by K. Walker
“Why would beer be here?”
“I don’t know. Because everyone usually has beer?” He was so cavalier about it that I started to feel like I was outside of his circle. “I’m gonna go grab some beer and pizza. You want anything else?”
“No, but wait,” I said and grabbed his arm. “I want to know, why are you with me?”
His eyes narrowed. “That’s a trick question, right?”
“No,” I answered and opened and closed my fists several times as I tried to gather my thoughts. “But you know I was with Chad first. Aren’t you concerned people might think you’re getting seconds?”
“First of all,” he said as he came right up in my face. “I was into you long before I knew about you and Chad. Second, you had already broken up, and from what I heard, it hadn’t even been that long. And third,” he said and cupped my face, “how could I resist you?”
Everything inside me turned to mush. “So, this isn’t just to get back at Chad?” I had to ask, as stupid as it sounded. I just had to get it out of my system.
He rocked his head back and laughed. “I know it might be hard to believe, but I don’t give a shit about Chad. A year in rehab changes one’s perspectives.”
I threw my arms around his neck. “In that case, fuck what anyone wants to say. I’m your girl.”
“That’s right.” He grinned and kissed me. “And don’t you forget it.”
He squeezed my ass and I felt his hand moving around to my front. I slapped it away. “It’s still a no.”
“Come on, babe.” He feigned sadness as he nuzzled my neck.
“For now,” I told him and laughed. “Now go get that beer and pizza. I could use a drink.”
“See, that’s exactly why people always have beer.” He grinned and pinched my chin. “I’ll be back in a few.”
“Okay.”
He left, and my chest remained in its newly ballooned state. I hadn’t gotten over that feeling, and was headed to the kitchen when I heard the doorbell.
“That was quick,” I thought and retraced my steps. “Forgot something?” I asked when I opened the door. I froze when I saw the face I least expected, grinning back at me. “Dad?”
And just like that my ecstatic mood was replaced by resentment and disdain.
“Expecting someone else?”
I folded my arms across my chest. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you,” he said, his brown eyes twinkling. “So, can I come in?”
“No,” I replied and tried to slam the door shut.
He slapped his hand onto it. “Sophia!” he barked.
“If you come in, you’re trespassing.”
“Not if I was invited, and you don’t have to be rude,” he retorted and stepped inside.
I either had to let him in, or fight him. The latter would be crazy so I walked off and started upstairs for my room.
“Sophia!” he yelled.
“I don’t have to talk to you still,” I yelled back and slammed my door shut. I called Mom right away. “What’s Dad doing here?”
“He already came? I wanted to tell you, but he asked to see you and…”
“Gee, Mom. Well, at least now I get why you got me the watch. I knew it was leading up to something.”
“Honey, that’s not why. Where’s Jack now?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” I told her and sank onto the bed. That was when I remembered that Wes was supposed to be coming back with pizza and beer. Shit! “Mom, he can’t be here now. I’m going to be having company in a little while.”
“Call them back. This is your father, Sophia.”
“Don’t I get a say in any of this? I don’t want to talk to him,” I whined like a small child.
“I’m sorry, but for this afternoon, you’re going to have to suck it up, honey,” she said almost apologetically. “He’s already there, and I knew if I told you in advance, you would have acted like this, so. And he’s your father. He misses you.”
“Well, he should have thought about that before he cheated on you and forced us to move to another city. Where, in fact, I’ve had some pretty shitty days.”
“Watch your language, Sophia,” Mom warned in her authoritative voice.
“Sorry, but you know how annoyed I get when he’s around,” I complained. My skin was beginning to itch. I had always been closer to Mom than Dad, and after he cheated and they broke up, it was like I had divorced him, too.
He still lived with his girlfriend, and I bet she was skimming his money – the part he had probably been saving for my college education. If I ever made it through my senior year in one piece.
“Go downstairs and make nice until I get there,” she told me. “I need to get back to Travis, but I’ll be home in about an hour or so.”
