Quiet Heart

Chapter 8: The Stress is Real

Andrew's POV

Madison came barging through the door with anger filled eyes.

"I thought you two were supposed to be doing math homework?! Not sleeping on the fucking couch together!!" she screamed causing Sophia to bolt up from her sleep.

"What's going on?" she asked tired and confused.

"What's going on?! You're kinda sleeping on the couch with my boyfriend!!" Madison shot back.

I finally spoke up, "It's not what it looks like! We were just watching South Park and fell asleep! Is it a crime to be tired?!"

"I should probably just go..." Sophia said quietly as she began gathering her things.

"No Soph. You don't have to leave. Please stay." I said grabbing her by the wrist.

"No I need to go."

And with that she began walking away.

"I'll walk her out." Madison said with a devilish smirk on her face.

Sophia's POV

I opened the door when I heard Madison's 3 inch heels following behind me. I started walking in my house's direction. Suddenly I felt a hand grab me by the arm.

"Hey bitch, stay away from Andrew. He's my boyfriend. He doesn't like you like that. Go find another boy to fuck with. You're just his little pity friend. He only goes to you when he needs something."

I pulled away from her grasp and began running home. I could feel the burning tears streaming down my face. I didn't bother wiping them away. I just kept running and running not looking back. Once I got to the front door I fumbled with my keys trying to open the door. My vision was so blurry with tears that I dropped them and fell to the ground bawling.

What did I do to deserve this? I thought to myself.

I heard a car pull up in the driveway. The door slammed and I heard someone running towards me.

"Honey! What's wrong? Are you okay? Why are you sitting outside? What's wrong?" my dad said as he crouched down beside me. I just shook my head and he wrapped his arms around me. He sat there for about 10 minutes just hugging me.

"Let's go inside and I'll make you a Nutella sandwich, okay?" he said smiling at me. He always knew how to cheer me up. I stood up and wiped the tears from my face as he unlocked the front door.

***

I never told my dad what was wrong. I just went upstairs to my room after eating my snack. I closed the door behind me and curled up in a ball on my bed. I felt my phone buzz and at first I was reluctant to check it, but I did anyways. 6 text messages waited for me. Two from Andrew and four from Hailey.

Drew: Hey I'm so sorry

Drew: Please answer. We need to talk. That was so uncalled for on her part.

Hailey: Ethan called and asked how our project was going...

Hailey: What was that all about???

Hailey: Hello??? I played along but I NEED to know what's going on!

Hailey: Sophia??? Please answer!

I didn't bother answering any of the texts. All I wanted to do was sleep...without a screaming Madison waking me up. I plugged my phone up to its charger and laid it on my nightstand. I stared up at my ceiling just thinking. This school year was supposed to be the best, but so far it's turning out to be the worst. Maybe things will be better by prom and I can have the time of my life. If not, there's always my senior year. I could start fresh. All these thoughts made my head ache. I sat up and walked over to my desk. I grabbed my laptop and powered it on as I sat back down on my bed. Once it powered on, I started looking up prom dresses, hoping that it would cheer me up, or at least take my mind off of today.

***

I looked at the time and noticed it was almost midnight. I powered down my laptop and laid it back on my desk. Then I walked over to my dresser drawers to get my pajamas. I picked out a pair of black Nike shorts and a maroon colored sweatshirt. I was about to slip it over my head when I realized it was Ethan's. It smelled just like him and it brought tears to my eyes once again. I put it on anyways and went back to my bed. Tears began silently streaming down my face. I turned my lamp off and laid there for what seemed like forever, thinking about Ethan. I was in deep thought when I heard my bedroom door creak open. I froze and immediately pretended to be asleep.

"Sophia?" I heard someone whisper from the doorway. I didn't move a muscle.