Prologue
Looking back, I could see what others had seen: my life in a movie ready, picture perfect kind of way. After seeing the white picket fence surrounding fifty plus acres with horses in the backyard and a freshly whitewashed mansion, after learning about my rich father, ex-model mother, and 4.2 grade point average, and after gaping at my ‘perfect’ skin, long blonde hair, and stick thin body, most people were torn between loving me and hating me. No matter how nice I had been, there was always someone who resented me for having everything. But then again, what did they know?
All the materialistic things added up to nothing, less than nothing, complete misery. The rich father came with extended business trips, lasting for months with mere days in between that he generally spent locked in his office. Sometimes, I didn’t even know he was home until he came to say goodbye. Combine that with the ex-model mother, and you get poorly kept secrets, most with six-packs and tanned skin. Perfect grades came with intense pressure, high expectations, and of course, late nights studying until I fell asleep. The big house always seemed empty, and other than the maids and servants, I was always alone.
I hadn’t condemned my mother for her infidelity, because my dad knew, and I never reproached my father’s absence to anyone but Missy, one of my maids whom I had become exceptionally close to. I had smiled my perfect pearly whites, lied to my friends, acted like nothing was wrong and played the part that was forced on me by my ‘station in life,’ but no more. Never again would I play that role.
Looking back, I could see what others had seen: my life in a movie ready, picture perfect kind of way. After seeing the white picket fence surrounding fifty plus acres with horses in the backyard and a freshly whitewashed mansion, after learning about my rich father, ex-model mother, and 4.2 grade point average, and after gaping at my ‘perfect’ skin, long blonde hair, and stick thin body, most people were torn between loving me and hating me. No matter how nice I had been, there was always someone who resented me for having everything. But then again, what did they know?
All the materialistic things added up to nothing, less than nothing, complete misery. The rich father came with extended business trips, lasting for months with mere days in between that he generally spent locked in his office. Sometimes, I didn’t even know he was home until he came to say goodbye. Combine that with the ex-model mother, and you get poorly kept secrets, most with six-packs and tanned skin. Perfect grades came with intense pressure, high expectations, and of course, late nights studying until I fell asleep. The big house always seemed empty, and other than the maids and servants, I was always alone.
I hadn’t condemned my mother for her infidelity, because my dad knew, and I never reproached my father’s absence to anyone but Missy, one of my maids whom I had become exceptionally close to. I had smiled my perfect pearly whites, lied to my friends, acted like nothing was wrong and played the part that was forced on me by my ‘station in life,’ but no more. Never again would I play that role.
Chapter 1: One Year Earlier...
As I closed my eyes, I could forget everything else but the soft, sweet music that spilled from my fingers. There was nothing else, just the black wood, the ivory keys and my heart beating out a tempo as music poured from my soul. This was the only time I could ever tell the truth. Whoever truly listened could hear my pain, sadness, and hate. I told them about my dreams, hopes and anything else that was on my mind. In reality, I went along with my parents’ version of my hopes and dreams about how happy I was. They told anyone who was important enough to hear how I was going to be an environmentalist lawyer, after, of course, becoming Miss America, and that I was going to Harvard Law, marry a handsome prince, have 2.5 kids and live happily ever after. Or something like that. Anyone who really paid attention would know I wanted to be a dancer or pianist, that I loved the arts far more that science or law, and that I wanted to travel the world, live a normal life, and just maybe be happy.
“SOPHIE!” A shrill scream sounded from my driveway. Smiling wryly, I buzzed Crystal in. She was practically jumping up and down by the time she found me. “OH MY GOSH SOPHIE you will never believe what just happened-by the way it took me forever to find you, your house is HUGE-anyway, I just heard from Kelly that Andrew and Adrian told Jamie who told Eve who ALSO heard it from Jack and they told Rachel who told Kelly-oh hi by the way-but anyway, they all said that Luke is going to ask you to prom!”
She looked at me, grinning expectantly. Ugh. I had already heard this rumor, but was really hoping that it wasn’t true. As the most popular boy in school, it had been widely speculated since middle school that we were going to end up together, and with prom coming up, the gossip only worsened. Everyone though Luke was the nicest kid ever, but never stopped to realize that he was kind of a jerk. His dad was a millionaire, and while mine was too, Luke flaunted his money, whereas I would have given it all away for a functional family.
“Well?” Crystal said, interrupting my side thought. “Are you freaking or what?”
“I don’t know,” I said, trying to keep it light. “I don’t really like him like that, you know, we’re friends.”
“You don’t know?” Crystal yelled, incredulously. “You don’t like him like that? ARE YOU CRAZY?” Crystal’s expression had me fighting a strong urge to laugh; so much for keeping it light. “SOPHIE MARIE TRISTAN WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? Luke is the cutest, most popular, smartest, nicest guy in school, probably all of Laguna Beach, and maybe even all of Cali-frickin-fornia! And now you don’t want to go to prom with him because you’re not sure you want to be Mrs. Luke Cummings in the future?!?!? ARE YOU INSANE!!?” Crystal was under the impression we were best friends forever, but I was pretty sure the only reason she kept coming around was because no matter what I said, she would give anything to be my friend. Because in this town being friends with me meant popularity, something she desperately craved. As much as Crystal wanted to be popular, I wanted to be normal. That was when I lost it.
“No Crys, I don’t want to go to Prom with him. He is a self-centered, bigoted, chauvinistic jerk who wants to take me to prom to impress all his stupid friends not because he is actually interested in me as a person, and probably because he wants to hook-up with me, too. Okay? Can we change the topic please?”
“You know, I love you and everything, but sometimes I swear you’re from a different planet. He’s not mean to us, just the weird kids and if that sounds bad, oh well, it’s the truth. Besides, his friends are kind of our friends too.” Crystal was just like everyone else in this town, they didn’t care about anyone other than themselves. Money was everything here. If you had it, you were something, and if you didn’t, you were nothing. If you had to ask what that meant, you never would be anything here. That’s the way of life I grew up with, it had always been and would never change. I’m not saying I like the way it is, but I’m powerless to change it.
“Hello? Sophie, focus. You are going to go to prom with Luke and the two of you are going to be King and Queen. Then everyone is going to be even more jealous of you than they already are and you are going to live happily ever after with your best friend-that’s me by the way.” She smiled dazzlingly. “Please?”
“Crys, he hasn’t even asked me yet,” I sighed, “Let’s wait for that to actually happen okay? Can we please talk about something else?” she sighed too, and I realized that she had probably been waiting for me to spill about my hidden feelings for him so she could spill to the gossip tree. I looked around for something else to talk about. “Oh, hey, did I tell you that Lulu wrote back?” Lulu was an LA girl. We met at dance camp two years ago and we instantly clicked, so we switched our room arrangement, I leaving my penthouse suite to join her in her two-bed room 30 floors down. (This decision caused her original roomie to love me forever.) She was a talented dancer, but I later found out that drawing and painting were her real forte. She sketched me in charcoal, and I had framed the picture and hung it in my room. She came to visit for a week last year.
“You remember Lulu, anyway she told me she got into NYU art school which is where she wants to go but she is trying to figure out how to pay for it. I offered her a loan but she is set against anyone other than herself paying for her education. I kept telling her that it was just a loan, you’ll pay me back when you’re a famous artist or something but she said-”
“SOPH!” Crystal interjected, “No offense, but I don’t want to hear about this. I met her like once, and she’s like, poor, you’ve barely met her yourself and she’s probably a druggie who just wants your money. Seriously. She lives ten minutes out of Las Angeles, I mean how cheap can you get?”
“Wow Crys, snob much?” I muttered. “Lulu’s family is struggling, that’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Her loud snort told me that she thought otherwise. “She doesn’t do drugs and if she really wanted my money wouldn’t she have taken my loan?”
“Whatever,” she was bored, “So what are you going to wear to prom, I mean it has to match Luke’s tie, so it should probably be a good color on him, too.” And we were back there.
“I don’t know and I don’t care.” I said in complete monotony, my face completely blank of any emotion. “I’m probably not saying yes, and if I do it will be as friends.” Or just to get you to shut up, I thought. Her face lit up as I gave up and talked about Luke.
Crystal proceeded to recite “1000 Amazing things about Luke Cummings” and “Why Sophie Tristan is an idiot for not being crazy in love with him.” I tuned her out and began a letter to Lulu.
Lulu,
Congrats! I knew you’d make it into NYU! They are so lucky to have you-seriously though if you have to take out a loan, get one from the bank of Sophie Marie Tristan’s father’s wallet! He totally said yes. Do you remember when you came to visit me and my dad was here which was crazy surprising? Well he was home a few weeks ago and we were all having this super awkward family dinner and he asked when you were coming to visit again. I said that I didn’t know and asked him why. Then he said that he really liked your ‘spunk’ and that he thought you were really talented and he would have to plan to be home the next time you came. (I know right! Plans to be home for you but his own daughter he can’t bother to come and see-oh well, not your fault your super loveable!) Anyway I told him about your little school tuition issue and he said if you needed help to ask him!! So seriously, think about it!
You remember Crystal? Well she is currently trying to convince me that you’re a bad influence on me and that I should go to prom with this arrogant jerk who is also kind of one of my friends. His name is Luke and while he’s nice to me, he is awful to anyone whose parents make less than 500 grand a year. (Can you tell where I live?) I’m not really sure where I’m going to go to school yet. My mom is trying to get me to win a few more pageants first and my dad wants me on the fast track to his alma mater Harvard but, well, you know what I want to do.
