Shadows by Sabrina Carpenter
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Chapter 38
(Sophia's pov)
I watch the violin play a very fast song. Everyone in the room stopped talking enchanted by the violin player's solo. I hold my drink in my right hand and look around the room to see many people I knew either from the magazines or personally.
I then spot Skye and Noah on the other side of the room. I see Skye watching the piano player and then I see Noah pulling Skye closer to kiss her on the forehead. I look away not wanting to intrude on their little moment. I fix my eyes back on the musician sitting on the chair and felt my stomach churning at the thought of Noah letting me go.
'That's exactly what you wanted the whole time.' The little voice in the back of my head said.
I needed to get my mind off the thoughts in my head, not wanting to deal with it. I look around for Claire but I didn't see her anywhere but then my eyes land on Lucus who was talking to Evaline.
He whispers in her ear and she nods in agreement and leaves him to go do something I assumed he told her to take care of. Lucus catches my eyes and I smile at him.
I then reluctively walk upto him going through all the people who were still watching the violin player. I mutter excuse me's and some people gave me weird looks when I passed through them. I reach Lucus and stand next to him. He doesn't say anything to me and I don't too, but we both watch the powerful song playing in front of us.
In about a few seconds later the song ends and everyone instantly claps for the player. A young women in about her mid twenties gets up from her seat and bows at everyone clapping. She then gets off floor with her violin, a gentleman helps her out by taking the seat to clear the dance floor for the next song.
Everyone around started talking about the powerful song that was just played. Then a soft tune was played, everyone but more specifically couples then started moving to the the dance floor as if they already knew a slow song was going to be played.
I watch couples as they got into the correct position and Lucus clears his throat beside me. I look at him to see if he was alright but I see he was actually stretching his hand out for me to take. I look at his hand confusingly.
"May I have this dance?" Lucus says politely. I was waiting for Lucus to laugh and say it was a joke, mentioning how he didn't want my cooties but he was completely serious.
He watched me cautiously with a look I couldn't despair and I look back at hand and take it. He smiles in relief and leads me to the dance floor. I wondered why he sighed gratefully when I took his hand but didn't think too much about it.
We reach the dance floor and I place my hand on his shoulder and he places his on my waist when the song plays. He leads first and we don't talk for a few seconds but then I intrude the silence between us by mentioning how well he dances.
"You dance very well, where did you learn how to dance?" I ask Lucus and look up at him to see he was already looking down at me.
"My mother taught me when I was about 10, for my aunt's wedding during the summer in Greece, wanting her wedding to be perfect." He says with a little sadness in his voice but then clears his voice when he caught himself.
I then regret asking about his mother because I remember Claire telling me how Lucus's family life is a little hectic. He looks back at me and smiles sadly at me, as if knowing I already knew about his past even if he didn't mention it to me.
"How was she like? If you don't mind me asking." I cautiously and watch his face carefully. He smiles immediately and then starts to talk about how she looked and her dislikes.
"She was the most beautiful women I've ever met in my life, she had slick brown hair and beautiful almond shaped green eyes. "
"She sounds very beautiful." I interject. He nods his head in agreement and twirls me.
Lucus continues talking about her and then suddenly feel lightheaded after I did a twirl, and hold onto Lucus a bit tightly but he doesn't notice. I then realize I forgot to take my pill this morning and didn't place any in my clutch, I hoped would happen since I promised my mom
"She always mentioned how if it was possible she would've married the love of her life, French fries but then she met my father, Dominic. Otherwise I think she actually would've married French fries."
I smile at him and I continue listening on, intrested in how his mother was before she had passed away. He looks past my shoulder in thought.
"I think I would too otherwise I can just become a cat lady." I say to him.
He chuckles at me and I laugh along with him. I see a look in his eyes but I don't look into it cause I was too busy pictures myself ten years in the future surrounded by cats.
**********
After the dance Lucus had to talk to potential investors he had invited to the party with Evaline with him. I was currently sitting with the lovebirds themselves and I wanted to barf.
Don't get me wrong I am happy for Skye and Noah but a certain part of me wanted to barf at the sight. But good thing I had Ivy and Claire with me, so I didn't have to be a third wheel.
"So Ivy how have you and Sophia meet?" Claire says to her.
