Her Mind

Chapter 1

Central Park

2018, October 17, Wednesday, 20:27

Sweat collected over my brows as I ran around Central Park. There were only a few figures that I could see, a boy with blond hair playing with his large dog, a frail old lady walking slowly towards a cab and a group of teenagers just messing around. I could hear my shoes padding across the pathway, the frosty air biting my nose and cheeks as I rounded the corner. I started to slow when I could see the apartment block. My papa owned the entire apartment so that the gang could all stay in one place. I heard my phone beep to alert me that I had finished my 5 miles. I removed my earphones and sat down on the concrete stairs, regaining my breath.

"Hey, Soph! What d'ya get?" I turned around to see my best friend Julian looking at me with expecting eyes. "27 minutes and 3 seconds," I replied. Julian's eyebrows shot up after hearing my time. "Woah, Sophia. You didn't say that you were that fast!" The last time I went on a 5 mile run I had achieved the sad, sad time of 31 minutes and 46 seconds, so I could see where he was coming from. "Hey! I thought you believed in me!" I joked, Julian just chuckled and took a swig from my water bottle. I elbowed him hard in the ribs and stole back my drink bottle. "So you know, next time, don't steal my water." I fake glared and Julian just painfully smiled at me, still clutching his side. We sat on the steps and basked in the cold October night for what seemed to be forever. Watching the leaves fall down and collect together on the gray footpath underneath the redning tree's. I twirled around to see Julian's nose bright pink and his small lips turning blue. "Julian, we should go inside now." he nodded and stood up, taking my arm in his and opening the door.

I entered my apartment to find a sticky note on the kitchen island. 'Hey Sophia, I'm going to be late, so feel free to do whatever you like, from papa.' It had been a while since papa let me stay on my own while he was gone, he used to send me to Julian's place as his parents love me and I never complained because it was a free excuse to have a sleepover with my best friend. I hopped in the shower and scrubbed off the sweat and got dressed in some warm street clothes.  A fire-truck red hoodie, dark washed denim jacket, light blue jeans and a pair of black doc martens. I braided my wavy brown hair into two dutch-braids, swung my bag over my shoulder, threw on a beanie and walked out of my apartment. I stopped by at Julian's parents' house to pick him up and side by side we walked towards a cab that I'd hailed.

"Why's your hair wet?" I asked "I had a shower. Duh!" he retorted. Julian's tousled black hair fell limply on his forehead causing droplets of water to run down his face. He picked up the end of his scarf and wiped away the water that fell, I laughed at his feeble attempts to remove water from his hair and face and Julian just glared at me which made me laugh even harder. The cab dropped us off outside of the New York Public Library and I paid the man before Julian and I headed towards the grand doors that opened to the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. The ceiling was incredibly tall and had the most gorgeous chandeliers I thought only ever belonged in movies. On the ceiling itself, there was stunning paintings and intricate wood designs that made me feel like a princess, there were rows and rows of desks and on three of the four walls stood the bookshelves, tall and proud.

The first time I'd ever gone to that library I was seven and was picking up my Mandarin textbooks. My father always pushed me to the best of my academic abilities. I can speak English and Spanish fluently, obviously but my father also got me to learn languages that I'd need for later in life so I've also mastered French and Mandarin. The rest of the languages I just come by, my pronunciation is quite good but I can only hold a conversation when talking in German, Russian and Portuguese but not enough to debate or argue with. Anyway, I'd fallen in love with the library from that moment on. The smell of old books and wood polish, the sound of high heels on the floor and the way it made me feel like royalty every time I arrived. As a child I arrived all the time with papa but now that I'm older I go alone and I don't really mind, the fewer the people the better. Todd, the librarian always made me feel at home by giving me many suggestions but lately, I found I haven't been visiting as much as I didn't need many books for my school projects. My tutor also felt I had been doing quite well and didn't need any more textbooks. Not to mention, I didn't really have time to visit as I was always making business calls for my papa. Papa can only speak Spanish and a little English, but all I hear is his thick Colombian accent, so papa really only writes in English hence the note he wrote for me earlier. I also have an accent but it's only slight as I've been living here for 11 years. Papa made the gang move to America when I was four because apparently, it was too dangerous in Columbia.