Chapter 48: The Bet *Right Minus Wrong

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Chapter 40 *Right Minus Wrong*

~ Sophia

“Wake up!”

“Wake up!”

“Why don’t you let her sleep? She can open your gifts later.”

Muffled voices. I can hear them but I can’t really make out the meaning of what they are saying.

Whispers.

Soft conversations.

I’m in a dreamless sleep where my body is wide awake, conscious of what’s happening around me.

I try to assess my current situation. I’m lying on my bed, in between two people who are sitting on either side of me. Someone from my right side shifts, making the bed stir.

I want to open my eyes but it seems a hard thing to do. I feel trapped. Someone is shaking my arm, probably waking me.

I hear a snap but I can’t get the words exchange between two people. Someone is whispering, and then nothing. . .

I peek behind my eyelashes and then I see Driana and Andre sitting on my bed. They both look impatient. Draky is leaning on the wall, tapping his foot in beat to the music he only hears.

I’m about to feign sleep when Draky catches me staring at him.

“Sleeping Beauty is finally awake,” he says. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” I say sheepishly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. A yawn involuntarily escapes from my lips and then I stretch my arms in front of me because they feel stiff.

“Good morning Sophia,” Driana says, grinning.

“Morning,” I reply. “What are you doing here? You went home last night, right?”

“Yes,” she answers. “But I wanted to see your face when you open my present so—“

“So she decided to wake me in the middle of my sleep to drive her here,” Draky finishes for her.

Glancing at my alarm clock, I see it’s just quarter to six. “Dri, you should just call me. I can open the gifts when you’re around. You didn’t have to wake up early.”

“You said you’re going to open them when you wake up,” she replies, “I don’t want to take chances.”

“Thank you,” I say, clearly touched for everything she’s doing for me. I feel blessed to be her friend.

“Open this!” Driana says eagerly, giving her present to me.

“No, open mine first!” Andre quickly puts Driana’s gift away, replacing his own present for me.

“But I’m the first one who came here.”

“That’s because you wanted to be here first,” Andre says dryly.

“Guys,” I say, rolling my eyes at them. “I’ll open all the gifts. No need to fight.”

"We're not fighting," they say simultaneously.

Andre and Driana are amusing to watch when they argue. They’re like two children asking for a playmate. That means they were the people who wanted to wake me. Draky was the one who stopped them. It was not a dream. . .

Something in my peripheral vision gets my attention. It’s a box with heavenly bodies cover: stars, milky-way, and galaxy. I wonder why I didn’t notice it last night when we carried the gifts to my room. Opening the lid of the box, I find pieces of puzzles inside.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I ask, “What’s this?”

“It’s a game where you put all the pieces of puzzle together to complete a picture or a message,” Draky answers.

“Really?” I ask sarcastically. “I did not know that. Is this from you?”

“Yes.” He grins. “And I was just giving you some definition.”

“But you already gave a gift to me,” I say, glancing at the rosary necklace on top of my drawer.

“So?” he asks.

“Okay Mr. Generous, thank you.”

“My pleasure Ms. Seventeen.”

Rolling my eyes, I get a single piece from the box. It’s proportions are not equal, and the background is dark with little dots. There’s a letter, I think it’s P, but I’m not sure. Maybe the puzzle has a message. Or it is a message itself. I don’t know.

“What’s the message?” I ask curiously.

“Why don’t you start putting them together to find out?”

“Thanks,” I mutter.

“Aren’t you going to do it now?”

“She has to open our gifts first,” Andre interjects.

I shrug. “Okay. I’ll just put the puzzles together later.”

“Open mine now,” Driana says.

I get Driana’s present and unwrap it.

A sound of appreciation comes out of my mouth when I see that it’s a charm bracelet.

“Do you like it?” Driana asks hesitantly.

“I love it,” I say enthusiastically.

The charm bracelet has a star, a heart (that’s actually two dolphins combined), butterfly, horse, and a flower. In between are shiny purple pearls.

“Thank you so much!” I say, giving her a hug.

