The Hills | w2s

one.

A/N

- I left the YouTube audio of 'Jack' by Talia Mar above in case you haven't listened to it yet, or wanted to listen to it again whilst reading the chapter :)

It was 9:49pm and as the girls ended their Twitch streams for the day (after playing Codenames for 2 hours straight), Talia mentioned her album release party to the discord chat, "Girls, before you go, I managed to convince JJ to get me a booking at that club for my album release celebration. I'll text you the details in the group chat in a few."

"I'll drop whatever I need to, Tal." Freya replied.

"Of course, I'll make sure I'm free and off work the next day so I can get peppered." Isabelle added.

"Can't wait!" Gee answered.

"Thank you, what time are we streaming tomorrow?" Talia asked.

"I'm working overtime. I should be finished for 8pm, so is 9-ish okay?" Isabelle suggested.

"Sure, I can do that." Talia stated as the other 2 girls agreed after her.

"Okay! Bye, ladies!" They all said their goodbyes and left the discord call.

...

{2 weeks later}

It was 7:45pm and Isabelle had just finished her makeup and slid on an overly-tight dress and unnecessarily-thin heels that she was definitely going to regret later that night. She was grateful to be related to such an all-around incredible person like Talia. She was so proud of her slightly older cousin, they bonded like sisters and Isabelle wouldn't miss a celebration about Talia for the world.

Isabelle insisted on making her own way to the club, considering she lived further away than Talia and the rest of the girls did and didn't want them to go out of their way to pick her up. Booking an Uber, she decided to have some pre-drinks so that she didn't need to buy as much from the bar. Pouring vodka into three lined up shot glasses, she necked one after the other, pulling a disgusted yet amused face, before putting them into the dishwasher she splurged her money on so she didn't have to do the dishes herself.

In the midst of having a minimum-wage job and earning money from streaming on Twitch most days, she had found herself living in a fairly decent flat in London, with a good rent price and a good amount of space for just herself. Isabella contemplated getting a roommate when she moved in, but when she got really into a game whilst streaming she made way too much noise and didn't want to risk pissing off someone she barely knew. On the plus side, she was able to use the second bedroom as an office/studio space that she turned into - at least what she thought was - a really cool set up for streaming.

Her phone pinged when the Uber pulled up to the car park, notifying her it was there. Grabbing her crossbody purse (stocked with a pair of flat black converse which her feet would later thank her for and spare cash in case of an emergency) and a jacket, she headed downstairs to the car.

The ride would take about 15 minutes, plus some extra time (like 10 minutes) due to the heavy London traffic, Isabella had carefully calculated so that she wouldn't be too early or too late. When someone tells you a party is starting at 8pm, it doesn't actually start until about 8:30pm, giving a wide enough amount of time for guests to show up and not feel awkward for turning up early. Plus, being fashionably late isn't just a myth to make people feel better about themselves when they turn up later than everyone else.

As she hopped out of the Uber in front of the club, she spotted the blue-haired Gee standing outside the club beside Chip talking to an unfamiliar face she Isabelle had yet to meet. Walking up behind Gee and giving her a hug from behind, Chip turned to face the commotion next to him as Gee jumped at the sudden feeling of arms wrapped around her.