All my best, write back soon,
Sophie
“SOPHIE!” A shrill scream sounded from my driveway. Smiling wryly, I buzzed Crystal in. She was practically jumping up and down by the time she found me. “OH MY GOSH SOPHIE you will never believe what just happened-by the way it took me forever to find you, your house is HUGE-anyway, I just heard from Kelly that Andrew and Adrian told Jamie who told Eve who ALSO heard it from Jack and they told Rachel who told Kelly-oh hi by the way-but anyway, they all said that Luke is going to ask you to prom!”
She looked at me, grinning expectantly. Ugh. I had already heard this rumor, but was really hoping that it wasn’t true. As the most popular boy in school, it had been widely speculated since middle school that we were going to end up together, and with prom coming up, the gossip only worsened. Everyone though Luke was the nicest kid ever, but never stopped to realize that he was kind of a jerk. His dad was a millionaire, and while mine was too, Luke flaunted his money, whereas I would have given it all away for a functional family.
“Well?” Crystal said, interrupting my side thought. “Are you freaking or what?”
“I don’t know,” I said, trying to keep it light. “I don’t really like him like that, you know, we’re friends.”
“You don’t know?” Crystal yelled, incredulously. “You don’t like him like that? ARE YOU CRAZY?” Crystal’s expression had me fighting a strong urge to laugh; so much for keeping it light. “SOPHIE MARIE TRISTAN WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? Luke is the cutest, most popular, smartest, nicest guy in school, probably all of Laguna Beach, and maybe even all of Cali-frickin-fornia! And now you don’t want to go to prom with him because you’re not sure you want to be Mrs. Luke Cummings in the future?!?!? ARE YOU INSANE!!?” Crystal was under the impression we were best friends forever, but I was pretty sure the only reason she kept coming around was because no matter what I said, she would give anything to be my friend. Because in this town being friends with me meant popularity, something she desperately craved. As much as Crystal wanted to be popular, I wanted to be normal. That was when I lost it.
“No Crys, I don’t want to go to Prom with him. He is a self-centered, bigoted, chauvinistic jerk who wants to take me to prom to impress all his stupid friends not because he is actually interested in me as a person, and probably because he wants to hook-up with me, too. Okay? Can we change the topic please?”
“You know, I love you and everything, but sometimes I swear you’re from a different planet. He’s not mean to us, just the weird kids and if that sounds bad, oh well, it’s the truth. Besides, his friends are kind of our friends too.” Crystal was just like everyone else in this town, they didn’t care about anyone other than themselves. Money was everything here. If you had it, you were something, and if you didn’t, you were nothing. If you had to ask what that meant, you never would be anything here. That’s the way of life I grew up with, it had always been and would never change. I’m not saying I like the way it is, but I’m powerless to change it.
“Hello? Sophie, focus. You are going to go to prom with Luke and the two of you are going to be King and Queen. Then everyone is going to be even more jealous of you than they already are and you are going to live happily ever after with your best friend-that’s me by the way.” She smiled dazzlingly. “Please?”
“Crys, he hasn’t even asked me yet,” I sighed, “Let’s wait for that to actually happen okay? Can we please talk about something else?” she sighed too, and I realized that she had probably been waiting for me to spill about my hidden feelings for him so she could spill to the gossip tree. I looked around for something else to talk about. “Oh, hey, did I tell you that Lulu wrote back?” Lulu was an LA girl. We met at dance camp two years ago and we instantly clicked, so we switched our room arrangement, I leaving my penthouse suite to join her in her two-bed room 30 floors down. (This decision caused her original roomie to love me forever.) She was a talented dancer, but I later found out that drawing and painting were her real forte. She sketched me in charcoal, and I had framed the picture and hung it in my room. She came to visit for a week last year.
“You remember Lulu, anyway she told me she got into NYU art school which is where she wants to go but she is trying to figure out how to pay for it. I offered her a loan but she is set against anyone other than herself paying for her education. I kept telling her that it was just a loan, you’ll pay me back when you’re a famous artist or something but she said-”
“SOPH!” Crystal interjected, “No offense, but I don’t want to hear about this. I met her like once, and she’s like, poor, you’ve barely met her yourself and she’s probably a druggie who just wants your money. Seriously. She lives ten minutes out of Las Angeles, I mean how cheap can you get?”
“Wow Crys, snob much?” I muttered. “Lulu’s family is struggling, that’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Her loud snort told me that she thought otherwise. “She doesn’t do drugs and if she really wanted my money wouldn’t she have taken my loan?”
“Whatever,” she was bored, “So what are you going to wear to prom, I mean it has to match Luke’s tie, so it should probably be a good color on him, too.” And we were back there.
“I don’t know and I don’t care.” I said in complete monotony, my face completely blank of any emotion. “I’m probably not saying yes, and if I do it will be as friends.” Or just to get you to shut up, I thought. Her face lit up as I gave up and talked about Luke.
Crystal proceeded to recite “1000 Amazing things about Luke Cummings” and “Why Sophie Tristan is an idiot for not being crazy in love with him.” I tuned her out and began a letter to Lulu.
Lulu,
Congrats! I knew you’d make it into NYU! They are so lucky to have you-seriously though if you have to take out a loan, get one from the bank of Sophie Marie Tristan’s father’s wallet! He totally said yes. Do you remember when you came to visit me and my dad was here which was crazy surprising? Well he was home a few weeks ago and we were all having this super awkward family dinner and he asked when you were coming to visit again. I said that I didn’t know and asked him why. Then he said that he really liked your ‘spunk’ and that he thought you were really talented and he would have to plan to be home the next time you came. (I know right! Plans to be home for you but his own daughter he can’t bother to come and see-oh well, not your fault your super loveable!) Anyway I told him about your little school tuition issue and he said if you needed help to ask him!! So seriously, think about it!
You remember Crystal? Well she is currently trying to convince me that you’re a bad influence on me and that I should go to prom with this arrogant jerk who is also kind of one of my friends. His name is Luke and while he’s nice to me, he is awful to anyone whose parents make less than 500 grand a year. (Can you tell where I live?) I’m not really sure where I’m going to go to school yet. My mom is trying to get me to win a few more pageants first and my dad wants me on the fast track to his alma mater Harvard but, well, you know what I want to do.
All my best, write back soon,
Sophie
Chapter 2
A few days later I received this short response from Lulu.
Dear Soph,
Thanks! I am so excited about NYU! And NO, I am not taking your dad’s money but thanks anyway. I am especially offended that he likes me, but he gives in when your mom says you can’t come and visit me! (Which you should try to do again soon, by the way!) Don’t worry, I got a job. Not exactly the most ‘high class’, or even respectable career choice, but it’s totally temporary and the pay is fab. Plus I get loads of tips and its close enough to walk to, which means I save on gas, giving me more money in my pocket. Yea! But anyway, I miss you! I love you, too, dear and I hope I can see you soon.
Love,
Lulu
P.S. stay strong, this Luke character sounds like he is so not worthy of you…total jerk.
I smiled. Lulu would hate the angel Gabriel if he was flirting with her friends without her permission, but something bothered me. Lulu had never hidden anything from me, and she wouldn’t even tell me what job she got. What if it was illegal? What was going on with her?
Dear Soph,
Thanks! I am so excited about NYU! And NO, I am not taking your dad’s money but thanks anyway. I am especially offended that he likes me, but he gives in when your mom says you can’t come and visit me! (Which you should try to do again soon, by the way!) Don’t worry, I got a job. Not exactly the most ‘high class’, or even respectable career choice, but it’s totally temporary and the pay is fab. Plus I get loads of tips and its close enough to walk to, which means I save on gas, giving me more money in my pocket. Yea! But anyway, I miss you! I love you, too, dear and I hope I can see you soon.
Love,
Lulu
P.S. stay strong, this Luke character sounds like he is so not worthy of you…total jerk.
I smiled. Lulu would hate the angel Gabriel if he was flirting with her friends without her permission, but something bothered me. Lulu had never hidden anything from me, and she wouldn’t even tell me what job she got. What if it was illegal? What was going on with her?
Chapter 3
“Mom, I’m home!” I called out while closing the double doors behind me. As I walked through the house to find her, I felt as though something was off, although I couldn’t quite figure out what. After searching the first two floors I glanced out the window to look by the pool. She was lying out sunbathing by the pool house, but appeared to be sleeping. After looking at the number of empty martini and Cosmo glasses near her, I was pretty sure that she was a little farther out than a nap, and most likely was going to be that way for quite some time. I sighed. She would certainly never change.
That’s when I realized what was wrong. I didn’t see any of the staff. The cabana boy who could always be found in the pool house was nowhere in sight and the house staff and gardeners whom I usually tripped over while entering the house were all missing. I realized what this must mean. My mother had a visitor somewhere in the house. I usually ignored them, I knew my father knew about some of them, but as long as she was all his when he was home he really didn’t care. I tended to stay out of their way, most of them didn’t know I existed or thought I was just a maid or something.
Mom had brought a new guy here a few weeks ago, a certain Ed Plont. Ed, my mom had gushed, my own Edward, like in Twilight! Yeah, I thought, more like Ed Gein. He looked for me the moment he came and tried to be my friend, as though he was mom’s new husband, not just the next in a long line of indiscretions. He would slink in as I was concentrating on my homework and try to help me or chat. He was a masseuse-had a college degree in massage therapy, or so he said-but he seemed to me like an under the table creep show. He would rub my shoulders as my mom looked on dotingly, both oblivious to my obvious discomfort. Ed was, in my mind, a complete pedophile. I was scared of him and whenever I knew he was coming, I slept over at Crystal’s. Today I didn’t know he was going to be here, but he obviously was.
I sighed. I was going to have to get over my disgust with him and go make sure my mom was okay. I began to descend the stairs, and just as I reached the first floor, he appeared, drunk, on the patio, directly between me and my mother.
