Afterlight ✔️

chapter two

— Chloe Romano

"Are you sure you even want to do this?" My brother, Brad, questioned me with the most puzzled look on his face. He wasn't prepared to let me go since his actions that he performed about a year back led him to become super overprotective of me.

Looking outside the window, I watched the scintillating sun that finally shone above the sky after dreadful clouds covering it for weeks, and it was kind of hilarious how the sun decided to come out right when I finally got to leave Los Angeles. The driver that my brother hired had been waiting for me to come down for about an hour, now. I tried to hurry up with packing and getting ready, but I kept changing my mind about what to bring with me. I was determined to go to Canada so I had to bring some jackets and boots with me. I didn't really plan on being gone for more than three months, but who knew, maybe I'd change my mind once I left California and started to enjoy other places.

"I'm sure, Brad. I'm sick of you asking me that question over and over again. I'm 18 years old, for fuck's sake." I muttered, snatching a crisp, green apple off of the counter, bringing back old time memories.

Every day, my mother used to pack me one green apple with my lunch. She'd put the neatly waxed apple inside of a brown paper bag along with a sandwich of my choice, a bag of original Lays potato chips, and exactly three Oreo cookies. It had been a combination of foods that I could never get sick of. From the day my parents died in the car accident, I never gave up the whole 'apple a day' deal.

"You don't really have to follow me around, Brad." I rolled my eyes at him. I was 18 years old, yet here he was– babysitting me.

"I'm your big brother, Chloe." He shook his head. "I'm just making sure you get into the car safely."

I strutted for the door with the green apple in my hand. "The car is parked right in front of our door!" I huffed in disbelief, he was really doing the most right now. "I can take care of myself, you should know that by now."

Brad helped me with my bag eventually. "Actually, I don't. Your decision surprised me, Chloe."

"Just once in my life, I want to be myself." I told him truthfully, but I knew it hit on deaf ears. "I'd love to go to school and tell the teachers my actual name."

"Well, you graduated at this point, so you don't have to worry about how you're known at school."

I rolled my eyes, I knew he was right about that. I did graduate just recently, even being top ten percent of my class. After watching my brother become a part of this wicked lifestyle, I was determined to actually do well in school and get out of this hell hole. My brother and I made a bet that if I got all A's in my senior year, I'd get to travel across the continent, and of course, I completed the challenge. If I set my mind to something, I'd achieve it.

"That's not the point, Brad." I stated, feeling myself get hot in the cheeks at the fact that I never had a normal school experience because of him.

"Chloe, I'm just trying to figure out why the hell you want to travel across the country so badly."

"I bet you do." I whispered under my breath and bursted the front door to the house open, stomping to my driver. He had been standing outside of his car as the sun reflected on his bald head. Brad followed me out with my leopard duffle bag on his left shoulder. I groaned at the feeling of him just simply following me.