Palpable | Latent 2

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Dustin

It took a while for the snowstorm to end that one day. We were all still at the school for at least an hour after the school day was supposed to end, which wasn't too bad. The next two days were a snow days and since there was no longer a snowstorm, Sophronia and I spent most of those two days at the park with our younger siblings so they could play in the snow.

Of course, Felicity insisted on playing with Sophronia, and Raymond insisted on playing with me. That was easy to get around. All we had to do was tell our siblings that Sophronia and I wanted to stay together, so all four of us either built snowmen together, a snow fort, and even snow angels.

There was even a hill at the park that a lot of people were going down with a toboggan, so both Felicity and Raymond wanted to try that.

Felicity fell off on the way down the first run and refused to try it again.

At one point, we even had a snowball fight and of course, Raymond wanted to be on my team and Felicity wanted to be on Sophronia's team. Sophronia and I were a tiny bit surprised that our own siblings didn't want to be on our team, but then again, they saw us every day and was probably getting bored of us.

It was nice hanging out without Sophronia worrying about her aunt and uncle. She was either having too much fun to think about it, or she was really good at hiding it. Either or, I was happy she wasn't too focused about it and was able have fun.

I knew it wasn't going to be long before she was too focused on it again.

I hoped the police would catch her aunt and uncle soon. I didn't want them to be out of prison after what they did and cause Sophronia's family to live in fear.

I was just happy they decided not to tell Raymond.

However, I just wished Sophronia would talk to me about it. I didn't want her to keep acting like everything was okay when it wasn't. If she kept all her thoughts and feelings bottled up inside her, who knows what would happen?

Sophronia was especially quiet at lunch. Normally, we were always talking and joking around as we at our lunch, but she wasn't. She was just ripping her sandwich into tiny pieces and eating it that way.

I really wanted to get her to talk to me about her aunt and uncle and how she was feeling about it, but I didn't want her to feel like I was pressuring her. I hated when people forced me to talk about something I didn't want to.

I didn't want her to feel the same way.

Thankfully, Sophronia finally spoke up. "I know what you're thinking," she said in a soft voice. "You're worried that I'm not saying anything about the situation."

"Yeah," I said, my voice just as soft. "I want you to talk to me about it, but only if you feel like you're ready. I don't want to pressure you."

Sophronia smiled softly. "I know. That's why I love you so much. I just... I've been feeling like I've been seeing my aunt everywhere I go. The diner during work, the park yesterday, everywhere. I feel so paranoid about it but at the same time, I feel like I actually did see her. Is that crazy?

I shook my head. "No. You're worried about it. Soph, if you're really worried and if you really think that you saw her, you could always tell the police. That way, they know that your aunt and uncle are in the town and they know they have been around you a few times."

Sophronia hesitated before releasing a deep breath. "That's the thing. I don't know if I had really seen them or not and if it's just my imagination playing games with me. I really don't know what to do, Dustin."

"Okay, here's what you'll do," I said. "If you're ever with someone and you think you see her, tell them so whoever is with you will know if it's real or not." I took my hands in hers. "I really don't want you to keep worrying about it. If you're with me and you think you see her, point it out and if she's really there, we'll call the police."

Sophronia nodded, then I released her hands to wrap my arms around her inside. "Thank you for being here with me," she said. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"Anything for you," I said. "How about I come over after school today? I can even go through the window so Raymond wouldn't know that I'm over. I love him like my own brother and everything, but I just want to spend time with you."

"Okay," she said.

When school was over, Sophronia and I went to our locker and put on our jackets, gloves, and toques. I texted my mom, telling her I was going to be heading over to Sophronia's house, but that I would be back in time for dinner.

Sophronia and I left the school, our hands intertwined as we walked towards her house. I probably was going to end up sneaking in through the window so that Raymond didn't see me coming up the stairs.

While we were walking to her house, I had this weird feeling that someone was following us. I looked behind us, but I didn't see anyone or anything out of place. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked forward again.

"Is everything okay?" Sophronia asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I just... I thought I saw something."

"Like what?" I asked.

Should I tell her the truth? I was the one who didn't want her to worry about it.

Then again, I wasn't even sure what I saw. I didn't even see anything. I just had a weird feeling.

So I did tell her the truth.

"I'm not sure," I said. "I had a weird feeling, that's all."

Sophronia nodded, her face written with confusion.

"I'm sure it's nothing," I said. "I didn't see anything anyway."

"Okay..." Sophronia said.

I sighed silently. Maybe Sophronia wasn't being paranoid after all.