“Hey, darlin’” he slurred, “what are you doin’ home so soon?” he laughed balefully, “Your mom thought you were sleepin’ over somewhere else.”
“Yeah well, I’ve got homework to do first. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and clean up that mess you two made.” I was sharp, hoping it would confuse his muddled brain enough to let me by. It worked. He stepped aside and let me pass.
“That’s real nice of you, sugar.” He followed me closely. “Why don’t I help you with that?” he picked up some of the beer bottles and put them in the plastic bag I had retrieved from the pool house.
“You know what? That’s okay. I can get this on my own. Why don’t you go to the guest room and sleep all this off?”
“Naw, that’s okay. I wanna help.” He was really psyching me out, but he was also actually kind of helpful. He put all the mixed drink glasses in the bus tubs as I picked up the trash. I tied up the bag and checked on my mom while he was messing with the thatched roof of our pool house. She was okay. Passed out and definitely would be for a while, but okay.
“Did she or you dismiss the staff?” I asked, my curiosity overpowering my wish to never speak to him again.
He smiled. “She did. We wanted some alone time.”
I let out a short laugh. Yeah, I thought. I bet you did.
“No, really. It’s all good cause I get to spend some time with you now.” I instantly got the chills. What was this guy’s problem? “You know Soph, you’re a special girl. You’re pretty and smart and have a great body; I mean the guys at school must be all over you.”
“My name is Sophie and I honestly don’t see why that’s any of your business.” I turned to leave, retreat to my room and lock the door, but he cut me off on the way in.
“Aw, come on sugar, I just want to know about your life. You’re interesting. You’re special.” He grinned a Cheshire cat smile that made me shiver.
“I have a lot of homework and I really need to get going. Can you please just let me go to my room?” I was about to break down. If he insisted on keeping me there I didn’t know what I was to do. He stared at me for nearly a minute and I began to shake imperceptibly. Then he smiled.
“’Course sweetie, go to your room.” He stepped aside and I walked slowly, dying to run from him, but not wanting him to see my fear. As soon as I was out of sight, I sprinted up two flights of stairs and shut my door. I locked it and dialed Missy.
“Hello?” Her husband Javier answered in a thick Mexican accent.
“Hi, it’s Sophie. Is Missy there?” I could hear myself panting from my recent exertion. “It’s important.”
“Hey dear!” he laughed. “Oh, I thought it was my mama. It was her birthday yesterday and I forget to call her again. Oh, you are much better to talk to. No she isn’t here yet. I think she is out with friends for dinner. But she’s gonna’ be back soon, hon. She mess something up again? Do I get to yell at her? Just kiddin’. She could kick my butt!” Despite my heart racing with fear, Javier could always make me laugh.
“No just tell her to call my call phone as soon as she gets in. Tell her the creep is here.” I answered.
“There’s a creep in your house? You need me to send my boys over? They’re half Mexican. They could get rid of him for you!” He was joking but I sensed a serious undertone to his words. Missy was classic American, the girl next door. Her family had probably come over on the Mayflower or something, but her husband had immigrated a year or so before they were married. Julian, Javier’s cousin, lived here on temporary visa and had struck it rich on the stock market. Missy always joked that the government didn’t want to see all that money go to Mexico, so they granted him citizenship. Julian told his only remaining relative, Javier, to come to the states to live with him. Julian was sick the day Javier’s plane got in, so Missy, not wanting the poor guy to be alone at the airport, went to meet him. He fell in love with her on the spot. Four kids later, they were still the happiest couple I knew. Whenever I told Missy about some new guy my friends were setting me up with, Javier would hear about it, call me and offer to send his two sons to get rid of them for me.
“No thanks, Javier, just tell her to call me, ‘K?” I smiled at his consistency.
“Okay, will do. You call me as soon as he leaves so that I can stop worrying about you Sophie.” Missy and Javier was the closest thing I had to family. I was always invited over for Christmas, and to all my friends’ surprise, I always went. I could be found there just as often as I could be found at Crystal’s, and I told them more, than I did anyone else.
I hung up and called Crystal. “Hey Crys, I have a lot of homework but I’ll call as soon as I’m done.”
“KK-see you soon Soph! Oh BTW, there might be a few people here. Like, maybe Luke or something.” She gushed. I had completely forgotten Crystal’s mission to ruin my life. I was speechless. “Oh please don’t be mad at me Soph. I am just looking out for you and your happiness, something you appear to have forgotten about with the help of your little LA friend.” The real reason Crystal and the others looked down on Lulu was that she and her dad lived in a three bedroom apartment in LA. “Hello?? Soph are you still listening to me?”
“Oh right, sorry. What were you just saying?” I sheepishly responded as I was called back to reality.
“Look, I just don’t get why you hang out with her. She’s a bad influence on you. She just wants your money and to take advantage of you. I’m sorry if that hurts your feelings, but it’s best to be blunt at this point.” She finished, confirming my suspicion of her newest angle. I considered staying home from the sleepover-turned-party, but then remembered the look on Ed’s face as he leered down at me in the backyard.
“You know what? I’m just going to finish my math and then I’ll be over okay?” I said a little too quickly.
“That’s the spirit, girl! Hey, everyone else isn’t getting here till after 10, so if you hurry over I can help you with your makeup!” She squealed.
“Yeah, well, I’ll see you later then.” I hung up before she could say her goodbye. Take from that what you will Crys, I thought. I glanced at my clock. To my surprise, it was already 7:30. I rushed to complete my Spanish paper. I yawned and shook my head to clear my drowsiness. The time seemed to pass slowly as my day’s exhaustion caught up to me. Heavy eyelids turned to long blinks and the next thing I knew I opened my eyes and it was dark out.
Disoriented, I blinked, trying to discern where I was. I could tell I was in my room, but I was not at my desk, I was lying on my bed, on top of the comforter. I began to panic. How did I get here? Was I just so tired I didn’t remember? Or was there something creepy going on here? Then I remembered about dear old Ed. I slowly looked around my room and noticed a dark figure sitting on my futon. His stare penetrated into my very core. It was as though I was standing in the middle of a street naked. I felt so exposed by those dark eyes that I began to shiver in complete terror. If I had been scared of him before, I was petrified now. I kept my eyes mostly shut; open just enough to see what was happening. He suddenly stood up and slowly glided over to my bed. It took every ounce of self control that I had to keep still and pretend to be asleep. His hand slowly reached down to my head and he began slowly stroking my hair. His other hand reached into the back pocket of his jeans and as he pulled something out, my squinting eyes saw a flash of silver. I stopped breathing as I focused on the silver. What I saw made my heart beat faster than it ever had before. Standing above me, with a terrifying sneer, stood Ed, holding a knife.
He slowly flipped out the blade, reached down to my head and sliced off a two inch section of my hair. He put it in a bag and shut his knife. What had just happened? I barely dared to breathe. I was so still my muscles began to ache. He slowly inched his head down to my face. I could smell his rancid breath, the scent of stale beer making me want to gag. When his face was a mere inch or so away, he quickly inhaled and stood up suddenly. He then slowly walked away, not turning away from me until he reached to door. With a quiet laugh, he lumbered out the door and proceeded to pass out directly outside my room. I looked at my clock. It was only 10:15. I could easily make it to Crystal’s house, but I didn’t want to risk waking him up and there was no way out of my room with him in the doorway - except the window. A third story window, with a small balcony attached to a rose trellis leading down to the second floor landing directly below it. So dangerous. So tempting. I threw on my sweatshirt and grabbed the small duffle bag I had gotten packed earlier and threw it over my shoulder. Slowly opening the window to avoid creaking, I snuck out my window and onto my balcony. Only a few feet wide, it took mere seconds to get onto the trellis. The roses had begun to grow that summer, and the thorns poked into my jeans and tore the skin off my hands. The trellis was weaker than I thought. It shook and started to pull away from the wall. A few cross-bars started to crack and I froze. After a few seconds, I carefully made my way down to the second floor balcony. I ran to the window and pulled. It was locked. I spun around to look for another option. The trellis was too weak to carry me back up, and I did not want to stay here all night. Then I saw it.
The large oak tree whose branches just reached the balcony. No way, I could not do this! I would not do this. Lulu’s face slid into my mind and I thought of what she would do. She would swing out on that branch laughing the whole time. I dropped my bag over the side of the landing and watched it smash into the pavement below. Thank God there wasn’t anything fragile in it. Then I realized that if I fell, that would be me. And I was definitely breakable. I zipped my jacket tightly, and slowly edged myself over the fencing. My foot slipped on the narrow edge and I stopped breathing for a moment as I caught myself. I looked out at the branch and took a deep breath, then slowly reached out my arm and grabbed the thickest branch I could reach. Resisting the urge to close my eyes, I grabbed the branch with both hands and swung my legs out towards the tree. The branched dipped, making me cringe, but it held I inched my way across the branch until a thicker branch, slightly lower than the one I held, came into my reach; I carefully switched my grip from their current position to the new branch. As I reached my feet even lower, I felt them brush against a large limb just 5 inches below. I looked down and saw that if I reached the branch, I would be a mere 6 feet from the ground, and I could jump that. But I wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep my balance after the drop. I might miss the branch and fall upon the ground below. While I had reached a section of the tree that was above grass, if I were to make an uncontrolled fall I could easily break something. Nixing that idea, I looked for another option. That’s when I realized that the branches were now all either high above my reach, or far below my feet. The trunk was covered in tiny twigs and brush that would tear the skin off my hands if I tried to scale down it. There was no other way down. I bit my lip in order to stop the oncoming panic, knowing that panic would only worsen my situation. I inched as close to the trunk as I could and loosened my grip on the branch, lowering myself another inch. I took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and let go.
