An Ear to Lend

one

You should be dead.

Yet again these words swirled around and around in Sophia Harper's mind. She could still picture their faces so vividly—her family. They'd all been stolen away too soon. The accident had been horrific. Her parents and brother had died instantly.

Sophia, or Sophie, as she preferred, was supposed to have been with her family that evening, as they were heading to dinner with some close family friends. But after a bitter argument with her mother over something as trivial as practicing her piano, Sophie decided she was going to stay home instead. Now her whole family was gone forever and her last words to them had been spoken in anger.

She wished she could join them. It wasn't fair that she'd gotten left behind here to navigate the world all alone. It shouldn't have been this way. She would have given anything to have them back. But since that wasn't possible, at least she could wish that she was with them. After all, it was where she really belonged.  She should have been in that car, too.

She thought of her brother, Sam.  He was only a year younger than her and he had been her best friend. Sam was the type of person who could always make anyone smile, and he'd had the most infectious laugh. He was a kind-hearted, good soul--the type of guy who had his whole life ahead of him to do great things.  He'd been an insanely talented soccer player and a nearly straight-A student. Despite having been the younger of the two, he'd always been fiercely protective of his older sister.  Sophie would never stop missing him.

Two long months had somehow passed since the accident. Sophie wasn't quite sure where they had gone. Sometimes just making it through an hour at a time was so difficult she could hardly stand it.  But in the midst of losing her family, her life had been uprooted as well.

Her mother's sister, Aunt Bev, had come to stay with her after the accident. Aunt Bev was just about the coolest relative Sophie could have asked for and she was terribly lucky to have her. The only problem was that Aunt Bev lived on the west coast; in Aberdeen, Washington, to be precise.  Sophie and her family had lived in upstate New York for Sophie's whole life. But Aunt Bev had soon informed her that she would have to move to Washington for her senior year of high school. 

So, the last month had been spent getting Sophie and her belongings across the country.  Aunt Bev did her best to make Sophie feel at home. They had gone shopping together and decorated Sophie's room just the way she liked. Aunt Bev had dinner with her every single evening after work. She took Sophie places around town to get her familiar with the area. She also made her start seeing a therapist to learn to cope with the trauma of losing her family.

Sophie knew she should be grateful. She wanted to be. But it was hard. She didn't want to live in Washington, far from everything she had ever known. She didn't want to start a new school--particularly not the one in Aberdeen. She'd always attended private school back on the east coast. Her school was very small and she'd spent most of her childhood around the same few dozen kids. She was terrified of starting over at a new, public high school for her senior year. She was surely going to be an outcast.

These worries swam through Sophie's mind as she stared out the passenger side window of Aunt Bev's Jeep Grand Cherokee, watching the rain droplets bead across the window. They were on their way to go back to school shopping. Aunt Bev had insisted on freshening up Sophie's wardrobe, especially since Sophie had always worn uniforms to school before. She didn't have a lot of clothes.

Despite having been older than her mom, Aunt Bev was trendy in an eclectic sort of way.  Her gray hair was cropped short.  She could pull off jeans and a band t-shirt just as well as she could pull off a blazer. Sophie admired her confidence, as she herself felt that she had very little confidence these days. If it were up to Sophie, she would have dressed so blandly that she disappeared into the backdrop, which was all she wanted to do. But she knew Aunt Bev was trying really hard to make things the best she could for Sophie, so Sophie tried her best to play along.

This was how she found herself in the dressing room of JC Penney with a ridiculously large stack of clothing to try on.  Ignoring the mirror, she pulled on a pair of acid-washed jeans and a large, teal, geometric print sweater.  She swung the door open.

"Oh, Sophie, that looks fabulous on you!" exclaimed Aunt Bev, beaming at her. Sophie couldn't help but smile when she looked at her aunt's face. "We're buying that. You might have just found your first day outfit, my dear."

"Okay," Sophie answered quietly. She did have to admit that she liked the print on the sweater.

"Now, get back to trying things on. We've got a lot more shopping to do," added Aunt Bev in her chipper tone.

Not only did Sophie get practically a whole new wardrobe of clothes, but Aunt Bev also insisted that Sophie get her hair cut and styled for the occasion of starting school.  Sophie just got a trim of her long, wavy brown hair, preferring to keep its length. 

Finally, Aunt Bev insisted that their last stop was a jewelry store in the center of the mall. They walked in, Sophie's eyes taking in the expensive gold rings and bracelets. She wondered what they were doing as Aunt Bev flagged down a store clerk to speak with.  The woman walked into the back and returned with a small box in her hands.

"Perfect," answered Aunt Bev, taking the box from the woman. "Thank you." Aunt Bev turned to Sophie. "I got this as a present for you," she said carefully, handing Sophie the box.  "Go on, open it."

Sophie flipped open the tiny jewelry box.  Inside was a beautifully engraved heart-shaped locket.

"Wow," Sophie breathed.

"Open it up," instructed Aunt Bev. Sophie flipped it open with her thumbs. Inside was a photograph of her family from last Christmas--her mom and dad, Sam and her, grinning in front of their Christmas tree. Across from the picture was a simple engraving: FAMILY IS FOREVER. Sophie felt tears prick her eyes as she looked at the extraordinary gift.

"It's--it's..." she couldn't find the right words to say to her aunt. "Thank you," she added simply.

"Let's put it on you," Aunt Bev offered, reaching for the necklace. She clasped it around Sophie's neck. "There. Now they're always with you, no matter where you go." Sophie drew in a deep breath, feeling the cool metal of the locket resting over her heart.

She hoped they were always with her. She sure was going to need them.