Sophia, Marisa Redhead16 [phonics reader txt] 📗

puzzle. Bother Tony. Watch a movie. Give yourself a good feeling with your hand and your..." "Wow, Nina." "Anyway, keep yourself busy. Don't think about Princess Xena and Prince Badass. Imagine yourself in a perfect place, where nothing can touch you."

I knew she was right. I needed something to keep my mind off of Sophia Martinez. But it's not easy when her sister is your best friend and you notice the same curiosity and interest sparkle in their deep brown eyes. Nina's hair was darker, and straighter most of the time, but it still looked like HERS to me. No, do not think about Sophia Roseanna Martinez, Tobias Shane Grass. Think about your weight. You're always concerned with the size of your belly and how people think of you when they see a fat fifteen year who's near the top of his class.

Dang. My morals had gone haywire and often I found myself wondering what Sophia looked in a bra and what kind she wore. Nina had already given me that information, Victoria's Secret and T.J. Maxx. She sometimes bought them on clearance at WalMart. Whatever, I didn't care where she bought them, only WHAT SHE LOOKED LIKE IN THEM!!!

Calm down, Tobias. You're stressing yourself out over a GIRL!! Do not pass go. She broke your heart by getting back with her gorgeous ex-boyfriend. He's older, too. She's fifteen and he's eighteen. She gets what she gets. Take a chill pill. Dang, I need Tylenol. It was true. My head and my stomach were beginning to feel woozy and I felt dizzy. Suddenly, everything went black.

I heard a female voice say my name then say the s word. Nina? I heard her speaking to my mother. "Anne, I have no clue what happened. I was trying to help him forget Sophia, when suddenly, he just passed out. No, he's not having a seizure, he's just unconscious. Okay, I'll call 911."

A minute later: "Hello? Yes, my name is Nina Martinez, I'm at Paskell Drive on 12th.My friend Tobias...I was trying to help him forget a girl that broke his heart when he suddenly passed out. He's alive, he's just not responding. I don't know if he can hear me. Okay. Tobias, if you can, wave your hand." I lifted my hand. "He just lifted his hand an inch off the ground, then it fell on his chest. Yes. Thank you."

The next thing I remember is seeing a black woman crouching over me,wearing a police
uniform. "Tobias, if you can hear me, wave your hand." I tried to lift my hand, but I couldn't. I suddenly realized I'd hit my head on a sharp rock and I was bleeding profusely. My legs had fallen asleep and I couldn't get up, much as I wanted to. I also realized the hand I tried to lift was broken. Darn. I was used to breaking the bones in my body, I do it all the time, but my hand had never hurt this much.

I passed out again. When I awoke, a familiar face was standing over me. "Who are you?" I asked the man. He suddenly looked nervous. He had platinum blond hair with a couple greys. "Tobias." he said, taking my hand. "Don't you remember me? I'm your father. Are you hungry?" I nodded. My father shifted his weight to his right, and I realized he was sitting in a chair, he was just very tall. He nodded.

"I figured as much. Tony took Nina to get some coffee, while your mother went to get us something to eat." he said. I noticed his teeth were very white. He was also pretty large. I barely remembered I ever had a father. I couldn't remember who Tony was, my brother perhaps, but I remembered Nina. The beautiful girl I saw just before I passed out. I'd been feeling a mixture of anger, love, and hurt. I found myself loving Nina, as more than just a friend.

A raven-haired woman walked in. She had blue eyes and pretty lips. "He doesn't remember who I am." my father said. My mother looked worried. "Son, do you rememeber me?" she said. "No." I said. "I'm your mother," she said with a crack in her voice.

I watched as a female figure walked to the door. "Nina." I said. She wrapped her arms around me. I saw my parents look at each other. "Why is it he remembers her, but not us?" Dad said. Nina glanced back at him. "The rock he hit his head on must've affected his memory," she said. "It was large and sharp, and when he fell, he plummeted down. I should have helped him." she berated herself. "Don't blame yourself for this. This isn't your fault." Dad said.

Nina looked at me like she suddenly had an idea. She held out a knife. "Do you remember where I got this?" "Uhh..." "You gave to me earlier this month after you said you cut yourself." My mother gasped. My father's mouth opened a little. The knife did look familiar. Nina put it back in her bag. Then she pulled out a packet of sugar. "You stole this from a coffee shop and gave it to me in case we wanted it later."

She then grabbed her wallet. She pulled a picture of me and a girl with brown hair, and I began having memory flashes. "Sophia..." I said. "Yes, it's Sophia. Remember this?" she said, holding a pair of tweezers. "You thought you...well...you did have a monobrow and asked me to pluck your eyebrows." "Never let me forget that." Tony whispered to Dad. "I won't." Dad said.

