Sophia, Marisa Redhead16 [phonics reader txt] 📗

he said. "I'm about a decade older than your mother. Tobias, I love you more than anything. If I had lost you, I don't know what I would have done. I'd have lost another kid." "Another?" I asked. "Yes, honey. You had a sister. She would be two years older than Tony. She died after you were born. Her name was Teresa. Man, she loved you. She was always trying to play with you. If you want, I have some pictures." "Yeah."

He got out old albums. There was pictures. There was one with Dad without his shirt on, and I was on my stomach on his stomach. A little girl with brunette hair was beside us. She had a Barbie doll. I leaned on my father, and stared at the pictures. There was one where she was carrying a specific brown purse Mom never uses and keeps in a clear plastic tub filled with old toys.

My sister was very young when she died. Dad said I was four months. She had been playing in the street, and a drunk driver ran her over. That's when Mom became a lawyer, because she wanted her money. Unfortunately, she couldn't do it. She did hire a good lawyer, though. "That's why Mom works on child cases and why she works so hard?" I asked. "Yes." Dad said.

I leaned on him and watched The Prisoner Of Azkaban. I didn't want to think about Sophia or Nina. Instead I thought about Billy and what would happen to him. He'd be in trouble. For hurting me. How many other people had he hurt? He'd shoved Sophia against metal and made her cry. He'd punched David in the stomach. The only reason why David and I texted each other (We had nothing in common, we wouldn't have met except probably through Nina), was because he'd saved my head once. I had been waiting for Tony, then some muggers came along and almost killed me. I'd forgotten my wallet, and left my phone in my locker by accident, which I don't do anymore.

David had snapped a picture of them from a distance, and threatened to call the cops if they did anything to me. He also pretended to have a pocketknife. The muggers were stupid, two of them had knives. After that, I owed him my life.

Dad stretched and went into the kitchen for a beer. "Do you want anything, son?" "Do we have anything chocolate in there?" "You go after chocolate like a woman! Yes, your mother has a 'secret stash' hidden in the cabinet." "Don't tell him that!" Mom said, coming in. "Well?" Dad asked. Mom ushered him into the extra bedroom. They think it's soundproof, but it's not.

"Tom Paers is going to find his dumb butt in jail soon. He pushed Sophia and threatened her, threatened Michael, gave Logan McCree, Tobias' friend, a broken nose. He's also punched David Finn in the belly so hard it threw him across the hall, threatened some geek Tobias' age, (wow, Mom) broken into a soda machine, stole roses from a floral shop and gave them to Sophia, and he's also threatened and hit somebody from another school. His parents are going to find a huge bill in their mailbox some day. The flowers cost two dollars, the soda machine is repaired, but it cost two hundred dollars to get it fixed, and Logan's mom is threatening a lawsuit. "

I texted Logan. 'When did Billy The Bum/Bear break your nose?' 'Yesterday, wen he hit David and pushed Sophia. Lindsays pissed at me.' 'Y?' 'She thinks i told hur ex tht i wanted 2 stab him.he said thts not it. this girl told him she wanted 2 reach down Linds throat and pull her heart out.' 'Wow! Y wood she say tht, Linds is really sweet and funny.'

'Aparently its a case of jelousy.The otha girl is none other then Maureen herself. We all like her, but she gets jelous. the boi is her ex 2, but Linds didn't kno it.wat confuses me is tht Maureen dosnt like me & shes dating Rick, the guy from CHS. our schol is big, but news spreads fast. Somebody told me u and Nina got into a fite.' My heart broke at this reminder. 'Yea, dont worry bout it, ill tell ya later. I gtg.' 'K. see ya hot stuff.' I rolled my eyes.

"Whaddup with the eye ceiling thing?" Whenever somebody rolls their eyes, my brother refers to it as 'the eye ceiling thing'. "Logan called me hot stuff." "Oh. The dork owes me cash." "What? Oh, the bet? Actually, you owe him money." Tony did 'the eye ceiling thing'. Much to my amusement, he walked over to the computer and typed 'How To Get Your Exgirlfriend back.' I wanted to type the same, though we really hadn't dated.

I walked into my room and called her. "What?" she said, sounding sleepy. "Sophia, I have to tell you the truth. I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have kissed your sister. Truth is, I used to have a crush on her." "Is that why you told me you loved me? Why did you fall for me?" "No and I couldn't control it. Sophia, you're beautiful." "So is Nin." "I know. Sophia, I'm really sorry. Meet me at Regents Park and I'll explain everything." "Whatevs. This had better be good. Otherwise, I'm signing up for Match.com or VampireFreaks.com." "Vampire Freaks?" "It's a dating and friend site for goths, trenchies, emos, punks, whatever." "I'll be there. I promise with all my heart." "Cheesy. But classic. Total PlayBoy sentence. See ya, dork."

