Sophia, Marisa Redhead16 [phonics reader txt] 📗

I picked it up and flipped through it.

The door opened, and a nurse appeared. He took one look at me, closed the door, and went to get my family. A rose was on the table. Several, actually. They were paper and silk. They were from girls in my class. Notes and candy were also provided. Notes like 'I'm sorry!' and 'I miss you!'. The door opened again. My mother stood there, crying. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." she whispered. "Hey, I'm fine now. I know why you said what you did." I said. "Because I'm a selfish, bitchy, horrible mother. Worst parent of the year award." she said. "No," I told her. "That wasn't your fault. I was so caught up in my own problems, I wasn't thinking about everyone else." "No...son...that's not true either. You were stressed, and people tend to make more mistakes when they're stressed. Nina called me and told me what had happened. Son, I'm really sorry. I was just so upset with your father and the court, I suppose I wasn't thinking about your feelings. Or your love life. I have nothing to do with your love life, you were right about that."

If I'd made a list of days where my mother felt guilty for something she did to me, today would top the list. She offered me a present wrapped in green wrapping paper with glitter. I glanced at her and opened it.


My stomach flipped with curiosity as I opened the package. It was small, it could fit in the palm of my hand. A small black box covered in velvet was within. I opened it, and my stomach dropped to the floor. A beautiful gold men's ring sat there. "Two hundred carot pure gold," Mom said, grinning. I looked at her. "Gold is worth fifteen thousand dollars today!!" I told her. She nodded. "They were having a clearance. She told me they were secretly selling pure gold for sixty dollars." I felt surprised. "That's as much an antique chair," I said. She smiled coyly. I glanced down. My stomach seemed to plump up then flatten out when I laid back. I sat up again. It rounded out again and hung out several inches. I felt embarassed and unhappy. I groaned and fell back on the bed.

"What's wrong?" Mom asked. "How can somebody live with excess pudge?" I muttered. "I'm not quite understanding..." Mom said. "I'm nothing but fat! My gut is bigger than I ever thought it would be, and I wish it was gone!" Mom glanced at my gut. "Are you worried about the size of your stomach, son?" she said. "I wish it was gone." "Honey, everybody has something they don't like about themselves. Sometimes I wish I was a little more curvy. Your father wishes his penis wasn't so small. Speaking of which, how's yours?" she said. "Mine's the size of a walnut. It's a little itchy, though, and red. Red like Logan's hair. I think I need to see a doctor." "We'll get that checked out while we're here."

She got me coffee, and a hamburger and french fries. I let her have the toy. I nibbled on a fry and watched the TV. Lady Gaga's newest outfit was a dress made of wood and diamonds. Weird, but interesting. Her hair was in a huge bun spiraled on top of her head, like a beehive, except this one tipped back. Red lipstick, blue eyeshadow, huge eyelashes, purple blush. Talon-like nails that could be a cat's claws. I opened another card. It was from Maureen. 'Hey you. I'm really sorry things haven't been working out for you! If you want to talk, you can call me anytime!' She'd left a lipstick mark. I touched it and wondered if she really did have a crush on me. The next one was from Chloe. She left me kisses, a photo of her kissing me, lipgloss (which Mom stole), a razor, some earrings, a certificate for fifteen percent off my next tattoo, tickets to a stripper club (which Mom stole once again), a piece of her hair, and a photo of her breasts. Ruth gave me similar stuff.

Michael got me tickets to a basketball game I'd been interested in, Logan gave me a videocamera, Nina got me flowers and money, which she said was from both her and Sophia. Nina texted me and said she'd talked to Sophia. My girl said she'd talk to me, if I promised not to kiss her or Nina while she was there. She also brought her brother Kevin, who now hated me.

"So you're the dude who's been confusing my sisters." was his greeting. He was tall, thin, had a flat stomach (which I was jealous of), and a buzz cut. "Yeah. I'm Tobias." I told him. He just nodded, and left the room. Sophia and Nina entered. "Hey." I said. Sophia took a stomach pill. "Are you okay?" I asked. She nodded. "Sometimes I wonder if it was worth it to tell you so much about my life." she said. "It was, baby. I wanted to know more about you and I got my wish." She looked at me like I'd asked her to shove her hair in a dirty pool filter, and I realized I'd said the wrong thing.

I found myself telling her everything. Everything. She kept a firm grip on her handbag, like she was getting ready to leave. She'd dressed in a white sleeveless button down shirt with ruffles, and a pencil skirt. Her high heels were regular pumps. I soon found out why. "I have an interview with a magazine." she quickly said, and walked out. Nina stared at me. "That's what happened?" she said. I nodded. "Tobias..." her voice trailed off. I knew I had screwed up. I made mistakes. I got out my laptop and came up with an idea: Relationship Mistakes Blog. It would be a blog for guys to write down thier mistakes in crushes and relationships. They could give each other advice, support, ask questions, and love.