“I’m so glad you like it,” she replies, smiling hugely.

“Mine’s next,” Andre says, handing me a paper bag.

When I pull the ribbon, I get the presents inside. Not only one, but there are three cd’s in my hands.

You guess it right; they are the albums of Taylor Swift. Andre gave me Taylor Swift, Fearless, and Speak Now albums.

Andre Lavigne!

“Thank you,” I mutter.

“Oh,” Andre says, frowning, “don’t tell me you don’t like them. I had hard time thinking about my gifts for you.”

Not wanting to be rude, I say, “I like them. I always listen to Taylor’s songs.”

“That’s cool,” he says, smiling from ear to ear.

“Thank you,” I repeat.

In the corner of my eye, I see Draky smirking. Maybe he planned this with Andre. Who knows?

The next gift is from Parker and Chloe. They both went home after the party. We told them to stay for the night but unfortunately, they couldn’t. They have morning classes today.

When I open the little black box, Driana asks what it is.

“It’s a locket,” I answer, touching the silver chain.

Unclasping it, I find a picture inside. It’s me and Draky, smiling at each other.

How did Parker get this? If I’m not mistaken, it was the time when we watched a movie. But how did he take it without me knowing?

Parker! If he’s here, I’ll shoot him with a lot of questions.

“Who’s inside?” Andre asks eagerly.

“Nothing,” I say quickly.

“Why don’t you let us see it then?” he probes.

“Um, because there’s nothing to see,” I say evasively.

“Really?” he asks, smiling slyly. “Maybe you’re hiding something from us.”

“Why would I hide something from you?” I ask, faking a laugh. I quickly put the locket in my pocket before he can snatch it from my hands.

Aunt V’s present is a diamond necklace. I’m sure it costs a lot. I don’t know when’s the right time to wear it. I put it safely in my bag before I can misplace it.

My parents’ gift for me is at our house. I’ll take a look at it later when I get home from school.

“That’s it,” I say, “Finished.”

“Is that your bag?” Andre asks suddenly, looking at my get away bag on the corner.

“Yes,” I answer.

“So you’re going home now,” he states.

“That’s the plan.”

“Oh.”

“You’re going to miss Sophia aren’t you?” Driana teases, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Of course I’m going to miss her,” Andre says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “How can you not miss the love of your life? I don’t want to be away from her. Just thinking about it gives me a heart break.”

“That’s funny,” Draky says wryly.

Andre tilts his head to the side and sniffs. “I smell some jealousy here.”

That’s when I remember everything that happened yesterday.

The blindfold. The clearing. The kiss. The surprise.

Everything comes rushing back to my mind, invading my thoughts of the most dreadful question I have.

Was it real?

My plan was to think about that when I wake up but I can’t do it right now, considering I’m not alone.

It’s not my birthday anymore so the sick thought is slowly creeping in my head, poisoning the happy thoughts I had yesterday and last night. I wish I could capture it again without the malice thought of Draky playing with me. I wish last night was real, not just scenes my imagination built.

I shake my head furiously. This is not the time for that. I can think about them later at home, when I’m sure no one will be there except for my parents. Besides, I need to talk to my parents about what happened to them in the past few weeks.

“I guess we need to leave you alone to get ready for school,” Draky says breaking me from my reverie.

“That’s a good idea,” I mutter.

After taking a bath and putting comfortable clothes, I walk downstairs to meet the others. What I see is my Mom, probably waiting for me.

“Good morning Mom,” I say, giving her a hug.

“Good morning Sophia,” she says. “How was your sleep?”

“It was fine,” I reply. I didn’t add the part where Driana and Andre woke me up. “Are we going home later?”

“Yes. You can come home if you want.”

“Really?” I ask eagerly.

“Of course,” she answers, smiling. “You can come back here after school—"

“Can you just bring my bag with you so that after school I can go home directly?” I ask hopefully.

“So, you already organized your things?” she asks.

“Yes, last night.”

“Okay then,” she says. “See you later. Take care!”

“See you,” I say.

