Some Love Isn't Forever (Book One of 'The True Reality' Series)

Trust

The first day went as horribly as expected.

She woke up and got ready to head to Marella's. Her dad was waiting downstairs at the kitchen table with Amy and their mom.

"Morning sweetie" her mom said. "It looks like you'll have to pick something up on the way to school today."

Sophie nodded. "Alright, I'll just head out then" She grabbed her phone off the counter and headed out.

Making her way down the sidewalk towards Marella's house, Sophie hummed a little tune to herself, though she couldn't put a finger on what it was.

Then a loud skittering sound came behind her. Sophie turned to see what it was just in time for someone to crash into her.

She tumbled to the ground, her head hitting something soft, and something else landing on top of her.

Sophie blinked and felt around, realizing she'd landed on her backpack.

Then she looked up, and saw the worst person to have encountered. She scrambled to her feet, shoving Keefe away.

"Sorry!" He mumbled and got to his feet, grabbing his skateboard on the way up.

"I should have moved.. are you okay?" She asked grudgingly. Best to make this conversation as short as possible... right?

"I'll be fine. I've been in worse." He seemed to realize who he was talking to, and his face turned bright red. "I'll just go the other way. Maybe I can catch up to the bus." He dropped his board to the ground, but right before he could leave something in the back of Sophie's mind told her to stop him.

"It's fine. Don't be late to whatever you're heading to because We're on bad terms." She knew she didn't exactly say it the way she meant it, but it was too late now.

Keefe hesitated before picking his board back up and walking over to join her.

They started walking, and for a while silence stretched on. The only sound was footsteps against concrete.

Sophie took a deep breath. "So when did you start living with Doctor Heslege?"

He shrugged. "About a year ago. He's pretty nice. Definitely better than-" he stopped talking, but Sophie knew who he was talking about. His real parents.

She remembered the day he came to her house, crying, be abuse his dad had told him he wasn't enough, that he could disappear and it would be a thing to rejoice about.

Then three days later his mother had been arrested for murder.

Of course after that he started hanging out with that group of boys, and well... the rest of it happened.

"What have you been up to? It's been five years." He said.

Sophie shrugged. "I guess normal stuff. Nothing too exciting." Then she looked down, debating whether she was going to tell him why she was here.

Keefe made that decision easier.

"So why are you guys living next door now? Did you move or..." Sophie reached up to tug out an eyelash.

"Something happened back at the old house. Someone... someone broke in, and left a note. They moved us out just in case." Sophie didn't dare meet his eyes. He was probably feeling pity, or at least be annoyed, but when Sophie looked back, his expression was unreadable.

"Well, it's good to see you're still in one piece." Sophie smiled a little bit, when she realized they'd made it to Marella's house.

"Well this is Marella's. I've got to go. See you later" she made her way to the door, and knocked. She glanced back and saw Keefe wave before heading down the sidewalk once again.

Marella opened the door. "Hey!" She smiled, then glanced over Sophie's shoulder. "Keefe! Hey!" He stopped and turned.

"Hey Marella!"

"Where are you off to?" She asked, and Sophie got an unsettling feeling in her stomach. What was going on...

"Skate park!"

"If you have the time, you can come over if you'd like!" Sophie gave her a waning look, but Marella just ignored her.

Keefe was hesitant, but he nodded. "Just for a little while!" He turned to walk up to the house, and while he was still out of earshot, Sophie turned to Marella.

"Seriously? Marella I don't know-"

Marella crossed her arms. "What? He's my friend now too. Besides, I think you two are hiding something, and I'm going to figure it out." Sophie rolled her eyes, but decided to let it go.

Keefe joined the at the front door and Marella let them in.

The headed into the living room, and sat down on the couch.

On opposite couches. Marella sat down next to Sophie with a smile on her face that told her she had a plan, and that her and Keefe meeting up together at Marella's today wasn't just coincidence.

"So, I have an idea of what we can do today" She shook her head at her, already hating where this was going. "How does a game of truth or dare sound?"