Catch Me

Chloe: Home

I walked home from school, feeling exhausted. The level of stress in the gym had taken a toll on me. Vocal auditions were the worst. I had to quickly warm up and when I grabbed the microphone I noticed my hands were shaking. To me, it was a complete disaster, but Selena Gomez's jaw dropped so I suppose I can die in peace now. The comments were positive too, saying my voice was honey, that I was attractive in a girl-next-door way, that kind of stuff. I wasn't the only one who got that kind of reaction though. Ariel's singing had everyone's jaw dropping (including mine even though I already heard her in Choir) and she got nice comments too.

I only paid attention to my close friends throughout auditions, but even so, Winter and Kyla really stood out to me. Kyla hit 4 high notes in a row, and Winter's tone was just...wow. Her soulful voice just took my breath away (even though I had heard her singing like a billion times). Out of the people in our friend group who had tried out, only 4 remained out of the original 6. Sam and Carlie had been eliminated.

I slowed my pace when I got closer to the house and cringed when I saw my stepdad's white Tesla parked in the front. Sighing, I walked up the driveway, past the well-trimmed green law, and opened the door to my 5-bedroom, 4-baths house. Yes, what a surprise. I'm, "rich." You know the saying that everything comes at a price? Well, it seems I'm in eternal debt.

The first thing I grabbed when I walked in was my uniform, as my stepdad calls it, and what I call my maid costume. Slipping it on, I went to the kitchen. 5:30, it's his tea time. Grabbing a tea-tray with premade lemon tea on it, I rushed up the stairs and knocked the door.

"You're late," my stepdad immediately scolded.

I bowed my head, "Sorry, stepfather."

"Hm," he replied, "You had produce group auditions today. Correct?"

"Yes sir," I answered.

He asked, "Do you think you did well?"

For a moment, I pondered. Did I?

Finally, I answered, "You'll see."

"Hm. Oh well, I didn't watch it. Work was busy so I didn't have the time. Anyways, my closet is getting dusty so clean that. And the bathroom too, I believe I saw a speck of dirt in it yesterday. And clean the car, it won't keep white on its own," my stepfather ordered.

"But I cleaned the car yesterday," I mumbled.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing stepfather," I quickly replied.

"I'm getting too old to take care of the house, you know that right Chloe? If I keep doing all of the work, I'll become exhausted and my bones and muscles will tire. I'll get arthritis, my back will hunch, and I'll die a very painful death. So doing a little housework and following the rules isn't too much to ask, right Chloe?" he asked.

"Right," I muttered. I don't want him to die a painful death and he's right, doing this isn't much compared to him working all day. Just do it Chloe.

I did the chores as asked and I was done around 7:45, which was dinner time so I had to cook dinner too. After quickly having an awkward meal with my stepdad, I went upstairs to do my homework.

My stepdad has always been like this. He was rich before he married my mom and he still is rich. He said he married my mom because he loves her, but sometimes I feel like he just married her because he wanted a trophy wife to show off to his friends. Ever since they married when I was 11, he's been ordering me around and making me cook and clean. My mom was always out. It got worse when I turned 13 and he forced me to wear a maid outfit because "he didn't want me to clean with nice clothes." But this is my normal. I just don't want him to become angry. Then it becomes messy.