"Funny story we met in the Hamptons last year where I was with a business partner and it turned out my business partner and her were good friends back in the day. So the whole day we were window shopping, getting our nails done, and all that stuff." Ivy says not mentioning the actual time we met for the first time, which was when I came over to Noah's when we were dating.
I assumed she didn't mention that because she didn't want Skye to feel out of place and awkward. Noah looks at Ivy and me wearingly and I give him the same look. Skye doesn't notice this but she was currently devouring her cheesecake.
That's Skye Laurent to you all.
I would've laughed at this situation if I was a third party but this wasn't too funny in my case, because Skye is a good friend of mine. And I would hate it if she got hurt because of me.
I catch myself staring Noah and look away, knowing it was wrong to do that. I move my gaze to Ivy, keeping my face neutral but I see from the corner of my eyes Noah watching me observingly.
The song playing stops and a sound of glass clinking fills the room and everyone hushes down. I look towards the middle of the room to see Evaline holding a glass of champagne over the microphone. The room becomes quiet but there was few hushed voices here and there.
"As you all know this party is in celebration of the huge incline of our products of being sold in the stock market for Rivers Corporation. I would like to thank everyone who have came tonight and I talk you all in behalf of all Rivers Corporations for supporting us. And I hold a toast to the man himself Dominic Rivers and his son and partner Luciano Rivers."
The two men get up from their seats to show their faces and the spotlight hits them both and then they both get up from their seats. I then start clapping for them both, along with everyone else in the room.
Lucus's father sits back down for Evaline to finish her speech but Lucus remains standing and gestures Evaline to hand him the mike. She hands him the mike and she straightens her dress down to sit in her seat next to Lucus.
"Thank you Evaline. We wouldn't have had this success without you, the credit goes to you too." Dominic Rivers nods his head in agreement. A girl next to Evaline hugs her sideways, I was guessing was Lucus's cousin since he didn't have a sister.
"I was asked to run the company by my father, of course he asked if I wanted to first since he believed I was ready to handle some responsibility, and I always trust my father's instincts so I took the offer. I think that was the best decision I ever took because working alongside with my father has brought us even closer and it also gave me a insight on the family business. I thank the entire company, friends, family, and everyone else in this room for being apart of our joy. A toast for Rivers Corporations."
Lucus picks his glass up and hold it in toast, I reach for mine and so does everyone else. He then sips his drink and everyone else in the room follows behind. The lights turn back on after the toast and the background music turns back on. Conversations start back up and the atmosphere in the room was great.
"Me and Noah are going to go dance, if you guys need us for anything." Skye says and they both get up from their seats and headed over to the dance floor.
We all started engaging in separate conversations after they left, talking about the party. The guy I saw at the beginning of the party came walking over.
"Remember me? You promised me a dance, so are we still on?" He says a little unsurely, not wanting to make a fool out of himself. He scratches the back of his head and everyone in our table looks at me expectantly.
I stand up and take his hand. "Of course I remember you, how can I forget this face?" I say a little amused by how shy he was.
His cheeks tinted red and he moves his hair to the side nervously. We both start to dance and I ask, "I didn't catch your name."
"Blake Greene and you?" He replies as looks somewhere behind me. I get a little confused so I turn us around so I was on the opposite side now, and there I see his wingman and he quickly looks the other way.
"Sophia Brava." I say after the whole rotation shift. I look back at him when I was certain his friend was out of sight when he realized I caught him.
"I'm sorry about my brother, I don't usually come to events like these but my mom dragged me along tonight. But he comes to these a lot." I was about to deny I just saw his brother but I didn't want to lie.
"It's alright, I understand. My brother does the same to me, I'm sure if he wasn't in college right now he wouldn't miss an opportunity to embarrass me."
We continue talking for about a few more songs about our lives at home and what colleges we are looking forward to going into. I was currently waiting for mine now since I applied a during the beginning of the year.
I was so nervous about my letter and I still am, and the latest the school told us it will come is after the last week of April which is this month. Blake says he got into his first chosen school, Vanderbilt University. Saying how that's where both his parents met and he always wanted to go.
I congratulate him on his acceptance and I was even more nervous for my letter. I had applied for many great schools but I really want to get into Yale or Princeton, where my brother and Ivy goes to. Or a schools I got in the bag is Dartmouth and Brown.
