Chloë

I

"Chloe, I know your sister turns everyone on,
but you're the one I want."

I was nineteen years old when I moved out of my parents' house and in with my older sister, Sophia.
Moving from Leeds to London is a big deal, especially when you're fresh out of school. Let me tell you, when older people tell you the world is a scary place, they're not lying.
Sophia was the manager of so-called YouTube sensation Jack Maynard - which was mind blowing to me, considering she was only a couple of years older than him - and on my third night in London she extended her invite to one of Jack's house parties to me.

I wasn't keen on social events like that, but even I had to admit that my situation was depressing to say the least: I was nineteen, just moved out of my parents' house into a huge new city; I could do whatever I wanted, and instead I spent two days in a row lying on the couch - yes, the couch, because I was too lazy to put my bed together.
On Wednesday night, I was sitting in an Uber with my perfect-looking (as usual) sister, who was giving me tips on dealing with people whose heads have been blown out of proportion.
"Jack and his friends are pretty cool, actually - you know, as cool as fuckboys can be," she shrugged as the car was pulling up by a white apartment complex from which loud music was heard. Ugh, poor neighbors. "but some people at this party... not so much."
As Sophia got out of the car, I sarcastically thanked her for sending my anxiety level, which was already stellar without her help, through the roof.
She smiled apologetically at me, then grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. She looked through the impressive crowd for a few seconds (how big was this flat, anyway?), then started pulling my hand again when she seemed to have spotted whomever she was looking for. She tapped a blond guy's shoulder, and when he turned around I couldn't help but hope that every boy I was going to meet that night was half as attractive as him.
Sophia greeted him and the four guys he was hanging out with as I stood by awkwardly.
"Guys, this is my baby sister Chloe – I've told you about her." I snorted, but refrained from saying anything. "Chloe, meet Jack, Joe, Caspar and Conor." I could feel my face heating up, and I hoped the dimmed lights would hide my embarrassment. "She just moved here and doesn't really know anyone. Make her feel at home, yeah? I gotta go find Alex."
"Oh, I wouldn't do that." the guy I could now identify as Conor laughed. "He's already hammered, I doubt you're going to make much work-talk with him."
"That fucker..." Sophia muttered, but went looking for him nonetheless.
"Can you speak or does your sister do all the talking for you?" a blonde boy, Caspar, joked. I gave him a look, and explained that my sister loved the sound of her own voice so much that she enjoyed to do other people's talking as well.
The group laughed, most likely because they knew my sister and they knew from experience that I was right, and Joe walked off to go get me a drink.
"So... what do you guys do?" I asked. I felt so stiff, embarrassed as if a thousand stage lights were on me, as well as everyone's eyes.
"We're all YouTubers" Jack explained with a smirk.
"I meant at parties." Everyone laughed, mocking Jack for trying to impress me with his job.
Truth is, I actually did mean to ask what they did for a living, but the self-absorbed way he answered to my question made me feel like it was on me to shut him down.
"We just hang out... and drink. There's tons of drinking." Joe answered as he handed me the drink he'd gone to get for me.
I started sipping on it, feeling the pleasingly familiar sensation of warmth in my throat and stomach.
"I can just hope you didn't spice it." I joked, and Joe faked a guilty look.
"What do you do... as a job?" Jack asked, changing the subject. "Sophia told us a bit about you, but not much."
"Eh... I don't really do anything." I shrugged, trying not to let my anxiety level get higher than it already was. "I just got here, I'll probably get a shit day job in the next few weeks and then figure out the rest later."
None of them said anything for a little - they probably knew the feeling of not knowing what to do with yourself, as did most young people with exceptional jobs such as YouTuber - until Conor asked why I'd moved to London, then.
"I kind of... ran away from home?" I hesitated, afraid of how they were going to react. When you're in your twenties the teenage-rage you feel for your parents subsides, and you start appreciating everything they did for you and hating on people who don't feel the same about their parents as you do about yours.
My parents, however, weren't as nice and cool as everyone else's, but when I told people about it everyone labeled me as an ungrateful bastard, so I was wary of sharing that piece of information about my life.
"Why?" was everyone's immediate reaction. I laughed, consumed by embarrassment.
"It's a long story. Anyway, my sister was the only person I knew who didn't live in Leeds, but was still in England, so I'm going to live with her until I figure out what to do next - or until she kicks me out, either one."
We talked about London and things I, and I quote, "absolutely needed to do" for a little while, downing drink after drink, until the boys were drunk enough to go hit on girls and dance without feeling stupid. I was left standing to the side, because dancing has never been my thing, but thankfully Caspar stuck with me.
"I have a girlfriend, I don't think she'd appreciate me hitting on other girls while I'm drunk" he laughed, and I laughed with him, way too hard for a joke that wasn't all that funny. The alcohol was definitely getting to my head, but I couldn't say that I minded, considering that the stiffness I'd felt when I walked into the party was almost completely gone, replaced by drunken confidence.
"Is it always like this, being a YouTuber?" I asked after I'd noticed the time on a big clock hung high on the wall.
"Like what?"
"Like getting wasted and partying until 3AM on a Wednesday night." Caspar laughed, and nodded his head excitedly.
"I'm sorry, Chloe, tonight suck ass." Sophia huffed as she sat on the couch next to me and Caspar. We stayed standing – mostly because I knew that if I sat down, I wouldn't be able to get back up.
"Hey, don't shit on our fun just because you couldn't have any!" Caspar replied, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. We laughed, making it terribly obvious that we'd had one too many drinks.
"Yeah, Soph, don't shit on our fun!"
Sophia smiled, as if forgetting all that had been wrong with her night for a second. "Alex is such an ass!" Sophia groaned. "Caspar, please, can you go get me a drink? I don't think I'm gonna be able to stand for the next four hours."
Caspar groaned, but obliged. He took his arm off my shoulder and skipped towards the make-shift bar.
"I take it you're having a good time?" I nodded, a big green plastered on my face. "I'm glad someone is..."
"Why, what happened to you?"
"You know Alex?"
"The guy you were supposed to talk to?"
Sophia nodded. "The idiot got wasted before I got here, and when I found him he was already passed out in the bathroom." I hissed, showing disgust and how sorry I felt for my sister. "I had to stay there two fucking hours because I was afraid he'd slip into a coma. He didn't puke until, like, ten minutes ago!" she groaned. "I'll have a couple of drinks and then check on him. Fucking idiot..."
*little explanation: if you puke, (most of the times) you don't go into an alcohol coma, and if someone is completely wasted, but can't throw up, it might be time to get them to an hospital. Once they've thrown their guts up, they should be fine though*
"I can go if you need..." I offered, not without hesitating a little.
"Would you?" Sophia asked in a hopeful voice. I nodded, half smiling at her.
"Just point me to the bathroom."

