Taken

Figuring out what to do on a Friday night is not really a priority for me. I was preparing for a night in, all snuggled up in bed… alone.

My distaste for “typical teenage fun” thoroughly disappointed my mom – gosh, I feel like she expects me to be more of a rebel and mess up from time to time. I chuckle, getting rid of the damp white towel that covered my scalp, letting my wet hair down and running my fingers through it as I sat across my vanity mirror. Big, green eyes stare back at me.

While my father’s a celebrated screenwriter, my mother is – or was, back in the day – a TV personality. Yeah, not too shabby, I know. We were the sparkly version of the american dream – I mean, to have a mom and dad like mine could probably be some girls’ wet dream. Invitations to premieres and more or less exclusive parties, famous friends in our phone book.

I had recoiled from that all my life.

I really don’t want to be the family’s next star. My two older sisters were everything my mother thought was ideal – they were bright, young, beautiful women, and they didn’t really mind being seen by the public, as both of them do something to do with spotlights for a living...

And being seen isn’t really my thing.

Amelia is the oldest out of the three of us. She loved being a part of the celebrity circle – Mia always made sure she made her mark somewhere, or to someone. She had always been precocious, sophisticated... And slightly shrewd. She probably didn’t care about using father and mother’s contacts to achieve her purposes – and now, she was out there, acting, her name on the big screens all over the world.

Elena’s the second daughter, and probably the one I’m actually friends with. She resembles mother’s figure the most, and being the most easygoing sister, she’s mom’s favorite daughter by far – even though you wouldn’t get mother to admit it.

To be fair, it is difficult not to love Lena – she is bubbly, talkative, extroverted, big hearted. When we went to school together, everyone remembered me as Lena’s baby sister, forgetting I do have an actual name – yeah, I’m Angelina, nice to meet you, thanks, bye. That used to be my line when some dude came up to me asking about Elena’s number all like “Yo, Lena’s baby sister! Whattup!”

That was a quickfire way to make me puke.

Little did they know, Lena actually likes girl on girl action. I chuckled.

Thinking about it, I feel like Elena was also the bravest. She did her own thing. She didn’t work in the filmmaking industry like dad or Mia, but she did manage to be in the spotlight by becoming a bit of a fashion and beauty personality.

But what matters is that when it comes to Lena, I know I can open up to her more than I ever could with Mia. Maybe that’s due to us being only a few years apart in age? I mean, Mia is way older than us, already 29 years old, and Elena is only 20, while I’m 17, going on 18.

Right now, I kind of miss Elena. She’s definitely the one who actually feels like a sister – sweet, warm and affectionate. But I couldn’t really be with her anymore, not since she moved to New York with her girlfriend Poppy, who worked in advertising. Even though I frequently missed Lena, it’s nice to know she’s doing her thing – working, studying, loving, having fun.

Maybe one day, that could be me – fitting in somewhere, belonging. Living by my own standards.