In what seemed like slow motion, my feet slipped off the branch and I felt myself free fall. I heard a small shriek and realized that it was me. Luckily or unfortunately, depending how you look at it, my feet had slipped in opposite directions and I caught the branch directly between my legs. Thanking God I wasn’t a boy, I swung my left leg over the branch in the same direction as the right leg and took hold of the tree. I swung my legs down, a few feet from the grass. I let go, no longer worried. After hitting the ground I ran over and grabbed my duffle. Then I sprinted to the street and pulled the key out of my jeans. Oops. In my hurry to leave, I had grabbed my mom’s spare key instead of mine. I groaned. As much as my friends liked showing off their sports or muscle cars, I preferred my 2007 Volkswagen Jetta. It was trusty, it had great gas mileage, and wasn’t flashy. I hated my mom’s ridiculous Lotus Espirit. It had white leather interior and was going to be the most expensive car at that party by a lot. I opened the door and shifted it into neutral, quickly closing the door again. Pushing the Lotus as far down the driveway as I dared, I jumped in, turned the key, and sped away.
My back pressed against the white leather interior as I raced toward Crystal’s. Sure enough, I could see the lights of her house nearly half a mile away, and the parked cars stretched nearly as far. As I passed by the cars heading to the front of the house, knowing that she would have hired several valets for the job, I saw four limos parked with their drivers smoking cigarettes with each other and laughing. As I passed, they stared at my car, gaping. I sighed and mentally cursed Ed. As I expected, two valets rushed to my door as I stopped the car in front of Crystal’s entryway. One opened the door grinning, thinking he had gotten the job, another held out his hand to me, attempting to take the tip away from his gloating colleague. I looked around and saw, a third valet, not even 16 by the looks of him, with shrunken shoulders, he was upset that despite his hard work, the two others had treated him like dirt all night long. I pulled the keys out of the ignition and ignoring the waiting hand tossed them to the third valet. He looked at them, incredulous.
“Thanks.” I said. I pulled a twenty out of my wallet and handed it to him. “When I come out, make sure you’re the one bringing my car back.” The other two workers looked furious. “Oh,” I turned around, “if my car is vandalized I will be pressing charges on the two of you losers.” I said, as scornfully as I could manage. As I turned around, I smirked. It was so easy to take out all that frustration on these two jerks. I had met them before. Crystal always hired them and a newbie for her parties and they always made the new kid do all the work and took all the money for themselves. The sucked up to those of us with money and brutalized those stationed beneath them. I had seen it far too many times to be surprised. Crystal and everything about her was so predictable. As I saw one of the valets pull out his phone and send a quick text, I knew he was notifying Crystal I was here. I stopped and waited, bored, knowing exactly what was coming. In a matter of seconds, Crystal came bursting out of her front door and ran down the stairs to meet me. She hugged me tightly and squealed.
“Ah you’re here! You took forever!” She jumped up and down.
“Yeah, well my mom’s creepy friend was there so I had to sneak out the-”
“You’re never going to believe this Soph!” she interrupted, ignoring me. “Luke is here and he brought this huge bouquet of flowers and he’s been asking for you forever and I had to keep going, ‘she promised she would be here, I’m sure she’ll be here soon,’ and I think he has barely talked to another girl all night waiting for you! It’s so romantic!” She gasped for air.
“Romantic is putting aside class and expectations to be with someone, or killing yourself to be with your dead lover, not bringing someone flowers and flirting with only 5 of every 10 girls you see, Crys.” I retorted.
“Yes it is, and it was more like 2 out of 10 girls, so there!” I checked to see if she seriously thought that was a good ratio and snorted. “Laugh if you will, but soon Sophie and Luke, or rather Lophie, will be a romantic couple as famous as Romeo and Juliet or Brangelina.” I stopped and stared at her.
“You actually read the English book?” Maybe there’s hope for you yet, Crys, I thought.
“Of course not, I watched the Leo DiCaprio movie!” she responded brightly. And she’s back, I thought wryly. She grabbed my hand and dragged me up the steps into the bustling house. “Come on dear; let’s get you up to my room so we can fix this mess you’ve got going on!” Just as I was beginning to resent her ‘looks are everything’ attitude, I caught a glimpse of myself in a floor to ceiling mirror and I couldn’t help but be a little grateful. I had twigs in my messy hair, several grass and mud stains on my jeans and shirt and my minimal makeup from that school day was smeared. She dragged me passed several groups of people partying and I saw a few celebrities from Nikki Sixx and Mötley Crüe to the Kardashians, everyone really was here.
“Crys was that-“
“Yeah, everyone who’s anyone is here!” As we got to her room she grabbed a wash cloth and tossed it to me. Then she disappeared into her closet. “Got it!” she cried, “Come on in sweetie, I found you the perfect outfit!” I had seen her closet before but every time I stepped in, I was always amazed at the size. It was larger than her room, which wasn’t an easy feat, and it was filled with enough clothing to outfit a small third world country. I turned to Crystal. She had two outfits in her hands. My eyes widened.
“No, Crys look at yourself; you’re wearing jeans and a T-shirt.” Of course they were designer but it was as casual as Crystal would go. “Why can’t I borrow some jeans and a new shirt? I’ll even wear whatever ridiculous jewelry you put with it.”
“Silly girl! I’m changing, too! We are going to look so fabulous!” She beamed at me, and since it was pointless to argue with Crystal, I sighed and held out my hand. She led the way out of her monstrosity of a closet and tossed me a short red dress. I slipped out of my clothes and grabbed my washcloth again, getting rid of the sweat and dirt that had somehow accumulated underneath my shirt and pants. All of a sudden the door burst open.
“Crys, will you please tell these idiots to keep it down? I’m trying to- Ho-ly Shit.” He stood there staring at me, sitting on Crystal’s bed in nothing but my bra and underwear. I scrambled for her comforter and wrapped it around me while looking indignant.
“Emmett-get out!” Crystal yelled at the tall stranger, “We’re changing, we will be down to do some crowd control in a minute, okay?” he nodded. “What are you still doing here? GET OUT!!” she screamed. I flinched at the high pitched scream. Emmett turned around and slammed the door behind him. “Sorry doll, have you met Emmett?”
“Well, I have now.” I mumbled, embarrassed.
“Yeah, well, my idiot brother is completely psychotic. Don’t worry about him; you’ll probably never see him again.” I nodded my head and turned to the dress next to me. I was actually really cute, but a bit short and tight and lacey. I sighed. Crys would be Crys. The three-quarter length sleeves and a crew neck top made this dress relatively conservative for Crystal. It was red silk with black lace in stripes across the entire dress. Overlaying the black lace was a layer of red lace stripes. I checked the tag.
“Oh my gosh Crystal, this isn’t designer!” I smiled at her.
“I know-don’t you dare tell anyone! It’s just so cute!” She cringed.
“It actually is kind of pretty,” I responded, shocked. I was actually pleased with this dress. So it was a little short but it wasn’t gaudy or over the top. “Do you have any flats Crys?”
“NO! Well yes, but I already have your entire outfit picked out. You are wearing exactly what I put you in. Luke is going to die!” I groaned. I had completely forgotten about him. Crystal threw a pair of stilettos at me, nearly stabbing me in the eye.
“Hey, watch it!” I yelled after her as she disappeared into her closet. I put them on and slipped on the silver hoops she had shoved at me, then reached for the eyeliner to touch up my eyes when I heard a yell behind me.
“NO, NO, NO, NO!” Crystal shrieked. I turned and saw that she had changed already.
“Who?” I nodded at the ensemble.
“Katarina Bocci,” She responded “and I’m doing your makeup!” She grabbed the pencil out of my hand and started sketching on a new face for me. While she worked I began thinking about Emmett. He had been pretty cute. With blonde hair, he was tall and thin, with a muscular build. He had the bluest eyes and didn’t seem at all like Crystal. He seemed genuinely mad about the party, and most people in Laguna Beach would have died to be partying at one of Crystal’s legendary fêtes. From the little I had heard about him, he was not really interested in the family money. After a year at Vanderbilt, he brought home a roommate from Las Angeles who had gotten in on scholarship. It was the buzz of the town, and I heard from Crystal that her parents had been so rude to him that they had gotten into a huge fight with Emmett and he rarely came home anymore, but was obviously home now. I snapped back into reality after Crys finished touching up, then we walked out of Crystal’s room and down the marble steps.
Suddenly, Luke appeared at my elbow and thrust a single rose into my hands. He smiled at me and several girls near us stopped and stared. Crystal had unhelpfully disappeared. “Do you want to dance?” he asked. The music was loud and angry so I didn’t see much harm.
“Yeah, sure.” I grabbed the nearest girls hand, “Come and dance with us!” I added cheerily, seeing Luke’s shoulders sank visibly. A small group of us came out on the floor and started to dance, but just then a slow song came one. Luke held out his hand, looking so hopeful I couldn’t let him down. As we started swaying to the music, I heard Crystal’s voice.
“I know, right? They’re so cute together. You know she made me lend her a cute outfit as soon as she saw him, and she drove here in her mom’s Espirit, she is totally showing off for him. I hear prom bells!” She and the gaggle of girls around her sighed romantically. I rolled my eyes.
“What, you don’t agree?” Luke said. I hadn’t realized he had been talking. He looked hurt.
“Um sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. What did you say?” I said, blankly.
“Oh, just that I must have heard a thousand times tonight how cute of a couple you and I make. And I must be the envy of the room right now, dancing with the most beautiful girl in it,” he said, his voice full of flirtation.
