When most people turn sixteen, they celebrate by having a party and getting together with about a hundred of their "closest" friends. Chloe King, however, celebrated by developing weird feline abilities, dying for the first time, and learning that the people she thought were her parents weren't really her parents at all.
Sounds a little odd, right?
Apparently, the general public agreed. When "The Nine Lives of Chloe King" aired for one season in 2011, it was received only moderately well. In comparison to ABC Family's other shows at the time (RIP ABC Family), such as "Switched at Birth," viewership was certainly low, leading to its cancellation after only one season on the air.
Having read the novel "The Nine Lives of Chloe King" by Liz Braswell prior to the show's conception, I quickly became an avid viewer. Sure, the plot was a little cheesy and had been altered quite drastically from the book, however my 12-year-old self loved it nonetheless.
I became fixated on wanting to be like Chloe King, played by Skyler Samuels. I made lists of items I needed to buy in order to mimic her style. She was an employee at a thrift shop, so I suddenly developed an affinity for thrift shops, although I never actually went to one. I bought new hair products in an attempt to mimic her curly hair, as well as altering my entire wardrobe. Chloe drove as Kia Soul, so it suddenly became my dream car. Apparently, the not-so-subtle product placement worked wonders on me.
Benjamin Stone, who played one of Chloe's two love interests, quickly became my celebrity crush. I vividly remember doodling "I <3 Ben Stone" in the margins of my notebooks and on the whiteboard in my bedroom. To this day, I still follow him on Instagram, and I'll even admit to having majorly fangirled when he recently liked one of my comments on his photo. Seriously, I'm 18 and still freaked out.
As you can probably tell by now, I was majorly obsessed. Somehow, this show had taken over my life.
When the conclusion of the first season came, it ended on a huge cliffhanger. I patiently awaited the episode in order to find out the results of this situation. Instead of gaining clarity, however, something much more horrible occurred.
"The Nine Lives of Chloe King" was cancelled.
I probably sound crazy - rambling on about a TV show cancelled six years ago. However, this show came at a pivotal point in my life. At the age of 12, I was only just coming of age and exploring my own identity. Rather than find my own, however, I decided to try to mimic Chloe's. When this show was cancelled, my inspiration was suddenly ripped out from under me without so much of a movie to clarify the ending. Seriously, still waiting on that movie...
I joined all of the "Bring Back TNLOCK" Facebook pages and became an avid poster. Despite my best efforts, I wasn't able to resurrect my favorite show.
To this day, I'm still not over it. This was the first real "fandom" I was a part of. The first show I felt the need to watch religiously every single week. The first characters I really, truly fell in love with.
Although it gets better over time, I will never truly get over the cancellation of "The Nine Lives of Chloe King."
