【••SOPHIA••】
“Earth to Sophia?”
I look up at my brother’s voice.
We’re standing outside of our father's mansion. We just finished dinner… I think.
I was in no mood to come here but if I had skipped this dinner, mom would’ve gotten more worried and thought something serious happened between me and Jameson so I took my absent mind here.
Did I even talk?
“Are you okay?” Alan’s brows pull together in concern. I haven’t been able to utter a word. My mind keeps surrounding itself with what happened at Mark’s party and the effect we’ll see tomorrow.
“I’m fine.” my voice is barely a whisper. I’ve been holding the urge to cry since Jameson dropped me off two nights ago.
My chest squeezes at the thought.
I haven’t talked to him since Mark’s party.
He called me. He didn’t stop sending texts. Liv told me he went to the cafe to talk to me. He even came to my apartment. When I didn’t answer the door bell, he started banging on the door. He knew I was inside.
He came over again when mom was home. I told mom to tell him that I was sick and didn’t want to meet anyone. Mom wanted to do anything but that. Still, she did it.
I don’t care what the students will say to me at school after that fight at Mark’s. I can easily ignore their comments like I have been since I started studying there.
I’m scared of what comments they’ll throw Jameson’s way. I know, I just know Tyler will continue to push Jameson’s buttons to get him in trouble and after the reaction Jameson gave to him that night, he knows exactly what to talk about.
Jameson still hasn't told me what Tyler said, he’s not going to and I don’t care. I just don’t want him to get in trouble with Tyler at school and ruin his image.
What if the comments he gets in school get brutal to a point that he gets sick of me? That whenever he sees my face and realizes what he did and push me away.
I don’t want to think that way. I don’t want anything to affect his image at school. I don’t want him to push me away.
My eyes drift to my phone.
Jameson hasn’t texted me since earlier this morning. He hasn’t called me either or visited the apartment.
Maybe he finally realized his mistake.
The thought is a stab straight to my heart.
“What happened, Sophia?”
I turn towards Alan. He’s still standing beside me.
I shake my head, “nothing.” I try to give him a reassuring smile but fail.
I take a step forward on wobbly legs to make my way towards my car.
“Since when do you lie to me?” Alan walks behind.
I don’t answer him. I quietly make my way towards the car, slowing my steps as I reach it.
I turn around after a beat to find my brother looking at me with his head tilted.
“Can I ask you something?” I ask.
“Sure.”
“Have you… um, have you ever gotten in a fight because someone said something about Eva?”
I don’t miss how his eyes darken for a second before he masks it, “yeah. Two times.”
Oh. “how did Eva react?”
“Not good. She was pretty pissed that I got myself into a fight instead of ignoring him.”
“Why didn’t you ignore him?”
Alan stares at me for a beat. And I think he won’t answer me but then.
“I couldn’t.” he says, “I hated how they talked about her and I wanted to put them in their places. Let them know they had no right talking about her like that. I didn’t care about the consequences I’d have to face and I told her that I wasn’t going to ignore anyone who talks wrong about her.”
Something squeezes in my chest.
Did Jameson think like that when he attacked Tyler? He didn’t care about his surroundings when he punched him and… from the way his eyes were filled with fury, if Ethan hadn’t stopped him, he might’ve hurted Tyler badly.
“So, whose face did he break?”
I blink at Alan who’s now grinning.
“What?”
“Jameson.” he says, “whose face did he break?”
“I didn’t say anything about Jameson breaking someone’s face.”
“Okay. Who did he get into a fight with?”
I fold my arms against my chest, “what makes you think he got into a fight?”
He raises an eyebrow, “you never ask me the kind of question you just asked. So, something like that probably happened.”
I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out so I seal my lips.
“So?” Alan says.
“It’s no one.”
“You’re a horrible liar.”
I roll my eyes, “some guy said something at a party and Jameson punched him.”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know and Jameson won’t tell me either.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“He’s probably not telling you because he doesn’t want to repeat those words. It’ll trigger him.” Alan says.
“Did you tell Eva what those people said?”
“Nope and never will.” Alan smiles.
I lean my back against the car, “what if Jameson’s image in school gets ruined because of me?”
Alan frowns, “why did you add ‘because of me’?”
“He got in a fight because of me.”
“Did you tell him to punch that guy?”
