A Sister's Drama

Chloe had seen that look before. Her sister, Mia, was usually exasperating because of something she did or a perceived wrong against her. However, this time, Chloe detected that her sister might just be the wrong party. God knew the girl didn't need to go looking for trouble; it always had a way of finding her.

Mia's brown curly hair was a rumpled mess, and her puffy, bloodshot eyes, which she tried to hide behind a thick layer of foundation and ugly sunglasses, were a dead giveaway.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked, stepping aside to let her sister into her house.

"It's Steve," she uttered, moving to the sofa and thrusting herself into it.

Mia always had a flair for the dramatic. Steve was Mia's on-again, off-again pain in the ass, worthless boyfriend, though Chloe never told her she despised the leech.

Mia yanked the sunglasses from her face and tossed them aside on the brown cushion beside her before sitting forward and resting her hands in her lap.

"Why does this always happen to me?" She cried.

Chloe surmised they were off again, and the jerk packed his bags and moved out. It was their relationship pattern and a damn destructive one at that. Chloe didn't want to jump to conclusions, so she pretended she didn't know what was happening.

"What happened?" Chloe asked again, sitting in the chair across from her.

"I told him I needed more, that I wasn't going to sit around waiting for him to step up." Mia got to her feet and paced the room.

"Good for you." It was a long time before her sister stood up for herself.

"Ugh. I knew you'd say that. Well, you know what he did?" She asked, her anger rising along with her voice. "He left!"

A trickle of sadness washed over Chloe, but she knew Mia's relationship issues were nothing new. Chloe couldn't count how many times they had this same conversation. Different man, same outcome.

"I'm sorry, Mia." Maybe It's for the best. It definitely was, but she wouldn't say that to her now.

"You always say that, and it's because you have Tristan. You don't know what it's like to constantly search for Mr. Right." Mia went back to the couch and plopped down.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Chloe started, "but did you ever stop to think that was the problem?"

Mia's gray eyes turned cold as she stared across the room.

Chloe knew enough to wait as her words sunk into her sister's mind.

"I'm not like you. I can't just snap my fingers and dream the perfect guy into fruition."

"Whoa, first, that's not true. Second, if you are constantly searching, you may be missing what's right in front of you.

Mia pondered that, clasping her hands and staring at the floor before bursting into tears. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I find someone who loves me instead of all these losers who use me?"

Chloe felt her sister's heartbreak and her mind filled with turmoil. She trembled, trying to put a barrier between her sister's emotions and herself. Being an empath sometimes left her overwhelmed with emptiness and extreme emotions that didn't belong to her.

"You have a big heart; that's not necessarily bad."

Mia swiped at the tears with the back of her hand and sniffed. "It's like I have an X on me alerting men that I'm a sucker for a sob story."

Chloe sighed. She understood where her sister was coming from. The problem was, Mia had always been that way: very trusting, sometimes to the point of being gullible. Chloe stood and sat beside Mia, draping her arm over her shoulder.

"Listen, why don't you stay for dinner and maybe as we figure out where you go from here."

Mia shook her head. "The last thing I need is having the perfect couple shoved in my face." She stood, moving toward the front door.

If Chloe didn't know any better, she'd think her sister was jealous of her. As the thoughts wormed their way into her mind, a burning sensation filled her chest, and she looked up at her sister, those cold gray eyes staring back at her.

"Look, I know you are only trying to help," Mia said, "but I don't think you're in a position to understand where I'm coming from. Go back to your happy life, Chloe, I'll be fine."

With that, her sister stormed out the door, leaving Chloe on the couch with her jaw hanging open.

"What in the hell was that all about?' she muttered.

Chloe didn't think she'd ever understand her sister, and it was clear that Mia didn't understand her at all. Mia knew better than anyone how difficult it was for Chloe to build a relationship with Tristan and how much they'd struggled to get to this happy life Mia threw at her.

Chloe shook her head, stood, and closed the front door, resting her back against it. She wondered where she and Mia would go from here, knowing her sister would be back in a few days to cry, ask for help, or brag about getting back together with Steve.

WC: 864


Written for: "Paranormal Romance Course 101 Classroom" 
Prompt: Write a short story about your POV character that occurred before the timeline of your story. This story should give you further insight into the character you hadn't learned from last week's questions. These insights might explain why, for example, your heroine has difficulty processing physical intimacy such as being held and hugged. You don't need to use this example--you may choose a different one.