The dance project: YouTube boyband

Chapter 5

Joe: hey, I had a good night tonight :)

Chloe: hiya, so did I thank you for the lift :)

I was lay on my bed after the lovely night when I heard my phone go and realised it was Joe.

Things had gone well after I spoke to Niamh, she began talking to Marcus finally. They got on really well and the rest of us got to know more about each other.

Joe: when's our next rehearsal?

Chloe: two days away

Joe: so close? I ache tonight :(

Chloe: that's because I'm so heavy

Joe: not at all! I just tried to do the lift with Caspar ;)

Chloe: ouch! You'll have to get back in the gym under Caspar's name!

I put down my phone and switched on my laptop. As soon as it logged on I flicked into Thatcherjoe on YouTube. I wanted to watch a few of his videos to figure out why he had so many subscribers.

I heard my phone go again and decided to check it as I knew it was Joe.

Joe: do you know what day it is?

Chloe: Sunday?

Joe: suggsunday ;)

Chloe: I was just watching your videos!

Joe: really? That's cute x

My heart fluttered when I saw a kiss. He actually put a kiss. To him it probably meant nothing but to me, a kiss is worth a thousand words.

Smiley faces are one thing but kisses can take any relationship to the next level. Even hearts don't mean as much as kisses.

Chloe: what can I say x

That was it from then. The kisses continued throughout our conversation. We talked about nearly everything for a couple of hours until I decided I needed to sleep.

Chloe: I'm going to sleep now, see you in two days x

Joe: before you go... do you want to go somewhere tomorrow, maybe go shopping in town? I can pick you up around 12 if you want? X

Chloe: sounds good, but can we make it 1 because I finish teaching my dance class at 12 x

Joe: perfect, see you tomorrow x

I think I got a little too excited that he had asked me to go out with him. It wasn't a date but the fact we had only met today and already he wanted to go out places with me made me quite happy.

Chloe: night x

Joe: night babe x

At this my heart melted. He called me babe. I burst with excitement and couldn't deal with it. I mean I wasn't desperate but Joe had nice hair, and eyes, and smile. He was what I would usually look for.

But it was too soon to call it after all. We had only known each other a day. It would be weird if it all happened so quickly. It wouldn't be right.

After about five minutes my phone buzzed again and I realised it was another text from Joe.

Joe: marry me?

Chloe: what?

I was mega confused by his text. I tried to understand why he would send that because it was quite an unusual thing to send after knowing each other for one day.

Joe: I'm so sorry! That was Caspar! He stole my phone, any more strange texts will be him x

Chloe: don't worry, I knew it wouldn't be you, sleep well x

I placed my phone down and turned over in bed thinking about the day I had. So much had happened in one day - it felt so surreal.

"Chloe!" I heard a stern voice shout. It could only belong to one person. My dad. He had more than likely been drinking.

He always went out drinking and spending our money while mom would work until the late ours of the night desperately trying to earn back the money dad had spent.

"Come here!" He yelled again. I was a little bit nervous because me and Drew desperately tried to avoid him when he was like this.

I left the loft and headed down the stairs. "I'm coming!" I shouted as I carried on down the next flight to find him.

He was lay on the sofa in the living room.

"Where did you go tonight?" He yelled in my face.

"Out with some friends." I replied.

"Out? Spending my money! I could thing of many other better ways of using that! Why did we get given such an ungrateful daughter?" He shouted.

"Better ways? What like gambling? Drinking? I never go out anywhere! I pay for my own dance lessons through the money I earn from teaching there. I wanted one night out with some new friends and to celebrate my achievement and I can't even have that!" I shouted back.

"How dare you talk to me like that?" He screamed. I looked in the door way to see Drew waving his hands signalling for me to stop. I shook my head because I wasn't going to let it go this easy.

"I'll talk to you however I like! It's not like you ever do anything in my eyes that deserves respect!"

"In your eyes! That's funny because in my eyes your an awful daughter!"

His words stung but I want letting it go, he didn't deserve to treat us like this. We were his children and we deserved as much respect as he did. We were all equal and human at the end of the day.

"You're not my dad! A dad is someone you can look up to - if I'm anything like you my life won't be worth living-" before I could finish my sentence I felt a sharp pain run across my face.

My own dad had hit me.

Mum and dad were ones who knew if you did something wrong you must learn from it and be rewarded for good things or punished for bad. However they had never been ones for violence. They would never want to harm a single hair on our heads.

I instantly knew what he had done and before he could say another word I ran to my room. Drew followed behind calling my name but there was no sign of my dad following.

I entered my room and went to shut the door but Drew let himself in. Then he locked it behind him which I would have done anyway.

"Chlo, are you ok?" Drew asked as he put his arm around me.

"I'm not no," I cried a river into his shoulder. "I can't deal with this anymore. I'm calling mom,"

"No Chlo! You can't call mom! We won't have any money if mom doesn't work the next few hours! It's ok, me and you will stay up here until the morning when he is calmer."

He went to my bathroom and dampened a flannel so it was cold. I pressed it against my face and felt a small sting but then much relief.

We just sat for a moment hugging each other thinking about how wrong our life had gone. Since dad got into the booze our lives were on a downhill roller coaster.
"We are a broken family aren't we D?" I asked him.

"We are Chlo, but as long as we have each other, we will be ok,"