The Simple Days

Chapter 1 (Sophia's POV)

Sophia's POV

It would be too easy to simply imply that being popular was everything a girl could ask for. Jamie Wilcox found way too much pleasure in seeing everyone parting the hallways like the red sea, with their bodies pressed up against the chipping navy blue lockers. That wasn't because she was well-liked, sweet, or even beautiful; this all happened because everyone wanted to be her.

Jamie was the type of girl who wanted everything her way and she normally got it. Courtesy of Daddy. If things weren't in the exact fashion she sought, all hell broke loose. Sometimes when I watched her walk down the hallway, with the smug look on her face like she deserved all the attention, it made me question why I put up with her... but in reality sometimes she's a great friend.

Everyone has their other personalities, bear with me now. So it shouldn't be that shocking when I say that part of Jamie is a fourteen year old bitch that gets meaner and meaner each passing day and the other side of her is this caring teenager who is just trying to get through the fact that her father has a new mistress each week. I've hung out with both versions of Jamie and I may never understand why she's so messed up, but I'll always be there for her.

When you're fourteen, everyone tells you that the friends you make in grade school won't last and I hope that's true, because the dirt that Jamie has on me is endless. Not just me but all the other girls. I had made the mistake of trusting her with my deepest, darkest secrets.

The final bell rang through the hallways loudly and our clique continued to walk outside. When I walked out, I expected to see Ethan, my brother's best friend leaning against the back of the car, with his hands in his pockets and his blonde hair tousled in every which direction, but instead I saw Liam, my older brother looking rather disheveled and running his hands through his hair ever five seconds. His dark brown hair was sticking up in each direction and his blue eyes darker than ever.

"Um... is everything okay?" I asked hesitantly. Tears were already welling at the thought of something happening to Ethan. He never missed a day to pick me up, which is why, because he wasn't here I was beginning to freak out. My heart was throbbing in a way that it shouldn't have, because he's four years older than me and he was my older brother's best friend.

"Why are you crying?" He questioned. I reached for my eyes and wiped away the salt water that was trailing down my face to the edge of my lip.

"Did something happen to Ethan?" I wept and it seemed as the words came out of my mouth more tears came rushing down my face. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. It must have been so loud seeing as I was worrying so much.

"No," Liam replied all too easily. There just had to be a reason that he looked stressed and troubled.

"Then what happened?" I asked looking him dead in the eye. "Why isn't Ethan here?" I completely wanted him here but if he couldn't make it, then he couldn't make it. I just needed to know why he wasn't outside waiting.

"Sophia, his mom is in the hospital. She tried to commit suicide."

I don't know much about Ethan's mother. I knew nothing about her other than the fact that five years ago Ethan's father was killed while trying to protect him in a bank robbery. It had been all over the news and the information had been too much for her. She hardly talked to anyone and Ethan ended up staying at our house for practically an entire year.

"Well, can we go see him?" I asked, even though I didn't wait for his response. I slipped into the navy blue Lexus Mom had given him for getting into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Dartmouth, all being Ivy League colleges, however he made the tough decision of staying in California and attending UCLA in the fall.