Chapter 24
The phone rang, mercilessly, the unending rings piercing my ears. Finally I unplugged it. Within seconds, my cell phone picked up the tune, vibrating from my bedside table. After a few minutes I reached over to pick it up. The number was unfamiliar. I answered it.
“What?” I asked, forcefully, finger ready on the ‘end call’ button.
“My God, what does it take for you to answer the phone these days?” Malia’s voice rang out. I burst into tears. “Soph, oh Soph, don’t cry, I didn’t mean for you to get upset.”
“I’m not. It’s just that your one of the only people who I genuinely wouldn’t want to snap at but you’re the one I did!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not about to get mad at you for your tone of voice. Hey, so I heard you had confined yourself to your house and were refusing to talk to anyone.”
“That’s the plan.” I said dully.
“Cool, good for you. Wanna’ come over and watch a movie or something? My family’s all here and my mom is making dinner. We could stay up all night and watch Casablanca or something.” I smiled. Malia was so cheerful. I couldn’t say no to her, not after she kept my secret.
“Yeah, I’ll be over in a little bit.” I said, hanging up. I threw on some jeans and a tee shirt and grabbed my purse. I walked quickly down the steps. “Mom!” I called out randomly. “I going to Malia’s for dinner. Don’t wait up I’ll probably stay over.”
“Wait!” she called out. I paused. “Wait sweetie, where are you going?” she hissed at me.
“I’m going to Malia’s. Call Mrs. Lewis if you don’t believe me. I’m not running away again, don’t worry.” I stormed off and jumped into my Jetta. I drove the familiar roads towards the Lewis’ house. When I pulled up there were no valet’s, no parking lot, just one long driveway. I parked off to the side and walked up to the door. Malia had it open before I could even knock. She pulled me into a bear hug and I squeezed back with all my might. “I missed you Lia.”
A few hours and several Ben and Jerry’s ice cream carton’s later, Casablanca played as I explained to Malia and Mrs. Lewis what happened. Malia looked shocked at everything. She had never had this sort of thing happen to anyone she knew. Vivian Lewis just smiled and nodded.
“I knew you hadn’t been kidnapped.” She said, her red hair bouncing as she shifted her weight. “It reminded me so much of when I ran away from home.” I looked at her questioningly. “One day I just left. I had a bad childhood and couldn’t take it anymore. I met a girl who took me in and taught me to take care of myself.” She looked a little sheepish. “And by that I mean we were prostitutes.” Malia screamed.
“What? I knew you ran away and lived on your own and all, but you never told me that.” Vivian nodded.
“Yeah, well I was and I was doing just fine when a young man pulled up in a beautiful car. I got in to ‘give him directions’.” She added air quoted to the words. “He hired me to be his escort to a few events for his job.” She shrugged, smiling. “What can I say, we fell in love and got married. We had two kids and lived happily ever after.” I smiled back. “Well, after a few fights of course.” She grinned at Malia who rolled her eyes. I thought for a moment. A fight, which was all this was, with me and Emmett. That didn’t mean we couldn’t be as happy as Vivian and Edward. I sighed. I missed him so much. I was still angry, but I also wanted him here with me as I dealt with all this ridiculous drama.
“What?” I asked, forcefully, finger ready on the ‘end call’ button.
“My God, what does it take for you to answer the phone these days?” Malia’s voice rang out. I burst into tears. “Soph, oh Soph, don’t cry, I didn’t mean for you to get upset.”
“I’m not. It’s just that your one of the only people who I genuinely wouldn’t want to snap at but you’re the one I did!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not about to get mad at you for your tone of voice. Hey, so I heard you had confined yourself to your house and were refusing to talk to anyone.”
“That’s the plan.” I said dully.
“Cool, good for you. Wanna’ come over and watch a movie or something? My family’s all here and my mom is making dinner. We could stay up all night and watch Casablanca or something.” I smiled. Malia was so cheerful. I couldn’t say no to her, not after she kept my secret.
“Yeah, I’ll be over in a little bit.” I said, hanging up. I threw on some jeans and a tee shirt and grabbed my purse. I walked quickly down the steps. “Mom!” I called out randomly. “I going to Malia’s for dinner. Don’t wait up I’ll probably stay over.”
“Wait!” she called out. I paused. “Wait sweetie, where are you going?” she hissed at me.
