The Reluctant Queen

Chapter 2

For the next three days I had dreamless sleep, and I found it almost disappointing. That boy, Louis, didn't come back to me. What was I expecting? He couldn't have been real. The dream didn't even make sense, you know, like most dreams. The longer the week went, the more I believed that I was only glorifying an odd dream that I had when I was still hurt over the recital.

The next Sunday, I was still unvisited by the mysterious boy, and he had gradually been pushed from my mind. It was about 11 O'clock at night, and I was at the kitchen table doing my calculus homework. I had been sitting there for more than an hour, determined to figure out each and every problem I could before I gave into despair. My mom told me I was melodramatic, but I liked to think I wasn't.

The door to the house slammed open so hard I jumped out of my seat. "Sophia! Where the hell are you?" My mother's voice slurred and she stumbled through the door. Whispers and giggles told me that she was definitely not alone.

"Sophia! Come here this instant!" she shouted. As I walked into the living room, I could tell there was no chance my mother was sober. She was with a man, her arms around his neck. He was grinning as she kissed his shoulder, his hands under her short skirt. I coughed, and my mom let out an annoyed mumble. Unfortunately this wasn't the first time she had brought someone home out of nowhere.

"Jared, this is my daughter, the one you wanted to meet so badly," she smirked at me. My mother was many things when she was drunk, but kind wasn't one of them. She waved her hand at me, annoyed. "Come here, Sophie. Say hi to Jared."

I walked closer but kept a generous distance. "Hello, Jared." I didn't say anything else, and when I turned to leave he stepped away from my mother and stretched out a hand.

"Hello, Sophia. I have heard so much about you." His words surprised me, because while they couldn't be anything more than sarcasm, he seemed sincere. It made me wonder what my mother had been feeding him about me. He had an arrogant smirk on his face, but that wasn't what instantly made me dislike him. He looked at me oddly, his head to the side as if assessing me, eyes raking me up and down. I ignored his hand and pretended that his reaction to me wasn't extremely creepy. Who checks out their date's teenage daughter right in front of them?

I couldn't help make my own assessment of him.

He had hair that was as red as fire, but his eyes were a bland grey. I wouldn't have considered him handsome, but I certainly wouldn't have looked the other way. He was tall, and carried himself in a way of arrogance. No, I wouldn't have looked away, but I wouldn't have liked what I saw. I looked at my mom again, who was watching us intently. She didn't like the silent exchange that Jared and I just had. In fact, I could tell from her hands on her hips and her pursed lips that she was down right pissed.

"I have to go to bed, mom. I have school tomorrow." I looked at her to object, but she just stared at me, her eyes narrowing at my attempt to skip out. The air in the room had gone stale, and I knew it was time for me to go before I irritated her any more than I already had. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sophia." Jared said softly. I could practically feel his eyes on me as I left.

As I walked up the stairs, I heard her apologizing to her date about me.

"Really, that girl just has problems. Don't take it to heart. I tried to tell you that she wasn't all that everyone says she is." She chuckled. "So she can play the cello, who cares." I could feel tears prick my eyes at her cold words but I just stood there and listened, waiting to hear anything kind. "Anyway, enough about her. Why don't we go back out? I know a great bar down a couple blocks." She practically purred at him. I instantly felt sick. As soon as I heard them stumble out of the house and close the front door, I ran up the remaining stairs to my room.