SOPHIE
I came home from a outing with old friends exhausted and planned to retire back into bed for an early afternoon nap. I climbed up the stairs, approaching my room. Once inside, I was startled at the girl that was lounging on my pink bedspread.
I stared at the stranger, no older than myself. She had wavy, dark brown hair that touched her shoulders with cyan colored eyes, and an obnoxious smirk planted on her face.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" I demanded, slowly placing down my phone onto the dresser top.
The girl merely laughed. "Haven't you heard? I'm your new housemate."
My eyes narrowed. Already I hated her.
"That doesn't explain why you're in my bed."
The girl sat up, lifting her head from my decorated pillows and crossing her legs in an Indian position. She gave me another dastardly smile. "Haven't you also heard? Out of the goodness of your heart, you've decided to change rooms with me."
"What are you talking about? I haven't met you yet, why would I give you my room?" I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Well, the old guest room that they're trying to put me in is way too small for my stuff so I figured the best fit for me would be your room. Plus, while you've been at college for the past weeks, I've been making myself comfy." She combed through her hair with her finger, inspecting it for a moment before turning to face me again. "Oh, and I've missed seeing you at your mother's dinner party."
I looked at her like she was crazy. Now upset of the thought of mom allowing some stranger to stay in my room while I was away.
"Then again, the guest room does have more of a better view from the bay window seating." The girl smiled, grasping my attention as I blinked at her.
I scoffed. I couldn't believe the nerve of this girl. She was a unknown living in my house and apparently in my room. Above all, she was obnoxious.
"Do you have a name or should I just refer to you as one of my own?" I grilled, sinking my weight into my right hip. I looked at her expectantly.
She let out a small laugh. "I'm Libby. I'm assuming by the writing above your mirror that your name is Sophie?"
I nodded as the girl stood on her feet, walking forward with a mistrustful smile on her face.
"Well, Sophie. I look forward to living with you."
I narrowed my eyes as she bypassed me and cleared the room, trailing further down the hall to the guest bedroom.
"I swear she is out to get me."
I sat crossed legged on my bed on a voice call with the girls back at West Bridge. Emma and Alicia had gone home and the she-devil was in her own room. Sitting in my lap was an opened photobook. I reached over and flipped the page to present old photos that portrayed me and my birth parents before looking through pictures of just Mom and me, without John and Libby. We both looked happy, how our family was supposed to be.
I smile softly at the pictures one last time before I put the album back in my drawer.
"You two just met," said Charlotte. "I'm sure it'll get better."
"She's right, you haven't entirely given them a chance," added Bri.
"A chance? As much as I know, she practically moved in weeks ago. And in my room! Without my permission, let alone knowledge."
"You might as well learn to get along with her. This living arrangement may become permanent with your mom and her dad dating and all," Chels told me.
"Look on the bright side, at least you'll have yourself a sister," said Calley.
"Step sister," I corrected.
"Same difference."
I sighed, burying my face with my pillow as the girls continued to further the idea of a wedding, arguing over the possibility of the preparation. Through it all, I decided to call it a night.
The next morning, I woke up early and got dressed in a burnt-orange, peplum camisole with a pair of high-risen skinny jeans and flatforms. After pinning my hair up into a high bun, I stepped inside my closet and retrieved my suitcase, placing it onto my perfectly made bed before unzipping it.
Suddenly, a knock was heard before the door opened, hardly giving me the opportunity to speak up. Though I knew it was my mother and of course I was right.
"Where are you going?" mom asked.
"Home," I replied icily.
"You are home," she told me, watching me travel from the closet to the opened suitcase to drop off yet another pile of clothes.
"No mom - I'm not."
Without warning, mom walked over and put an end to my packing, closing my suitcase and pulled me over towards the edge of the bed where I was forced to sit down. When I turned away to avoid eye contact, mom directed me back to stare into her worried blue eyes. "Soph, talk to me."
"I just don't want to be here anymore. There's so much change happening around me and I feel like I'm the only one who's left behind." I stood up, looking around the room as if I was just seeing it for the very first time. "I can't believe you allowed that girl to occupy my room while I was away."
"Well, I was hesitant at first."
"Unbelievable..."
"It was only for a few days!" mom exasperated.
I scoffed. "A few days..."
"Listen Soph, the only way you can understand this, is by accepting it. Just try and get to know her. John wants to know you too, so I thought you could go bowling together."
"Mom, bowling?!"
"Austin took you and your cousin countless times to play when you were younger."
"Thanks but no thanks."
"Can you just give it a shot, Sophie please?" Mom pleaded. "You can always leave if you feel uncomfortable."
I couldn't imagine spending five minutes with the guy, let alone five seconds with his daughter. But Mom kept pleading and persuading me until eventually I gave in.