“People gossip too much,” I responded flatly. He fell silent. When the song ended I tried to extract my hand from his, but another slow one came on and he instead pulled me closer. I was so sick of this. I tried to pull away, but he just held me tighter. He looked down at my face and started to lean in for a kiss. I frantically tried to escape one last time, but he held me fast. Suddenly, to my great relief, he stopped and turned slightly away from me.
“What?” he said angrily. I looked up. There stood Emmett, in jeans and a T-shirt, towering over Luke.
“I believe you already had one dance with her. May I cut in?” he said. His voice sounded like he was hiding a laugh. Luke loosened his hands and was beginning a retort when I finally managed to rip my hands from his.
“Yeah, sure, why not?” I said, attempting to hide my joy at his interruption, holding out my hand. He bowed and smiled. He spun me off in a waltz, leaving Luke behind us sputtering. “Thank you, your timing is incredible.”
“Trust me; I’ve been there before. I know exactly how you feel.” He responded lightly. “By the way, about earlier,” I laughed awkwardly and he looked down and smiled. “I am so sorry. I didn’t know you were even in there, let alone,” he paused, “changing.” I grinned sheepishly.
“It’s okay, I believe you.” I smiled, “So, how did you end up in this crazy family? You don’t exactly seem like any of them.” Chuckling, he looked away.
“I think the real question is how I got out of it. I used to be just like them until I left this crazy town and met some people who made me think about what I was about and made me think about what was really important to me. What about you? From what I hear, you’re not exactly like your family either.”
“No, I guess not. I never was really into the whole money and beauty thing, because I’ve seen what it does to a family like mine; we’re not really a family at all. I also went to this dance camp a few years ago and met a girl from LA who is super artsy and middle class. Her mother left them when she was a baby and her little brother died in a street fight that he was walking past just a few years ago. Her other brother is in college so it’s just her and her dad in this tiny apartment, yet she’s one of the happiest people I know. I was crazy jealous of her, and we’ve been best friends ever since.” Wow. Where had that come from? I didn’t tell anyone that stuff and here I was opening up to Crystal’s brother?
“A Los Angeles girl, huh?” he cut into my thought train, “I could totally see you in LA. You seem like one of those people.” I laughed.
“Hardly, as much as I wish I could be that brave, I am totally terrified of unfamiliar places I couldn’t go that far away from home.” He laughed. He really was nothing like Crystal, he actually seemed interested in what I had to say and he wasn’t snobby about Lulu. Just then, the song stopped. My heart sunk.
“Well it was nice meeting you, um…”
“Sophie,” I supplied.
“Yeah, Sophie. Great meeting you. Now go dance with your boyfriend before he kills me, or you for that matter.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said haughtily.
“Really? Because I definitely heard you were going to prom together.”
“No, we’re not! He hasn’t even asked me yet, okay? Let’s we worry about that when he does and not anytime sooner!” I grumbled. He suddenly looked disappointed.
“Oh, so you don’t think he’s going to ask you. And then you won’t get to go to prom with the richest, most popular guy in school, right? And then you won’t get your own happy ending, and outshine your little friend.”
I gaped at him. “What is your problem? I have no desire to go to prom with him, don’t you get that?”
“So you are just going with him for his money!” he responded, like he had just made the biggest revelation of his time. “Oh wow, you are just like the rest of them. So you’re jealous of your friend’s happiness because your daddy isn’t home a lot. Maybe you will find it with your idiot boyfriend and all of his daddy’s money! Seriously, do you even know him?”
“No! And I’m not going to go-”
“Man, and I thought you were different, but do you even know what a friend is?” He turned and stormed away hurriedly, shaking his head. I groaned and turned around, really, really frustrated at his out-of-the-blue assumptions. Crystal appeared out of nowhere, and grabbed my hand.
“Soph, what was that? He was about to kiss you!”
“What? Emmett was going to kiss me?” I asked, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Not Emmett Sophie, Luke! Luke was going to kiss you and then you went and let my idiot brother cut in, are you crazy?” She lectured heatedly.
“No, you know who’s crazy? Your psychotic brother! He goes and acts like a normal person, we were having a great conversation and then all of a sudden he starts on this stupid issue and acts like an imbecile and has to go and ruin everything! What is his problem? Was he just dancing with me to fulfill some stupid fantasy about earlier? He acted all sorry, but in his head he was just picturing me as some a slut or something!”
“Whoa, slow down Soph. I agree-my brother is weird, and totally messed up-but the whole fantasy thing isn’t him. I don’t know what’s up with him, but personally I can’t believe he even came down to the party. He isn’t, like, a total womanizer like you are portraying him to be Sophie.”
“Whatever, Crystal, I really just want to go to bed, can you start clearing some of these people out?” I said.
“Are you kidding me? Nikki Sixx is here! And three Kardashians, this is the party of the year and I managed to get it together in a few days! I’m not ending it early.”
“You’ve been planning for days, Crys? You invited me to a sleepover yesterday. You know, just the two of us,” I snarled.
“Yeah, well I knew you wouldn’t come to a party, but Luke really wanted you here. If you go right now you could probably cheer him up and get an invite to prom within the week! Wouldn’t that be-”
I never did find out what that would be because just then the fire alarms went off and several sprinklers came on. Shrill screams sounded all around us as the people rushed out the doors and towards their cars. I turned around, looking for the source of the fire, and saw Emmett standing next to an alarm with a smoking candle. Our eyes met as he mouthed, “Sorry for ruining your party.” His face oozed with sarcasm. “Go to hell,” I mouthed back. We glared for a moment, each trying to make the other turn away first. Finally he raised his eyebrows at me and walked away.
“Oh my Gucci,” Crystal shouted in my ear, “Look at my dress! The feathers are ruined! Who set that alarm off? If I ever find out I am going to destroy them like they destroyed my Katarina Bocci!” She swore. I rolled my eyes.
“I’m going to change and then go to sleep, okay Crys?” I said.
“Yeah, whatever, I’ll be up as soon as I give the maids directions to clean this mess up,” she said. I nodded and headed up the stairs. I was nearly at the guest room, ready to take a nice warm shower, when a door was flung open.
“Crys, can you please-oh, it’s you.” Emmett said scornfully.
“Wow, it was so nice meeting you earlier too Emmett. And I take back what I said.”
“What, that you don’t want to go to prom with the loser at all, or that you don’t want to go with him for his money, just his abs?”
“That you are nothing like your family. In reality, you are a hundred times worse. I would rather hang out with people who admittedly liked money and fashion than someone who is as much of a cynical, psychotic, word twisting asshole as you!” I asserted. “You know nothing about me or Lulu, and you know nothing about my family!”
“What, you can know me but I can’t know you?” He laughed. “If I’m a cynical psychotic, word twisting asshole, than you’re a self-centered, self-pitying, bitch without even the sense to see that you’re just as snobby as the rest of them. You are the same as all of those people, you’re the same as my sister, and you’re the same as your little prom date.”
“Luke is NOT my prom date! Does that not permeate your thick head? And I am not the same as them! You don’t know anything about me or my life. I never said I know you, I just told you about all the things I could pick up from talking to you for two minutes. Why did you even dance with me? Why didn’t you let Luke do whatever he wanted to me? It’s obvious you don’t care!”
“Oh, lover boy has a name does he? Little Luke? I yeah, I know about your life, it’s a clone of my sister’s, it’s a version of all the girls in this town who I used to date. You know, your LA friend probably lied to you about half of her life story, to make you feel bad for her or give her money or something. Middle class isn’t that bad. You can live a great life in the middle class. She probably-” I cut him off with a satisfying slap.
“Don’t ever,” I growled, “ever, talk about her that way.” I heard a noise behind me I turned around to see a sodden Crystal holding my duffle.
“Hey guys,” she said tentatively, “What’s going on?” I looked back at Emmett and realized we were almost touching noses. We both took a step back.
“Just meeting your best friend, Crys,” he said, glowering at me.
“Yeah, just talking to your brother.” I added, staring back just as intently. “You know, meeting your lovely family and everything.”
“Ahuh, sure. Um, I’m going to go put this in the guest room. Soph, Emmett, stop whatever it is you’re doing. You’re creeping me out.” She walked away as we kept eye contact. We both turned away from each other and stalked off in the opposite direction. As we walked away he muttered,
“Self-pitying bitch.”
“Self-important asshole.” I entered the guest room and grabbed my duffle bag. I was just grabbing my pajamas when I noticed Crystal standing in the corner. I looked up, “What?” It came out harsher than I meant.
“My question exactly, what? What’s going on with you? You never swear, you never let how uncomfortable you are show, and you never let others piss you off like that. I’ve never seen you this out of control. Can you please tell me what’s going on?”
“Nothing, Crys,” I told her. “It’s just been a long day,” she nodded.
“Well, if you want to talk, just come on in and wake me up.” Crystal smiled and slowly walked out. I sighed; she was just trying to be a good friend. I took a shower and changed into my pajamas, then, pulling out my book, I sat in the window seat. I opened the book, but didn’t get any reading done, instead looking out at the moon I thought about what had happened that day. I sat there and stared and stared and stared, until my eyes slowly started dropping.
That’s when I realized what was wrong. I didn’t see any of the staff. The cabana boy who could always be found in the pool house was nowhere in sight and the house staff and gardeners whom I usually tripped over while entering the house were all missing. I realized what this must mean. My mother had a visitor somewhere in the house. I usually ignored them, I knew my father knew about some of them, but as long as she was all his when he was home he really didn’t care. I tended to stay out of their way, most of them didn’t know I existed or thought I was just a maid or something.