Caspar and I walked into the dark bathroom, groaning at the unmistakable smell of vodka-flavored vomit.
"Man, it smells like a distillery in here" Caspar complained. He turned the lights on, and the person we could now see lying on the floor rolled over, covering his face.
Apart from the smell, the bathroom looked pretty clean – this guy's perfect aim was probably the product of many nights just like this.
"Turn the lights off!" he groaned. "My head is killing me."
"Of course it is, you were wasted two hours before the party even started." Caspar scoffed.
The buzz in my own head made me laugh way too loud, and Alex uncovered his eyes to see whose laugh it was.
"Who are you?" he groaned, putting his arm back on his eyes to protect them from the light.
"She's Sophia's sister. Come on, man, get up. Chloe, help me, please." We stood on either side of the blonde boy on the floor, ready to lift him up each by an arm.
"Caspar." Alex whisper-yelled. Caspar grunted a reply, and Alex kept talking as if I wasn't standing right next to him. "She's a pretty one."
I felt myself blush. Despite his current state, I found Alex to be quite attractive. His jaw looked like it could cut diamonds, and as I imagined him without the deep purple bags under his eyes, his hair fixed and his back straight, I felt weak at the knees – not literally, and mostly because of the alcohol, but still.
"Yeah, she is." Caspar laughed, glancing at me. He shrugged and motioned me to lift Alex up. He groaned as we set him back up on his feet. He was awfully tall – so tall, in fact, that I was having trouble keeping him up.
Alex yelled, telling us to stop, and stumbled. "Come on, your bedroom is five steps away." Caspar sighed and pulled on his arm.
Despite Alex's constant stumbling, probably due to a very dizzy head, we made it to the queen sized bed in the middle of a mostly empty room.
Caspar set a bucket next to the bed as I leaned against the door frame. "You saw me throw up, I think you should know my name at least. I'm Alex" Alex slurred after he'd settled inside of the covers, and I took a couple steps closer to him. "I don't bite" he laughed drunkenly.
"Uh... I'm Chloe." I introduced myself, an amused smile printed on my face. "And I didn't see you throw up, by the way."
"Oh" was all Alex could say. "Well, Chloe, I really hope I'll remember you in the morning." And with that, he was asleep.

The party went on, and on, and on. I took shots with many of my sister's friends – so many that I couldn't tell you everyone's name.
I don't remember laying down on the couch to sleep, but I woke up the next morning when the midday sun shone in my very sensitive eyes. I had a pounding headache and my neck hurt due to the uncomfortable position I slept in. I groaned as I set back up, pressing a hand into my temple as if that would make the pain subside; I tried to stand up, but when a wave of nausea hit me I had to take a minute.
"You don't look too good." someone laughed. When I lifted my eyes, I noticed a very tall ginger boy sitting on the couch in front of the one I'd slept in.
"I'm so hungover." I whined, before realizing I didn't remember this boy's name. "I'm sorry," I started. "I know we took shots together last night, but I can't remember your name."
The ginger boy laughed before answering. "I'm Josh. Chloe, right?" I nodded, and finally managed to stand up.
"Where is my sister?" I asked, realizing I had no way to get home without her.
"I think she's in Jack's room."
I started roaming around the house in search of my sister when I heard voices clearly talking about me.
"Guys, what about Sophia's sister? Chloe, is it?" someone said.
"Yes! She's so hot!"
"Not as hot as her sister, though." A chorus of agreement was clearly heard, and I scoffed even though I knew it was perfectly true. I'd spent all my life being compared to my older, prettier, more perfect sister, and for some reason I thought that moving out of my parents' house meant that it was over. Apparently, I was wrong.
"I don't know..." My heart flipped, because unlike the others, this voice I knew: it was Alex's, only less groggy than last night. "I mean, I know I was wasted last night and I only saw her for, like, five minutes, but I kinda like Chloe better."