22
she/her
trigger warnings: hard drugs, alcohol
Adelia's parents are white-collar employees who keep Adelia well provided for, physically speaking. Her parents made it clear to her as a child that they would provide any structure needed to keep her happy and successful. In grade school, this meant gymnastics and dance after school. In middle school, it meant donating a check to her school that funded an entire color guard team with a coach provided. Etcetera.
Adelia begins smoking cigarettes with her best friend, Matilda, when she's 11 years old. At a sleepover one day, closer to them being 13, Matilda proposes that they should get drunk. Adelia agrees that it will elevate the slumber party experience, and manages to snag a cup full of vodka from the kitchen. They end up getting too drunk to finish it, but they enjoy the experience and begin to drink somewhat regularly after that. Around this time, Matilda begins to steal weed from her mother as well, and they both regularly smoke more than they drink.
When they're 13, Matilda comes to Adelia's house way later than usual, not on a day where they really planned to hang out, and she's pissed. Adelia learns that day that Matilda thinks she's a girl, and that her mom is really mad at her for it. Adelia can't wrap her head around what the issue would be- at this point, she's talked to plenty of people online who are girls that used to be boys. From that point on, the guest room in Adelia's house is always open for Matilda, with no questions asked.
With Matilda and Adelia hanging out even MORE, their drinking picks up, and around the time they're 14-15, they start to seek a harder high than alcohol. Matilda suggests that she could probably start taking her mom's pills, too, without her mom noticing. They get addicted to opioids together, and start dating very shortly thereafter. Adelia maintains her interest in keeping her grades high, especially to keep her parent's from looking into her lifestyle, so she opts to only take opioids after school. With a newly-formed addiction still raging, though, she begins to seek out an upper to keep the edge off at school, and starts buying Adderall from a local college dealer. She finds her life at this point rather romantic, thoroughly enjoying being a feminine, docile-appearing and well-maintained counterpart to a rough, masculine, violent partner.
In the beginning of their junior year, Matilda is sent to alternative school. It's around this time that Matilda escalates her stealing to taking large chunks of the her child support money that her mother misuses. and towards the end of it, is arrested for assault and possession. Before being pleading guilty, Matilda tells Adelia that it's best for them to go on break, because she doesn't want Adelia to be 'tied down to someone she can't see.' Adelia spends the year completely celibate, appreciating Matilda's sentiment but fully considering them still together and wanting to keep her loyalty. When Matilda is released, Adelia hooks up with her and resupplies her with drugs immediately.
Three or so years later, Matilda begins to build a friend group outside of Adelia. Adelia is not invited to the hangouts most of the time- it's a bunch of transwomen, apparently, and Adelia just 'wouldn't get the stuff they talk about.' This drives her up the wall with jealousy, and it becomes unbearable when their influence on Matilda permeates the core of their relationship. Matilda isn't complying with their masculine-feminine dynamic that has existed since high school, and Adelia is convinced this is a sign that she's lost importance to Matilda. In an attempt to feel in control of the relationship again, Adelia seeks out friends outside of her relationship.
This friend group points out to Adelia that she hasn't dated anyone other than Matilda since before she was an adult, and that if issues like this are coming up, perhaps she should make room in her life to see other people and experience new things. Adelia spirals about this for weeks, deciding eventually that they're right and breaking up with Matilda.
More details TBD...