Mom had brought a new guy here a few weeks ago, a certain Ed Plont. Ed, my mom had gushed, my own Edward, like in Twilight! Yeah, I thought, more like Ed Gein. He looked for me the moment he came and tried to be my friend, as though he was mom’s new husband, not just the next in a long line of indiscretions. He would slink in as I was concentrating on my homework and try to help me or chat. He was a masseuse-had a college degree in massage therapy, or so he said-but he seemed to me like an under the table creep show. He would rub my shoulders as my mom looked on dotingly, both oblivious to my obvious discomfort. Ed was, in my mind, a complete pedophile. I was scared of him and whenever I knew he was coming, I slept over at Crystal’s. Today I didn’t know he was going to be here, but he obviously was.
I sighed. I was going to have to get over my disgust with him and go make sure my mom was okay. I began to descend the stairs, and just as I reached the first floor, he appeared, drunk, on the patio, directly between me and my mother.
“Hey, darlin’” he slurred, “what are you doin’ home so soon?” he laughed balefully, “Your mom thought you were sleepin’ over somewhere else.”
“Yeah well, I’ve got homework to do first. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and clean up that mess you two made.” I was sharp, hoping it would confuse his muddled brain enough to let me by. It worked. He stepped aside and let me pass.
“That’s real nice of you, sugar.” He followed me closely. “Why don’t I help you with that?” he picked up some of the beer bottles and put them in the plastic bag I had retrieved from the pool house.
“You know what? That’s okay. I can get this on my own. Why don’t you go to the guest room and sleep all this off?”
“Naw, that’s okay. I wanna help.” He was really psyching me out, but he was also actually kind of helpful. He put all the mixed drink glasses in the bus tubs as I picked up the trash. I tied up the bag and checked on my mom while he was messing with the thatched roof of our pool house. She was okay. Passed out and definitely would be for a while, but okay.
“Did she or you dismiss the staff?” I asked, my curiosity overpowering my wish to never speak to him again.
He smiled. “She did. We wanted some alone time.”
I let out a short laugh. Yeah, I thought. I bet you did.
“No, really. It’s all good cause I get to spend some time with you now.” I instantly got the chills. What was this guy’s problem? “You know Soph, you’re a special girl. You’re pretty and smart and have a great body; I mean the guys at school must be all over you.”
“My name is Sophie and I honestly don’t see why that’s any of your business.” I turned to leave, retreat to my room and lock the door, but he cut me off on the way in.
“Aw, come on sugar, I just want to know about your life. You’re interesting. You’re special.” He grinned a Cheshire cat smile that made me shiver.
“I have a lot of homework and I really need to get going. Can you please just let me go to my room?” I was about to break down. If he insisted on keeping me there I didn’t know what I was to do. He stared at me for nearly a minute and I began to shake imperceptibly. Then he smiled.
“’Course sweetie, go to your room.” He stepped aside and I walked slowly, dying to run from him, but not wanting him to see my fear. As soon as I was out of sight, I sprinted up two flights of stairs and shut my door. I locked it and dialed Missy.
“Hello?” Her husband Javier answered in a thick Mexican accent.
“Hi, it’s Sophie. Is Missy there?” I could hear myself panting from my recent exertion. “It’s important.”
“Hey dear!” he laughed. “Oh, I thought it was my mama. It was her birthday yesterday and I forget to call her again. Oh, you are much better to talk to. No she isn’t here yet. I think she is out with friends for dinner. But she’s gonna’ be back soon, hon. She mess something up again? Do I get to yell at her? Just kiddin’. She could kick my butt!” Despite my heart racing with fear, Javier could always make me laugh.
“No just tell her to call my call phone as soon as she gets in. Tell her the creep is here.” I answered.
“There’s a creep in your house? You need me to send my boys over? They’re half Mexican. They could get rid of him for you!” He was joking but I sensed a serious undertone to his words. Missy was classic American, the girl next door. Her family had probably come over on the Mayflower or something, but her husband had immigrated a year or so before they were married. Julian, Javier’s cousin, lived here on temporary visa and had struck it rich on the stock market. Missy always joked that the government didn’t want to see all that money go to Mexico, so they granted him citizenship. Julian told his only remaining relative, Javier, to come to the states to live with him. Julian was sick the day Javier’s plane got in, so Missy, not wanting the poor guy to be alone at the airport, went to meet him. He fell in love with her on the spot. Four kids later, they were still the happiest couple I knew. Whenever I told Missy about some new guy my friends were setting me up with, Javier would hear about it, call me and offer to send his two sons to get rid of them for me.
“No thanks, Javier, just tell her to call me, ‘K?” I smiled at his consistency.
“Okay, will do. You call me as soon as he leaves so that I can stop worrying about you Sophie.” Missy and Javier was the closest thing I had to family. I was always invited over for Christmas, and to all my friends’ surprise, I always went. I could be found there just as often as I could be found at Crystal’s, and I told them more, than I did anyone else.
I hung up and called Crystal. “Hey Crys, I have a lot of homework but I’ll call as soon as I’m done.”
“KK-see you soon Soph! Oh BTW, there might be a few people here. Like, maybe Luke or something.” She gushed. I had completely forgotten Crystal’s mission to ruin my life. I was speechless. “Oh please don’t be mad at me Soph. I am just looking out for you and your happiness, something you appear to have forgotten about with the help of your little LA friend.” The real reason Crystal and the others looked down on Lulu was that she and her dad lived in a three bedroom apartment in LA. “Hello?? Soph are you still listening to me?”
“Oh right, sorry. What were you just saying?” I sheepishly responded as I was called back to reality.
“Look, I just don’t get why you hang out with her. She’s a bad influence on you. She just wants your money and to take advantage of you. I’m sorry if that hurts your feelings, but it’s best to be blunt at this point.” She finished, confirming my suspicion of her newest angle. I considered staying home from the sleepover-turned-party, but then remembered the look on Ed’s face as he leered down at me in the backyard.
“You know what? I’m just going to finish my math and then I’ll be over okay?” I said a little too quickly.
“That’s the spirit, girl! Hey, everyone else isn’t getting here till after 10, so if you hurry over I can help you with your makeup!” She squealed.
“Yeah, well, I’ll see you later then.” I hung up before she could say her goodbye. Take from that what you will Crys, I thought. I glanced at my clock. To my surprise, it was already 7:30. I rushed to complete my Spanish paper. I yawned and shook my head to clear my drowsiness. The time seemed to pass slowly as my day’s exhaustion caught up to me. Heavy eyelids turned to long blinks and the next thing I knew I opened my eyes and it was dark out.
Disoriented, I blinked, trying to discern where I was. I could tell I was in my room, but I was not at my desk, I was lying on my bed, on top of the comforter. I began to panic. How did I get here? Was I just so tired I didn’t remember? Or was there something creepy going on here? Then I remembered about dear old Ed. I slowly looked around my room and noticed a dark figure sitting on my futon. His stare penetrated into my very core. It was as though I was standing in the middle of a street naked. I felt so exposed by those dark eyes that I began to shiver in complete terror. If I had been scared of him before, I was petrified now. I kept my eyes mostly shut; open just enough to see what was happening. He suddenly stood up and slowly glided over to my bed. It took every ounce of self control that I had to keep still and pretend to be asleep. His hand slowly reached down to my head and he began slowly stroking my hair. His other hand reached into the back pocket of his jeans and as he pulled something out, my squinting eyes saw a flash of silver. I stopped breathing as I focused on the silver. What I saw made my heart beat faster than it ever had before. Standing above me, with a terrifying sneer, stood Ed, holding a knife.
He slowly flipped out the blade, reached down to my head and sliced off a two inch section of my hair. He put it in a bag and shut his knife. What had just happened? I barely dared to breathe. I was so still my muscles began to ache. He slowly inched his head down to my face. I could smell his rancid breath, the scent of stale beer making me want to gag. When his face was a mere inch or so away, he quickly inhaled and stood up suddenly. He then slowly walked away, not turning away from me until he reached to door. With a quiet laugh, he lumbered out the door and proceeded to pass out directly outside my room. I looked at my clock. It was only 10:15. I could easily make it to Crystal’s house, but I didn’t want to risk waking him up and there was no way out of my room with him in the doorway - except the window. A third story window, with a small balcony attached to a rose trellis leading down to the second floor landing directly below it. So dangerous. So tempting. I threw on my sweatshirt and grabbed the small duffle bag I had gotten packed earlier and threw it over my shoulder. Slowly opening the window to avoid creaking, I snuck out my window and onto my balcony. Only a few feet wide, it took mere seconds to get onto the trellis. The roses had begun to grow that summer, and the thorns poked into my jeans and tore the skin off my hands. The trellis was weaker than I thought. It shook and started to pull away from the wall. A few cross-bars started to crack and I froze. After a few seconds, I carefully made my way down to the second floor balcony. I ran to the window and pulled. It was locked. I spun around to look for another option. The trellis was too weak to carry me back up, and I did not want to stay here all night. Then I saw it.
The large oak tree whose branches just reached the balcony. No way, I could not do this! I would not do this. Lulu’s face slid into my mind and I thought of what she would do. She would swing out on that branch laughing the whole time. I dropped my bag over the side of the landing and watched it smash into the pavement below. Thank God there wasn’t anything fragile in it. Then I realized that if I fell, that would be me. And I was definitely breakable. I zipped my jacket tightly, and slowly edged myself over the fencing. My foot slipped on the narrow edge and I stopped breathing for a moment as I caught myself. I looked out at the branch and took a deep breath, then slowly reached out my arm and grabbed the thickest branch I could reach. Resisting the urge to close my eyes, I grabbed the branch with both hands and swung my legs out towards the tree. The branched dipped, making me cringe, but it held I inched my way across the branch until a thicker branch, slightly lower than the one I held, came into my reach; I carefully switched my grip from their current position to the new branch. As I reached my feet even lower, I felt them brush against a large limb just 5 inches below. I looked down and saw that if I reached the branch, I would be a mere 6 feet from the ground, and I could jump that. But I wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep my balance after the drop. I might miss the branch and fall upon the ground below. While I had reached a section of the tree that was above grass, if I were to make an uncontrolled fall I could easily break something. Nixing that idea, I looked for another option. That’s when I realized that the branches were now all either high above my reach, or far below my feet. The trunk was covered in tiny twigs and brush that would tear the skin off my hands if I tried to scale down it. There was no other way down. I bit my lip in order to stop the oncoming panic, knowing that panic would only worsen my situation. I inched as close to the trunk as I could and loosened my grip on the branch, lowering myself another inch. I took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and let go.