I told Nina about my idea. Her eyes lit up. "That gives me an idea!" she said. "Okay, you know Sophia, Maureen and I own that one website for girls, right?" "Yeah?" "We could support it off of there! I'll need a hundred bucks, though." I reached into my wallet. "Tobias, you don't have to do anything. Besides, you just got some money." I gave her a hundred dollar bill that had been in my wallet for years. She set it on my stomach. I gave it back to her. "Take it. You'll need it." I told her.

I called Sophia twice and texted her five times. I checked my phone every two minutes. I wanted to know that she trusted and loved me. But no, I'd lost both. I had to open my fat mouth and kiss Nina. I wanted to forget it all happened. I wanted to change time. My theory about time was, that the time machine had in fact been invented, the government didn't want us to know about it.

My heart broke. I knew I'd lost her. I put on Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On'. I suddenly wanted to see Titanic. I asked Mom if we had it. She said yes. She'd even brought it. I started it where Rose was saving her boyfriend.

I ate until I was stuffed. I ate nothing but junk and fast food. My mother told me my stomach would explode if I wasn't careful. She left and I continued to open cards and gifts. A notebook from the science Mr. Reed. My other one was almost full. A rose from the history Mr. Reed, which I found odd. Mr. Johnson gave me a ruler and a protractor. His card said 'I'm sorry you don't feel good kid. Keep up the good work!'

I felt like crying. I put the stuff down, and sobbed. I thought about Nina, Sophia, Chloe, Ruth, Maureen, Logan, Michael, David, all of them. I eventually fell asleep. When I woke up, a hot breakfast was waiting beside me and another table with books and a box was waiting. I felt confused. I grasped the box and opened it. Inside was money. Thousands of dollars. I texted Nina. She told me that my idea had been summoned and already it was as big as YouTube or Facebook. She told me to create a Twitter account and if I needed to, call a broker. Or therapist. I felt my stomach give a loud growl. I felt it vibrate with hunger and protest. I looked at breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast, milk, juice. I didn't want any of it. I shoved it away. "Why aren't you eating?" my nurse, his name was Mitch Cline, said. "I don't want it." "Why? Are you not hungry?" "No, I'm a fat guy and I need my girl." He raised one eyebrow. "Do you want me to get you something healthier?" "I don't want food." "Tobias, you need to eat. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." "All right, something better." He took the plate away, muttering "Stubborn kid. Well, I should be a little nice to him. Just because my wife cheated on me doesn't mean I should make his love life worse."

He had curly hair, big blue eyes, a little tubby, and wore green scrubs. He brought me a fresh NutriGrain Bar, and some milk. "Hey, sorry for being rude. My wife cheated on me." "Okay. I'm sorry too." "Eh, she's a real bitch anyway. Calls me names, chokes my dog, and throws stuff." "Oh, why don't you leave her?" "I will. She's a little possessive, too." "Okay." "RIng this if you need anything." He gave me a bell. Not like a cowbell, like a buzzer. "It's technically attached to a button on my shirt. And if there's a real emergency, like if you're choking or having a seizure, pull this." He showed me a red rope. "Uh, I think that's it. Do you need anything else?" "No, I'm fine." "All right then. See ya." "See ya."

He left the room. I texted my mother. 'How long do I have 2 stay here?' Didn't take long for her to answer. 'Until all your wounds heal enough for u to leave.' 'Tht could take days!' 'The longest ur staying here is three days. Ur father and I will still work and go home. Btw, ur brother got his appendix taken out. He had appendictis.' 'Oh. How will school happen?' 'Your teachers will send your homework there. Btw, ur history teacher Mr. Reed sent multicolored roses. Tht was nice. U shold thank him.' 'Yea I shold.'

I saw Nina an hour later. Sophia was with her. I wanted to kiss her, but she wouldn't stand more than a foot away. "I'm sorry!" I said. "Not until you explain what happened and why." she told me. I gazed at her dress. Her hair was wavy and she wore the green dress I'd liked. "I thought I could trust you. I even broke up with my boyfriend for you!" She made me angry, despite her beauty. "That's not the reason you broke up with him!" She looked shocked.

"You broke up with him because he did pot! You broke up with because he was obsessed with you! You broke up with him because he was in a dangerous gang! You broke up with him because he wanted to have sex! You weren't ready because of Kalonice...!"

Tears spilled over her cheeks and she ran out of the room. Nina went after her. I realized this time I really had lost her.