Road to Someplace

Chapter Twenty

 Once we were inside, Hailey scampered up the stairs the best she could, Stewart right on her heels. Raveena and I exchanged a wary look before slowly padding towards the light in the kitchen. I could see some of Sophia's thick, wavy hair and a bit of her jaw from where we were. Raveena and I stood in the doorway awkwardly, pursing our lips.

Sophia was scrubbing away at already-clean dishes with an incredible amount of vigor. She placed them down with large clanks. When she finally whipped around to see us, her eyes narrowed to slits, and there was an expression I had never seen on her face before.

Anger.

She didn't say anything, just snatched up her phone and began typing furiously.

"Um, Sophia?" I began, nearly choking on my words when her head shot up from her phone and she glared right into my eyes. I instantly shied away from her piercing gaze, and focused on itching the nape of my name.

Sophia stalked over to us, and shover her phone into our faces.

There was a news article, titled: "Search Continues for Missing Ohio Teen" with my face plastered all over the piece below.

They had traded out the old, outdated photo of me for multiple, newer ones. This time, the picture was clear and was in good lighting, so there would be no doubt that it was me. Besides, they had put my name in the article a multitude of times. My first name was noticeably spelled inconsistently, however. (Not that I blamed them for a common error; I legitimately didn't care at that point. It was a stupid classic white-person twist on a name to make it more "exotic")

"What is this?" She demanded, fuming. Raveena went red, and shied her eyes away from the screen. She let out a shallow breath.

When I dared to look into Sophia's eyes, her fury made my heart tremble under the weight of her stare. "Well?" She asked. Underneath her brash tone, I could hear some wavering, buried under the hostile shell of her words. When we said nothing, she continued.

"I have let both of you stay under this roof, we've fed you, given you a room. Yet, you've been lying to us this whole damn time. Y'know, when Hailey learned you were coming to visit, she was so excited, so happy, bouncing up and down every second until y'all arrived. She was so happy to have you two over. I thought you were here to be friends with her, but now, I'm not sure. Is this just a goddamn hideout to you? Was any of this even real? Do you even care that we might get arrested for this?" She asked. Cracks were appearing in her face and voice, sadness beginning to trickle out. Her fury was laced with despair, betrayal.

Raveena stayed silent, and after a period of quiet, I finally spoke.

"I'm sorry," I said, sounding pitiful. Then, I kept talking, letting my words spill out from me in babbles. The last snowflake had fallen, and it had started the avalanche. I said everything that came to mind. Every bit of backstory, every explanation, every sincere and desperate apology. I wasn't making excuses or lying anymore. Sophia wasn't my parents. She deserved to know the truth. My mouth was filled to the brim with words, and even with my rapid pace, they were still piling up.

By the time my supply of words had been finally depleted, I had been on the verge of tears multiple times. Sophia's face had softened. Raveena began to open her mouth to speak as well, little bits of an apology slipping from her mouth before Sophia stopped her.

"It's okay. We don't need to talk about this any more tonight. Get some sleep, please. We can talk about...this in the morning," Sophia said, rubbing at her creased forehead. Raveena and I nodded rapidly, and scuttled upstairs in a heartbeat. I shucked off my clothes and changed into a hoodie and some baggy shorts. I climbed under the covers just as Raveena entered the room, clad in some baggy clothes. She plopped down on her bed, and let out a sigh.