#ch study

[sickbubblgum]

[sickbubblgum]

[abernathytm]

[blythetm]

{  WE ARE ONLY AS  INDESTRUCTIBLE AS WE BELIEVE OURSELVES TO BE  }

         the first day of gallagher academy’s second semester had not yet arrived,  which meant charly was in the clear  for a little while.  the truth was,  that when you did what she did for as long as she had been doing it,  you lose touch with reality.  the world no longer looked as safe as it did when charly was a child.  there was no comfort to be taken in the safe haven of gallagher’s walls for her anymore.  those years were behind her.  threat elimination was no longer a class she could fail and take again  (  not that it was an option for her back when she  WAS  in school there  ).   NOW,  any mistakes that charly made could leave her jobless,  or worse---  dead.  granted,  charly was  GREAT  at what she did.  BUT  was she able to put that greatness into words?  was she able to get a group of strangers,  younger than herself and with competitive mindsets,  to do well?  to do better?  to listen?  to take her seriously? 

       this scared charly the most  ---  not being taken seriously.

        despite working hard,  earning her title and earning admiration in her field,  charly was still a girl that had opportunity handed to her.  having  her mother  for a mother meant that charly’s road was paved for her before she could decide it for herself.  she doesn’t know it yet,  but she’s the lucky one.  not everyone that has a path set up without their consent  enjoys it.  her half-sister,  for example,  tried to fit the same mold,  but it wasn’t the right fit.  there was something about pretending to be someone you’re not that could take a toll on your health and relationships.  was teaching going to be what took a toll on charly?  she was there,  textbook in hand as if she were a teenager all over again,  simply because  her mother  wanted her to be.  there was a large part of charly that didn’t want this.

        would her work follow her back to gallagher?  the academy had done an incredible job disguising itself.  getting in the way of one bad person’s plans wouldn’t change that.  but what about when it’s been twenty people?  thirty?  fifty?  one hundred?  it wouldn’t be the first time charly unknowingly brought her work home with her.  this job was not a nine to five.  the cape didn’t come off when she got home.  she had to be on alert  ALWAYS.  she had to worry about the ones she loved  ALWAYS.

        at the end of the day,  charly hoped that she would not be acquitted on all counts of her work,  for the same reason that hindered it:  her looks.  charly knew well that when you’re blonde,  charming and not too hard to look at,  the world would be handed to you on a silver platter.  she was grateful for,  and occasionally blind to,  such privileges.  it was the reason for her awards,  for her being asked to speak at certain industry events  ---  it made a dangerous industry look good,  glamorous even.  she’d started turning down such things a few years back,  which meant any time she did agree,  it was a big deal.  similarly,  charly had turned down gallagher’s request for her to teach during the alumni event,  but the academy was persistent.  whether they wanted her for good press,  because her mother told them to continue badgering charly until she agreed,  or if it was genuinely due to her excelling in academia,  charly didn’t know.  but alas,  there she was.  back at the academy.

       the same thing that offered charly these luxuries and riches  hindered her.  charly had to work ten times as hard to be taken half as seriously as her colleagues.  she had been accused of getting jobs for many different reasons,  all accusatory and degrading,  only to have them change their minds when introduced to her skill and capability.

        it’s like  RULE NUMBER ONE  states,  “  never underestimate a threat  ”  ---  even if that threat is wearing red lipstick and heels.