA! Here it is, the dress that’ll compromise. This was my mother’s dress before she died. She taught me everything she knew about fashion, and she damn sure knew how to keep things in good condition. Mom told me that only good things had happened to her when she wore this dress, so it should do the same for me. I need this dress to shine its last sliver of moonlight luck to erase those stupid memories of my past for good! When I bring this dress up to my shoulders, I feel like I can do anything. (long sigh)I truly envy my mother. I followed in her footsteps because she inspired me to become a seamstress; yet, time and time again, I have only proven to come up short. I could never replicate the magic her fabric was able to produce. My drawings were great, but the execution felt lackluster compared to hers. Maybe I wasn’t cut out to be a seamstress after all. (long silence) Why? (pause) Well, can’t you see? There’s nothing I could do to ever rival my mother’s talent. Her colors were simply immaculate. Every hue had space to shine without dulling or overshadowing one another. (long pause)I hate that I suck! I’m even using my mother’s last piece of clothing as comfort for myself instead of relishing in my own creations! How can I prove that I’m better than her if I’m not her? (long silence)The answer is “ I can’t!”. I’m Liya, not mom. Her clothing isn’t mine. This dress does not belong to me. I shouldn’t wear it, it’d be a hindrance to myself. Ya know what! I’ll wear the dress that I abandoned years ago for being too basic. Maybe that is my style. Simplicity at its finest can be more than enough. My mother had said that to me. I didn’t know what she meant for all that time until now. (pause) I’ll travel to the party in my own style. Not loud. Not too vibrant. Just me!
