His Secret [Completed]

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Jackson had walked her back to her room and told her he'd wait outside to meet her for breakfast the next morning. Sophia knew she was grateful to have Jackson by her side during the holiday and was thankful that the one awkward time he'd told her he had feelings for her hadn't been the end of their friendship. Sometimes she got the impression he still had those feelings, but was soon shut down by his mentioning of Carly - the girl he had taken on a date - and how beautiful he thought she was both inside and out.

Sophia admired his honesty through everything that they had talked about that night; most of the people she knew wouldn't dare be as honest as Jackson had been, and it was something she desperately needed to hear. He'd called her an idiot and at first, she was taken aback and a little hurt, but soon realised all he spoke was the truth. Jackson had told her everything she needed to solidify in her mind. He'd asked her if she loved Noah and that question had been burning in her mind during their silent walk to her room. Love was a complicated thing and she wasn't sure whether she could feel so strongly about anyone ever again. The way she had come to feel about Noah confused her in more than one way. He'd been rude and selfish, but through all of that he could also be sensitive and caring, and that's what she found the most baffling of it all. Not once had she ever flirted with him, nor had he with her, but being in his presence, for even a mere minute, she felt things she hadn't before; and if this was love, then she wondered why she stayed with Brad for so long, convincing herself that was it.

With Brad, things at first felt magical. He was her knight in shining armour and saw in her what no other man did. He saw her intelligence and care for other people, but in the end, it was the same vulnerability she saw in herself that caused her life to crumble. He took that sign of weakness and played on it. She cut off her friends because he conditioned her to believe he was all she would ever need, and he made her believe the people she called her friends were jealous of what they had. He'd sneak through her dorm window at night just before she fell asleep and would lay with her for a while stroking her hair. He'd snuggle close and whisper romantic things into her ear, telling her she was the only woman for him. Then they'd fall asleep and in the morning when she woke, he'd be gone but in his place would be a small romantic note with three kisses on the end and a heart underneath. In a similar way that some couples have a special song, word, or even a handshake, theirs was the notes and she kept each and every one until the night she'd left.

Brad had left her at the bottom of the staircase where she'd fallen the night of graduation, and when she woke from her unconscious state at the foot of the stairs, her head was pounding and there was a deep gash on the right side. She felt lucky that it wasn't worse when she finally came around and in the darkness of the hallway, she could hear Brad's snoring from the living room. He'd walked down the stairs passing her limp body on the floor but didn't help her. That was also something she felt lucky about, it was an opportunity to escape and she took it without looking back.

It was the final straw, and falling backwards down the staircase had knocked sense into her, the dream that played in her mind as she slept on the cold floor replayed the moments they shared together, the same moments that tore her life to shreds. She'd rushed up the stairs, fighting the pain throbbing in her head and the dizziness that caused her to stumble into the walls. She packed the last of her family's belongings into the biggest bag she could find along with her clothes. Though there wasn't much room left for clothes after her family photo albums and old books were packed, she didn't really care. All she cared about was getting out, so once the things she needed were packed, she dug into the pocket of Brad's jeans that he had discarded on the floor and took all of the cash.

She'd checked he was still asleep as she deposited her bag by the front door. He'd drunk a lot of alcohol, so she didn't expect him to wake up, but she still thought it necessary to check. He was passed out on the couch with one leg thrown over the back and his hand gripping a can of beer. As she looked around the living room at all of the photos in frames of the two of them smiling and looking head over heels in love, she realised it was all an act and there was no way he loved her. In that moment a surge of anger filled her body and all she wanted to do was scream, but she knew she couldn't; because if he woke, she never would have escaped.