“Fine,” I conceded and hung up.
My shoulders slumped as I walked back to the door and dragged myself downstairs. He was sitting on the sofa, flipping through the channels on TV. I didn’t think he was really looking for something to watch – it was more of a way of passing the time.
“Mom says she’ll be home in an hour or so. Make yourself comfortable, I guess,” I said nonchalantly and shuffled my feet to the kitchen.
As soon as I opened the fridge again, I remembered Wes. I really didn’t want him showing up only to see my father in the living room. He would want to give me advice about boys. But what could he really offer me, or Wes? He’d been one of the bad ones, and it had affected the entire family.
The phone buzzed in my hand as soon as I picked it up off the counter. “Speak of the devil,” I muttered as I checked the message.
Wes: Sorry, babe. I had to run and do something for the team. Rain check?
Sophia: It’s just as well. I was just about to tell you my dad just showed up so…
Wes: Okay. I’ll call you later.
There went my evening. I had nothing to eat, and I had to sit there, with him, until Mom got home.
I wasn’t looking forward to it, and when I looked up and saw him staring at me, it was even worse. “What?”
He stood. Oh, God! I sucked in a deep breath and pressed my fingers into the granite surface countertop.
It was going to be a long evening.
Chapter 11
“Hey, where did you go yesterday?” Amanda asked as soon as I stepped out of my car.
“Um, I had to go and do something right after school. Did I miss anything?”
She cocked her head to the side. “You’re not avoiding me, are you?” she asked and pouted her peach-colored lips. Her hair was caught at the back of her head in a loose tie, and tendrils escaped at her temples and nape. It was the kind of messy look I liked.
“No.” I scrunched up my face. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know,” she replied as we walked off. “Just that…Look,” she said and grabbed my arm to stop me. “I know I’ve been a hardass about Wes, but that’s literally the only way I know how to be. It’s not you, and I don’t want you to think you can’t talk to me or stuff like that.”
I smiled and rubbed her shoulder. “Thanks, Amanda, but I don’t feel like that.” She put on a poker face that made me laugh. “Okay, fine. I hated that no one liked me with Wes. Except for Alexis. And the Chad thing. Amanda, I’ve wanted to vent for so long, but to who? Since Rachel, I’ve just pretty much kept everything to myself.”
I’d never voiced that out loud, and after I did, I realized how far I had gone.
“You can always talk to me, Sophia.” She smiled.
“I know. I was just a little – a lot – cautious.”
“It’s okay,” she replied casually and we turned and headed for the building. “All set for Alexi’s party on Friday?”
“Ugh!” I groaned. “I totally forgot it was this week. I had some family drama.”
“Yeah? What kind? You never talk about your family.”
“I know,” I gagged. “With good reason. My dad showed up at my house.”
/>
She arched her brows. “And that’s drama how?”
She had a perplexed look on her face, which was understandable. “He cheated on my mom, she got a divorce, we had to move out here, and I don’t want anything to do with him,” I spat.
She looked less perplexed. “But, Sophia…did he ever treat you badly or anything?”
“Ugh! Don’t start, Amanda. I don’t want to talk about it or him.”
She threw her hands in the air. “I hear you,” she said just as the bell sounded. “Come on.”
“So, about Alexi’s party,” I started to say, and then I saw him. It wasn’t just my heart that fluttered – it seemed my entire body did. My legs suddenly got wobbly and a smile slowly crept onto my face.
“Uh-oh,” Amanda said and rocked into me. “Someone’s blushing.”
“Shut up,” I giggled as Wes reached me and slipped his hand around my waist.
“I guess I’ll see you later,” Amanda said in the background, but with Wes’ tongue in my mouth, I couldn’t reply.
I gripped the back of his head and pulled him closer to the sounds of oohs and aahs around us. I blushed and pulled back, pinching his residue from the corners of my lips.
“Good morning to you, too,” I grinned and uncoiled myself.
