Through Time and Impossible

Chapter 3

The funeral the next day went slowly. The whole time, Sophia just wanted to leave because she knew no one there. She did not feel like she was part of her Gran's life here. She found herself alone in this room of people.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." An older lady said and shook hands with Sophia after the funeral.

Sophia looked down at this little lady that smelt like cats and resisted the urge to gag. She remembered the talk she had with her parents about being polite to all people today. "Um, yeah thanks." She said.

"You probably don't remember me. I live down the road from you Grandmothers. She was a kind lady."

Sophia had no more patience to deal with any of these people anymore. She just wanted to lock herself in the bathroom until it was over. "Thanks," Sophia said and walked away from her. This had to the fourth person that said something to her in the past 20 minutes and she didn't know any of them. She scanned the room quickly to find her dad shoved in the corner almost behind a potted plant. He was hiding, just like she should be doing. She walked up to him and asked, "Can we go?"

He knew his daughter wanted to leave just as much as he did. He could see that look in her eyes. He smiled and said, "I know what you mean, your mother knows more people here then I do so I thought I should keep my distance. And we just need to wait for the will to be read and then we can leave."

She smiled at him, knowing that this event was almost over gave her hope to continue on. "Great. Do you know where is my sister and brothers are?" She asked, hoping that they should help distract her.

"They didn't have a hard time making friends; they're outside playing with some town kids."

"I think I'll join them." Sophia said. As long as it got her out of this mess she would do anything right now, even if that meant playing with her kid siblings.

She walked quickly to the front door. She hoped that if she walked fast enough, no one would see her leave. Just as she put her hand on the doorknob a girl that looked about Sophia's age stopped her.

She saw Sophia walk towards the exit. She didn't want to talk to her so soon, but she was afraid that if she didn't talk to Sophia now, she would miss her chance. "You're Sophia Romano?" She asked and brushed some of her blonde short pixy cut hair from her face.

"Yeah...I am." Sophia said and dropped her hand from the doorknob. She eyed the door and held back a frown, she was so close but yet so far.

The girl looked at Sophia from head to toe. She didn't think that Sophia would look so much like her family line. She could see that Sophia was uncomfortable and she just wanted to make sure loosen up. "You look a lot like her, your gran. Nevertheless, you probably don't want to hear that from me. Right? Just another person that you don't know. But I just want you to know that I was in the same place as you last year."

"Really?" she said, suddenly in awe that someone knew what she felt like to be in a room full of strangers.

"Yeah, and I know how it feels to be the only teen here. Trust me, half of these other people would not be here unless they thought they would get some of Vitoria's cash. I on the other hand, loved spending time with her and I'm truly sorry for your loss." She said to Sophia as she thought about Victoria and the times she had with her. Victoria really understood Libby, she brought her under her wing and really watched out for her.

"Thanks...that means a lot." Sophia said kind of taken back. It wasn't what she was expecting her to stay but yet Sophia was in awe for her honesty. For the first time today she felt like she could trust what she said. Which was weird for her because it took her a long time to make friends. However, for some reason, she was drawn to the girl in front of her.

"Oh and the name's Libby. Libby Harlow." Libby said with a smile/

"Nice you meet you, Libby. I would introduce myself but it seems like you already know me." Sophia said and smiled at her.

"Your Grandmother talked about you a lot." Libby said as she sensed that Sophia's confusion. That was not an understatement, every time Victoria had a chance, she would talk about her family in the United States. She talked so highly of everyone, most of all, Sophia.

"The reading of the last Will and Testament of Vitoria Ainsworth will be right now so if you will please take a seat..." an older man with thinning hair said as he stepped up to the stage. He cleared his throat as he held the paper in his hands.

Libby knew that she wasn't going to get anything, the town would have a panic attack if they knew Victoria was the mentor to Libby Harlow. She knew that she probably already spend too much time here anyhow. "So I'll see you later." Libby said and walked out the door.

"Yeah, bye." Sophia said not even looking at her. She was scanning the room for her family. She couldn't find them and for a second she was worried that her family left without her. It wasn't the first time that had happened.

Lucy stepped inside the hall and saw that her daughter was scanning the room for them. "Sophia we're behind you," Lucy said.

Sophia turned around and smiled at her mum and the rest of her family and said, "I knew that."

The Will went starting off with little things like pairs of shoes and shirts and got bigger until there were things given away like a ring, a broach, and a lawnmower. Sophia couldn't help but giggle at the lawnmower. She didn't know such odd things were given away at will readings.

After the old man read the about the lawnmower, he cleared his throat again and folded the paper in half. "Thank you for all of your time." He said kindly and then walked off the podium. Sophia raised her eyebrows in confusion and looked at her mum.

Lucy already knew that this man was going to talk to them afterward. She knew that her mother left something large for them, she just wasn't sure what that thing was. "Just wait." She said in a whisper.