My heart palpitated when I saw a familiar face walking towards me from afar. And the closer the face got, the closer I was able to distinguish that the face belonged to Mr. Steuart.
He didn't speak and almost looked afraid. But no wonder because I spaced out on him and left with no word the first time we met. I felt like storming out again in fact but restrained from doing so.
"Hi."
I edged away from discomfort when he sat down and looked at me through his deep set eyes.
"I'm sorry our first introduction didn't go very well."
I snapped out of my daze and became angry, avoiding all eye contact.
"Your mother told me this is one of your favorite things to do."
"It is," I replied. "Depending on the company..."
I didn't know whether it was my imagination but I was sure I saw him turn pale.
"Look, I only came here as a favor for my mom," I said before I rose to my feet.
"Wait - don't you want to have a game?"
"Why?"
"Why not? I'd like to have a go and it was quite a long drive getting here."
"Just one."
During our game, I couldn't help but take sneaky glances at him now and again.
After selecting a ball for my third go, I aimed the ball towards the pins but to my annoyance, it didn't hit one. But I wasn't alone because Mr. Steuart was terrible at bowling as well and only succeeded knocking down four pins tops.
"Did your mom tell you how we met?"
"No."
Because I don't care.
Though he told me anyway. "I noticed her during campus visitation. I was attracted to her even before she laid eyes on me. I heard she was new on the field so I offered to give her a tour of the premises."
"How sweet of you..."
"True... And all the while, I was puzzled and couldn't get her out of my head. She visited my classroom the next day to thank me and that's when I asked her out for a date," said Mr. Steuart. "A week or so into the relationship, she met Libby who was actually a student of hers, which made things a bit easier. The only thing that was missing was you."
What Mr. Steuart said to me was an eye opener as I met his stare. Pushing aside my personal feelings, I saw the man as himself and not a homewrecker. It got me thinking, maybe, just maybe there was some sort of connection between them.
Fortunately, I could see myself getting to know the John guy inside because I could tell he was a good person so far, and to my mother as well.
"Are you going to marry her?" I asked.
"I'm not sure yet," Mr. Steuart replied. "We're taking it nice and slow. And if you like, we could get to know each other better."
"...okay."
Mr. Steuart perked up. "That's great. We should have another game then, shouldn't we?"
We had another game and gradually my scores became better because I felt things weren't as bad as it seemed.
And if my mom was happy, then why should the other stuff matter?
After my bonding time with Mr. Stueart, I had decided to give Libby the benefit of the doubt by mostly avoiding her at all costs.
Which was going to be harder with our parents' big announcement.
"We're going on vacation!"
By the weekend the car was packed to the brim for our two week long vacation. Fitting four people's worth of luggage was a feat when someone packed as heavily as my mother did.
"Why do we have to go on vacation?" I whined as Mr. Steuart closed the trunk with finality. "Why can't I just stay here?"
"Your mother wanted us to do a bit of bonding before you and Libby go off to college," he reminded me before joining the woman who was already seated in the passenger's side.
"Haven't we bonded enough," I whined. "I could stay here and you guys could take Libby, and have a nice family vacation. Problem solved!"
"Problem not solved, Soph. Get in the car."
I groaned, throwing open the back door and got in the car nonetheless. I ignored Libby's mocking smile as I strapped myself in. We were going to be trapped together for the next few hundred miles and I was not looking forward to it.
"Why couldn't we just fly again?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling a bit claustrophobic," Libby called up before purposely elbowing me in the side.
"There's nothing a little road trip mix won't fix," Mr. Steuart laughed, punching in a CD. Libby and I groaned in the backseat. We both had our own music devices, and I had no idea what kind of taste of music the man had.
An up-beat song from the nineteen-eighties started playing, filling up the car with more glee than had been felt all week.
"Libby, I know this is one of your favorite songs. So I'm going to start this over," he called to the back before reaching over to go to the beginning of the track. It crackled over the speakers once again and this time Libby joined in.
"Oh baby, I'm aware of where you go," she mouthed, "Each time you leave my door. Watching you walk down the street, knowing there's another guy you'll meet."
The music picked up and Libby began shimmying in her seat. I turned fully to watch, a laugh barely contained behind my curled lip. I began outright laughing when Libby and her dad full force started to sing along, switching off between lead and back-up vocals.
"Stop in the name of love!" The two jammed out. "Before you break my heart!"
Their chair dancing continued, this time picking up in intensity. As they progressed through it, the song became more vibrant and it caused Mom and even myself to join in by the time the chorus came around.
"Stop in the name of love!" we chorused, slightly off key. "Before you break my heart! Stop in the name of love. Before you tear it apart. Oh, think it over. Think it over..."