“I’m going to Malia’s. Call Mrs. Lewis if you don’t believe me. I’m not running away again, don’t worry.” I stormed off and jumped into my Jetta. I drove the familiar roads towards the Lewis’ house. When I pulled up there were no valet’s, no parking lot, just one long driveway. I parked off to the side and walked up to the door. Malia had it open before I could even knock. She pulled me into a bear hug and I squeezed back with all my might. “I missed you Lia.”
A few hours and several Ben and Jerry’s ice cream carton’s later, Casablanca played as I explained to Malia and Mrs. Lewis what happened. Malia looked shocked at everything. She had never had this sort of thing happen to anyone she knew. Vivian Lewis just smiled and nodded.
“I knew you hadn’t been kidnapped.” She said, her red hair bouncing as she shifted her weight. “It reminded me so much of when I ran away from home.” I looked at her questioningly. “One day I just left. I had a bad childhood and couldn’t take it anymore. I met a girl who took me in and taught me to take care of myself.” She looked a little sheepish. “And by that I mean we were prostitutes.” Malia screamed.
“What? I knew you ran away and lived on your own and all, but you never told me that.” Vivian nodded.
“Yeah, well I was and I was doing just fine when a young man pulled up in a beautiful car. I got in to ‘give him directions’.” She added air quoted to the words. “He hired me to be his escort to a few events for his job.” She shrugged, smiling. “What can I say, we fell in love and got married. We had two kids and lived happily ever after.” I smiled back. “Well, after a few fights of course.” She grinned at Malia who rolled her eyes. I thought for a moment. A fight, which was all this was, with me and Emmett. That didn’t mean we couldn’t be as happy as Vivian and Edward. I sighed. I missed him so much. I was still angry, but I also wanted him here with me as I dealt with all this ridiculous drama.
Chapter 25
I sat on the ornate wooden chair, smiling, nodding, shaking hands, and acting again. It killed me to have to act again, to have to pretend that all the lies my mother had spewed across the town were true. Only in Laguna Beach would a “returned kidnap victim” (me) because to throw a black tie ball gown affair. I glanced around, looking at the people my parents had gathered near me, schoolmates, politicians, people of importance at Harvard, a few women from the Miss America pageant, and my family. At least part of my family, my father was nowhere to be seen. Crystal’s smile, gleaming from the left of the staircase, was so fake and there was an obvious hate lurking behind her overdone face. I saw Luke, a blonde on his left and a brunette on his right. His smug eyes were paired with a “look what you could have had” smile. I looked away, ignoring him.
The rest of my old friends looked genuinely happy to see me home again, as did the rest of the people gathered here to watch my reentrance into high class society. My head ached, I wanted some tea but my mother refused to let me leave the room. I was starving, my mother attempting to make me look skinnier, as if I had been mistreated. People quietly talked at tables set up around the edge of the ballroom, eating appetizers, laughs slipping through the quiet curtain that hung awkwardly in the air. I missed my life. I missed my job, my friends and as much as I hated to admit it, I missed Emmett. Slowly, I had come to realize that he had done what he had to protect me, and as much as I wished he hadn’t, I would have done the same for him. I ran our last conversation through my mind, not even noticing the people whose hands I shook or whom hugged me. Finally, sick of the charade, I stood up. My mother’s hand was almost instantly on my arm. I smiled down sweetly.
“I have to go to the bathroom, Mommy.” She nodded.
“Of course, honey.” She had something steely in her cold, ice blue eyes that cut into my heart like a sword. I walked towards the bathroom but just before I turned and snuck into the kitchen instead, I felt a hand on my shoulder. After quickly composing a fake smile, I spun around and stepped into Crystal’s open arms. We made small talk and after a few minutes of auto pilot, I said something that made her laugh. It was a pure, golden sound, so reminiscent of Emmett that I almost cried out. I quickly excused myself, motioning towards the bathroom. Crystal smiled, hugged me again, and joined the havoc of the dance floor. I finally made it to the kitchen and sat down at the island. The cooks turned and smiled at me, continuing to their work.
“Got any Ben and Jerry’s?” I asked them. A younger, red-haired man smiled at me, and tossed me a spoon. He walked to the freezer and stuck his head in.
“We got Chunky Monkey, Peanut Butter Cup, or this fruity Fro-Yo thing.” He said briefly.
“Peanut Butter Cup, please.” He passed me the pint and I dug in. I heard someone enter behind me, but I kept eating.
“Can I get one of those, too?” a deep voice asked. I spun around.
“Dad.” I said simply. He smiled gently.
“Hey Soph,” I pulled out the chair next to mine and he sat down. The ginger opened the freezer again and called out, “We only have Chunky Monkey and a fruity Fro-Yo thing left.”
