3:15 [fezco]

thirteen

T H I R T E E N - G H O S T   T O W N

"before i turn your heart into a ghost town, show me everything we've built so i can tear it all down."

---

"Please, Fezco." Sophia cried, her words coming out extremely desperate in the silence of the night. "Please, don't go. You don't have to do this. Please, we can figure something else out." She watched the man she loved closely. "I love you. Please don't leave me."

Only an hour before had she found out about Fezco's plan. He was going to rob one of Mouse's suppliers to back the money that he lost when they flushed the pills down the toilet all those nights ago due to Nate reporting them for selling drugs. He hadn't told Sophia because he knew how she'd react. She'd beg him not to go, to stay with her; she'd tell him that they would figure something else out. He hadn't expected her to come back that afternoon after she left his house that morning to get ready for the Winter Formal with her mother.

He pushed her to go, although she really hadn't wanted to, under the ruse of not wanting her to miss out on important high school memories. Sure, that played a part in his insistence. But he wanted Sophia to be far away from his house by the time he left. If he would've gotten caught, it would only hurt her. He could be killed, or go to jail, and she'd be left alone without him. In his mind, walking away from her while she begged for him to come back was better than forcing her to watch him be buried in the ground at his funeral. To Sophia, both scenarios hurt her just the same.

He wanted to turn back upon hearing just how heartbroken she was. He wanted to run off with her, to leave his life behind and start anew with the love of his life, to marry her and protect her from all the bad in the world. That was only a fairytale, though. Fez knew it would never be that easy. He knew doing this was the only option.

They both said things they didn't mean tonight, the weight of their words weighing equally on each of them. They had never fought before. Still, Fezco had to do this. He had to make this money back so that he would live to see Sophia make something of herself, to leave this town and never look back. To her, he took the easy way out, choosing to stand there and rip her heart out as she begged for him to stay. To him, it was the hardest thing he would ever have to do.

 And so, as he hopped in his car and sped off into the night, Sophia stood alone in the dark alley. She sobbed quietly as she picked up the bottom of her dress and walked back to the steps attached to Fez's house. She wished she could take back the words she said tonight. All the hurtful this she accused him of, the harsh things she wished for him. Maybe that would make him come back to her. Maybe if she'd have been nicer, he would've stayed. Unbeknownst to her, he spent his car ride suffering through the exact same thoughts.

---

     I stumbled in to the formal well past the point of drunk. Once I left Fez's house, I made my way to the nearest convenience store that sold to underage kids, buying multiple shot-sized bottles of Jack Daniel's to accompany me during my long walk to the school. I caught Maddy's attention almost immediately, who gave me a concerned look from her place next to Kat.

     "Is that Sophia?" Cassie whispered across the table, successfully pulling the entire group's attention toward me. "Is she like, okay?"

      "Hey, guys." I slurred, thumping down in a chair beside Maddy. "You guys look, like, really hot."