𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 || 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭

𝟑𝟑: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭

Sophia wished her life hadn't gone to complete shit right before the press tour.

She also wished they'd thought through the repercussions of their plan a bit more, because the new headlines were making her sick.

'WALKER SCOBELL FOUND IN THE HOME OF CAST-MATE'S ALLEGEDLY ABUSIVE FATHER. WILL SHE BREAK HER SILENCE?'

A couple days had passed since that night in the apartment, and she was itching to get on a plane and be anywhere but this small town that was suffocating her. She hoped Walker was thinking the same thing.

There was a non-stop stream of people walking by the front of the Scobell's house, trying to catch a glimpse inside the windows, clawing for scraps of information that they could spin into even bigger rumors. Social media wasn't much better.

She had deleted all the posts on her account almost immediately. The death threats, hateful comments, and plummeting number of followers was not what she needed right now. But people just couldn't help it. Why shouldn't they blame Walker's disappearance on the young girl whose father was as far as they knew, his kidnapper?

The situation had gotten to the point where some swore Sophia was his accomplice, luring Walker away from his home and stealing him away. It was all she could do to shut it out until she was back in New York, though she knew it would only get worse from there.

It was early in the morning, almost 5 AM, and darkness painted the outside of her window as she got ready for the plane ride.

"Sophia, sweetie?" Her mom called to her from the bottom of the steps, and she finished her makeup, tossing her mascara back into her cosmetic bag before shouting back.

"Yeah, almost ready!" She tucked her hair behind her ear, taking a deep breath and letting her eyes linger on her tired reflection for a few stalling seconds before she left the bathroom, clicking the light off.

She sped into her room. Yes, her room. After months she was finally back in her mom's house, and ironically, the past few nights of sleep were some of the best she'd had in a while. Grabbing her phone and shoving it into her pocket, she flipped the light off in there as well before finally making her way downstairs.

Her mom stood in the kitchen, two mugs of tea in her hands. She handed one to Sophia, who slipped her fingers around the steaming cup and held it close to her chest. They stood in comfortable silence in the dark kitchen.

"It's chilly." She commented.

"Do you have a jacket? It's gonna be cold over there." Her mom brushed a stray hair from her eyes, and she yawned in response.

"I mean, I've got this?" She shrugged to draw attention to the green quarter zip she was wearing, her baggy jeans and white low tops helping very little to combat the cold.

"That's not a jacket." Her mom scolded gently. "Go ahead and take my black puffer jacket with you, okay?" Sophia nodded in response, sipping the tea. Another minute went by before her phone dinged, and she pulled it out of her pocket.

"Leena says the car just got here, I should probably grab my stuff." She set the mug on the counter, and her mom pulled her in for a surprise hug, sighing softly. Sophia froze at the contact.

The past few days, physical touch had felt alien to her. Ever since Walker pulled her in to his arms as the police lights flashed through the apartment window.