The Adventure of My Dreams {Colby Brock}

Sixty One

We all sat down at the dining room table and ate. Besides what I made on the grill, there was also pasta salad, a bowl of fruit, French fries and sweet potato fries, and mac and cheese.

"So Soph, we've seen you blowing up since we last saw you, how has that been?" Tara asked.

"Oh, it's been a whirlwind." I said, taking a sip of my ice water. "At first it was a lot but I think I've adjusted to it pretty good. They've been really accepting of me, so I'm really grateful of that. I was worried for a second."

I ate the last bite of my burger and wiped my lips with a napkin.

"How have things been back at home?" Corey asked.

"Oh, that.." I trailed off and let out a chuckle. "It's been decent, definitely not as good as things are when I'm here, that's for sure."

"Soph." Kat said, reaching over the table and resting her hand on top of mine. "We're your family, you don't have to hide from us. Talking might help you feel better."

Sam and Kat did know about the bruise on my face, they knew it was from my dad, but they don't know the full story.

"Guys, we're about to party I don't want to dampen the mood of things." I said, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

"Sophia, please." Amber started. "Bottling things up only do so much babe, don't let it eat at you. We all know you're stronger than you like to show."

Amber was right though. I've literally watched her get emotional on her channel, and sometimes talking about the heavy things really helps.

"It started with Thanksgiving. My dad wasn't happy with me when I was there, and I wasn't looking forward to being there for the first time alone. My family loves my ex, Evan. Anyways we're in the middle of eating and my dad sets up two chairs at he table, in struts Evan and his fiancé. I absolutely lost it. I just felt so disrespected." I paused for a moment. Colby was sitting beside me and rested his hand on my thigh.

He was so supportive.

"Long story short, he ended up hitting me. Obviously you guys don't know this, but all he does at home is drink and it just makes his anger thrive. He's been abusive my entire life... just to me. I never wanted to follow the path he was forcing us into. My breaking point was when he said that I was adopted and my mom says I wasn't supposed to know. I pushed him, threw his beer in his face, and just ran out. I was so hurt."

I shook my head and let out a sigh.

"I told them I never wanted to see them again. I was hoping that was the end of it, but last night we ran into him when we went to the grocery story. Man, he wasn't happy with me."

I glanced over at Colby and jutted my bottom lip out. He could tell the rest of the story.

"So i went to the register to meet with Soph. She went to grab some soda but she never made it up there. I was going towards the aisle she was in and as I got closer I heard a lot of yelling. When I got to the aisle I found him with his hand around her neck while he yelled."

"He did this in public?!" Jake asked, his jaw dropping.

"He tried saying a bunch of shit trying to hurt my feelings, but it didn't affect me. Nobody there was helping, just watching. She finally had a chance and kicked him in the nuts, then I punched him in the face. The manager called the cops and she dealt with them. I'm not sure what happened in that office, but all I know is that when she walked out we saw him being placed in a police car."

"That's such good news!" Tara exclaimed.

"I got a protection from abuse filed against him. I was really just worried about him, but they told me to file it against my entire family. Now here we are." I shrugged and got up from my seat, throwing my plate away in the kitchen.

"Enough about this though, really. I appreciate you guys caring so much, but I honestly just want to get drunk."

"Yep, that's Soph." Corey said and chuckled.

Everyone got up from the table and tossed their plates. I made my way outside with Sam and Kat.

"What I didn't say in there was that all of this was triggered by me telling my dad I'm selling my house." I said, looking between the two of them.

"He's that bothered?" Sam asked.

"It's his mom's house, and she passed away several years ago. He doesn't want it to leave the family. Yet she was the only one nice to me and believed in my dreams."

We stopped talking about it when everyone else came out. The speakers outside were playing Self Care by Mac Miller.

Heading over to the table we decided to start with mini flip cup. We broke off into teams of girls versus boys.

Myself and Colby went first. We both downed our shots and tried to flip the mini red solo cups. The alcohol was burning as it ran down my throat, and I yelled out as my cup landed on the table first.

"Take that, Colby!"

Kat went next and she downed her shot, just as she was about to flip her cup, Colby's finally flipped perfectly. She squealed from nerves and quickly flipped her cup, it took a few tries but Sam downed his shot and was able to flip his before hers. She got it right after him though.

Tara went up against Jake. He got it first but after two tries she got it. Amber went against Corey, and I was honestly surprised she took the shot because she never drinks. She got it on her first try while Corey laughed at himself for failing at a game he should've been better at.

But their team had five people and we had four, so I went up against Kevin. I downed my shot before him and flipped my cup, but to my avail no success. Neither did Kevin's. My next flip landed and me and the files began to jump up and down yelling as we won the game.

"In your face!" Tara yelled and laughed at the boys as they fake cried at their loss.

"Don't get a bigger head over there, little one." Jake said with a chuckle. "We still have beer pong."

We went over to the table and decided to play a few rounds. The first game was Tara and Kat versus Jake and Sam. The girls ended up winning. Next I teamed up with Kevin and Corey and Colby went against us. Just as I was about to get the last cup, they one. It was just so close, because my ball landed in the last cup right after theirs.

I had a bathing suit on underneath my outfit and I took it off and placed it on a chair to the side, because the last thing I wanted to do was ruin any of Amber's clothes.

Hot water was always so relaxing to me. I let out a content sigh as I sat back, sipping on my white claw. The temperature was just making the alcohol run through my veins faster.

I leaned my head back slightly as I watched everyone goofing off. The guys were playing another game of beer pong together, and the girls were all chilling in the pool.

It just felt so good to be home.