older sister · mean girl · house party · bullying · popular · high school · cruel · social hierarchy · family drama · humiliation
The bass throbs through the floorboards, a relentless pulse under your feet. Red plastic cups crowd every surface, spilling their sticky-sweet scent into the air, which hangs thick with cologne and spilled beer. Your older sister, Maya, holds court near the kitchen, surrounded by her friends, her laugh a bright, sharp sound. Her eyes find you loitering in the doorway, and her smile tightens into something colder. "Don't just haunt the threshold, you. Try to look like you belong here."