A/N nothing major for trigger warnings. Drug use and that's about it for this chapter. Which will be pretty much every chapter. Enjoy!
Chloe sat at her vanity trying to do her makeup and casually listening to her mother chatter. A slow smile spread across the younger Beale's face as she applied some mascara. "Honey, we have that mother daughter tennis thing next week. Would you be upset it if I did it with your sister this year?" The words pulled Chloe away from the mirror. A persistent headache had bloomed behind her eyes and she was trying really hard to make it until her mom went downstairs before she could excuse herself to get high. Chloe was unsure of how to react. Of course she would be upset, they had done the tennis tournament every year since Chloe was 16. That's why Chloe's sister Grace did the golf tournament instead. Chloe's smile faltered a little before she pushed it back onto her face.
"No mama. That's fine." Chloe responded sadly but not wanting to upset her sister because that would just make for a long dramatic summer. With the sting of fresh disappointment in her heart Chloe stood and strolled over to her wardrobe, pulling the large doors open to decide what to wear. Secretly making a mental note of what she was going to toss in a bag for the caddy shack party after the dinner. Even your own mother doesn't want you. Chloe inhaled sharply as she tried to ignore the invading voice. You're such a failure if your mommy dearest would rather pick your younger sister. At least she's attractive, funny and smart. Unlike you. You're worthless. Chloe was gripping the door so tightly her hand was beginning to throb, she held her breath and counted to sixteen twice. Her mother standing and pushing out the stool from the vanity reminded her that she wasn't alone. "When do you want to leave?" Chloe turned around to face her mom with a giant smile on her face.
"Like a half hour, your sister should be about ready by then." Her mom stood tall and proper, resting her hand on Chloe's shoulder as she spoke. Chloe giggled and rolled her eyes as her mom leaned in to whisper something to her. "She takes forever to get ready but don't tell her I said that." She winked and sauntered off. Chloe taking this time as the perfect opportunity, grabbed her duffle bag and removed its contents into the space under a loose plank in her closet floor. Chloe frowned as she sat there on her knees staring. Unsure on if she wanted to wait until after the dinner was over to get high. Why are you even going if your mom doesn't love you? The whispering voice made Chloe flinch. You're just something for your mom to parade around and compete with the other moms with. She doesn't love you she's just using you like you are an object. Like this house or her car. Chloe closed her eyes trying to will the words away. The worst part about it is that you aren't even worth bragging about. You're useless and worthless.
"Stop, just shut up!" Chloe grumbled loudly as she pulled out one of the pills from her stash.
"Who are you talking to?" Stacie's voice causing Chloe to practically jump out of her skin. She turned around quickly, barely being able to replace the board over her hidden cubby. Stacie was looking around Chloe's room to see if they were alone or not. Chloe began to internally panic.
"No one! What are you doing here?" Chloe started with her signature Chloe Beale grin but frowned when she realized that her best friend should be at the dinner or getting ready right now. Stacie flopped down on the red head's bed and heaved out a giant shaky sigh. "What's wrong Conrad?" Chloe asked as she slowly sat on the edge of her bed.
"My mom wants to do the stupid tennis thing with my sister next week." Stacie whined which in turn made Chloe giggle. Stacie shot her a death glare and Chloe covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to hide her amusement. "What's so funny?" Stacie said sitting up.
"My mom is doing it with Grace this year also." Chloe offered only to receive a look of complete disbelief from the attractive brunette. "You don't even like tennis." Chloe added playfully.
"No I freaking hate tennis. But it was OUR thing. We always did great too. But like you and your mom have won the whole thing two years in a row now! Why would she want to do it with Grace?" Chloe shrugged when her friend finished speaking and pointed to the bathroom.
"I'll be right back okay?" Chloe asked as her friend stared down at her phone. The redhead walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Turning the sink facet on to hide the sound of the crunching pill. Look at you. Told you that you were worthless. Chloe groaned leaned down to take the lines in front of her. It made Chloe a little uneasy that she was able to execute this so effortlessly and smoothly. She splashed her hands under the sink in an attempt to make it sound like she was washing them, being sure to make sure there was no evidence of what she just did. "Thank god." Chloe muttered as the headache almost instantly subsided, she knew that the voices would be gone for at least a little while and that was enough for her. "So, I was thinking that I'd wear this and these heels to dinner." Chloe held up a light blue dress with white floral print and yellow heels. Stacie grinned and nodded.
