Chapter 13: Sophie
"Sophie dear, you have to wake up. It's morning."
I blinked, wincing against the bright sunlight that flooded into my room. My mom was looming over me with a calm smile.
"W-what?" I mumbled. I looked around, seeing it was just my mom and I. "Where...?"
"I sent them home last night. You were out like a light." She moved over to my window and pulled the curtains open more. I shielded my eyes with my arm as more sunlight spilled across my room. "You've been asleep since yesterday afternoon, honey. You have to get up."
"What time is it?" I asked. I knew my mom wouldn't like it, but I wanted to go back to school today. Midterms were next week; I couldn't skip school even if I wanted to. "I need to go back to school."
My mom turned to look at me. She was picking up laundry from around my room and folding it over her arm. "Are you sure that's such a good idea, honey?"
I threw the covers off of me and got out of bed. "Mom, I'm fine. Nothing seriously bad happened to me to make it okay to miss school."
"You were attacked, Sophie!" she argued.
Looking myself over sarcastically, I said, "I don't seem to have any injuries... I think I'm fine to go to school today."
"Sophie..." she sighed.
I ignored her and walked into my bathroom to brush my teeth. I heard my mom sigh again and leave my room, taking my laundry with her. That man who attacked me probably wanted me to be scared; he probably wanted me to sit in my room and wait for him to be stupid enough to get caught. I've seen enough crime shows on TV to know that much.
I finished in the bathroom and got dressed in some jeans and a hoodie. Naomi barked from the doorway. "What is it, girl?" I asked, looking over in her direction. She barked again and padded down the hallway, her nails scratching the wood floors. I followed her to the back door. "Okay girl, let's go outside."
I opened the door and she pushed past my leg. She went out the doggie door build into the screened-in porch and out to the grassy area. I stepped outside and looked around, then froze.
"What the..." I whispered. Over the surface of the pool were floating rose buds and petals. They were everywhere- even on the deck surrounding the pool.
"Mom?" I called. I wanted to believe it was Justin that did this, but I knew in my gut he wasn't the one behind the romantic gesture.
My mom came up behind me and asked, "What is it, honey?"
I motioned to the pool and her expression became confused. "Who did this?"
I waited a moment, dreading her question. I was really hoping she'd say it was Justin. Showing any sort of emotion would only make things worse. All I wanted to do was scream. I wanted to find the man who kept harassing me and ask him why he kept doing this, but Darius told me that that's what the man most likely wanted; to get a reaction out of me, see me weak or frustrated. As hard as it was, I managed to keep my expression calm. "Call Darius," I said, turning and walking back into the house. "I'm going to be late for school."
~
I walked down the hall, trying to ignore the hushed whispers and stares towards me. Zoey walked next to me closely. I had told her about the rose petals in my pool this morning. She seemed as creeped out as I was. Ever since we'd gotten to school, she was quiet. It was unusual for her, but I didn't bother to ask her why.
"Do you think she just made it up for attention...?" I heard one girl whisper.
"Maybe she was jealous of all of the attention Kim was getting," one of her friends whispered back. When I glanced over at them, they looked away quickly as if pretending they hadn't said anything. Zoey grabbed my forearm and dragged me along quickly until we got to the classroom. I walked to my seat, unable to ignore the stares I was receiving in there either.
"Ignore them. They only know what they heard on the news," Zoey whispered from behind me. "You know rumors are going to pop up. They did about Kim."
I didn't acknowledge her. I didn't want to be reminded that I was almost in the same boat as Kimberly. Despite the constant whispering, I managed to focus on the textbook in front of me. A few seconds later, Mr. Garrett walked into the classroom.
"Alright everyone, we will be watching a video on World War II today. You don't have to take notes, but you can work on your study guide for your midterm if you'd like. Please keep talking to a minimum," he said, looking the class over. He turned off the lights and pulled down the projector screen. After fidgeting with his computer, the projector flashed to life. He pressed play, and the movie started.
I rummaged through my backpack to pull out my midterm study guide and started writing on the paper. History was by far my best subject, so I didn't see myself studying too hard for this class.
"...think she's telling the truth?" I heard a low whisper behind me.
"Nah, she's totally faking it. Who knew a quiet girl like her would be such an attention whore?"
"I know, a total shock to a lot of us. You think it's to cover something else up?"
"Like what?"
"Maybe her parents caught her having sex with an older guy and she made up this bogus story about being attacked?"
I heard a chuckle. "You think she's into taking more than one guy?"
"Probably. Attention might not be the only thing she wants if you know what I mean."
I felt the tears sting my eyes as they snickered to themselves. I shoved my textbook and notebook into my backpack then stood abruptly. Several pairs of eyes burned into me as I swung my backpack over my shoulder. My mom was right; I shouldn't have come to school.
"Sophie, what's wrong?" Zoey asked, grabbing my wrist.
"Ms. Anderson, please sit down," Mr. Garrett said. I pulled my wrist from Zoey's grasp and walked towards the door, wiping a tear from my cheek. "Ms. Anderson, if you do not return to your seat, I'll have no choice but to send you to detention."
Anger sparked inside of me, and I couldn't stop myself from snapping. I turned on him, letting the tears spill from my eyes. "Detention? You're going to give me detention? What about all of them, spreading false rumors about what happened to me?" I argued, motioning to the boys in the back who had been talking about me. Their faces were pale but showed no remorse for what they had said. "Go ahead then, that won't stop me from leaving."
Mr. Garrett seemed stunned that a student actually had the nerve to talk back to him. On any other occasion, I would never have talked back to a teacher, nor would I have ever disrespected one. However, this situation was completely different, and threatening to give me detention for no particular reason struck a chord with me. Not waiting for his reply, I turned and stormed out of the room.
My footsteps echoed as I walked quickly down the hallway. I couldn't stop crying, mainly because I was embarrassed. I wasn't like Kimberly; no one knew who I was beside my friends. Ever since I'd made the news, my personal life had become fuel for countless rumors.
"Ms. Anderson, shouldn't you be in class?"
I stopped and turned to see the dean behind me. Unlike Mr. Garrett, he seemed concerned. I shook my head, not wanting to answer him.
"Where are you going?" he asked, looking me over.
"Home," I snapped, turning around and walking away from him. I'm sure the dean of all people knew the situation I was in. Darius said he and a few other FBI agents filled the school staff on what happened.
"Ms. Anderson-!" he called after me. I went out the door and ignored him. The sunlight was harsh as I stepped outside. I shielded my eyes against it and blinked a few times, walking towards the parking lot.
It was quiet, and despite the sun's warm rays, it was chilly outside. Once my eyes adjusted to the sunlight, I crossed my arms over my chest and kept walking. I heard a bird chirping in the patch of woods next to the school's building. Strangely, it was calming. I stopped crying and wiped my tear-streaked face with the sleeve of my hoodie. My car was parked next to Zoey's on the far side of the parking lot. That was the only thing I hated about driving to school; if you weren't in the parking lot early enough, you were forced to park in the grassy field next to the parking lot. I fumbled for my keys in my backpack, pausing in between some other cars.
Once I was next to my car, I went to put the key in the door to unlock it but dropped the keys on the ground. My hands were stiff from the chilly weather, so my grip wasn't as tight.
"Dammit," I whispered to myself. I bent down to pick up my keys and paused when I heard footsteps approach me. I stood and went to turn around, but froze when I heard a familiar voice.
"Hello, my beautiful Sophie."