“No, but-”
“If Jameson wanted, he could’ve ignored that asshole but he didn’t. He didn’t punch him because of you. If he cared about his image so much, he wouldn’t have done it.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Alan says, “stop blaming yourself for others' doings.”
I nod.
My phone lights up with a text.
My heart starts racing as Jameson’s name appears on my screen.
Devil
I’m camping outside of your apartment.
Try escaping me now, genius.
A small smile takes over my lips as my chest lightens.
“Head home. It’s getting late.”
I lift my head to meet my brother’s eyes.
“Okay.” I say.
“Promise not to blame yourself for this?”
I nod, “promise.”
“Good. and tell Jameson to call me next time, I’ll help with the beating.” Alan grins.
I roll my eyes, still smiling, “goodnight, Alan.”
“Goodnight, sis.”
I turn around and open the door to the car. I get in, shutting the door and throwing my purse on the passenger seat. I start the car and drive out of the mansion.
On the way back home, I tell myself I will talk to Jameson. I tell myself that the fight wasn’t my fault and Jameson punched Tyler to show his place.
Most importantly, I tell myself, I won’t let people’s comments affect me or Jameson.
_______
The door to the elevator opens with a ding and I step out.
I turn and find Jameson sitting outside of our apartment door, reading a book.
Just like that night.
My steps echo in the hallway as I reach him. He looks up when my shadow towers him.
Our gaze locks and a sense of relief washes over me.
I missed him.
“Hi,” my voice comes out as a low whisper.
He releases a heavy breath but doesn’t say anything.
Suddenly, he reaches out his hand and pulls me down.
I take in a sharp breath as I fall into his lap. My cheeks heat as we lock gazes.
“Don’t avoid me.” is his first words.
A smile takes over my lips.
“Hi,” i repeat.
“Fuck hi. Do you have any idea how worried I was? I haven’t slept in two days and you not replying to any of my calls and texts didn’t help either. Why did you avoid me? For your information, I do not regret anything I did to that asshole, I would’ve killed him but now that I think about it, I don’t want to end up in jail and stay away from you- anyways, not the point. The point is-”
I place my hands on his cheeks and press my lips against his, cutting him off from his rambling session. He appears shocked for a beat but then he kisses back, pulling me closer by my waist.
I part my lips with a gasp and he takes that chance to deepen the kiss, entering his tongue.
His hands trail down to stay on my thighs. Even through the cloth, his touch sends tingles through my skin.
After what feels like a whole good minute, we pull away. The sound of our heavy breaths fill the empty hallway.
Jameson’s eyes land on my lips and a small smile takes over his. He lifts his hand and traces his thumb over my bottom lip.
“This is the first time you initiated the kiss, genius.” he grins, locking eyes with me.
“Don’t get used to it.” I say as he removes his thumb from my lips and rests his hand on my thighs.
“But I love it when you initiate the kiss.” he pouts.
I roll my eyes, smiling.
I tug at his shirt, not looking at his face when I say, “I missed you.”
“Why did you avoid me?” he asks, tracing his thumb over my leggings.
I start tracing on his shirt, “I… I was scared about how you’ll react to the comments-”
“Sophia, I don’t care about who says what.” he says, “if someone is going to talk about you the wrong way, i’ll do anything to teach them a lesson. And by the way, Tyler deserved that punch more than anything.”
I hum. Jameson lifts my chin gently so I’m staring into his eyes.
“Don’t hide from me. Don’t run from me because I will chase you no matter what even though it means I have to sacrifice my beauty sleep.”
I chuckle, he smiles.
“Next time, talk to me even when you think I’d get mad at you because there’s no way I will. That’s your job.”
I shove at his shoulder. He laughs, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in a hug. My head rests on his shoulder.
“Promise you won’t run away from me?” he asks, softly.
“Promise.”
He releases a sigh, his body relaxing entirely. I smile.
“You should head back home.” I say but don’t lift my head from his shoulder.
“Or we could camp out here, I was going to anyway.”
I chuckle, “we have school tomorrow and you need your beauty sleep.”
“Are you teasing me, genius?”
I suppress a smile, “no.”
He hums, “I’ll leave in a bit.”
“Okay.”
We stay attached to each other in the dark hallway, hearing the beat of each other’s heart.
Promise you won’t run away from me?
Promise.
If I face a problem or any dark thought, Jameson will be the one I run to.