Chapter 8: The Bet *Homesick

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Chapter 6 *Homesick*

~Sophia

“Can you please pass the salad?” Andre requests.

“Sure,” says my mom, lifting the bowl of salad and handing it to him.

This is the most awkward dinner ever. I was so surprised when I saw Drake earlier. He was the last person I expected to see in this house. When my mom told me I was going to stay in her friend’s house, and learned its Andre’s, I didn't know what to feel. He is my classmate. More importantly, he’s the best friend of Drake Swift.

I begged my mom to let me stay in our house but her decision was firm.

When I saw Drake outside Andre’s house, my dream last night came crashing down on me. After Andre welcomed me to their home, his mom, Veronica, walked inside the house coming from work. She looks like Andre, with their emerald eyes. Of course, he’s her son. She was so eager to finally see me, her friend’s daughter. It’s quite unbelievable that I just met one my mom’s close friends now. But if I really think about it, it’s not unusual considering my mom and I aren’t close.

And then something unexpected happened. Aunt Veronica told me that Drake is here because he needs help with his studies. Andre is what, his savior?

Someone kicks me under the table making me yelp in surprise. Looking across the table, I see Drake with an amused expression on his face. When he catches me staring at him, he smirks.

“What?” I ask.

My mom looks at me patiently and says, “You didn't tell me that you are assigned to tutor Drake in Literature.”

“Oh. That,” I mutter. Everyone looks at me expectantly. As if waiting for my answer that can change the world. “Yeah, but I haven’t tutored him yet.”

“You can teach him tomorrow,” Andre suggests, joining in the conversation. I have no doubt he saw the look Drake and I shared a while ago.

“Tomorrow will be good,” Drake says.

Something in his expression makes me raise my eye brows. He looks like he’s on to something. Like he has a secret no one knows.

“Okay,” I agree. It won’t do any good prolonging the inevitable. The sooner the better so I’m free off him.

Trying to look busy eating my food, while my mom and Aunt Veronica chat, my eyes lands on a photo beside the china ware. A young Andre, her mom, and a man are on the picture. He's probably Aunt Veronica's husband; he has the same blonde hair as Andre.

I’m going to call Aunt Veronica Aunt V from now on, in my head; Veronica is a mouth full. I tear my gaze away from the photo and ask aunt V, “Where is your husband?"

Everyone in the table stops eating at once. A fork suddenly falls to the ground making a clattering sound. Andre gets up abruptly from his chair to get another fork. The tension in the air is thickening. What have I done? Did I say something wrong?

“He’s dead,” Aunt V says softly.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, I can feel my face heats up in embarrassment.  "I didn’t know. Sorry.”

Aunt V smiles sadly. “It's alright.”

I feel so horrible right now. I want to be small, and to be precise, I want to vanish. Looking all around me except Aunt V, I see my mom with an incredulous expression on her face. A rage is building inside me. She forced me to live with them without telling me anything about their family. Good job, mom.

The dinner becomes more awkward, if that’s possible. Andre comes back with a grin on his face, as if I didn’tsay something stupid.

He chatters cheerfully about his professors and the girls who are falling head over heels for him, making our parents laugh.

He’s trying to make us forget about my question, and I want to thank him for that.

When Drake thinks I’m not looking, I see him in the corner of my eye, stealing glances at me. Gritting my teeth, I control the urge to snap at him. I easily feel self conscious, especially when I’m eating.

*

“Mom,” I say, looking up at her and blinking back the tears that are threatening to spill from my eyes. I don’t want to cry here, in front of them.

“Honey,” she begins, “you are safe here. I’ll come back for you when the right time comes.” She gives me a peck on the cheek and then walks away outside the door. She leaves me with these strangers.

Someone from behind clears their throat. Turning around, I see Aunt V giving me a small smile.

“Come on,” she says gently. “I’ll take you to your room so that you can rest. I know you’re tired.”

I follow her upstairs, wondering where the boys are. Aunt V chats along the way. She tells me that Andre’s room, and the entertainment rooms are downstairs. The guest rooms and the master’s bedroom are upstairs. This is such a huge house.

