Part 7/12:
Growing up, Amanda was forced to adopt adult roles—cooking dinners, managing household chores—by the age of eleven. Her narrative reveals how her environment deprived her of typical social experiences, such as sleepovers or prom nights, due to fear of others seeing the chaos. Her home was so cluttered and unsanitary that inviting friends over was unthinkable, leading to feelings of shame and isolation.
She vividly recalls the danger and ugliness of her home environment, like soda bottles exploding on stairs or food rotting in the house. Despite her longing for normalcy, she prioritized hiding the mess to protect her social life, often going to extraordinary lengths to keep her home’s interior concealed.