Polaroid (Troyler)

Chapter One (Troye)

CHAPTER ONE

August 15, 2015

First of all, I want to make it very crystal fucking clear that this was not my choice. None of this was my choice. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't so very grateful that it happened.

It started when I was about 35,000 feet in the air. It was a long plane ride from Perth, Australia, to Detroit, Michigan, not to mention the two pit stops we had to make to change planes. Not that I was exactly coherent for that part; in fact I was rather delirious from lack of sleep. I'd been dreading this day for the past three months- the day my family of six would pack up our bags and move to America, land of the "free", home of the "democrats". Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. Pair all of this with a sleeping sister Sage on my shoulder while I tried to plow through the assigned summer reading for my new school, and you got one very cranky Troye Sivan Mellet.

By the time we had filed off of the plane in a neat line and picked up all of our bags at the baggage claim, I was done. I was so ready to sleep for ten years and wake up with a college degree and a house and financial stability, but life doesn't usually work out the way you want it to. Sagey was still holding my hand, despite being fifteen years old. Not that I minded, seeing as Sage was easily my best friend and my closest confidant. I told her all of my problems first- in fact, she was the first person I came out to. We cried for hours and she said all of the right things, and I remember thinking that I was being hella silly for even worrying about her not accepting me. Tyde looked dead on his feet, dragging his shoes with an annoying squeak across the dirty linoleum. Steele looked like he usually did- emotionless. My mother and father were all smiles and sunshine, however, and that could not have possibly gotten on my nerves any more than it did. Who the hell else would be that excited after 26 hours on planes?

My mother clapped her hands together, causing everyone to snap out of their exhausted trances.

"Ok children," she began, her voice peppy as fuck.

"And dad," my father interjected, his face split into a wide smile. Sage groaned, pulling on my hand as if that would get us to leave faster. I laced my fingers tighter through hers and she rested her head on my shoulder, her eyes closed. My mother continued to speak.

"I just wanted to make sure everything is clear before we get out of here. First, we are going to take an uber to pick up our car-"

"Because we're too classy for taxis," Tyde muttered.

"True," said my mother with a smirk, before finishing her statement.

"With our car, we will drive home first, to drop off all of our bags and unpack any boxes that have already arrived. We will then make our way to the nearest shopping center because humans need food to survive!"

"Imagine that," I grumbled, Sage chuckling with her face squished against my clavicle.

"Let me finish, Troye Sivan! We can pick up some takeout for dinner if you'd like, maybe Troye? Instead of coming shopping would you rather go hunting for a nice Chinese takeout with Sage?" Sage and I made brief eye contact before answering with synchronized "yes"'s, because Lord knows there was no way we were gonna spend three hours in Stop and Shop with my mother and father if we could prevent it. "Steele, you can stay home and continue unpacking," my mother finished, Steele nodding in response, looking relieved.

I should preface this next part with the fact that I had major claustrophobia and travel anxiety, I guess.

Sage now lead the way through the crowd, our fingers still laced tightly together. The closer to the exit we got, the more lines we were shoved into. The more lines we were shoved into, the more people crowded on top of me. As more people pushed closer, I could hear my breathing quickening. The quicker my breath came, the lighter my head felt, the more my hands shook, the more my mind fogged up, and the harder it became to walk straight. It felt like there was a tight fist around my heart and a lock on my throat. I could see Sage stop and pull us out of the line before I could feel it, and I watched her mouth moving as she spoke to me before I could hear it.