He took my hand and we walked off. “I’m really sorry I couldn’t come back yesterday. Shit happened.”
“Yeah. Shit happened,” I echoed when I remembered the awkward and forced conversation between Dad – Jack – and me the night before. He wanted to know how I was, and about school, and my life, like he cared.
“So, your dad?” Wes asked and arched his brow. “You’re not a fan?”
“Nah,” I replied. “I mean, he and I were never really close. It’s always been me and my mom, so it’s like nothing’s changed.”
“I’m sure he can’t be as bad as my dad.” He groaned and squeezed my hand. “It was like I grew up in the army – or was permanently stuck in boot camp.”
I giggled. “That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea,” he said wistfully, and I could tell there was more to the story, but I was pretty sure he didn’t want to talk about his dad any more than I wanted to talk about mine. If what Chad had said was true, it was his dad who had sent him to rehab. “Anyway, I think this is you,” he said as we came up to my homeroom. “You wanna come watch me practice later?”
“Uh, I’ll let you know,” I told him. “I might have one of my own.”
“Oh, right. I might skip mine to come and watch you,” he chuckled and leaned against the wall, his brown eyes swallowing my soul. I couldn’t look away, and I felt like a love-bitten teenager as I stood outside the door grinning, totally love struck by one of the Madison Falls titans.
And he was mine. I wanted to just eat him up, but the clock in the corner of the room told me my time was up. “Okay, go,” I told him as I touched his chest. “Before I do something I might regret.”
“Like?” he asked and took a step closer to me. His lips were within an inch of mine. I was reaching up to kiss him again when I saw Chad walking past in the background.
And just like that, I lost the urge. I pulled back and looked at the floor. Wes stroked my face and then backed off, giving me the most gorgeous smile as he walked off toward his class in the other direction. My head snapped at the sound of someone’s voice.
“You must feel lucky,” someone said from behind me.
I turned to see Lily, the dark-skinned ex-cheerleader. Her tight curls fell to her shoulders, and her brown eyes were warm.
“I guess,” I replied.
“You shouldn’t, you know,” she said as she walked around to look me squarely in the face. “It’s almost always a game for all of them.”
“Them?” I asked, not sure I wanted to be having a conversation with her after I realized the negative undertone.
“Yep. Cheers, jocks, populars,” she said as she grouped pretty much everyone I knew. “I should know. I was one of them.”
She walked off, leaving me to writhe from the bitter aftertaste of her words. I should have expected it – things were the same at my old school in Santa Monica. But I wasn’t going to let her ruin my day. Not so soon.
It would take more than that. Say, for example, Callie waiting outside the door for me as I approached my math class. Yep. That would do it. I groaned out loud and tried to walk past her.
She didn’t say anything, but the tension between us was so thick I could grab it and strangle her with it. Too harsh? Probably. But totally deserving.
I heard her, Paris, and Zoe talking about me – they mentioned Chad and something about skinny ass, and trash – who cared? Callie couldn’t hurt me again.
I took my seat and they walked in after me. She made sure to take the seat right next to the one she knew Chad would be sitting in. I still didn’t know what was going on with her and Chad, but I wasn’t interested anymore.
I had heard enough, and I tried hard to focus on the class, even with all the snickering, drumming, paper-tossing, and chuckles that came from behind me. It was like kindergarten all over again.
I grabbed my binder and hurried to my other class, wearing down the week in the same way. By Friday, I was exhausted.
“I so don’t want to go to the party tonight if it means seeing Callie, and Chad, and all the other bimbos and jocks that make me so sick,” I groaned.
Liz gasped and covered her mouth. “Take that back,” she retorted. “You’re talking about my boyfriend.”
“And hers,” Amanda laughed.
I did, too. “I know. I don’t mean Wes and Cody…just all the other ones.”
“Including Chad?” Amanda asked and raised her brows.
“Especially Chad,” I said angrily.