“Chunky Monkey, thanks.” He smiled. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had ice cream?” he asked. We sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Then out of nowhere he blurted out uncomfortably, “Soph, I’m sorry to put you through this.” I looked up. “I know you don’t want to be here, don’t get me wrong, you look beautiful. But I’m really sorry, I’m really sorry about this about not being home a lot, about letting your mom control us, but mostly about not being a father to you.” I leaned over and held him in my arms. He was shaking gently and I realized that he was crying. I think this was the most he had ever said to me at one time in years. When I pulled away I noticed the tears in my own eyes.
“You did what you thought was right daddy.” I said, forgiving everything, “and I love you.” He smiled and held open his arms I stood up and hugged him.
“Like I said though, I’m sorry, which is why I think I should get you a present.” I wrinkled my forehead. He was smiling broadly. He suddenly was looking at something behind me. I slowly turned my head and what I saw made me so happy, so ecstatic that I burst into a fresh round of tears.
There in front of me was the most beautiful of sights I had ever seen. Lulu stood there in jeans and a splatter paint tee, but more importantly, she stood there, in my kitchen, safe, beautiful, and all mine. We simultaneously rushed forward and I enveloped her in my arms. We both cried and within seconds my mother rushed in.
“Sophie are you okay? I heard a scream-” she broke off when she saw Lulu. “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming here!” she exclaimed. For the first time since I knew her, Lulu looked a little scared. My mother pulled out her cell phone. “I am calling the police, and when they get here you are going to be locked up for good.” Lulu stepped back a little, but my father and I stepped forward at the same time. I walked to my mother’s side and lifted my hand, my only thought to slap that smug look off her face, her knowing what had happened to me and still being able to lie to everyone and frame my only friend. She grabbed my hand, furious. She lifted her own hand as if to slap me. My father took that moment to rip her cell phone away from her. She paused and gasped, looking up at him. “James! What are you doing?” she exclaimed.
“If you hit our daughter, I am turning you out on the streets, as poor as you were when you left Mississippi!” he said forcefully. Her hand instantly lowered. “We all know that Sophie ran away for some reason, which I am inclined to believe that you not only knew about but covered up from me. I invited Lulu and her family here and they will be more than respected, and we will be eternally grateful for them taking in our daughter and taking care of her.”
“Working at a strip club? That’s what you call taking care of her?” my mother had found her voice again. “They made her live in a dumpy apartment, and work her rent!” my father shook his head.
“Silence Lisa or I swear you will regret hurting our daughter like this.” I grabbed Lulu’s hand and we slowly backed away from the scene. We made it out of the kitchen, my mother and father still locked away in battle. When we got out I hugged her again.
“Greg and Corey are here?” I asked. She nodded and they appeared behind her, dressed a thousand times more casual than my mother had allowed me to be. I burst into a fresh round of tears, drawing strange looks from everyone around me. We hugged each other and tried to catch up in a matter of seconds, speaking at a thousand miles a minute. My mother stalked out of the kitchen, off to rant about her family to her friends, and my father walked over to join our group. He held out his hand to Corey, introducing himself.
“We haven’t officially met; I’m James, Sophie’s father.” Corey shook his hand.
“Corey, thank you so much for inviting us here, we’ve really missed Sophie!” my father smiled and the two of them began getting to know each other, slowly walking away from us. Greg, Lulu and I all looked at each other and then simultaneously rushed into another group hug.
“Come on, I have to get out of this dress, I feel completely ridiculous.” I said. Lulu snorted.
“You look ridiculous,” she and Greg said at the same time. I rolled my eyes as they laughed at me. I dragged them up the stairs and to my room. I pulled open my closet doors and Greg gasped. “I know, right?” Lulu, told him “We could fit both our rooms in there.”
“Please, feel free to move in.” I told them. I pulled out my darkest blue skinny jeans, a fringed tee shirt I had made from an old dance camp shirt, and my black lace up boots. I shut myself in my closet and changed while Lulu and Greg bickered about who got my closet and who got my bathroom. I stepped out.
“Why don’t you just take the guest rooms?” they looked at me.
“Dibs the green one!” Lulu called out. Greg looked at me panicked.
“Is there something wrong with the other one?” he asked me.
“No,” I laughed, “I’ll let you pick from the other ones before your dad, okay?” I said.
“Wait, you have more than two guest rooms?” I nodded. I looked at the look of incredulity on his face and then at Lulu. We burst out laughing.
