Sophia's P.O.V.
I paused, thinking of what I was supposed to say after such a revelation. "Uh, h..hi," I said at last, unhappy with the wobbly nature of my own voice. "Hi dad."
"You don't sound very excited," he noted. "It's my fault though. I shouldn't have called without a warning. I talked to your mother a few moments ago and she gave me your dorm nu-"
"You called mom." I cut in, bewildered.
"No, she called me."
Whoa. That hit me with another wave of confusion. My thoughts were left befuddled as to why my mother would call him for any reason. Mom was seldom to speak about my father with us, let alone go out of her way to contact him. It just seemed out of character.
"Why would she call you?"
"Well, she said you haven't visited her in a week. The last she heard of you was when you both saw a news coverage of your college. She's worried." He cleared his throat. "I saw the story on my own but I didn't know that was you. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I mustered a sincere response, leaving my true emotions at bay. "I still don't get why she'd call you though."
"Are you positive that you're okay, Sophie?" He dodged my previous statement entirely. "Who are those kids to you?"
"They're nobody, dad," I groaned.
"Sophie..."
I sighed. "They're awful people, okay. I'd like to stop thinking about them. If I could erase them out of my life, that would be great."
"That's what you want? That's a bit morbid."
"I don't want them dead," I snapped back. "I want them out of my life, but that's impossible. They'll be here for another year and a half. Maybe two."
"Nothing is impossible. It's just that some things are harder to accomplish than others." He informed. "But if that's what you want, I can at least help make things easier for you."
I hooted a laugh. "Yeah, right, dad. And what do you think will happen next? That you'll move back in with mom and everything will be dandy and super? You can't simply come back into my life and fool me into thinking that you care about me - or care about any of us."
"Sophie, you understand me leaving wasn't my choice. Please listen -"
"No, you listen dad. I'm not going to forget what happened that night. You're the reason Rio can't walk. Why he's dependent on mom, and now he's dependent on his fiancé," I shouted. "I bet you didn't even know he was engaged."
"I did know. He's engaged to a girl named Gaby and he went to high school with her. I also know that you've been dating a boy name Remy Annenberg, but you didn't tell your mother yet."
I found myself losing sensation in my legs. My knees gave in and I fell on to Lora's unmade bed. "H-how did you know that?"
"I know you, Sophie. You're my daughter and you're a lot like me. You hide things from people in fear of what they'd think or do."
"I didn't mean that. How did you know all of that information?"
"I told you, years ago. I promised you that I would always take care of you kids and make sure no one ever bothered you. Just because I stopped showing up at the dinner table doesn't mean I stopped caring." He answered. "And you know, for a fact, that I would've never left it weren't for your mother."
"Don't you dare say anything about her." I warned. "She did what she thought was right. After you got Rio hurt that night, she had no other choice."
"Every single one of us have a choice in life. So I've made some bad choices in life. But that doesn't make me a bad person in return. Your mother made a choice and I respect that. You, like her, have a choice. What do you want me to do, Sophie?"
"Hang up, preferably," I grunted. "And possibly stop talking about my mother."
"I wasn't going to say anything bad," he scuffled. There was a long, overdrawn sigh before he spoke again. "Look, I need to go. But if anything else comes up, I'll leave my pager. I always have it on me. Do you have a pen and paper?"
"Don't waste your breath. I was fine after you left and I'll be fine now," I said and put the phone up, ending the call.
There was something so satisfying about hanging up on him, so I slammed it back down for a second time - harder.
•••
Two hours remained before I had to get ready for my study session with Kelsey and Bryce. Lora was at the Daily Brew, studying for her own midterm in Psychology 105. Nicolas came over at noon and we went over some of the reading assignment from our English professor.
We finished up about an hour ago, but Nicolas stuck around to listen to music with me. He had brought along his portable stereo and I showed him the Slowdive album my mom got me this year. Nicolas was going off on a rant about girls and summer time, while I was thinking over my conversation with my father.
"...I hate it when I hear girls say: 'I've gotta get my body right for summer'...Like, what the actual fuck are you going to do about your ugly face? That's not something you can easily fix unless you've got a couple thousand bucks." Nicolas sprang up from his spot on the floor when I didn't laugh. "Did you not hear me?"
"Oh." I sat up from my resting position on Brooklyn's bed. "Haha...ha?"
He raised brows, perplexed. "What's with you? You've been in a weird daze since I got here."
"My dad called the other day." I confessed. "Since then, I've kind of been buggin' out and stuff."