I felt stung at her last sentence. I loved this girl, and she called me a dork. I went to Regents Park, which I didn't live far from. I told Tony where I was going, and left. It was chilly, so I brought my leather jacket.

I managed to get there. I saw Mr. Johnson jogging again. He saw me and waved. I waved back. His tank top was even tighter. Now you could see the shape of his abs. He had a ten pack. His iPod was plugged in his ears, and a lot of the moms and girls noticed him. I saw Spring. She was with a guy with blond hair, a leather jacket, and he had a ponytail. I knew Tony would be jealous. She saw me but she ignored me. I wondered what Tony had done exactly. I'd find out later. Meanwhile, I saw her across the grass. She was wearing a blue t-shirt with a strip of camisole showing. She wore sweatpants from Victoria's Secret and mocassins. Her hair was loose and flowing, and her makeup was natural.

I tried to kiss her but she pushed me away. "After you explain and after I think it's worth it." "Sophia, I did have a crush on Nina. But that was years ago. Like in third grade. We've kissed before, but we were playing a game." "So you told me you loved me to get to my sister?" "No, we were playing Truth Or Dare. And that was last year." "Tobias, I had a crush on you last year." "You did?" "Yes. How long have you been crushing on me?" "Since this year." She got up and left. "Sophia...wait!" "It's not worth it!" she called over her shoulder.

My heart broken and my attempt failed, I went home immediately. Dad had stopped by McDonald's for lunch. I sat down and nibbled on a fry. "Are you all right, son?" Dad asked. "I tried to talk to Sophia. She won't listen." "Give her time, honey. She'll forgive you eventually." My heart would never recover from this, I knew. I thought about what would happen if I'd never kissed her that fateful day. Maybe this was fate. I'd sworn I'd never fall in true love again after what happened with Rogue.

I realized I was over Rogue. But was Jake, my ex-best friend, the one I'd told all my secrets to? I did see him occasionally. He'd given me his new number. I texted him quickly. 'R u over Rogue?' 'U total geek. Of course not! was it worth losing you only to be dumped by her a year later for some model with a six pack? No. i missed u more than i realized. i kno i sound girly. but its truth. btw, i'm the one who put tht note in ur locker. hes my uncle, they both r. they have another brother whos my real dad. anotha reason y they like u.specially Matt, ur history teacher. he picks me up and drops me off home. & yea, hes gay. every1 talks bout it. u look a lot like his old boyfriend who died a few years ago. thts y he likes u best. sides me.'

I felt sorry for Mr. Kurl. He'd lost someone he loved. Who looked like me. Jake sent me a picture. It was my teacher, leaning on someone's shoulder. This guy was tall, a little chubby, had long blond hair, big brown eyes, everything. He really did look like me. No wonder.

I stared at the ceiling, wishing for a miracle. A love expert. One clue, one piece of advice. I thought back through the last few weeks. Nothing. I stared at the stupid book, What Girls Really Want: A Guy's Guide To Girls. Had Tony given me it? Had Dad or Mom thought it was mine? I decided to figure that out. I went to Tony's room.

"What?" he asked. He was totally naked, except for Joe Boxers. I could seeing he'd been stuffing himself with junk food since Spring broke up with him.” Is this yours?" I asked, holding up the book. He squinted at it. "Used to be. I finished it a few weeks ago. I thought you might want it. FYI, your shirt is on backward." I looked down and realized he wasn't kidding. I switched it around.

The relationship between Tony and I hadn't been the greatest lately. Was he still mad at me for ruining his kiss-session? If he was, he wouldn't have told me my shirt was on backward. He'd been spending a lot of time in his room lately, reading or watching TV. His futon was dirty and full of food crumbs. A soda had been spilled on his carpet. Mom and Dad were worried about him.

Tony had forgiven Dad a long time ago, and so had I. Dad was in therapy and would talk to Mom if something was bothering him. I felt hopeless. I felt like nothing could help me now. I’d screwed up my whole love life. Dad was married and loved my mother more than words could say, but he’d lost her trust. She still loved him, but she was unsure if she could trust him. She was working a lot to keep her mind off things. Dad missed her. She walked in now, looking exhausted. “Honey, I want to talk to you. Tobias, come here.” Dad said. Dad showed her the text I’d gotten. She looked at him. “Will you talk to someone?”

“Of course. He is our son.” Mom did a double take. “Joseph...” “Baby, I’ve realized something.” He took her hand and kissed it and touched his face with it. “I know it’s our boys. We both made them. I won’t let another child die, even if I have to die myself. I tried to imagine a life without them at all, but I can’t. The time I spent away from them was hell. I couldn’t live without them. I even cut myself, trying to relieve pain.” He showed us his wrist, which was covered in scars and