“Seriously, can I move in with you?” he asked.
“Wow, aren’t we rushing things a bit, we haven’t even made our relationship official yet, Greg!” I joked. “Come on guys, let’s get out of here.” I was happier than I’d been since I’d gotten back here, we were almost to the door, and our freedom when my mother stepped in front of us.
“And just where do you think you’re going, Sophie?” she hissed at me, grabbing my forearm so tightly I flinched. Greg took an indignant step forward.
“I think you should let go of her now, Mrs. Tristan.” He said, gruffly. I tried to pull away but her grip was like iron.
“I don’t think so, missy. You and your father have ruined my party and you somehow ruined my relationship with,” she paused looking around her, “a friend.” She said lightly, noticing a few neighbors, standing nearby.
“I ruined your relationship?” I hissed back. “Well he ruined my life with your help, so if you don’t mind, I am going to go and try to fix what the two of you have done to me.” I managed to pull away for a second but she grabbed my hand.
“Look, Lauren, Gabe, I am going to borrow Sophie for a minute, mother to daughter talk here.” They moved to follow us but I shook my head.
“It’s Lulu and Greg, mom, and you have two minutes, okay?” we walked out to the terrace behind glass doors, only our words hidden from the guests.
“We’ve given you everything, we put food on the table, we got you great clothes, great schools, great friends and you throw it all away because sometimes life is a little unpleasant?” she shook my shoulders, “So you had to go through a little pain, well let me tell you, sometimes you have to sacrifice things to be happy, to make other people happy, do you ever think about other people? About your family?” I looked at my mother, the woman I had all but taken care of, when she was drunk, which was constantly, the woman who I had let control my life, telling me that sometimes I had to do unpleasant things to be happy. I pulled myself out of her grip.
“But I wasn’t happy. I hated it here, I had no family, no real friends, everything was superficial, and I was raped by my mother’s boyfriend!” I hissed back at her. She put her hands over her ears.
“Don’t use that word, Sophie Marie, its vulgar and crude. And don’t try to tell me you were happy working in a strip club, living in a tiny apartment with trashy poor people,” I was fuming at her treatment of this situation. Did she ever think about people’s feelings? Or did she really believe that money made people happy and that all of her actions were vilified? “And your little boyfriend, don’t even get me started. He’s twenty seven, Sophie! Your friend’s father told me!” she yelled out. “He’s far too old, and is only using you to get to your money! You are never to see him, or contact him again! I will find out who he is and get a restraining order on him if I have to! Do you understand me? I will allow your poor friend because I know your father has taken some liking to her. Maybe I can pay her to give him a lap dance and then she might leave us alone.” I slapped her as hard as I could. She staggered back. “Sophie!”
“You bitch!” I screamed. I saw people begin to edge closer and closer to the doors. “Don’t talk about them like that! How dare you judge them, how dare you think that lowly of Lulu, she did what she had to do so that she can go to college, get an education, and not have to be a trophy wife from the middle of nowhere like you!” I fumed; my mother slowly was walking backwards. “They took me in and took care of me, fed me, clothed me, gave me shelter, a sanctuary when you ignored the fact that your boyfriend had stolen our possessions and raped me! You wouldn’t hear a bit of it, defended him, suggest that I could get a few jewels back if I let it continue. And while you worked on your public image, you knew exactly where I was, just waiting for the right moment to frame my friends. How dare you talk about E-” I broke off, realizing just in time that I was about to give something away, “him that way? You don’t know anything about any of that? He saved my life, he doesn’t need my money, he has enough of his own, and you know what else, Lisa?” her retreat was halted as she ran into a garden bench. “I’m in love with him.” I turned around and stalked back to the house. Suddenly a hand was pulling me back, I turned ready to strike at my mother again, but it was Emmett. My breath caught in my throat and I tried to say something. My mother pulled me away from him, still ranting.
“You’ve ruined everything Sophie! Are you happy now! You’re so obsessed with being happy, are you happy that you’ve ruined my life?” she screamed at me. I saw Lulu flinch out of the corner or my eye.
“You know what, I might just be.” I said. “Besides Lisa,” I told her, “someone once told me that you have to make sacrifices to make others happy. I’ve made mine, and now it’s your turn.” I turned around and stalked off towards Emmett, the ever growing crowd behind him looking on astonished. The whispers against my mother started, and as much as I wanted this, as much as I had dreamed of this day, when she would be exposed but I still pitied her. Then Emmet looked into my eyes and it took over my entire mind. I couldn’t look away, could barely think. He consumed my thoughts, and took over my focus. He looked like an angel, his blonde hair shinning in the sun; I could see a single tear rolling down his cheek. We stopped and stared at each other, like two statues in the midst of the storm that was brewing behind us. As if in a distant room I could hear yelling all around me, people walking everywhere, fighting, taking sides, and arguing about what they had heard. I saw Crystal walking towards her brother, stepping in-between us. I craned my neck, stumbling forward, trying to see his face again.