Nicolas crashed in the space beside me. "Whoa, whoa, what? Are you serious? That's random."
"Yeah, you're telling me. Imagine how I felt when I picked up the phone." I huffed, turning on to my belly. "It doesn't matter though. I basically told him to buzz off and not call again. He shouldn't call me anymore."
"That's what you said last time," he stated. "It's really odd."
"What is?"
"Well, don't you remember the last time he called? It was junior year and Greg Flemming just dumped you."
A sour expression brushed my features. "Ugh. Don't remind me. That slimy dweeb had his hands all over Jessica Newman the second he left me. Loads of people kept saying that he was with her before he officially broke up with me."
"Yeah, I heard that rumor floating around, too."
"What about him though?" I questioned, gazing at him with a tilt of my head. "What does Greg Flemming have to do with anything?"
"Well, nothing really. I find it strange that the last time your dad called you, you had broken up with Greg. And now that you've broken up with Remy, he called again." Nicolas elaborated. "And don't you think it's weird with what happened with Greg?"
"Nothing happened to Greg." I proclaimed. "He moved to Idaho."
"Who the fuck moves to Idaho...willingly? All they have up there are mountains and potato farms. I bet it's Closet Kingdom there." Nicolas' brows popped upwards. "You know what? May be I'm reading into this too much-"
"You are." I declared. "You keep digging for something, but there's nothing for you to dig for. People move all the time."
"You didn't let me finish." He frowned. "I was going to say that I may be reading into this too much, but I may not be. Greg didn't just up and move to potato city. He moved and he didn't stay in contact with anyone. I remember asking Jessica Newman, and even she was buggin out about his random choice to move. She didn't get to say goodbye."
"Bleh." I stuck my tongue out. "Why would you talk to Jessica?"
He groaned into his palms. "You're missing the whole point, Sophia. Ugh, just never mind...can I ask one thing though? What exactly were you guys talking about?"
"I barely remember." I shrugged and darted a look at the clock on my wall. Sighing in distress, I got off the bed and paused the song playing on the stereo. "If I remember, I'll tell you. But right now, I've got to get dressed and leave."
"Where are you heading to?"
I shielded my grin, but it was no use. "Don't sweat. I'll be back in the dorms before you know it."
"Where are you going though?" He asked while packing his things up. "At least give me a hint. Does it involve hot beverages and/or hot boys?"
"No comment," I mumbled through tight lips and started pushing him out the door. "I have to get ready."
"There are hot boys involved!" He yelled and yanked me into an embrace, making fake sobbing noises into my shoulder. "Oh my God, go you. Little Sophia has grown up into a woman." He pulled back and looked at me. "Before you know it, you'll be asking for condoms and for oral advice."
"Oral advice...?" I trailed off.
"You know, the part where you shove his pickle into your-"
"Okay. I know. Don't explain any further. When you start referring to body parts as foods, I tend to tune out." I said, cringing at his choice of words. "I think I'll skip on the blowjob tips. Thanks for the offer."
He wailed, throwing his head back in a dramatic nature like the Theater major he was at heart.
Nicolas gave me one last hug before heading for the door and getting out of my dorm.
I didn't have any particular outfits set out for me to wear. I was quite clueless on what I was supposed to wear at such an affair. Tank tops seemed too revealing whereas ankle-length denim skirts felt out of place.
You'll barely be there. It'll take ten minutes tops, my mind reassured me. I decided to play it safe but go for something on daring side of things. Going for something outrageous and risky would give off the wrong idea. Yet, with that established in my thoughts, I found myself sifting through Brooklyn's side of the closet.
There was a slim black number that I was eyeing for a solid four minutes. It was a short skirt that slightly flared out at the bottom and a crop top with a heart shaped neckline. The top was made in velvety material that felt smooth to the touch. Sadly, it didn't cover my belly, but the skirt was high-waisted enough to do the job.
Since Brooklyn was taller than me, the skirt was a smidge too long for me. For extra precautions, I brought out my sheer black stockings. I didn't want to bend down to reach for something, and then regret it forever.
Once everything was assembled and my hair was braided to the side, I realized the knots my stomach were in for what I was doing. Taking Brooklyn's clothes without permission would make her flip out. I wouldn't hear the end of it for weeks. I had only foolishly borrowed her clothes on two separate occasions, both times ended in a tantrum and a splitting headache.
I was willing to take the risk. If she killed me, at least I looked good during my last moments alive.
After one final glance at myself in the mirror, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and headed out the door.