I can’t wait to go home. I missed my room so much and of course, I miss the house. I’ve been living there for four years. Just thinking about being there makes me happy.

Still, a part of me is going to miss this house. I never thought I would be sad in leaving this place. I don’t have to feel blue though, because I know I will come back again.

When I walk outside, I find Draky, Driana, and Andre at the driveway, talking to each other.

“We’re going to school together,” Andre says excitedly.

“There are two cars,” Draky reminds him.

“So?”

“That means we can’t really go to school together,” he replies, rolling his eyes at his best friend.

“That’s a shame,” Andre says, frowning.

“I have an idea,” Driana says.

“Let’s hear it,” Draky replies.

“Why don’t you ride with Andre,” she says, “while Sophia and I will go to school with your car.”

“No way!” Draky argues.

“Why not?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I’m the only one who can drive my car,” he says.

“Even me?” I challenge.

“Well. . . “

Andre and Driana exchange a look. I have a feeling they’re thinking something’s going on between Draky and me. I notice that we act quite weirdly when we’re together.

“I have a suggestion,” Andre says, “I’ll ride with Driana, while Drake and Sophia will go together. Okay?”

Driana raises her eyebrow, asking if that’s okay with me.

“Fine,” I say with a shrug.

“Sure,” Draky agrees.

“That’s settled then,” Andre says smugly. “All you need is a smart guy like me.”

The ride with Draky to school is silent. We’re both preoccupied with our own thoughts. I wonder what he’s thinking. Does he replay the scenes in his mind from yesterday? Maybe.

I keep thinking everything that happened last night. Did he mean what he said? What he did? It's hard to distinguish what's real from what's pretend.

Before I know it, we’re in the school parking lot.

“Do you want me to drive you to your house later?” he asks as he shuts off the engine of his car.

“Sure,” I say without thinking.

He smiles. “Good. Just text me what time we’ll meet.”

“Okay.”

I slide out of his car and am about to head to my first class when someone blocks my way.

“You’re Sophia, right?” Cassidy asks.

“Yes,” I answer.

I wonder why she’s talking to me. We were schoolmates since freshman year, and it’s the first time we speak to each other.

“I just want to say something,” she says, putting her hands on her hips. “Drake is mine.”

Whoa. Wait. Did I miss something? “Since when did not Drake belong to his self?” I ask.

She glares at me and says, “I’m not joking.”

“I’m not laughing,” I say obviously.

Seriously, if she wants Draky, why is she doing this? Why me? As if it’s official that Draky and me are together.

People start looking at us; perhaps they are curious about what we are talking.

“Don’t mess with me,” Cassidy says in a threatening voice, “you don’t want to be on my bad side.”

The old Sophia will walk away and forget what happen. But because of what I’m experiencing-- knowing that someone is playing with me, and planning my revenge-- I don’t want to back out.

The only advantage I get from this game is I become braver than before. Stronger. I can’t let anyone, especially someone like Cassidy, to mess with my life.

“If you like him,” I say, “why are you talking to me?”

“Because you’re on the way!”

Cassidy reminds me of the movie Mean Girls. She does things for selfish reasons, only thinking about herself. She’ll do anything to get what she wants, even hurting people in the process.

“Look,” I say, “just leave me alone.”

Time is precious, and I’m wasting mine by this nonsense conversation. I have a lot more things to do than this.

“I don’t want you to be near him,” she hisses.

“Well, that’s not my problem,” I say, starting to walk away.

Before I can take a few more steps away from her, she grabs my arm. Her hold is firm; pain immediately shoots through my arm.

“That hurts!” I push her away from me until finally, she lets go.

Looking at my arm, I see red marks on the spot where she hold me. I’ll surely have a bruise later.

“That’s just the start of your pain when you steal him away from me,” she says.

Steal?

Is she this cheap to hurt me just because of a guy she likes? I thought that kind of thing only happen in books. It’s quite creepy how she can do that just because of Draky.

After a few seconds of glaring at me, she walks away with a satisfied look on her face.

Heaving a sigh, a single thought forms in my mind: I have a new enemy.