“I don’t know,” Alexi added as she threw her hand around my neck. “I think there’s something there still. No one gets that angry over a man they’re done with.”
I flung her hand off of me. “Are you crazy? You were there when he treated me like shit, right?”
We walked into the gym, and we tossed our bags onto the floor and walked over to the net.
“Yeah, but you had real feelings for him,” she replied as she reached down and tossed the ball at me.
I grabbed it and held it to my chest. “Alexi, it’s over with Chad. I’m with Wes, and that’s the end of that.”
She zippered her lip shut. “If you say so.”
“Okay, let’s get some practice in,” Amanda said as she took her position on the other side of the net.
“Why are we even practicing today when we have a party tonight?” Liz complained. “Shouldn’t Alexi be home or something prepping?”
“It’s just for an hour,” Amanda replied. “We have a game on Monday, remember?”
“It’s not like we don’t know what to do. Plus, they’re not even a good team. We can win with our eyes closed.”
“You can’t underestimate your opponent, Liz,” I jumped in to help Amanda. I had been the coach of my last high school team – I knew a thing or two about leadership.
“Thank you.” Amanda smiled. “Now, Sophia, you have the first serve.”
“Fine,” Liz said as her shoulders sagged. “Let’s just hurry it up.”
The hour raced by, and before we knew it, practice was over. Liz was the first one out the door, much to my amusement. Amanda, Alexi, and Stacey were ahead of me. I was almost at the door when I realized I had left my water bottle on the court.
“Guys, go on without me. I forgot my bottle.”
“Okay,” Alexi said and waved. “See you later, missy.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, knowing I couldn’t very well miss her party. That was like breaking a cardinal rule.
I walked back for my bottle and placed it to my lips. I swigged the refreshing liquid and wiped the sweat from the back of my neck. I needed to use the restroom, so I made a beeline to my right.
I almost changed my mind when I saw the cheer posse standin
g outside the doors. Great. I sighed and walked right between them, forcing them open like a gate. They resisted, making it harder, but I wasn’t going to argue with them.
Callie wasn’t out there, which meant she was inside and they were waiting for her like the dutiful entourage that they were.
I scoffed and pressed the door in.
“I told you to wait outside!” Callie screamed from behind one of the stalls. “Paris! Zoe!”
I stood in the middle of the bathroom wondering if I should actually answer her. I chose not to. I was about to head to the other stall when she started talking again.
“You have to do something about him. I thought threatening him would work.” My ears perked at those words. What the hell was she talking about? I stood in the same spot, careful not to let her realize someone was out there after all.
“Mom, that wasn’t enough. I don’t think he’s over her.” Pause. “No…but…you’re not listening. Okay, how about Uncle Travis? What about that?” My heart was pumping so fast I could hear the blood rushing in my head. “You have to either cut him off…make something up. If he thinks I’m bluffing, then I’ll be the laughingstock at school.” Pause. “Mom! You said you would fire her, too!” Pause, and then muffled screaming. “If he ever goes back to her, you’re not going to…Mom! Mom! Ugh!” she growled.
That was my cue. I started tiptoeing to the door when the stall opened. I froze. And then I turned.
“Sophia? What are you doing in here? Zoe! Paris! I thought I told you not to let anyone in here,” she screamed and then gave me a scornful look.
“Last I checked, this wasn’t your bathroom,” I told her, standing my ground with the bitch.
Her girls rushed in. “We tried to stop her,” Paris explained and tossed her long, full, blond hair over her shoulder. “She pushed past us.”
“Past all of you?” Callie asked with disbelief. She had one hip jutted out with both hands resting on her delicate hips while she looked between all of us in annoyance.
“I think I need to go,” I said and walked between them again. That was one too many moments to be close to Queen B and her girls.
But all the way home, bits and pieces of her conversation floated into my mind, and I couldn’t help but think, there was something in there for me. Who wasn’t over who? Had she been talking about me? I couldn’t be sure, but who knew?