Somehow - I wasn't sure how - Kelsey had gotten a hold of the landline to my dorm. She fed me the address over the phone the other day and gave me specific instructions on how I was meant to enter the apartment complex. She told me the access code for the keypad outside the gates and also said to buzz for her room number when I got to the building.
My bucket of a car miraculously survived the trip to their apartment complex without falling apart into a heap of disassociated metal.
From behind the gates, you couldn't get a clear view of the building. Not because the apartments were build at a low level, but because of the far distance between the complex and the gates. On top of that, the complex was built at the bottom of a slope, meaning the gates were closer to the top of the incline.
The aftereffect of seeing the building was a blind of short breaths and held back gasps. It stood tall, nearly touching the low hanging clouds and the top of one of the palm trees that were swaying beside it.
The balconies, from afar, looked to be in cases in glass and stainless steel. A couple was perched on one of the balconies close to the middle, paying more attention to their lips than the roaring gray clouds above them.
The forecast did say there was a thirty percent chance of rain, but they had also said that all last week and we didn't get a drop of rain.
Yay, California.
I followed Kelsey's instructions to a tee and located her name on the list, then rang for her. The door opened without her picking up the phone to see who I was. I quickly glance up at the corner of the wall, which provided the answer to how she'd know I was here. Security cameras were dotted all over the building, externally and internally.
Pushing the heavy doors, I shuffled into the lobby - and once again, I was dumbfounded at the setting. The marble floors were so shiny I could see myself in the reflection. On the walls, there was gold detailing and two strikingly handsome men guarding the bronze elevator.
A woman, flipping through a magazine, sat behind a desk with no papers. She didn't pay any attention to me when I walked by. The two men, on the other hand, stood up straight and glowered at me as I approached the elevator.
One of them definitely had a gun poking out...or he was happy to see me in my slim outfit. I pretended it was the second option and not the first to calm down my fears.
Kelsey had warned me about security. I was crossing my fingers in desperation that they wouldn't give me a hard time.
"Hey." I waved and one of them blocked the entryway to the elevator. "I need to go up to the fourteenth floor."
The guy closet to me slowly turns to look at me. "That floor is closed to the public."
"I...I understand that, but I'm here for Kelsey Jacobson. She just rang me up. You can call her and ask if you don't believe me."
"Don't tell me what to do," he hissed and took an extra step forward, causing me to fumble backwards and crash into the second guard. "I'm the one who makes orders around here." He nodded to his pal. "Kick her out, Oscar."
I struggled for a reply, saying how I was supposed to be here and that I wasn't some intruder. The second guy gripped my elbow, hard, without letting me explain. I yelled out in pain. He wasn't easing up on me anytime soon, and I wish he would. It felt like my shoulder would pop out of place from how I was being shoved toward the glass doors.
"Hey," someone shouted. The guard froze at the sound of the voice and we both looked back to see Kelsey stepping out of the elevator. "What the hell are you doing, Oscar?"
"I was escorting the lady out of the building."
"Escorting? That's what you call escorting?" She boomed. "Let go of her before I chop your balls off and feed them to the dogs."
He immediately loosened his grip and released me. I wrapped my hand around the spot he had such an iron grip on. I could tell a bruise would form by tonight because of the amount of force he used on me.
"Thanks," I whispered when I got closer to Kelsey.
"No problem." She smiled and walked right past me and to the guy named Oscar. She said something to him, and in seconds they both came my way.
"Go on," she urged him. "Say it, Oscar. I don't have all night."
"I apologize for being too rough-"
"Nu-uh." She shook her head. "Say what I told you to say, Oscar."
She slapped his back and he jumped forward, more out of fright I think than out of impact. The look in his eyes gave him away.
"I apologize for being an abusive knucklehead with little to no class or etiquette when it comes to how you're supposed to treat a human being."
"Oh, uh. Apology accepted," I said, halfhearted.
"Thank you, Oscar." Kelsey beamed, then shooed him off like a pesky fly. "You've been dismissed."
Kelsey pointed to the other guy who had originally been the one to get me kicked out. "And don't think you're safe. I'll deal with you later. Or maybe I'll have Bryce pay you a visit. He is the one who hired you anyway."
The man's back stiffened, standing up straight at the mention of Bryce's name. She left it at that and lead us to the elevator that was waiting for us.
My nerves were everywhere, worrying me and adding hysteria into my already anxious stomach. I could throw up at any moment. I was lightheaded and woozy, to say the least.
+
a/n: please don't forget to vote and comment ❤