sophia

Chapter One

On the count of three...

One...

Two...

"What are you doing?"

I quickly glance over to see a tall girl with light brown hair before looking back down, "That's none of your business ma'am."

She leans against the railing and looks down, "That's a pretty far drop, don't you think? Now, why don't you get down from there? I don't want you to fall."

"Oh, I'm going down, all right."

Down...

Down...

Dow-

"I don't like the way that sounds. Come on, get down. We can talk."

"Talk? I don't even know your name." I say, keeping my eyes on the ground below me.

"Ebony Lister. Now, please, come down from there." I can hear the weakness in her voice through her cover-up.

I slowly step down from the ledge and face her, "My name is Sophia, Sophia Ripley."

She scans my body with her eyes, "How old are you? You can't be older than seventeen..."

"I'm exactly that..." I say shyly.

"Seventeen?" I nod. "Come on, Sweet Pea, let's get you home."

"My dad kicked me out... he said I can come back when I get over my mom's death..." I glance back over the ledge.

"Hey, it'll be ok. You can stay with me, I'll take care of you."

"H- how old are you?"

"I just turned eighteen a couple weeks ago. Come on, I'll take you shopping for essentials and some things for you to have fun." She holds out her hand for me to grab for a few seconds before just gesturing me to follow her.

I follow her to her car and get in. "So... where are we going?"

She starts the car, "We're gonna get you a phone first, assuming you don't have one."

"I don't."

"Well then that's what we're doing first. Then we'll get some clothes and a toothbrush. Then we can get whatever else you want."

"Alright..."

"Oh, I should also get some food, you probably don't want to be living off ramen with me," she chuckles.

"Well, maybe one pack every other day so they last."

"Wow, a pack every other day? That's not healthy..."

Instead of saying anything I just pull my knees up to my chest and look out the window, mindlessly plopping my thumb into my mouth. I notice Ebony look over at me but she doesn't say anything, instead, she turns on the radio but my thoughts drown out the music.

She needs to eat too, more than you, she deserves it.

"We're here." Ebony's words pull me out of my trance. I look up to see a small white building.

Phone, right. We're here to get me a new phone.

"Are you ok, Soph?" She rests her hand on my thigh.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I'm happy to finally be getting a phone." My voice stays flat as I stare at her hand.

"Ok, well let's head inside and you can pick one out." She gets out of the car and I do the same.