Four hours later and we had arrived at the beach house we were renting. We had gotten all of our stuff out of the trunk and were deciding on where people would sleep, namely Libby and I. Luckily, there were enough rooms for us to have our own.
I decided on the room on the first floor before heading down the hallway to get settled in. I stepped inside the spacious room and placed my bags on the floor and then myself on the decorated bed. There was nothing else to do but unpack and rest.
For the most part, Libby and I did a good job of not getting in close contact with each other. Libby spent most of her day splashing in the water, whereas I spent a majority of my day indoors writing in my new notebook or on my laptop getting a head of my classwork.
The others had brought up the idea of s'mores when the sun was just lowering towards the horizon. It left a soft orange glow upon the water's surface and brought to life the warm colors of the sand. It was beautiful outside and a beautiful moment to share with each other – spread around the fire pit, laughing and chatting while shoving down bits of melted marshmallow and chocolate. But something didn't sit well in my stomach as I saw everyone sit down. I didn't think I belonged.
So I made the excuse that I was going to walk on the beach. I threw on my solid black, tank top and a pair of shorts before pulling my hair into a bushy and impromptu high bun. I went to the front door, barefooted before heading out the door.
The music of the ocean waters blared and filled every hole that seemed to be gaping with insecurity. As I walked, I tuned out the toxic energy of my family. As my feet beat against the moist sand, I was beating down the negative energy that had been consuming my life.
By the time I had returned home I was completely exhausted from head to toe. The orange sky had slowly shifted and was pulled to a dull black. I skipped going in the front door and walked all the way around to the back. I stared at the pitch black ocean momentarily, sensing the low crashing waves as inviting. I wanted to jump in and have the slow-moving water engulf me and swallow me whole. I wanted to feel like I was being pulled out to sea – away from here.
Instead, I sat. I sat in the cool sand, squishing my toes under the surface. I stayed like that for a while, unnerved by the calm that surrounded me. I finally felt like I could unwind among the blackened backdrop and somnolent ocean. Finally.
This carried on for the next couple days; I would avoid family time, go for an evening walk, and then sit in the sand until it grew too cold to be bearable any longer. My routine had been left alone until I felt a body drop next to me on the third night. I looked over to see that my nightmares were coming true because Libby was once again invading my space.
"What do you want?" I asked, barely sparing a glance at her.
She patted the sand beside me, ignoring my question. She had on a redwood, spaghetti strapped one-piece that was easily seen through her mesh kimono, still unchanged from the swim she had earlier. Her wet strands of hair fluttered through the cool breeze.
"What do you do when you leave?" she asked.
"I walk," I answered as it was a no-brainer.
"You can't tell me that you walk the whole hour that you're gone."
"Sometimes," I answered.
A silence stirred between us and I fussed at whatever was above me for allowing them to put Libby in my perfect evening. Because here she was talking and breathing, invading my precious alone time with her blabbing mouth.
"Sophie?" Libby asked openly, no strength or demands in her voice.
"Yeah?" My voice was tired-sounding, barely allowing an echo to follow.
"I'm really sorry," she admitted.
"For what?" I pushed, eyes on the water.
Libby looked at me, slightly hesitant for what she was going to say. "For everything, for ruining your return home."
"And...?"
"And..." Libby took a breath. "I'm sorry that I was such a pain." She couched slightly. "Honestly, I just liked meddling with you. I never had sort of a sibling figure around, it's always been just Dad and me. So I know exactly what you're going through. Trust me."
A silence lingered between us as Libby looked towards me. Hope and a longing for forgiveness was etched pretty heavily into her features, shining through her dark eyes. I remained stoic though, not giving her any indication of what I thought of her apology.
"You were a pain," I said finally, cracking a smile. I turned towards Libby, watching her shake her head before letting out a laugh. She kept laughing, giddy from the way my smile had lit up the evening. I laughed along for a bit up before moving to get up.
Libby followed me off the ground. We looked at each for a moment, just staring in idle contentment. For a second I thought about giving her a hug, but quickly pushed the thought out of my mind when Libby pulled me into a tight squeeze. A small smile lifted my face a little as I gave in and hugged back.
"Water time," Libby smiled, dragging my protesting body to the ocean.
And just like that we were darting across the backyard, sand flying every which way as we ran around like eight-year-olds, squealing and screaming before racing into the water deep enough that when she let go, I went sputtering into the salty pool.
I sprung up like a cat, eyes wide and deadly. "You're such a pain!" I yelled before dragging her under water with me. She came up shortly after, gulping for air.
We splashed water at each other, attempting to maneuver the fastest out of the way. Our laughter echoed across the never ending ocean.
Maybe things didn't have to change entirely...