I wasn't ready to let go of my high school life in these last two months. I was excited and scared for what the future has to offer me. I was now a model but I also wanted to have another job like my mother did when she was my age.
Blake and I stopped dancing because of our aching feet. We promised to contact each other during the summer when our schedules seemingly looked less busy than now.
"You better call me the next time you come to LA!" I say to his retreating form.
He turns around and slips on a napkin but winks at me before he got on the elevator. I chuckled at Blake as I started to make my way towards my friends. I sit down in my seat and then I feel my phone buzz and I check out my text message.
Blake Greene🍸: I totally did not slip the second you turned around.
I slightly laugh at the fact that when Blake entered his number into my phone he put the cocktail emoji, the drink that he had when I told him to back off.
Sophia Brava💃: Yeah okay ;)
Blake Greene 🍸: :(
I leave the conversation at that when I realize I see all my friends at the table looking at me knowingly. Claire and Melissa were both giving me that look, Ivy was squinting her eyes at me, Skye was looking at me with a huge grin, and everyone else didn't really catch on.
"What?" I say as I slowly put my phone into my clutch and place it on the table. Then that triggered that the questions out of my friends' mouths. I was bombard by question and I just leaned back in my chair.
"Who is he!?" Skye yelled from across, that even Noah was surprised.
"His name is Blake Greene. He has brown hair and baby blue eyes. He got into Vanderbilt. He was in LA for a few days but his flight is tonight so he had to leave now. He loves animals, pizza, and hates little insects. His favorite color is green, ironic huh?" I say to them all.
"And I met him at the open bar where his brother was trying to set him up with Ivy but then I was conveniently was strolling by and I told them to back off. Then I asked, Blake if we could dance later, since he was so sad and yeah."
They kept on asking questions but I didn't make any move to answer them. So that just started saying how happy they are for me.
We soon got up to leave this party and head over to the after party at Lucus's place since everyone was already heading over there. We all cramped up in one elevator and I was next to Noah. Our shoulders kept bumping and it was the longest elevator ride in my life.
I couldn't help it but remember the last time this happened which was the day after I told Noah to leave me alone, and he did that. I was heading up to Lucus's office and he was going to a meeting. Nobody then really decides to talk but they were on their phones. We occasionally made comments involving memes and other things but the elevator ride was silent.
I move my loose hair away from my face and I hit Noah's shoulder by accident. I mutter sorry and he mutter back it's okay. That was literally our only conversation other than discussing about our schoolwork. I look towards the doors to see both Lucus and Evaline were still answering calls in hushed tones and rolled my eyes at them.
I thought of an idea of me playing matchmaker in the limo Lucus arranged for us. I knew it had a lot of space but I was going to make sure they sat next to eachother and talk about things other than work, by taking their phones away the whole night. I smiled at the thought and I waiting impatiently for us to reach the lobby.
In about a minute the doors finally opened and Lucus and Evaline got out first, they head towards the double doors and waited for us to pile in the limo first.
We met with flashes and made sure to keep our sunglasses on since these flashes often made our eyes irratated or in my case.
I stayed behind to make sure I took their phones away and they both ended their calls when everyone except me got inside.
"Sophia what are you waiting for get in the limo, I don't think the security guard can hold them off much longer." Lucus says and then I look at the security guard apoligizingly.
"Well I want both your phones tonight since I know you both will start answering more calls the second your behinds touch your seats. I want you both to have a good time at the party, so hand them over. Don't worry they will be in my clutch the whole time. So hand them over." I say and then let my clutch out for them to place it in.
They start to protest and Lucus tries to go around me and get inside the limo with his phone but I block off the exit. Evaline says she might get an important call and I told her that call can wait.
They both sighed when they realized I wasn't backing off so they put their phones in my clutch. I close the bag and grin at them. I let Lucus get in the limo first then Evaline tries to get the window seat but I tell her I get car sick so she lets me get the seat.
I pull my dress a little up so I don't timber down the small fight of stairs at the exit and put on my favorite pair of sunglasses after getting out. Evaline gets in the car and I follow after her the driver closes the door for me and pushes his way over to his seat on the other side of the limo.
I smile when I already see Lucus and Evaline sitting side by side next to me, very uncomfortably. I knew they were going to talk sooner or later.
**********
The past hour was us playing twister and I was in charge of calling out the colors while everyone else except of some of girls with long gowns were playing.