In what seemed like slow motion, my feet slipped off the branch and I felt myself free fall. I heard a small shriek and realized that it was me. Luckily or unfortunately, depending how you look at it, my feet had slipped in opposite directions and I caught the branch directly between my legs. Thanking God I wasn’t a boy, I swung my left leg over the branch in the same direction as the right leg and took hold of the tree. I swung my legs down, a few feet from the grass. I let go, no longer worried. After hitting the ground I ran over and grabbed my duffle. Then I sprinted to the street and pulled the key out of my jeans. Oops. In my hurry to leave, I had grabbed my mom’s spare key instead of mine. I groaned. As much as my friends liked showing off their sports or muscle cars, I preferred my 2007 Volkswagen Jetta. It was trusty, it had great gas mileage, and wasn’t flashy. I hated my mom’s ridiculous Lotus Espirit. It had white leather interior and was going to be the most expensive car at that party by a lot. I opened the door and shifted it into neutral, quickly closing the door again. Pushing the Lotus as far down the driveway as I dared, I jumped in, turned the key, and sped away.
My back pressed against the white leather interior as I raced toward Crystal’s. Sure enough, I could see the lights of her house nearly half a mile away, and the parked cars stretched nearly as far. As I passed by the cars heading to the front of the house, knowing that she would have hired several valets for the job, I saw four limos parked with their drivers smoking cigarettes with each other and laughing. As I passed, they stared at my car, gaping. I sighed and mentally cursed Ed. As I expected, two valets rushed to my door as I stopped the car in front of Crystal’s entryway. One opened the door grinning, thinking he had gotten the job, another held out his hand to me, attempting to take the tip away from his gloating colleague. I looked around and saw, a third valet, not even 16 by the looks of him, with shrunken shoulders, he was upset that despite his hard work, the two others had treated him like dirt all night long. I pulled the keys out of the ignition and ignoring the waiting hand tossed them to the third valet. He looked at them, incredulous.
“Thanks.” I said. I pulled a twenty out of my wallet and handed it to him. “When I come out, make sure you’re the one bringing my car back.” The other two workers looked furious. “Oh,” I turned around, “if my car is vandalized I will be pressing charges on the two of you losers.” I said, as scornfully as I could manage. As I turned around, I smirked. It was so easy to take out all that frustration on these two jerks. I had met them before. Crystal always hired them and a newbie for her parties and they always made the new kid do all the work and took all the money for themselves. The sucked up to those of us with money and brutalized those stationed beneath them. I had seen it far too many times to be surprised. Crystal and everything about her was so predictable. As I saw one of the valets pull out his phone and send a quick text, I knew he was notifying Crystal I was here. I stopped and waited, bored, knowing exactly what was coming. In a matter of seconds, Crystal came bursting out of her front door and ran down the stairs to meet me. She hugged me tightly and squealed.
“Ah you’re here! You took forever!” She jumped up and down.
“Yeah, well my mom’s creepy friend was there so I had to sneak out the-”
“You’re never going to believe this Soph!” she interrupted, ignoring me. “Luke is here and he brought this huge bouquet of flowers and he’s been asking for you forever and I had to keep going, ‘she promised she would be here, I’m sure she’ll be here soon,’ and I think he has barely talked to another girl all night waiting for you! It’s so romantic!” She gasped for air.
“Romantic is putting aside class and expectations to be with someone, or killing yourself to be with your dead lover, not bringing someone flowers and flirting with only 5 of every 10 girls you see, Crys.” I retorted.
“Yes it is, and it was more like 2 out of 10 girls, so there!” I checked to see if she seriously thought that was a good ratio and snorted. “Laugh if you will, but soon Sophie and Luke, or rather Lophie, will be a romantic couple as famous as Romeo and Juliet or Brangelina.” I stopped and stared at her.
“You actually read the English book?” Maybe there’s hope for you yet, Crys, I thought.
“Of course not, I watched the Leo DiCaprio movie!” she responded brightly. And she’s back, I thought wryly. She grabbed my hand and dragged me up the steps into the bustling house. “Come on dear; let’s get you up to my room so we can fix this mess you’ve got going on!” Just as I was beginning to resent her ‘looks are everything’ attitude, I caught a glimpse of myself in a floor to ceiling mirror and I couldn’t help but be a little grateful. I had twigs in my messy hair, several grass and mud stains on my jeans and shirt and my minimal makeup from that school day was smeared. She dragged me passed several groups of people partying and I saw a few celebrities from Nikki Sixx and Mötley Crüe to the Kardashians, everyone really was here.
“Crys was that-“
“Yeah, everyone who’s anyone is here!” As we got to her room she grabbed a wash cloth and tossed it to me. Then she disappeared into her closet. “Got it!” she cried, “Come on in sweetie, I found you the perfect outfit!” I had seen her closet before but every time I stepped in, I was always amazed at the size. It was larger than her room, which wasn’t an easy feat, and it was filled with enough clothing to outfit a small third world country. I turned to Crystal. She had two outfits in her hands. My eyes widened.
“No, Crys look at yourself; you’re wearing jeans and a T-shirt.” Of course they were designer but it was as casual as Crystal would go. “Why can’t I borrow some jeans and a new shirt? I’ll even wear whatever ridiculous jewelry you put with it.”
“Silly girl! I’m changing, too! We are going to look so fabulous!” She beamed at me, and since it was pointless to argue with Crystal, I sighed and held out my hand. She led the way out of her monstrosity of a closet and tossed me a short red dress. I slipped out of my clothes and grabbed my washcloth again, getting rid of the sweat and dirt that had somehow accumulated underneath my shirt and pants. All of a sudden the door burst open.
“Crys, will you please tell these idiots to keep it down? I’m trying to- Ho-ly Shit.” He stood there staring at me, sitting on Crystal’s bed in nothing but my bra and underwear. I scrambled for her comforter and wrapped it around me while looking indignant.
“Emmett-get out!” Crystal yelled at the tall stranger, “We’re changing, we will be down to do some crowd control in a minute, okay?” he nodded. “What are you still doing here? GET OUT!!” she screamed. I flinched at the high pitched scream. Emmett turned around and slammed the door behind him. “Sorry doll, have you met Emmett?”
“Well, I have now.” I mumbled, embarrassed.
“Yeah, well, my idiot brother is completely psychotic. Don’t worry about him; you’ll probably never see him again.” I nodded my head and turned to the dress next to me. I was actually really cute, but a bit short and tight and lacey. I sighed. Crys would be Crys. The three-quarter length sleeves and a crew neck top made this dress relatively conservative for Crystal. It was red silk with black lace in stripes across the entire dress. Overlaying the black lace was a layer of red lace stripes. I checked the tag.
“Oh my gosh Crystal, this isn’t designer!” I smiled at her.
“I know-don’t you dare tell anyone! It’s just so cute!” She cringed.
“It actually is kind of pretty,” I responded, shocked. I was actually pleased with this dress. So it was a little short but it wasn’t gaudy or over the top. “Do you have any flats Crys?”
“NO! Well yes, but I already have your entire outfit picked out. You are wearing exactly what I put you in. Luke is going to die!” I groaned. I had completely forgotten about him. Crystal threw a pair of stilettos at me, nearly stabbing me in the eye.
“Hey, watch it!” I yelled after her as she disappeared into her closet. I put them on and slipped on the silver hoops she had shoved at me, then reached for the eyeliner to touch up my eyes when I heard a yell behind me.
“NO, NO, NO, NO!” Crystal shrieked. I turned and saw that she had changed already.
“Who?” I nodded at the ensemble.
“Katarina Bocci,” She responded “and I’m doing your makeup!” She grabbed the pencil out of my hand and started sketching on a new face for me. While she worked I began thinking about Emmett. He had been pretty cute. With blonde hair, he was tall and thin, with a muscular build. He had the bluest eyes and didn’t seem at all like Crystal. He seemed genuinely mad about the party, and most people in Laguna Beach would have died to be partying at one of Crystal’s legendary fêtes. From the little I had heard about him, he was not really interested in the family money. After a year at Vanderbilt, he brought home a roommate from Las Angeles who had gotten in on scholarship. It was the buzz of the town, and I heard from Crystal that her parents had been so rude to him that they had gotten into a huge fight with Emmett and he rarely came home anymore, but was obviously home now. I snapped back into reality after Crys finished touching up, then we walked out of Crystal’s room and down the marble steps.
Suddenly, Luke appeared at my elbow and thrust a single rose into my hands. He smiled at me and several girls near us stopped and stared. Crystal had unhelpfully disappeared. “Do you want to dance?” he asked. The music was loud and angry so I didn’t see much harm.
“Yeah, sure.” I grabbed the nearest girls hand, “Come and dance with us!” I added cheerily, seeing Luke’s shoulders sank visibly. A small group of us came out on the floor and started to dance, but just then a slow song came one. Luke held out his hand, looking so hopeful I couldn’t let him down. As we started swaying to the music, I heard Crystal’s voice.
