heaven / hell

(tw: death, bereavement, unnamed illness)

ALRIGHT so this is my delicate little flower Chloe, she’s pretty much a mess, but she’s making it work, okay? 

She’s from a small, bougie town in Connecticut, which is pretty much the only place she’d ever known up until the point she decided to head West. She was shooting for California because it was literally the polar opposite of Connecticut, but she ran out of money in Nevada, and thus ended up having to pick up work in Vegas. She found something steady at the Blue Moon Diner, and decided it was in her best interest to attempt to settle down there. She still thinks about making it to California though, it’s still her goal. 

The majority of her life she was incredibly sheltered by her family, and the community which she lived in. Bad things rarely happened in Weston; seriously, the closest thing to trauma there is when they run out of finger sandwiches at the Christmas party. Her upbringing was incredibly white-collar for the most part, though her family defintely had less money than those around them. 

She’s the youngest daughter of a homemaker, and partner at a decently successful personal injury law firm. Her only sibling is her older brother, though she doesn’t often speak to him since he skipped town as quickly as he could in the wake of their mother’s death. She still has a special place for him in her heart, but she doesn’t make it know she even has a sibling because she finds him difficult to speak about. She doesn’t readily bring him into conversation without a bit of a fight, or an attempt to brush the subject off. Probably some festering resentment there? She should really work on it.

The point is he shouldn’t have just left without her, but he did. What kind of brother does that? 

Most of her childhood was pretty normal; she had her fair share of friends, kept up certain with after school activities (horseback riding, dance), and maintained decent grades up until her senior year. But she was never anything to write home about, and mostly just blended in with background. That was never really an issue for her, however; she was never overly fond of being the center of attention. She’d avoid it at all costs. 

In the summer before her senior year she lost her mother to sickness, and subsequently her father to grief. He was hard for her to reach before considering he’d wanted another son rather than a daughter, but after the loss of her mother it was damn near impossible for her to even look him in the eyes. He didn’t pass away, but sometimes it felt like he might as well have.

Her grades sort of tanked that year, but she defintely still could have pulled a scholarship to some local, state college– however, by the time she was ready to apply, college had turned from a viable option for her to another dream. Her father lost his stake as partner in his firm about mid-year because he just couldn’t handle the pressure of the job (or anything) anymore. Chloe picked up work at the local Denny’s to help her father pay the bills while he scrambled to apply elsewhere. After a few rejections, it seemed her father’s spirit was entirely broken. 

Chloe couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of responsibility for her father for a long period of time while he was in such a fragile state. It took her years to figure out she was neglecting herself only taking care of him. Still, she couldn’t have possibly imagined leaving him to fend for himself when he was still grieving. So she stayed behind as all her friends went off to school, and as they began their new careers, or went on to graduate school. She was just stagnant. 

It took her father years to recover from her mother’s death, and in all honesty, he’s still not recovered. Though he’s attempted to get back on his feet by taking a simple job at the hardware store in town ringing up shovels, and shit like that (after refusing to go back to legal work, claiming he’d sold his soul to the devil in that business). Him having his own, somewhat steady is the only reason Chloe was able to convince herself to leave town. If she hadn’t known for sure that he could buy himself a few frozen pizzas a week, she’d have never taken off. It took about a year of planning, saving, and a whole lot of repetition of the phrase “mom would want this” for her to finally skip town. It was the middle of the night. She called her dad two hours later at a rest stop in the next state over, but he reluctantly encouraged her to keep going. She thought for sure he’d tell her to turn around. She calls him every week to make sure he’s alive, and paying the phone bill on time. He talks mostly about the tomatoes he’s attempting to grow in mom’s old overgrown garden, and their next door neighbor’s antics. Never about real things. They’ve never been good at communicating their feelings.

Living in Las Vegas has been different (and considerably more expensive) than Chloe anticipated; she’s not a planner. She picked up her waitressing gig at Blue Moon Diner after bouncing around in a few different directions, and she’s quite fond of the place, even if she’s barely making enough money to support herself. 

She’s sweet, but she’s a bit scatter brained as well. The best way I can put it is “she’s trying” tbh.

Defintely makes bomb cookies. 

Has too many sweaters in her closet she can’t wear because she’s from the East Coast. 

OH! And I want all the types of connections. All of ‘em! Platonic, romantic, familial, anything tbh. 

talk to me pls