"Noah get your ass out of my face!" Ivy says to her younger brother. Everyone bursts out laughing and Lucus falls down laughing, at the sight in front of him.
Ivy was holding herself up with one arm on the color blue and her legs on green and yellow. While Noah was on all fours with his ass in front of her face.
"Ivy don't you dare make me loose, or I will release something you won't like." Noah says back.
"Eww, what the hell Noah!" Ivy yells at him and hits his leg with her free hand.
"I'm warning you!"
They continue bickering on and Lucus continues laughing. I catch Evaline sitting down on the couch criss cross watching the whole scene in front of her. She smiles at Lucus and then moves her eyes towards the siblings and bursts out laughing too.
"Okay guys next color is.....red!" I yell out after spinning the wheel and everyone quickly touches red.
Jake and Claire both falls down at the same time and Claire blames Jake cause he moved her leg off her previous color, making her slip. They cleared off the mat and the only two remaining were the siblings, who were still glaring at eachother.
The game continues on and on but none of them backed down until Melissa yells out, "How about we start all over!" And we all agree but this time Ivy allowed me to go play she wanted to call out the colors.
I pulled Evaline off the couch and she implied. We both made sure to lift our gowns up to our knees by tying it so we don't fall down. I didn't care if it got wrinkled, I just wanted to have fun.
"5....4....3.....2.....1...!" Ivy yells out for us all and everyone claimed a corner.
"Blue!" And that's when all the pushing began.
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Halfway through the game I felt dizzy but I didn't make any move to get off the mat and rest when really I should've. Most of the people lost and the only ones remaining were me, Lucus, Skye, Jake, and Evaline.
We were all spread out on the big mat. I had a free hand so I told Ivy to hand me my phone on the table behind her so I could snap this whole scene.
This was the most fun I've ever had since winter break where we all went swimming in the Red Sea and the yahat party we had afterwards. Not everyone came since they were busy but the only ones who came were Lucus, Claire, Jake, Serena, Melissa, and me. If I knew there was a Evaline in Lucus's life I would've totally invited her but no he wanted to keep her all to himself.
I told Melissa to take a video of us all and she did. I let her play on my phone for the whole game until I moved my arm a little farther away from my body, making it a little harder to hold myself up. I felt even more lightheaded.
It felt like the floor was farther away that it was and everyone around me was doing everything in slow motion. I decided to lose intentionally and made it look like I slipped.
"Sophia's down. Five still up." Ivy declared nobody thought anything of it but as soon as I stood up from the floor, it was as if Noah knew I did that intentionally because of the way he was looking at me. I glance over at him but I didn't say anything.
"Hey umm Sophia are you alright, you look a little pale?" Lucus says wearingly as he still hold his position on the floor.
"Yeah." I say waving him off and went towards the couch to sit next to Evaline.
Then the room blurs out in front of me and I black out just after hitting my head on the table and feeling a sharp pain in my chest.
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Two chapters in one week! Yay!!! Made this chapter a bit longer for you all who wanted more updates. I have decided not to drag out the book so the book may end in a few chapters but I'm not sure how many.
P.S I don't really plan chapters I just continue writing, for any of you wondering. But I am planning out the ending but not totally sure how. Imma end it with a bang, that's for sure.
Check out my other book 'Fates Intertwined' if you want to know what's Ivy's story.
STORY-TIME:
Guess what guys so some family friends came over now, while I was editing this chapter and they were playing football and the ball fell in my neighbor's backyard, I never really saw them before cause they're never home, so the gate was open so we all went in to get the football. (My mom said the lady is very nice and she wouldn't mind, so I trusted her word, otherwise I would never.)
We ran in and saw this cat and it was giving us a 'look.' So we got the ball and they all ran out cause they were paranoid about getting killed by the owner or ghost while I just strolled out of their ally not a care in the world. THATS HOW THE FIRST PERSON IN HORROR MOVIES DIE.
I'm so dumb. I know guys.
And all I can think about now is how if I snapchated the whole thing, and if I got killed that would've been so cool, just like in tv shows. I'm so dumb, I don't even snapchat that much but my friends would've loved the fact I was exploring when all I do is stay home and eat junk food.
Anyways..... vote + comment 💜 if you actually read my story time. I don't think ppl actually read what I write in the end.
-T