After everyone left the hall, the old man came up to the Romano family and said, "I left out the rest. It's for you." he said and began reading the rest of the will out loud to them.

'And to the rest of the items that I didn't give away go to my lovely daughter and her family whom I will always love and I hope they always remember me. I will be always with them if they want me to.'

"What does that mean Mummy?" Eloise asked her mum and tugged on her pant leg.

Lucy was lost for words. The castle was for them, and almost everything in the castle. Lucy never thought she would get the house, she thought that her mum would want it to be donated. "It- it means..." she stumbled with tears running down her face. Sophia knew what it meant, but she couldn't force the words out of her mouth.

He thought about the castle, he loved that place, but he was more concerned about how they could keep it. "It means we get the castle." Marco said bluntly. He and his wife were in shock and overwhelmed.

Sophia couldn't believe her ears, she loved it here but she didn't want to stay forever. She couldn't stay here. She wanted to go back to the states. She had a life in the states. If her Gran really knew Sophia and how much her school meant to her, then she would have never done this.

The whole way to the castle Lucy and Marco talked about what the next step would be. Marco talked about how he could find a job here and Lucy would occasionally bring up how she always loved the castle and this part of England. During this conversation, the 3 youngest kids cutting in on how they should keep the house. But as for Sophia, she kept quiet and tried to hold back her tears. She didn't want to live here. She wanted to go back to Matt. That was where she belonged. That was where her heart was.

When they got to the castle, without a word, Sophia jumped out of the car and ran into the castle. She ran upstairs not even noticing that she passed Abraham.

"My dear, is everything fine?" he said kindly looking at her, stopping her in her tracks. He saw the sadness in her eyes and knew what had happened. Victoria told him this would happen and it was his job to help her fit into this new life.

"It's nothing...," she said and wiped a tear from her face.

Abraham saw how distraught she was and said, "Some things are just supposed to happen, you can't prevent it. I hope you know that your Gran loved you and wanted to best for you."

"Yeah, what.... " she started to say until she realized that he was missing at the funeral. "Wait you weren't at her funeral, why?"

He thought about the spell that bound him here. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to get to the funeral. "I, um, something's came up and I couldn't leave the castle," he said.

With that, she ran up the rest of the steps to get into her room. When Sophia walked into her room she called Kate immediately and told her everything that just happened.

"You can't live there though, it's your senior year." Kate said on the other line. Her voice had as much shock as her parents had about an hour ago.

"I know." Sophia said with tears running down her cheeks. In the matter of a few days, the whole world of Sophia had crashed down. It was suffocating her. "I don't want to live here."

"Are you going to call Matt?"

She sighed. She didn't want to make this call to him. She didn't know how he would take it. "Yeah, I guess I need to."

"Sophia!" Eloise said coming into her room.

"What? I'm on the phone." Sophia snapped at her little sister.

"Mum and dad need to talk to us. In the kitchen." She said as she spoke in a softer tone, afraid that her sister would snap at her again.

"Bene." Sophia got up reluctantly from her four-poster bed. "Kate, I have to go." She said into her phone and then hung up. She then followed Eloise downstairs.

When they got down to the kitchen her dad spoke up, "we know what we're going to do. This is not a permanent decision, but it's the one we are taking right now. We're going to keep the house."

"Sweet! I love it here!" The two brothers said at once.

Eloise just smiled happily but Sophia felt like she was just punched in the gut. She couldn't believe her ears. She thought they would at least go back home for a few months before coming back. At least let her finish the school year in the states, but no, they wouldn't even give her that much. Did her parents even care about her?

"What?! I mean, WHAT? Dad this is my senior year! Homecoming is Saturday! How could you do this to me?" Sophia shouted at him, unable to control her temper. Her world had suddenly come crashing down to her feet.

He looked at her with a serious face, making Sophia shrink in her chair. This had been a long day for him, the last thing he wanted to deal with was a teenage temper. "Now Sophia, don't talk to me like that." He dad said in a stick tone. "We're going to try to rent this place so we can still have both houses and live in the states still. Till then, we need to go back to the state and pack some things up. Then we need to all come back until we get some things worked out."

"How long do we have to live here?" Alessandro said excitedly.

"About three months."

"Three months!" Sophia reverberated with tears filling her eyes.

"Yes, Sophia..." Her dad said in an iritated tone, losing patience for his oldest.

"Sophia dear, you'll still be able to go to homecoming but they way your acting now, you'll be lucky if you go to the football game." Lucy said.

"Fine." Sophia mumbled. "Is that all? Can I go back upstairs now?"

Her parents nodded at her. "Yes. Please go. Cool down and then we can talk more." Her Dad said to her.

She then walked back upstairs as her parents continued to talk to the kids. She got into the room and slammed the door hard and started to cry. She cried harder then she had in a long time. As far as she was considered, her life a gone, everything she worked so hard on in high school, was gone. Just like that. Everything she knew was crumbling under her feet and she was just waiting to fall now.