"That's super cute but I'm actually more interested in what my sexy best friend is going to wear after dinner." Stacie winked and got up to start digging through Chloe's wardrobe. Chloe tossed her makeup bag into a backpack and a casual pair of running shoes with workout clothes for the morning. "What are you doing?" Stacie asked crossing her arms across her chest.
"Packing a bag so I can work out in the morning?" Chloe's voice was a little confused.
"We're going out to party tonight. There's no way you'll make it to the gym in the morning." Stacie snorted causing Chloe to chuckle.
"Stace, when was the last time I actually had a hang over?" The red head asked playfully. Stacie stood there thinking about it for a moment before shrugging.
"Oh wait! The morning after the first day of spring break!" Stacie's face lit up with victory.
"I drank two thirds of that bottle by myself the night before and all of you forced me to smoke a bunch of pot. Doesn't count because I wouldn't do that again." Chloe stated flatly.
"Chloe Beale, you are the center of every party we go to. But whatever." Stacie turned back to the clothes and pulled out Chloe's favorite jeans and a tight fitting white tank top and a fitted black vest. "What about this?" Chloe glanced up and nodded with approval. Picking up a pair of converse from the back of her closet. The best part about parting with the "misfits" was that no one cared what you wore unlike when you hung out with the kids from Chloe's crowd. "I told my mom I was staying at Aubrey's."
"So did I." Chloe responded lazily as she shimmied into the flowy floral dress. Slipping her heels on and turning to her best friend for review.
"Mmmm. Damn girl, you look like you belong to a family in the Hamptons." Stacie teased.
"Ha. We all practically do." Chloe rolled her eyes at the thought of how much money most of the people she surrounded herself with had. "Let's go." Stacie stood and walked to the door, giving Chloe a split moment to put the drugs in her bag.
"What are you doing?" Stacie asked when she heard Chloe crack the second story window open. Chloe tossed the bag into the bushes and laughed.
"Intro to partying as a Beale. Lesson one, pack a bag and store it in your car so you don't have to make an excuse up to leave and explain where you are going. Lesson two, don't let the parents see the bag or they'll ask questions. Ignorance is bliss." Chloe grinned as she walked towards the bedroom door.
Elly was working which meant that Beca was stuck going to the mother daughter dinner with her aunt Marie. She shifted uncomfortable in the short black dress. Trying her hardest to suppress her desire to roll her eyes when she opened a snapchat from Elly. "This is my niece Beca." Her aunt's voice snapped her back to the moment in front of her. Beca smiled politely at the woman who looked identical to her cousin. "Beca this is Grace and Sarah Beale." Beca shook their hands trying to ignore how uncomfortable she felt for the sake of her aunt. "Where's Chloe?" Marie asked after looking around for a moment.
"Well, her and Stacie were getting ready together. You know them, late for everything." Mrs. Beale let out a laugh that was almost angelic.
"I've always loved that Conrad girl. She's so beautiful. Not to mention smart! You know she declared that she's majoring in bio chemistry?" Marie sounded astonished and Beca couldn't help but to roll her eyes.
"Oh yes, she's such a great girl. Our Chloe is just so blessed to have a friend like her." Mrs. Beale's eyes locked on something behind Beca as she spoke. "Ahh! Speak of the devil." She smiled and lifted an arm to side hug someone. "Chloe, darling you never fail to be fashionably late." Chloe's mom spoke smoothly. "Stacie, your mom is over with the Posens." Mrs. Beale informed pointing in the direction of two tall uptight looking blonde women, a shorter brunette with glasses and long legs and a very professional looking brunette that looked a lot like the one in front of Beca except the younger one was dressed a little less appropriate. Stacie leaned in and kissed Mrs. Beale and Grace on the cheek before gliding off towards her mom and sister. Beca watched as she walked up casually and kissed the younger blonde lightly on the lips before falling into easy conversation with the group.
