Living Silently

Carouse

"Noel"

Transitioning back to everyday life seemed to go as smoothly as I thought it should considering the circumstances I had put myself through. I had only been back to work for two days which was uneventful since they had me on training wheels. I was mainly doing paperwork, filing records, and being checked on for eight hours or helping with the training of more junior Nurse Anesthetist in the hospital.

"Chloe how's the job search going," I asked walking into my living room which I was overpaying for by several hundred dollars a month. She was typing on her computer furiously, using her multi-chrome covered nails to slam into the keyboard. Her hair was in a loose ponytail, and her eyes were red probably from looking at the screen all night.

"You need to sleep," I said to her which only got her to look up at me for a second before turning back to her computer.

"We have that party later, how about you worry about that and I'll worry about me," she said to me with an annoyed voice. She didn't have to find work so fast since I could afford to get us both along, but she was determined to get back into her career field, and there was very little I could do to convince her to calm down her efforts. The best I could do was make sure she remained healthy.

"Well sorry," I responded enunciating the sorry before sitting on my couch and turning on the television which showed the home screen of the Will & Grace DVD that I had been watching before.

"Gaaaaaaayyyyyy," Chloe said without looking up at me.

"Biiiittttcccccchhh," I whispered back at here.

"What was that," she responded quickly having heard my retort.

"Nothing," I said with a smile knowing she'd cuss me out if I decided to go back and forth with her.

"Did you sleep well, it's already three you've been out for a while," she said in between typing on the computer. There was concern peppered into her tone.

"I slept well, I didn't do much but paperwork," I said to her before turning the television off.

"I slept for a little while, and you should get dressed we have to leave in an hour."

"I'm already dressed," I said in a low voice while looking down at my skinny black jeans plain white shirt and a tan cardigan. I thought I looked cute but understated. I had worn this exact outfit out many times before and nobody had said anything negative about it.

"Well we don't pay you to think now do we," she responded.

"There's nothing wrong with this," I said coming to my own defense.

"Sure," she responded before closing the computer and standing up.

"I'm going to go put some actual effort into getting ready for a celebration of you," Chloe said before leaving to my room and closing the door. I rolled my eyes before sucking my teeth. I knew she would take a while, so I closed my eyes to get some rest. After a while, I felt my sister shaking my shoulder waking me up.

"Come on," she said to me. I looked at her and saw that she was wearing a skin-tight dress that was just a shade lighter than her skin tone with matching shoes. Her hair was freshly done, and she smelled like my vanilla scented body mist. I wondered how cold she would be later.

"Do I have to go," I asked her with a pleading look.

"Yes we already confirmed we were coming to the party, that's meant for you, get up you're driving," she said pulling me up to my feet.

I got up mumbling all the way to the fire station until I was inside surrounded by people day drinking. I hated having to greet people, but I powered through it. The firemen and women seemed to have no limit when it came to alcohol. They were tossing vodka shots back like they were nothing. Chloe unlike me was thriving in the environment. It was like she hadn't just been stressing over finding a job. Chloe had always been a social butterfly. In every foster home, she managed to get everyone to like her if not genuinely care about her. It was a skill she cultivated out of necessity. I, on the other hand, preferred to stay under the radar. You can't hate a person who doesn't bother you.