I looked around frantically but in the hysteria I had lost him. All of a sudden Lulu stepped forward, dragging Greg, who had recently been shoved into a random sports coat and who looked completely confused. Lulu grabbed Crystal and shoved Greg towards her. At first, Crystal looked disgusted, until Lulu whispered something in her ear, all of a sudden Crystal’s eyes lit up and Greg slowly pulled her to the side. People began to quiet down, the crowds parting, and there he was. He was all I could focus on, my own home could burst in flames or fly away, torn out of the ground by a tornado and I wouldn’t have been able to look away from his face. We slowly walked closer and closer to each other, stopping a few yards away. I felt a drop of water on my cheek and I realized I was crying.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed to him.
“Me too.” He mouthed back. I slowly smiled. I took a step forward but suddenly, someone’s hand was on my shoulder and the eyes of the boy in front of me went cold. I tore myself away from Emmett and looked to my side. Luke’s hand was pulling me back, his arm wrapping around my shoulder. I glared at him. He didn’t honestly think that there had been something between us, did he?
“Come on sugar, don’t worry about the date, I can forgive you. We can go back to the way it was.” He said casually. I raised my eyebrows.
“Really?” I asked him, ripping out of his grip, “Go to Hell Luke.” I pushed him off me and ran to my best friend. He was waiting, grin on his face; I leaped into his arms and kissed his sunny smile. After a few seconds Emmett set me down, but kept me firmly in his arms. I looked at him quizzically.
“I love you, too Sophie.” He whispered in my ear.
“I’m so, so, sorry. I shouldn’t have blamed you, I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. It wasn’t fair, I shouldn’t have asked you to do that for me, and I’m so-” his lips cut mine off.
“No, Sophie, I’s my fault, I knew what you wanted, I could have taken you somewhere else, somewhere that wouldn’t have need you to contact them all, I just, I couldn’t lose you Soph,” the tears began dropping out of his sky blue eyes once more, “I’m not sorry for what I did, I will never be sorry for that,” he took a deep breath, “but I am sorry for hurting you and brining you back here.”
“No, no, Em, it’s okay. I forgive you.” I looked into his eyes, “I love you, and I shouldn’t have said-” he cut my sentence off again.
“Please, please, let’s not talk about it, let’s leave the past in the past, I forgave you for saying it the moment you did, but it’s too painful, don’t let me think about that.” I nodded. He picked me back up and spun me around. It could have been few moments, or a few hours, either way it was too short. Aware of the eyes, spying into our moment together, we pulled apart. Lulu, mending the awkward moment, rushed forward and threw her arms around us both.
“I’m so happy you guys are together again.” Her eyes flashed mischievously, “I so called this.” She said. We all laughed and Emmett, with me in his right arm and Lulu in his left, walked off towards the gate. Just before he opened the car door he turned to me.
“So tell me, what happens after the beautiful princess is rescued by the dashing prince?” Emmett asked me. I grinned, planting a big kiss on his lips.
“She rescues him right back.”
The rest of my old friends looked genuinely happy to see me home again, as did the rest of the people gathered here to watch my reentrance into high class society. My head ached, I wanted some tea but my mother refused to let me leave the room. I was starving, my mother attempting to make me look skinnier, as if I had been mistreated. People quietly talked at tables set up around the edge of the ballroom, eating appetizers, laughs slipping through the quiet curtain that hung awkwardly in the air. I missed my life. I missed my job, my friends and as much as I hated to admit it, I missed Emmett. Slowly, I had come to realize that he had done what he had to protect me, and as much as I wished he hadn’t, I would have done the same for him. I ran our last conversation through my mind, not even noticing the people whose hands I shook or whom hugged me. Finally, sick of the charade, I stood up. My mother’s hand was almost instantly on my arm. I smiled down sweetly.
“I have to go to the bathroom, Mommy.” She nodded.