Aunt V says that she’s very pleased to have me here, to have a girl companion.  She’s very kind, and she smells nice .. Not a sickeningly sweet perfume, but flowers. She smells of fresh flowers.

“This is my room,” she says, indicating the first room upstairs.

When we round a corner, she stops walking in front of a white door. Opening it, she indicates that I come in. “This is your room,” she says.

Blank white walls are staring at me. There’s a window on the back wall with a black and white stripes curtain hanging from it. There’s a bed with a pink plaid bed sheet and two pillows. On the right side is a closet; while on the far corner are a desk and a chair.

“I’m sorry,” Aunt V says suddenly. “I haven’t had the time to add furniture.”

“That’s okay,” I say. And then I notice another room across from mine. “What room is that?”

“It’s another guest room, and it’s currently occupied by Drake.”

What? We already live inside the same house and we’re going to stay across from each other?

“The next door in his room is the bathroom,” she continues, oblivious to my silence.

We’re going to share the same bathroom as well? What on earth is happening here?

“Sophia,” Aunt V says softly, “If you need or want anything, please do not hesitate to ask me or Andre, or Drake. And feel free to make this your home. If you want to add or change something in this room, I won’t mind. I want you to be comfortable here.”

“Okay,” I say, and give her a nod.

She smiles in return and squeezes my hand. “I’ll leave you now so you can rest. Good night.”

“Thank you. Good night.”

She closes the door when she walks out of the room.

I put my bag beside the closet and sit on the bed. A sigh escapes from my lips as I take in the room. I miss my blue room. I miss the photos in my desk. I miss everything at home. A sudden sound makes me startle. A second later, I realized it’s my hiccup.

Lying on my bed, I stare at the ceiling. I miss my own ceiling where the glow in the light stars blinks in the dim light. Soon enough, tears flow from my eyes without control. The pain in my chest is suffocating me, it’s hard to breathe.

And then the blank walls are closing in on me, I feel like I’m in a hospital, staring at my--

No. No. Not that again.

Furiously, I shake my head to clear my thoughts. I’ve been doing everything I can not to think of that. It already happened, it cannot be undone.

Taking a deep breath, I will myself to think of now. I get my bag and take my things out of it and put them on the closet. If I’m going to stay here, which I am, I might as well get used to it.

There are some books I brought with me. I put them on the desk. And then my little stuff animal which I named Shea comes into view. I place her on the bed. No one is ever too old for a teddy bear.

Needing some fresh air, I walk to the window and slide it open. It overlooks the backyard of the house. In the middle is a pool and surrounding it are lounge chairs. In the far corner is a little garden.

Closing my eyes and leaning my head on the window, my mind only forms one thought.

What am I doing here?

~Drake

I toss and turn all night, sleeping here again needs some getting used to.

Maybe the reason why I can’t sleep is because Sophia is sleeping across from my room.

Getting up from the bed, I think fresh air will do me some good. I make my way towards the open balcony in the far corner of the house. Standing in front of the railing is Sophia. Seeing her makes me almost turn and go back to my room but I stop myself.

Studying her this up close makes me think of Andre’s earlier comment that she’s pretty.

Come on, I wouldn’t fall for her. She’s not even my type. And I’m just talking to her because of the bet. No more, no less.

I don’t know why she’s here. What’s with the family problem? She looked okay with her mom earlier. I’m afraid to ask her because she might get offended with my prying.

A sudden sound makes me step back.  She’s crying. I can see that she's wiping her tears with the back of her hands.

I’m not the reason why she’s here, so why do I feel guilty?  Perhaps because she’s already hurting, and I’m going to add another pain to her.

I’m sorry, Pie. A deal’s a deal.

*****

The song is “Into the Ocean” by Blue October. I like this song so much =)

I'm sorry if there are mistakes. English isn't my native language, but I'm doing my best to be good at it.

Can you put a less than sign and a three in your comment (<3) so that I’ll know if you read the author’s note? I’m just curious :)

Thank you for reading *.*