The Third Sugg

Chapter Nine

My social media gets more overwhelming by the day, with people posting screen shots of tweets I've favourited and thanking me for it which I find bizarre.

As I plop myself down on a chair with an oversized bowl of cereal, Joe comes in the kitchen holding his phone.

"Hey Charity, do you mind if I have some YouTube friends over tonight? Like you can hide in your room or something if you want but most of them want to meet you and congratulate you on the success of your channel." Joe says, while putting waffles in the toaster.

"Um okay.." I say. Why do people want to meet me? Especially like Internet cult leaders with millions of subscribers who I've watched for a few years.

I suppose you could say my siblings are famous, but to be honest, they are probably the most average and boring people I know.

"Are you looking forward to school?" Joe asks. He knows how much I intensely dislike it and I'm pretty sure he's just joking and trying to piss off.

I fake smile back at him. "Yeah..can't wait." I say before flicking my middle finger up in his general direction.

He laughs and gets the Nutella out of the cupboard for his waffles and leaves me to eat my cheerios in peace.

I finish my cheerios, walk back up to my warm bedroom and get dressed into some black skinny jeans, a Bershka top and a teal knitted jumper.

When I arrive at school I'm greeted by my new found friends and until lunch the day runs smoothly.

When I'm sitting in the canteen, Tilly comes up to me and starts acting like she's still best friends with me.

I want to tell her to go away and stop pretending to like me again, yet I know that if I do I'll look really horrible seeing as everyone's crowding around our lunch table.

It's so claustrophobic and I start to feel hot and sweaty. More and more people crowd around till I feel like I'm drowning in a large sea or people.

Before I know it, I'm crying and I feel like I can't breathe. I push through the large gathering and into the toilets where I lock myself in a cubicle and text Zoe, who immediately comes and picks me up at school, explaining to the teachers that "I'm not feeling well" and that "I need to go home as soon as possible".

As soon as I get out into the cold air of British winter, I begin to feel a lot better as I climb into the front seat of Zoe's mint green Mini Cooper

"So..what happened?" Zoe asks me, opening the window to my side."Your texts were pretty..." She trails off, looking at me. "I got really crowded and I felt sick and like I couldn't breathe..like claustrophobic. It was horrible. I don't really know.."

"Ah." Zoe says, still concentrating on the road ahead of us. "That was a panic attack. Us Sugg's don't have very strong sympathetic nervous systems..don't worry it will be okay, Charity. Like, you know I have panic attacks..I'm fine. You just need to learn how to manage them and then you'll be okay, I promise. Like you can get apps and things that can help you through them."

When I get home, I slob in front of the TV with Zoe and a Cadbury box of chocolates and watch Gossip Girl.

I look down at Zoe's stomach. Even though she's only known that she's been pregnant for a few days, she's already noticeably bigger, like she's bloated or something.

"Zoe, when are you going to tell your viewers about the baby?"

Zoe sighs. "I don't know Charity. Like.. if you were me, where would you start..?" I look at her and pause Gossip Girl. "First of all tell your friends and family.. then announce Zalfie is real then after a few weeks.. announce your pregnancy. It's not going to be easy, I suppose, but it's better to let people know the truth rather than be built up on lies about things like "maybe its the thing I was wearing that made my stomach look bigger.." "