I Never Imagined ✔️

Chapter 48: Strains

(Raymond) 

The one thing about relationships is that they're very temperamental. It's very hard to build a good relationship, but it's very easy to hurt that relationship. The thing, in a relationship, you never know that anything you say can hurt the relationship. People interpret those sentences in different ways, and depending on the person, it can either help, hurt, or do nothing to the relationship. 

That's why you have to be so careful with what you say and do. I wasn't that person. I was an idiot, and I didn't stand up for Sophia when I should've. I lashed out at her, and I said things that I shouldn't have. I felt awful, and I wanted to sort everything out. 

But I knew that I had to give her some space after everything that had happened. I just knew that it was necessary after everything that we've been through.

It's been two weeks since the whole altercation. Two weeks of feeling like someone chopped me up inside with a cleaver. 

I've just wanted to tackle her in the hallways and just tell her how much I screwed up and how much I miss her. I know I can't do that in real life, but the least I can do right now is respect her personal space and privacy. Because those are things that still exist.

"Okay, guys. So, prom is coming up in two weeks. This year, it will be held in Newport Beach Winery in, you guessed it, Newport Beach," Ms. Robinson says as a little introduction. I scribble down notes, while taking occasional glances at Sophia. Her toasty eyes don't shift in my direction once in the whole meeting. They just hover over her notebook of student body notes. 

"Sylvia, have you done the calculations for profit and all that on prom?" she asks. Sylvia nods. 

"Done," she says. Ms. Robinson glances over at us. 

"Raymond, Sophia, have you guys talked to the catering company and have you gotten the decorations?" she asks. I nod, and from the corner of my eye, I can see Sophia nod as well. 

"Excellent. I'll see you guys tomorrow so that we can finalize plans about prom. Have a great day," she says, and we get up. As Sophia gets up to go, her pencil case falls to the ground. Her eyes shift to the ground, and she bends over to pick up the case. Before her hand can pick it up, I swiftly pick it up and hand it to her. 

"Thank you, Ray," she says, while taking the case and swiftly walking away. Man, I wish that I could talk to her some more. I don't even know when to start talking to her again and to try and make this right. I feel like I've given her enough space. It stings to not be able to talk to her.

"Not going good?" Pete asks as I throw my books in my locker. I slam my door shut and look at him. 

"No, it's going great. I feel like my dad when he found out he was getting a promotion. It's wonderful," I say dryly as I snatch my backpack up. Pete scoffs. 

"You're being such a grouch about this. I'm starting to think you're the Grinch's long lost son at this point. Here's an idea. How about you grow a pair and go talk to her? You're only making this harder for yourself," Pete says, while crossing his arms. I look at him. 

"I don't even know how much space I'm supposed to give her. I've never done this before. Sonia, my parents, you, Rob, Henry, and Vince all tell me that I'm supposed to give her some space. How much is enough?" I ask him, starting to walk away. Pete follows up, jogging to keep up with my pace. 

"Dude, you're 5'9" and I'm 5'6". I've got short legs. Slow down," he says, and I stop in my tracks. 

"Fine. I'll slow down," I say, and I start to walk at a slower pace. 

"Ray, I think you're giving her as much space as you can offer. You guys haven't talked in who knows how long. How about you approach her and try to make things right? You're a coward, you know that? You're not making any effort to try and fix your relationship. In fact, you're making it so much worse. How would you know if you never even tried?" he asks as we continue to walk down the halls. 

As we're walking down the halls, Sonia's familiar blonde mane catches my eye. When I see her, my eye also catches sight of Sophia. Her neutral expression that I've grown accustomed to is replaced by a slightly amused face. Happiness erupts inside of me. It's the first time in a while that I've seen her in a somewhat happy state. 

When her eyes catch sight of me, however, that expression morphs into a somewhat perplexed, yet civil look on her face. Confusion sprouts on Sonia's face, and she turns her head to see me. Her green eyes throw me the stink eye, and her hands flies up to Sophia's back to lead her away from me. 

I throw Pete the, "you have your answer now," look. Pete throws me the, "you're not getting away from this," look. "

Okay, I know it looks like she doesn't want to talk to you. But it's Sonia that's leading her away. And let's be real, this is Sonia. She's the most stubborn person out there. We both know that she's going to be making Sophia give you some space to cool down, even if you cooled down even more, you'd probably be a glacier. You need to talk to her," he says. I gulp. 

Honestly, I'm not ready for this. I know that's the one thing I shouldn't say, but honestly, I'm not ready. Anything could go wrong at this point. This is how strained our relationship is. Our relationship is on the rocks, and I don't know who to seek advice from. This is such a confusing decision for me. 

After contemplating for a little bit, Pete snaps his fingers in front of my face. "Ray? Why do you look like someone immersed in a Pensieve?" he says. I raise an eyebrow at him. 

"You read Harry Potter?" I ask. Pete shrugs. 

"My cousins made me watch The Deathly Hallows with them, and every 5 seconds, they stopped and explained what everything is. I know a little bit more than I should. I shouldn't have complained, because they made me watch Twilight next, and I was screaming and begging to watch Harry Potter instead," he says. I chuckle a little bit. 

"I don't think it's that bad," I say. He shakes his head. 

"Not my type. I think Twilight ruined vampires and werewolves for me," he says, and we both chuckle.

All throughout the night, I'm planning on what I want to say to Sophia in order to patch things up. I'm trying to contemplate the best choice of words in order to make her feel better. Honestly, it's not easy. It's like trying to juggle three chainsaws without losing a limb. You've got to be extremely careful. But I think I can do it. After all, I hope it will be worth it.

On that day, everything seems normal. I go through most of my periods feeling normal, but inside, there's always that little bit of anxiety that you can't get rid of. I try not to dwell on that too much, and I try to think about the happy thoughts.

Eventually, lunch comes. I shove everything down my throat and go to find Sophia as soon as possible. As always, she's standing by her locker, talking away with Sonia. I approach her, and the look on Sonia's face goes from a happy look to, "oh, look who finally decided to show up."

 I gulp, straighten myself out, and I clear my throat. Sophia quickly turns around, and her eyes widen at my presence. "Sophia, is it okay if I talk to you for a few minutes?" I ask. Sonia's mouth falls open in protest, but Sophia can sense this, and she puts her hand up. 

"I got this, Sonia. And yes, we can talk, Ray. But only for a few minutes," she says. Sonia gives me another stink eye before strutting away to a corner. Sophia then looks at me and just stands there, staring into my eyes. I gulp. I've made it past the first hurdle. 

Time to jump over the next without tripping and falling. 

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So it looks like the relationship isn't going as well as we all had hoped. How do you guys think that they're going to talk this out? Let me know in the comments. 

Hey everyone! How are you all? I can't believe we're already down to 5 chapters left. Ahhh I'm super excited. Also, I managed to get this chapter out a little bit earlier than usual, which I owe Nikki for. Ha, I accidentally told her the wrong chapter she had to edit last week, so I didn't have to wait on her to edit today. 

I'm sorry, Nikki. Don't hate me. 

That's pretty much it. Hope you all liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all next Sunday with a new chapter of I Never Imagined! Have a great week!

Love you guys, 

Shree.