“I know, right? They’re so cute together. You know she made me lend her a cute outfit as soon as she saw him, and she drove here in her mom’s Espirit, she is totally showing off for him. I hear prom bells!” She and the gaggle of girls around her sighed romantically. I rolled my eyes.
“What, you don’t agree?” Luke said. I hadn’t realized he had been talking. He looked hurt.
“Um sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. What did you say?” I said, blankly.
“Oh, just that I must have heard a thousand times tonight how cute of a couple you and I make. And I must be the envy of the room right now, dancing with the most beautiful girl in it,” he said, his voice full of flirtation.
“People gossip too much,” I responded flatly. He fell silent. When the song ended I tried to extract my hand from his, but another slow one came on and he instead pulled me closer. I was so sick of this. I tried to pull away, but he just held me tighter. He looked down at my face and started to lean in for a kiss. I frantically tried to escape one last time, but he held me fast. Suddenly, to my great relief, he stopped and turned slightly away from me.
“What?” he said angrily. I looked up. There stood Emmett, in jeans and a T-shirt, towering over Luke.
“I believe you already had one dance with her. May I cut in?” he said. His voice sounded like he was hiding a laugh. Luke loosened his hands and was beginning a retort when I finally managed to rip my hands from his.
“Yeah, sure, why not?” I said, attempting to hide my joy at his interruption, holding out my hand. He bowed and smiled. He spun me off in a waltz, leaving Luke behind us sputtering. “Thank you, your timing is incredible.”
“Trust me; I’ve been there before. I know exactly how you feel.” He responded lightly. “By the way, about earlier,” I laughed awkwardly and he looked down and smiled. “I am so sorry. I didn’t know you were even in there, let alone,” he paused, “changing.” I grinned sheepishly.
“It’s okay, I believe you.” I smiled, “So, how did you end up in this crazy family? You don’t exactly seem like any of them.” Chuckling, he looked away.
“I think the real question is how I got out of it. I used to be just like them until I left this crazy town and met some people who made me think about what I was about and made me think about what was really important to me. What about you? From what I hear, you’re not exactly like your family either.”
“No, I guess not. I never was really into the whole money and beauty thing, because I’ve seen what it does to a family like mine; we’re not really a family at all. I also went to this dance camp a few years ago and met a girl from LA who is super artsy and middle class. Her mother left them when she was a baby and her little brother died in a street fight that he was walking past just a few years ago. Her other brother is in college so it’s just her and her dad in this tiny apartment, yet she’s one of the happiest people I know. I was crazy jealous of her, and we’ve been best friends ever since.” Wow. Where had that come from? I didn’t tell anyone that stuff and here I was opening up to Crystal’s brother?
“A Los Angeles girl, huh?” he cut into my thought train, “I could totally see you in LA. You seem like one of those people.” I laughed.
“Hardly, as much as I wish I could be that brave, I am totally terrified of unfamiliar places I couldn’t go that far away from home.” He laughed. He really was nothing like Crystal, he actually seemed interested in what I had to say and he wasn’t snobby about Lulu. Just then, the song stopped. My heart sunk.
“Well it was nice meeting you, um…”
“Sophie,” I supplied.
“Yeah, Sophie. Great meeting you. Now go dance with your boyfriend before he kills me, or you for that matter.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said haughtily.
“Really? Because I definitely heard you were going to prom together.”
“No, we’re not! He hasn’t even asked me yet, okay? Let’s we worry about that when he does and not anytime sooner!” I grumbled. He suddenly looked disappointed.
“Oh, so you don’t think he’s going to ask you. And then you won’t get to go to prom with the richest, most popular guy in school, right? And then you won’t get your own happy ending, and outshine your little friend.”
I gaped at him. “What is your problem? I have no desire to go to prom with him, don’t you get that?”
“So you are just going with him for his money!” he responded, like he had just made the biggest revelation of his time. “Oh wow, you are just like the rest of them. So you’re jealous of your friend’s happiness because your daddy isn’t home a lot. Maybe you will find it with your idiot boyfriend and all of his daddy’s money! Seriously, do you even know him?”
“No! And I’m not going to go-”
“Man, and I thought you were different, but do you even know what a friend is?” He turned and stormed away hurriedly, shaking his head. I groaned and turned around, really, really frustrated at his out-of-the-blue assumptions. Crystal appeared out of nowhere, and grabbed my hand.
“Soph, what was that? He was about to kiss you!”
“What? Emmett was going to kiss me?” I asked, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Not Emmett Sophie, Luke! Luke was going to kiss you and then you went and let my idiot brother cut in, are you crazy?” She lectured heatedly.
“No, you know who’s crazy? Your psychotic brother! He goes and acts like a normal person, we were having a great conversation and then all of a sudden he starts on this stupid issue and acts like an imbecile and has to go and ruin everything! What is his problem? Was he just dancing with me to fulfill some stupid fantasy about earlier? He acted all sorry, but in his head he was just picturing me as some a slut or something!”
“Whoa, slow down Soph. I agree-my brother is weird, and totally messed up-but the whole fantasy thing isn’t him. I don’t know what’s up with him, but personally I can’t believe he even came down to the party. He isn’t, like, a total womanizer like you are portraying him to be Sophie.”
“Whatever, Crystal, I really just want to go to bed, can you start clearing some of these people out?” I said.
“Are you kidding me? Nikki Sixx is here! And three Kardashians, this is the party of the year and I managed to get it together in a few days! I’m not ending it early.”
“You’ve been planning for days, Crys? You invited me to a sleepover yesterday. You know, just the two of us,” I snarled.
“Yeah, well I knew you wouldn’t come to a party, but Luke really wanted you here. If you go right now you could probably cheer him up and get an invite to prom within the week! Wouldn’t that be-”
I never did find out what that would be because just then the fire alarms went off and several sprinklers came on. Shrill screams sounded all around us as the people rushed out the doors and towards their cars. I turned around, looking for the source of the fire, and saw Emmett standing next to an alarm with a smoking candle. Our eyes met as he mouthed, “Sorry for ruining your party.” His face oozed with sarcasm. “Go to hell,” I mouthed back. We glared for a moment, each trying to make the other turn away first. Finally he raised his eyebrows at me and walked away.
“Oh my Gucci,” Crystal shouted in my ear, “Look at my dress! The feathers are ruined! Who set that alarm off? If I ever find out I am going to destroy them like they destroyed my Katarina Bocci!” She swore. I rolled my eyes.
“I’m going to change and then go to sleep, okay Crys?” I said.
“Yeah, whatever, I’ll be up as soon as I give the maids directions to clean this mess up,” she said. I nodded and headed up the stairs. I was nearly at the guest room, ready to take a nice warm shower, when a door was flung open.
“Crys, can you please-oh, it’s you.” Emmett said scornfully.
“Wow, it was so nice meeting you earlier too Emmett. And I take back what I said.”
“What, that you don’t want to go to prom with the loser at all, or that you don’t want to go with him for his money, just his abs?”
“That you are nothing like your family. In reality, you are a hundred times worse. I would rather hang out with people who admittedly liked money and fashion than someone who is as much of a cynical, psychotic, word twisting asshole as you!” I asserted. “You know nothing about me or Lulu, and you know nothing about my family!”
“What, you can know me but I can’t know you?” He laughed. “If I’m a cynical psychotic, word twisting asshole, than you’re a self-centered, self-pitying, bitch without even the sense to see that you’re just as snobby as the rest of them. You are the same as all of those people, you’re the same as my sister, and you’re the same as your little prom date.”
“Luke is NOT my prom date! Does that not permeate your thick head? And I am not the same as them! You don’t know anything about me or my life. I never said I know you, I just told you about all the things I could pick up from talking to you for two minutes. Why did you even dance with me? Why didn’t you let Luke do whatever he wanted to me? It’s obvious you don’t care!”
“Oh, lover boy has a name does he? Little Luke? I yeah, I know about your life, it’s a clone of my sister’s, it’s a version of all the girls in this town who I used to date. You know, your LA friend probably lied to you about half of her life story, to make you feel bad for her or give her money or something. Middle class isn’t that bad. You can live a great life in the middle class. She probably-” I cut him off with a satisfying slap.
“Don’t ever,” I growled, “ever, talk about her that way.” I heard a noise behind me I turned around to see a sodden Crystal holding my duffle.
“Hey guys,” she said tentatively, “What’s going on?” I looked back at Emmett and realized we were almost touching noses. We both took a step back.
“Just meeting your best friend, Crys,” he said, glowering at me.
“Yeah, just talking to your brother.” I added, staring back just as intently. “You know, meeting your lovely family and everything.”
“Ahuh, sure. Um, I’m going to go put this in the guest room. Soph, Emmett, stop whatever it is you’re doing. You’re creeping me out.” She walked away as we kept eye contact. We both turned away from each other and stalked off in the opposite direction. As we walked away he muttered,
“Self-pitying bitch.”
“Self-important asshole.” I entered the guest room and grabbed my duffle bag. I was just grabbing my pajamas when I noticed Crystal standing in the corner. I looked up, “What?” It came out harsher than I meant.
“My question exactly, what? What’s going on with you? You never swear, you never let how uncomfortable you are show, and you never let others piss you off like that. I’ve never seen you this out of control. Can you please tell me what’s going on?”
“Nothing, Crys,” I told her. “It’s just been a long day,” she nodded.
“Well, if you want to talk, just come on in and wake me up.” Crystal smiled and slowly walked out. I sighed; she was just trying to be a good friend. I took a shower and changed into my pajamas, then, pulling out my book, I sat in the window seat. I opened the book, but didn’t get any reading done, instead looking out at the moon I thought about what had happened that day. I sat there and stared and stared and stared, until my eyes slowly started dropping.