“Of course, honey.” She had something steely in her cold, ice blue eyes that cut into my heart like a sword. I walked towards the bathroom but just before I turned and snuck into the kitchen instead, I felt a hand on my shoulder. After quickly composing a fake smile, I spun around and stepped into Crystal’s open arms. We made small talk and after a few minutes of auto pilot, I said something that made her laugh. It was a pure, golden sound, so reminiscent of Emmett that I almost cried out. I quickly excused myself, motioning towards the bathroom. Crystal smiled, hugged me again, and joined the havoc of the dance floor. I finally made it to the kitchen and sat down at the island. The cooks turned and smiled at me, continuing to their work.
“Got any Ben and Jerry’s?” I asked them. A younger, red-haired man smiled at me, and tossed me a spoon. He walked to the freezer and stuck his head in.
“We got Chunky Monkey, Peanut Butter Cup, or this fruity Fro-Yo thing.” He said briefly.
“Peanut Butter Cup, please.” He passed me the pint and I dug in. I heard someone enter behind me, but I kept eating.
“Can I get one of those, too?” a deep voice asked. I spun around.
“Dad.” I said simply. He smiled gently.
“Hey Soph,” I pulled out the chair next to mine and he sat down. The ginger opened the freezer again and called out, “We only have Chunky Monkey and a fruity Fro-Yo thing left.”
“Chunky Monkey, thanks.” He smiled. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had ice cream?” he asked. We sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Then out of nowhere he blurted out uncomfortably, “Soph, I’m sorry to put you through this.” I looked up. “I know you don’t want to be here, don’t get me wrong, you look beautiful. But I’m really sorry, I’m really sorry about this about not being home a lot, about letting your mom control us, but mostly about not being a father to you.” I leaned over and held him in my arms. He was shaking gently and I realized that he was crying. I think this was the most he had ever said to me at one time in years. When I pulled away I noticed the tears in my own eyes.
“You did what you thought was right daddy.” I said, forgiving everything, “and I love you.” He smiled and held open his arms I stood up and hugged him.
“Like I said though, I’m sorry, which is why I think I should get you a present.” I wrinkled my forehead. He was smiling broadly. He suddenly was looking at something behind me. I slowly turned my head and what I saw made me so happy, so ecstatic that I burst into a fresh round of tears.
There in front of me was the most beautiful of sights I had ever seen. Lulu stood there in jeans and a splatter paint tee, but more importantly, she stood there, in my kitchen, safe, beautiful, and all mine. We simultaneously rushed forward and I enveloped her in my arms. We both cried and within seconds my mother rushed in.
“Sophie are you okay? I heard a scream-” she broke off when she saw Lulu. “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming here!” she exclaimed. For the first time since I knew her, Lulu looked a little scared. My mother pulled out her cell phone. “I am calling the police, and when they get here you are going to be locked up for good.” Lulu stepped back a little, but my father and I stepped forward at the same time. I walked to my mother’s side and lifted my hand, my only thought to slap that smug look off her face, her knowing what had happened to me and still being able to lie to everyone and frame my only friend. She grabbed my hand, furious. She lifted her own hand as if to slap me. My father took that moment to rip her cell phone away from her. She paused and gasped, looking up at him. “James! What are you doing?” she exclaimed.
“If you hit our daughter, I am turning you out on the streets, as poor as you were when you left Mississippi!” he said forcefully. Her hand instantly lowered. “We all know that Sophie ran away for some reason, which I am inclined to believe that you not only knew about but covered up from me. I invited Lulu and her family here and they will be more than respected, and we will be eternally grateful for them taking in our daughter and taking care of her.”
“Working at a strip club? That’s what you call taking care of her?” my mother had found her voice again. “They made her live in a dumpy apartment, and work her rent!” my father shook his head.
“Silence Lisa or I swear you will regret hurting our daughter like this.” I grabbed Lulu’s hand and we slowly backed away from the scene. We made it out of the kitchen, my mother and father still locked away in battle. When we got out I hugged her again.
“Greg and Corey are here?” I asked. She nodded and they appeared behind her, dressed a thousand times more casual than my mother had allowed me to be. I burst into a fresh round of tears, drawing strange looks from everyone around me. We hugged each other and tried to catch up in a matter of seconds, speaking at a thousand miles a minute. My mother stalked out of the kitchen, off to rant about her family to her friends, and my father walked over to join our group. He held out his hand to Corey, introducing himself.
“We haven’t officially met; I’m James, Sophie’s father.” Corey shook his hand.
“Corey, thank you so much for inviting us here, we’ve really missed Sophie!” my father smiled and the two of them began getting to know each other, slowly walking away from us. Greg, Lulu and I all looked at each other and then simultaneously rushed into another group hug.
