lightning strikes your heart

lillian angelica was born on march 21, 1989 to two teen parents, far too early for them to be raising a child. she would be adopted by the wests and end up the middle of three children and the only daughter that the couple would have. she spent the first portion of her life in college park, maryland, living very comfortably thanks to her father's job as a profesor and her mother being the product of wealth as well -- though she preferred the life of a socialite and housewife over having a job.

lily, as she preferred to be called, was initially the shyest and quietest of the three and the one more likely to be seen curled up in a corner with a book rather than running around playing with others. from the start, she was an observer of people more than she interacted with them and much preferred the company of her books and toys than other children. her relationship with her brothers, to this day, remains complicated and messy because of heir vastly different personalities and views on life. school was always easy for her, even if her teachers were concerned about her shyness and lack of interacting with other students. she was smart, quick to pick up on things, and ahead of her peers in a lot of ways. though she didn't speak up or talk a lot in class, she was able to read and use words that were a bit above her age level early on. she didn't make many friends, but did find a few playmates that weren't either of her siblings.

being the middle child certainly had an impact on her life, as cliche as it was. she wasn't the first to do things and not the last, so it really wasn't 'impressive' coming from her. she did, however, have her intellect, imagination, and way of telling stories and coming up with ideas. that did impress her parents and they always encouraged the skills she was beginning to show.

when she was in middle school, lily's parents announced they would be moving to boston for a fresh start and new business opportunities. shortly after, they settled into their new, entirely different from the east coast, home. it wasn't an easy adjustment for lily to make -- she found it hard to make new friends after having had the same ones for years and school was, for that reason, a lot more difficult for her.

her teen years weren't easy at all. being shy and introverted was bad enough. being shy, introverted, and 'weird' by kiddie standards made it even worse. while lily wasn't pop culture oblivious, her interests were more focused on things that, at the time, weren't considered 'cool': sci-fi, comics, tabletop rping, supernatural-y things. those all interested her and were back when it was weird to like those things. ily, however, didn't hide the fact she liked these thing. it made being a teen difficult, but she didn't try hiding it. it did, however, mean she didn't have many friends and found herself being teased for it. it didn't help that she had a love of the strange and unusual in general and left her a little isolated from her peers.

graduation eventually came and lily found herself in new york and at columbia university for school. she majored in communications and marketing and the time period was one of quite a bit of growth and change. college was good for her: she grew into her own skin, became more confident, and began to develop a more confident, outgoing, and self-assured personality. she was still on the quiet and introverted side, but she wasn't as shy anymore and was better able to socialize and navigate her way through talking to people and found it much easier to make friends.

after graduating from college, she moved back to boston. she was homesick for it, missed her family and friends there, and felt it was time to go back. she found herself with a rather fantastic job and adjusted to her new adult life very well and has been enjoying it. college allowed her to find her more outgoing, curious, and thrill-seeking personality and run with it, so to speak, and not to take no for an answer. it's most definitely gotten her into trouble, but she doesn't mind in the least.