Through Everything

Chapter 9

"I'll have to check with my parents." She took out her phone. "Keep an eye on Ethan while I call them."

Luna gave a thumbs up as Sophia went to a corner of the store to video chat her dad. She returned a few minutes later to find Ethan and Luna at the cash counter.

"Sophia! Look at my lollipop!" Ethan waved the cellophane wrapped lollipop high above his head as the three walked out of the shop.

Sophia gave Ethan a high-five. "Listen, there's been a change of plans. Ethan, Jake's going to arrive here in a few minutes and so-"

"Hey Ethan, Soph and- and-Soph's friend!" Sophia and Luna perked their ears and looked up to the direction of the yelp. Sophia smiled on seeing her brother running towards them. Jake bolted to a stop and gave Ethan's hair a quick ruffle.

"You're from Sophia's class, right?" asked Jake, examining Luna from head to toe.

"Luna." She extended her hand for a fist-bump.

Jake fist-bumped her and turned to Sophia. "So as Mum and Dad said, I'll take Ethan home and help him get started on his project while you and Luna head over to Luna's house. One more thing Soph, Mum said you'll have to be back by six sharp."

"Got it."

Jake turned to his younger brother, who had already began licking his lollipop. "Ethan, let's go!"

The four parted ways. Sophia and Luna headed towards Candela Avenue while Jake and Ethan headed in the opposite direction towards Staffright Street.

                                                                                ***************

Sophia followed Luna up the narrow wooden stairs. "Your mum's........"

Luna glanced back, raising an eyebrow. Sophia took a step back.

Luna laughed. "I was just teasing you."

"Hey!" said Luna laughing, as Sophia pushed her to a wall.

"Serves you right." said Sophia with a smirk unlike of her. "Which stairs do we take?"

"The one on the right leads to mine and my parents' bedrooms and the one on the left leads to the guest bedrooms, or as I like to call it, the spiders' studio apartment, where they live rent free."

She couldn't hold it back. "You're really funny." she said between breaths.

Luna smiled. "Soph, you haven't seen anything yet."

As the two walked to Luna's room, Sophia followed the slits of sunlight that occasionally fell onto the carpeted floors in the half darkness.

"Wait, is this a wall?" asked Sophia as the two walked closer and closer to what seemed like a dead end. A slit of the evening sun's rays revealed a closed door. Luna opened the door and switched on the lights. As they entered, Luna pointed to the adjacent wall. "That's my parents' bedroom, so don't go poking in there. Deal?"

"Sure..." trailed Sophia as she walked into what seemed like another world-Luna's bedroom.

"Feel free to look around, I'll open up the script. "

"What script?" asked Sophia looking around the bedroom that was draped in piles-piles of all sorts of things.

"Close the door first, then I'll you."

Sophia closed the door and sat on the bed in front of Luna, since the sleigh bed was too narrow for the two of them to sit next to each other.

"So, my plan to get Jia to like you is gonna happen at the fete." said Luna tossing her sneakers under the bed.

"See, so far, Jia's under the impression that the two of us-me and her-are running winter supplies store at the fete. So-"

"Wait-it's still autumn. How is a winter store gonna make profit?"

Luna put a knee up on the bed as she took off her sneakers. "Well, first of all, many people like to be prepared. And second of all"-Luna threw a pillow at Sophia-"that's not the point!"

Sophia took the pillow and threw it back at Luna. The two friends fell onto the bed, laughing their lungs out.

Luna got up and stretched out her hand, helping Sophia get up.

"Let's get back to business since you have to go at six. So, on the day of the fete, while we're getting the stall ready, you're gonna come and tell us that you were part of the arts and craft stall, but they kicked you out. Caught up till that?"

Sophia nodded.

Luna got up, took her laptop, kept it on her lap and turned it on. "You're gonna cry and tell some sob story, which I'll teach you of course........" She put in the password. "Anyways, the idea is that you're gonna cry until Jia lets you join our stall."

"So, Jia will be friends with me out of pity?" asked Sophia, her eyebrows scrunching.

Luna looked up from her laptop. "Not exactly. Once you're in our stall, your organisation skills and some of my tricks will impress Jia. Then, eventually, ......by the end of the fete........all three of us will be friends."

"Will that work?" asked Sophia, who couldn't stop a tone of doubt crossing with her voice.

Luna turned her laptop towards her.

"Look, I've made a script." said Luna. "I'll walk you through all the lines. You'll have to memorise your lines and act it out to the tea."

Sophia gulped.

"You'll do great; you'll have to-because trust me dude, fooling the Head Girl of tenth grade is no easy task."

Sophia took in a determined breath. "I'll do my best."

Luna and Sophia spent the next hour and half acting out the scenes. Throughout the process, they made a few tweaks in the script to make the lines sound and feel as close as possible to Sophia's personality.

Finally, at five-fifty five, Luna closed her laptop and kept it on top of her pillow. The two girls fell on the bed, exhausted. "That was something." said Sophia staring at a scribbling on the ceiling.

Luna turned her head towards Sophia. "You think you can handle it?"

"Yep." said Sophia smiling.

Luna joined Sophia as she continued staring at the ceiling. After a few minutes a crisp feminine voice cut through the silence. "Luna! Come down for dinner. And bring that girl down too."

Luna got up and stretched her arms. "I'm coming!"

Sophia too got up and let out a yawn. "I'd better be heading out now. It's six."

"I'll walk you down. Just give me a second, I need to take some pills."

Sophia watched as Luna pulled out a strip of tablets from among the piles of school worksheets that littered her desk. She popped three pills out of the strip and tossed them into her mouth. She then flipped open the lid of her water bottle and took a gulp of water.

"What are those tablets for?" asked Sophia. "And isn't three a day kinda a big dose?"

Luna tossed the water bottle onto a bean bag and sat at the edge of her desk, facing Sophia. "I don't have to eat three tablets every day. But I choose to." Sophia stared at Luna with a puzzled face. "See, they're sleeping pills. My parents said that I can have one pill on alternate days to help me sleep. But over the years, I've been more and more stressed out and so the effect that one pill had two years ago is now brought about by three pills."

"Do your parents know?" she asked, trying to conceal her concern-she didn't want Luna to think that she was getting anxious over nothing.

"I don't think so. And even if they did, I don't think they'll mind it." Luna glanced at the clock and shrugged. "Anyways, it's six-five, your mum's gonna get pretty worried if you don't show up soon."