"Perfection takes time mom." The voice caused Beca to snap her head around, locking eyes with a smiling red head. Beca swallowed the lump in her throat as she realized how blue her eyes really were. Keep your shit together Mitchell. Beca warned herself.
"Oh, there's the Graysons." Marie said excitedly, looping her arm into Beca's and pulling her in the opposite direction. "Excuse us. It was great to see you Chloe." Marie smiled over her shoulder as Beca kept her eyes locked on the taller woman. Chloe winked playfully knowing that Beca was watching her. Did she just wink at me? Beca shouted internally.
Chloe wasn't sure she could manage to make it through the whole dinner without losing her mind but she was a Beale. She was expected to sit and look pretty, be polite and respectful. She frowned at the idea, causing her to remember the voices she heard earlier. "Chlo? You okay?" Grace whispered and nudged her older sister under the table with her foot.
"Huh? Uhh, yeah I'm good." Chloe forced a small smile. "Just ready to be done with this dinner." She mumbled too quietly for her younger sister to hear. Time seemed to drag on but Chloe kept handing her mother drinks. All of the girls seemed to be feeding their mothers alcohol in an attempt to make the dinner more bearable. "I'm going to go to the rest room, mind keeping mom distracted for a minute?" Chloe whispered in her mother's ear. Her sister nodded grimly and waved Chloe off. Stacie's eyes fell on the redhead as she walked briskly out of the room.
"Excuse me a moment." Stacie mumbled to Aubrey who just continued to talk about the classes she'd be taking in the fall for her senior year. Stacie walked slowly across the room but was stopped by Marie who began gushing on and on about how proud she was of Stacie and how she wished Elly had more drive to do something like her in college.
"Finally." Chloe muttered digging in her clutch for the little white pill she turned to head into the stall behind her but bumped into Beca. Dropping her clutch and the pills all over the floor. "Shit!" She grumbled bending down to quickly pick everything up.
"Dude, you really suck at this. How have you not got caught yet?" The younger girl mumbled with irritation as she squatted down to help the red head. Just then the door flew open. Stacie gasped at the sight of the redhead scrambling to pick up the pills.
"Excuse me what are you doing?" Stacie practically shouted causing the young Beale woman to jump. Turning with wide eyes and attempting to stutter a response.
"I was coming out of the stall and Chloe ran into me. She was just helping me pick my pills up." Beca faked an awkward smile and went back to the pills on the floor. "Before you ask no they aren't prescribed. Just please don't say anything to anyone." Beca added standing up with the pills in her hand.
"Don't tell say anything to anyone about what?" The voice of a fourth person entered the bathroom and Chloe gulped as she knew that this just got so much worse. Marie stood in the doorway with the look of utter shock on her face as she stared at the white pills in her niece's hand. "Are you kidding me?!" Her voice was shrill causing Chloe to flinch and stutter again.
"Aunt Marie, I can explain." Beca managed to stammer out before realizing that she really couldn't.
"No I don't want to hear it Beca. I thought all of this had stopped when you moved here. You promised." Marie's voice was full of tears as she looked back and forth between the three young woman. "Chloe Beale?" She asked almost mortified.
"No Aunt Marie. They weren't doing anything. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Beca answered before Chloe could speak. Beca's aunt sighed in relief and turned to Stacie, Beca slipped the pills into Chloe's open clutch as all eyes fell on Stacie. Who now looked guilty for accusing Chloe.
"I saw Chloe rushing off to the bathroom and wanted to check on her. When I walked in she was picking the pills up off the ground and I-" She let her voice tail off as Chloe shot her a look. Chloe wasn't really sure what to say because she didn't want Beca to get in trouble but there was no way that she could let anyone find out that the drugs were really hers.
"I think it's time to go." Marie said through clenched teeth. Chloe shot Beca another grateful look as Beca inhaled deeply and walked out.
"Well, I guess that shouldn't have come as a surprise. I've seen that girl around and she's very… alternative." Stacie said selecting her last word carefully. I want to get to know the alt girl. Chloe thought to herself.
A/N I'm so stoked for the next chapter. I'm starting to get more ideas now so the process hopefully won't take as long as it usually does.