I fell asleep. I was very groggy. I woke up, and when I did, I remembered everything.

Nina helped me walk to my door. I laid down on my bed."You end up in the hospital more than anyone else I know, and you miss a lot of school because of it. Lucky." "I don't like missing school. I actually like school. The only thing I don't like is Billy, Ruth, and Chloe." "I know." my best friend kissed the top of my head and walked out of my room. A minute later I heard shouting. Female and male, four voices. I heard a scream that sounded like Nina's and heard glass breaking.

Nina ran into my room and shut the door. Judging by her scared look, I knew someone had been hurt. "Why didn't you tell me?! Why didn't you tell me it was this bad?" she demanded. "I could have helped!"

I told her about my dad. His real age , his drinking problem and constant fights with Tony. "Oh God." was her reply. I knew she and Tony liked each other, but I didn't expect her to walk out to help my brother!

I tried to go after her, bt I tripped over a magazine. Magazine? All my magazines were in a bin in the corner. I realized it was a Playboy magazine, probably Tony's. Tony! My brother! He was an idiot and a playboy, but he was still my brother! I found him and Dad fighting outside, Mom and Nina trying to seperate them. I quickly ran over and grabbed Tony by the waist and pulled him away. Dad was red and sweating, but so was Tony.


"Mom'll definitely divorce him now, " Tony muttered. "Little brother, please let go of my belly." "What happened?" I asked. "Dad's a fucking lunatic. He's halleucinating again, he thinks I'm his rival from high school thirty years ago. He's still drinking, alec." I had not noticed before how similar Tony and I looked. Blond hair, brown eyes, thick legs and chest. We did not look much like our parents, But Dad did have blond hair, thick too.

Tony and I hugged. I leaned against my brother and listened to his heart beat in his chest. He kissed the top of my head, and we just held each other. "I don't think I've ever seen two brothers who loved each other more." Nina said. Tony glanced at her. "Nina, you should go. The police'll be here any minute now." Nina shrugged. "I don't care." she said. She looked at me. I knew she wanted to date Tony. "I owe you. I hope you have better luck than I did." I said.

I dozed off for twenty minutes on the couch. When I woke up, I saw Mom peck Nina's cheek. Nina'd probably told her. And they love each other, so...but when I saw Tony kiss Nina, I felt a twinge of jealosy. Wait...was I in love with my best friend? Was she the reason I went after her sister? How could I compete with two older and better-looking guys? First Kalonice made me jealous, now Tony.

The next thing I knew, I was standing between them. "Tobias, if you didn't want me to date Tony-mmmmhhhh!" The last part was me kissing her. I kissed her. I kissed Nina Martinez, my absolute best friend in the world. Then I knew I loved her. Tony's eyes were wide when I looked back at him. Then I realized I was on the floor with a bleeding lip. Nina ran out, crying. Tony ran after her. "Nina, wait...let me explain..."

I went into my bedroom and flipped through the Playboy magazine. All I saw was fake blond hair, fake brests, fake lips, fake butt, fake everything. I preferred girls with dark hair suddenly. Sophia and Nina both had dark hair. Sophia was a beautiful brunette, while Nina had jet-black hair.

I took another nap, this time for an hour. I felt recumbant when I awoke. But when I went downstairs, Tony wasn't speaking to me. I noticed he'd sent me a few texts. 'U drove her away from me. Ur not my brother.' 'Go screw yourself.' 'I'm done with love. All it does is cause heartbreak.' I sent him a few back. 'Ur not my brother either, u stole my love, and broke my heart, and embarrassed me by being a playboy. I hate u rite now. We both should have known I loved her.'

Not for the first time, I considered suicide. Nina had my knife, and Mom had hidden all the kitchen knives in a chest with a skeleton key that she'd hidden. She was using one right now to cut a tomato. I laid on the floor with my arms across my chest like I was dead or doing crunches. My dog laid on top of me, figuring I was there to cuddle with her and her boyfriend. My ex-brother stepped over me. "I've called Nina three times now. I'm gonna go to her house. Tobias are you coming?" I looked up at him. "Are you serious?" "Yeah, we need to let her decide, and I want to do it fairly."


Not surprisingly, Kalonice was on their couch with his arm draped over Sophia. I couldn't help but wonder if he'd forced her to do anything. A sinking feeling placed itself in my gut. I felt that Kalonice was too controlling, even though I'd met him ony once. We followed Nina to her room. She had posters of Justin Bieber and Zak Bagans eerywhere. Her two biggest celebrity crushes. I'll admit I have a crush on Selena Gomez and Emma Stone, but I only have two posters of each girl. And I've never put them on my wall, which I know is weird. With Nina, it's Justin Bieber that and Zak Bagans this. Tony sat closer to her, she was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed and a pillow in her lap.

"It's probably my