“Come on, I have to get out of this dress, I feel completely ridiculous.” I said. Lulu snorted.
“You look ridiculous,” she and Greg said at the same time. I rolled my eyes as they laughed at me. I dragged them up the stairs and to my room. I pulled open my closet doors and Greg gasped. “I know, right?” Lulu, told him “We could fit both our rooms in there.”
“Please, feel free to move in.” I told them. I pulled out my darkest blue skinny jeans, a fringed tee shirt I had made from an old dance camp shirt, and my black lace up boots. I shut myself in my closet and changed while Lulu and Greg bickered about who got my closet and who got my bathroom. I stepped out.
“Why don’t you just take the guest rooms?” they looked at me.
“Dibs the green one!” Lulu called out. Greg looked at me panicked.
“Is there something wrong with the other one?” he asked me.
“No,” I laughed, “I’ll let you pick from the other ones before your dad, okay?” I said.
“Wait, you have more than two guest rooms?” I nodded. I looked at the look of incredulity on his face and then at Lulu. We burst out laughing.
“Seriously, can I move in with you?” he asked.
“Wow, aren’t we rushing things a bit, we haven’t even made our relationship official yet, Greg!” I joked. “Come on guys, let’s get out of here.” I was happier than I’d been since I’d gotten back here, we were almost to the door, and our freedom when my mother stepped in front of us.
“And just where do you think you’re going, Sophie?” she hissed at me, grabbing my forearm so tightly I flinched. Greg took an indignant step forward.
“I think you should let go of her now, Mrs. Tristan.” He said, gruffly. I tried to pull away but her grip was like iron.
“I don’t think so, missy. You and your father have ruined my party and you somehow ruined my relationship with,” she paused looking around her, “a friend.” She said lightly, noticing a few neighbors, standing nearby.
“I ruined your relationship?” I hissed back. “Well he ruined my life with your help, so if you don’t mind, I am going to go and try to fix what the two of you have done to me.” I managed to pull away for a second but she grabbed my hand.
“Look, Lauren, Gabe, I am going to borrow Sophie for a minute, mother to daughter talk here.” They moved to follow us but I shook my head.
“It’s Lulu and Greg, mom, and you have two minutes, okay?” we walked out to the terrace behind glass doors, only our words hidden from the guests.
“We’ve given you everything, we put food on the table, we got you great clothes, great schools, great friends and you throw it all away because sometimes life is a little unpleasant?” she shook my shoulders, “So you had to go through a little pain, well let me tell you, sometimes you have to sacrifice things to be happy, to make other people happy, do you ever think about other people? About your family?” I looked at my mother, the woman I had all but taken care of, when she was drunk, which was constantly, the woman who I had let control my life, telling me that sometimes I had to do unpleasant things to be happy. I pulled myself out of her grip.
“But I wasn’t happy. I hated it here, I had no family, no real friends, everything was superficial, and I was raped by my mother’s boyfriend!” I hissed back at her. She put her hands over her ears.
“Don’t use that word, Sophie Marie, its vulgar and crude. And don’t try to tell me you were happy working in a strip club, living in a tiny apartment with trashy poor people,” I was fuming at her treatment of this situation. Did she ever think about people’s feelings? Or did she really believe that money made people happy and that all of her actions were vilified? “And your little boyfriend, don’t even get me started. He’s twenty seven, Sophie! Your friend’s father told me!” she yelled out. “He’s far too old, and is only using you to get to your money! You are never to see him, or contact him again! I will find out who he is and get a restraining order on him if I have to! Do you understand me? I will allow your poor friend because I know your father has taken some liking to her. Maybe I can pay her to give him a lap dance and then she might leave us alone.” I slapped her as hard as I could. She staggered back. “Sophie!”
“You bitch!” I screamed. I saw people begin to edge closer and closer to the doors. “Don’t talk about them like that! How dare you judge them, how dare you think that lowly of Lulu, she did what she had to do so that she can go to college, get an education, and not have to be a trophy wife from the middle of nowhere like you!” I fumed; my mother slowly was walking backwards. “They took me in and took care of me, fed me, clothed me, gave me shelter, a sanctuary when you ignored the fact that your boyfriend had stolen our possessions and raped me! You wouldn’t hear a bit of it, defended him, suggest that I could get a few jewels back if I let it continue. And while you worked on your public image, you knew exactly where I was, just waiting for the right moment to frame my friends. How dare you talk about E-” I broke off, realizing just in time that I was about to give something away, “him that way? You don’t know anything about any of that? He saved my life, he doesn’t need my money, he has enough of his own, and you know what else, Lisa?” her retreat was halted as she ran into a garden bench. “I’m in love with him.” I turned around and stalked back to the house. Suddenly a hand was pulling me back, I turned ready to strike at my mother again, but it was Emmett. My breath caught in my throat and I tried to say something. My mother pulled me away from him, still ranting.
