ONE CHANCE, kotlc

Chapter 9: Belong

Sophie had expected to sleep in on a Sunday as much as she could. 

Like a normal person. 

And, she really did try to, but she had been tossing and turning the whole night long. 

Grady stuck his head in her room as she rolled around in her covers. "Hey, kiddo, I'm going out with Alden to a baseball game. I'll try to catch you a ball!" He winked as he hugged her and was out the door in a flash.

She was tangled in her covers and pillows as Edaline came and popped her head into her room. "Hey, honey. You'll be alone for most of the day. You okay with that?" 

"Yeah," Sophie mumbled. "What time is it?"

"Oh, it's about noon. I'm going shopping with Della. Have fun honey," Edaline kissed her and left. 

And now, Sophie was tangled in her covers, home alone. She let out garbled noises as she untangled herself and crawled out of bed. Sophie peered into her mirror and saw her bed-head hair and her old pajamas. Fashionable. 

She threw on a robe and noticed she had bruises on her body. Even better! Sophie went to Iggy's cage and took him out, petting him as she tromped downstairs to make herself something to eat. Her stomach grumbled loudly, startling Iggy, who jumped out of her arms and went to eat his food.

Sophie's eyes were blurry as the open window sent in cool breezes. She opened the cupboard and grabbed her Lucky Charms cereal. Yes, Lucky Charms. She pulled out a bowl and grabbed the milk out of the fridge. Now, she had to put it together. Sophie poured in the milk and then poured in the cereal after.

"YOU JUST POURED THE MILK BEFORE THE CEREAL?" 

Sophie turned her head and saw Keefe pop out of her front bush. "Yes, I did," She shrugged smugly as she grabbed a spoon and put the box and milk away. "The better question is, why are you alone in a bush?" 

"I'm not alone!" He defended himself, and right on cue, Tam, Linh, Fitz, Biana, Marella, and Dex popped up beside him. 

"Why are you guys in my front bushes?" She shrieked. "Can't a girl get her privacy in the morning?"

"It's the afternoon," Biana snorted. 

All of her friends were fully dressed, watching her eat. 

"Don't watch me eat!" Sophie complained and closed her window closed and rolled down the curtains as she caught Keefe say: "Lucky Charms?" 

She wasn't a big morning person. So, she closed every window and curtain in the house. 

Once she got back to her cereal, it was all soggy. "Cereal is overrated," She declared, plopping her bowl of soggy cereal in the sink. 

Sophie was tired and annoyed. 

Sophie curled up on the couch. It suddenly got too cold to handle, so she grabbed a thick blanket as she sat on the couch with her phone. 

The doorbell rang, and she hastily answered it to see her friends standing before her. 

"You look miserable," Tam noted. 

"Thanks," Sophie muttered. "I guess you guys can come in." 

They all came in, and she sat back down on the couch, curled up in her blanket as her eyes drooped. 

Her friends wandered around the house, most of the boys getting into Grady's combat tutorials. Biana, Linh, and Marella were busy admiring the decor and all that fancy stuff. 

Sophie sighed. 

"Hey, Foster," Keefe cheekily plopped down beside her. 

"Hey, Keefe," She rolled her eyes. He had leaves in his tousled hair. "Your hair is a bit. . . messy."

He pushed his hand around through his hair, making leaves fall onto the couch and floor carpet. His hair was now all poofy and messy. 

"You missed one," Sophie smirked as she picked a green piece of shrub out of his hair that he missed and blushed, realizing how close she was to him.

She shook the inner voices out of her head.

"You don't look. . . well," Keefe said.

"I couldn't sleep last night," She mumbled. 

"Like, your face is super red," He had to point out as he mused his hair.  

"Yeah. I think I'm going to close my eyes for a bit," Sophie told him. 

"Go for it!" Keefe called as he walked over to the kitchen and began searching through the cabinets.

Sophie closed her eyes and drifted off immediately. 

She didn't expect to be woken up. Sophie had enjoyed dreamland.

She'd forgotten about her friends being over, but everything from earlier flooded back as loud music blasted into her ears and conversations rang in her head. 

As she sat up and turned around, she moaned. Her eyes widened as she examined the house and noticed snacks and treats strewn about. As Biana and Marella danced, her friends laughed.

"Guys! What is this?" Sophie tried to yell over the music but failed terribly. Nobody seemed to notice her. Tam shrugged from a dark corner as Linh sat down on the floor, petting Iggy. Dex seemed to be fiddling with one of Grady's old gadgets at the kitchen table.

Sophie walked up to Keefe, who was surprisingly the DJ, and she kicked him in his shin, causing him to trip over the plug and cut out the music. Her eyes felt puffy, and her throat ached.

Sophie grabbed a broom and hoarded Biana, Fitz, Keefe, and Marella out of the house. She slammed the door and kept the broom in hand as she stared at the mess. How long had she been asleep? 

Sophie was too tired to argue, so she started sweeping up the mess, and surprisingly Tam, Linh, and Dex ended up helping her. 

"You guys really don't have to help me," Sophie begrudgingly told them.

"Oh, come on, silly!" Linh smiled as she shook Sophie's shoulder. "What are friends for?" 

"I wouldn't know," She replied sadly as they finished clean up. 

"You do now!" Dex flashed a dimpled smile.

"You look sick, Sophie," Linh pointed out. She found some medicine in a cupboard and gave Sophie some. "You go rest, and we'll take care of everything with the others outside."

"Thanks again."

"Anytime. It's okay accept help sometimes, okay?" Linh reminded her as Tam, Dex, and her left. 

Once she made it back into her room, her mouth opened and closed a few times. A gift box sat in the middle of her bed.

She hopped under the covers and carefully unraveled the blue ribbon. She opened it and saw a painted picture of her and her friends, signed with Keefe's name.

She couldn't hide the shock on her face, but when she looked at it, it gave her a tingly feeling.

Sophie finally fell asleep, feeling like she belonged.