Adopted By Bring It On

Chapter 4

Chloe's POV

TW: Panic attack

 I can feel a cool breeze blowing onto the back of my neck, making the strands of my light blond hair that I had put into a ponytail the night before dance in the wind. I roll over and try to go back to sleep, but it's too late for that. I open my eyes and shut them tightly again, as the bright light assaults my eyes. "Ugh!" I groan, rolling over again.

 "Good morning!" Taylor chirps, opening my window, letting the light in.

"10 more minutes." I whine, pulling the pillow over my head. I am not, I repeat NOT, a morning person. 

"Cmon." Taylor says, sitting down on the side of my bed. "We're going shopping with Elle and Reyna, remember? They're coming over in an hour." I sit up and hop out of bed. Taylor giggles. "Someone's excited!" In the kitchen, breakfast is already made. I sit down across from Taylor.

"Fruit loops!" I exclaim. "My favourite!"

Taylor takes a sip of her coffee and looks at me. "We need to talk about something." I get nervous. Does she not want me anymore? She must see the look on my face, because she places her hand over mine. "Calm down." She says. "We need to find you a school, that's all."

"Oh." I reply.

"There's a school just a few blocks from here. It's called West Valley Middle School."

"I wanna go." I say, immediately. I don't remember much from my old life, but from now on, I wanna have the best time possible. And to do that, I need friends my own age.

"Are you sure?" Taylor asks. "If you need some time to think about it, I totally understand."

"No! It's fine! I wanna go!" I repeat.

"Alright." Taylor says. "I've contacted the principal and told her we might be interested. She says you can start Monday."

"That's in two days!" I exclaim.

"Then it's a good thing we're going out today. We can do a little back to school shopping."

 Before I know it, we're in the car, on the way to mall. Elle puts on some music. We all decide we want to listen to Beetlejuice, and me and Reyna do a duet to "Say My Name". I play Lydia. By the time we pull into the parking lot, I'm bouncing in my set with excitement. I love shopping. Or, at least I think I do. It's hard to remember. "So, where to first?" Elle asks.

"I was thinking H&M." Taylor suggests. The store is nice and there's some light music playing. I walk over to a rack and look through the clothes, picking out a few things to try on. 

After going to a few stores, we have a few bags of clothes and school supplies. "Can we go to Bath & Bodyworks?" Reyna asks.

"Sure!" Elle says. "You and Chloe can both get a few fun fall things!"

Reyna leads the way, running excitedly. In the window, there is already a display, advertising their Halloween candle holders, even though it's only early October. We walk in, and suddenly, I'm hit with music that sounds extremely loud assaulting my ears. The store smells very strongly, like heavy perfume. I feel like I can't breath. It's too loud and too smelly. The collar of my shirt starts to feel tight around my neck. I feel like I can't move. I don't know how to escape from the way I feel. I curl up in a ball and press my face into my knees, shaking a bit. My eyes are closed tightly, and I hear Reyna yelling for Elle and Taylor. I feel myself being lifted up and then the smell and noise fades. I'm put down on something soft and cushiony. I open my eyes. I am outside the store, sitting on a bench. Taylor is sitting next to me, rubbing my back, while Elle and Reyna are standing in front of me, looking nervous. "Chloe?" Elle asks, a concerned tone to her voice. I nod, not wanting to talk. "Are you alright?"

I take a deep breath, finding my voice. "I think so, yeah." I say. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Taylor tells me. "You didn't do anything wrong, okay? Let's go home." We have a quiet drive and I fall asleep in the car. 

AN: I updated! :D I had a lot of tests this week but now most of them are done so I'll probably be updating more.