“You’ve ruined everything Sophie! Are you happy now! You’re so obsessed with being happy, are you happy that you’ve ruined my life?” she screamed at me. I saw Lulu flinch out of the corner or my eye.
“You know what, I might just be.” I said. “Besides Lisa,” I told her, “someone once told me that you have to make sacrifices to make others happy. I’ve made mine, and now it’s your turn.” I turned around and stalked off towards Emmett, the ever growing crowd behind him looking on astonished. The whispers against my mother started, and as much as I wanted this, as much as I had dreamed of this day, when she would be exposed but I still pitied her. Then Emmet looked into my eyes and it took over my entire mind. I couldn’t look away, could barely think. He consumed my thoughts, and took over my focus. He looked like an angel, his blonde hair shinning in the sun; I could see a single tear rolling down his cheek. We stopped and stared at each other, like two statues in the midst of the storm that was brewing behind us. As if in a distant room I could hear yelling all around me, people walking everywhere, fighting, taking sides, and arguing about what they had heard. I saw Crystal walking towards her brother, stepping in-between us. I craned my neck, stumbling forward, trying to see his face again.
I looked around frantically but in the hysteria I had lost him. All of a sudden Lulu stepped forward, dragging Greg, who had recently been shoved into a random sports coat and who looked completely confused. Lulu grabbed Crystal and shoved Greg towards her. At first, Crystal looked disgusted, until Lulu whispered something in her ear, all of a sudden Crystal’s eyes lit up and Greg slowly pulled her to the side. People began to quiet down, the crowds parting, and there he was. He was all I could focus on, my own home could burst in flames or fly away, torn out of the ground by a tornado and I wouldn’t have been able to look away from his face. We slowly walked closer and closer to each other, stopping a few yards away. I felt a drop of water on my cheek and I realized I was crying.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed to him.
“Me too.” He mouthed back. I slowly smiled. I took a step forward but suddenly, someone’s hand was on my shoulder and the eyes of the boy in front of me went cold. I tore myself away from Emmett and looked to my side. Luke’s hand was pulling me back, his arm wrapping around my shoulder. I glared at him. He didn’t honestly think that there had been something between us, did he?
“Come on sugar, don’t worry about the date, I can forgive you. We can go back to the way it was.” He said casually. I raised my eyebrows.
“Really?” I asked him, ripping out of his grip, “Go to Hell Luke.” I pushed him off me and ran to my best friend. He was waiting, grin on his face; I leaped into his arms and kissed his sunny smile. After a few seconds Emmett set me down, but kept me firmly in his arms. I looked at him quizzically.
“I love you, too Sophie.” He whispered in my ear.
“I’m so, so, sorry. I shouldn’t have blamed you, I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. It wasn’t fair, I shouldn’t have asked you to do that for me, and I’m so-” his lips cut mine off.
“No, Sophie, I’s my fault, I knew what you wanted, I could have taken you somewhere else, somewhere that wouldn’t have need you to contact them all, I just, I couldn’t lose you Soph,” the tears began dropping out of his sky blue eyes once more, “I’m not sorry for what I did, I will never be sorry for that,” he took a deep breath, “but I am sorry for hurting you and brining you back here.”
“No, no, Em, it’s okay. I forgive you.” I looked into his eyes, “I love you, and I shouldn’t have said-” he cut my sentence off again.
“Please, please, let’s not talk about it, let’s leave the past in the past, I forgave you for saying it the moment you did, but it’s too painful, don’t let me think about that.” I nodded. He picked me back up and spun me around. It could have been few moments, or a few hours, either way it was too short. Aware of the eyes, spying into our moment together, we pulled apart. Lulu, mending the awkward moment, rushed forward and threw her arms around us both.
“I’m so happy you guys are together again.” Her eyes flashed mischievously, “I so called this.” She said. We all laughed and Emmett, with me in his right arm and Lulu in his left, walked off towards the gate. Just before he opened the car door he turned to me.
“So tell me, what happens after the beautiful princess is rescued by the dashing prince?” Emmett asked me. I grinned, planting a big kiss on his lips.
“She rescues him right back.”
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