BFF over BF?

Chapter 15

*This chapter contains violent and graphic scenes that may be disturbing for some readers*

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Sophie

The next day on my way to school, I can’t stop thinking about yesterday.

“Hey,” Jay says, running to catch up to me on the walk to the bus.

“Hey!,” I say happily, with a wave.

I clamp my hands together nervously. “Come on!,” He says, grabbing my arm and pulling me along. “We’re gonna miss the Bus.” he says as he starts picking up speed. I halt and my arm falls from his hand.

“What’s wrong?,” he asks with a confused face. I grab his hand and start into a jog. When we reach the bus stop, it arrives a few minutes later. Turns out he was right!.

When we get on the bus, Jay chuckles and laces his fingers through mine, and pulls me to some open seats. We plop down in two seats and just talk about some stupid stuff that’s not important, so why does it make me so happy?. Is it the topic that makes me so happy?. No. I don’t think it matters what we talk about, but I don’t know why. It’s weird how I can’t stop smiling to myself. Is it to myself?. I don’t know why, but this feeling that I can’t help but smile at feels different than any feeling I’ve felt before.

“We get off at the next stop”.

“Ok,” I say, probably looking like an i***t.

When we get to school, Luke is waving me over. “See you,” Jay says with a fake smile. He looks sad.

“Hey,” Luke says, kissing me on the cheek.

“Hey,” I say, frowning.

“What’s up?,” he asks.

“Nothing”.

The day goes by in a daze. I look around and spot Jay, who’s already walking over.

“I have to tell you something,” he says, with an expressionless face, although he still looks sad. Like he did in the morning.

“Shoot,” I say, wondering what’s bothering him.

“I’m sorry,” he says, looking like he truly is.

“For what,” I say confused.

“I can’t keep it from you anymore,” he says, looking like he’s gonna cry.

“Jay, you're scaring me”.

“I’m in love,” he starts.

“I know,” I say, “ you’re in love with Lily”.

“No, I’m in love with —--,” he starts.

“Who?.” I ask.

“Xander?,” he says, in a surprised voice, looking past me.

“Yeah?,” I hear from a voice behind me. I turn towards the voice. A guy who’s around my height, has dark brown hair, and dark eyes, walks up to Jay.

“Who’re you,” I ask in confusion. “Are you the person Jay likes?”.

“I’m Xander, and I don’t know the answer to the second question,” Xander says.

“Can we talk for a moment?,” Jay asks Xander. He nods.

“We’ll be right back,” Jay says as they walk away.

“You ok, Sophie?,” I hear from Lukes voice. I turn towards his voice, and there he is. So why aren’t I jumping with excitement at seeing him?, aren’t I supposed to be?.

“I’m good,” I say, feeling like I’m here, yet not.

“Wanna walk around?,” he asks, noticing my dazed expression.

“Sure,” I say, holding his hand. Me and Luke walk, but the whole time my thoughts are wondering about that guy Jay likes. At some point, Luke stops walking. I look around and notice we’re under the bleachers outside and there’s no one around. Luke grabs my chin and makes me look at him. I furrow my brows and ask, “why’re we here?”.

“Don’t you know,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“What?”.

He kisses me, trailing his hands down my body. I push him away and say furiously,” What are you doing?”. He pins me to the wall and unzips my jacket, tearing my shirt.

“Stop!,” I yell in fear, trying to push him off. “Stop!”.

“Playing sports paid off,” he says, pitting his body against mine. I try to stop him as he unzips my pants. “Help!,” I scream in tears. He puts his hand on my mouth and whispers, “ Scream again and see what happens”.

I cry helplessly, as he unzips his pants, still pinning me to the wall. He kisses my neck and takes all his clothes off. He makes me slip my pants off and next my underwear. I use our clothes as padding as he tells me to lay down on the gravel.

I hear steps nearby and yell,” HELP!”. He punches me in the ribs.

“Sophie?,” I hear from Jay's voice.

“Help,” l say, in a muffled voice because Luke's hand is covering my mouth. I hear footsteps on the gravel and Luke gets up and hurries to them. I cover myself with my jacket, crying.

Jay throws a punch. Luke hits back, but he’s no match for Jay.

It takes all of a minute until Luke’s on the ground, passed out, n***d.

Jay walks over to my jacket covered form, and his eyes filled with fury, soften as he gazes into my eyes. He turns around for me to get dressed.

“Done,” I say with a quivering voice.

He walks to me and asks, “Are you okay?,” with teary eyes. I immediately break down. He hugs me and says, “It’s ok. Do you think you can walk?,” he says, glancing back at Lukes passed out form. “Y–yes,” I sniffle, trying to walk, and immediately failing. Jay catches me and asks, “do you mind if I carry you?”.

I shake my head and Jay swoops me up, bridal style. As he carries me into the open air, I bawl, while he comforts me.

I feel strangely safe in his arms. I guess that’s why we’re friends. I hold his neck and cry into his shoulder for a while. He sits down and I’m sitting on his lap. I look around and we’re at the top of the steps in the front of the school. I look at him, and he says, “ We’re waiting for my mom.

“Ok,” I say with wet eyes and a quivering voice.

“I asked her to pick us up, and at first she said no because she’s working, but I told her it’s an emergency”.

Jay

When we’re on the bus, talking, Sophie pauses in though. She has the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.

We get off the bus and walk to school. Sophie sees Luke and I look at him with her, in disgust. Luke waves at her to come over. She looks at me and I say, “See you,” smiling, so I don’t look like I hate her boyfriend.

In first period, the teacher says, “Open to page 119”.

I hate History. If it wasn’t a requirement, I would change classes at the drop of a hat. It’s literally just a bunch of old white dudes and their problems. Don’t get me wrong, any class can be fun with the right teacher, but that's not something I have.

“Ughhhhhh,” I groan when class ends and I walk to my locker to switch my books.

I don’t know why, but 2nd period goes by in a flash, and next thing I know, it’s 3rd period chemistry and I'm sitting next to Sophie.

I’d like to be able to say that Chemistry was fun and that we blew some stuff up, but in all honesty, it was boring, Sophie and I sat there and not talking to each other. It was super awkward. I don’t know what happened, we were fine this morning. Can she tell that I don’t like Luke?. Is she mad that I hate him?. To be honest, even if she does know that I hate him, come on, I mean is it really all that surprising?. When have I ever liked any of her boyfriends?.

Looking back on it, the reason why I didn’t like any of them could've had something to do with the fact that I like Sophie. N–No, I don’t think that’s it. I definitely think it’s 100% because they’re all jerks. Yep!. That’s definitely it.

“Whew,” I sigh, as the bell rings and Sophie and I rush to the lunch line.

I don’t know why, but when we left class, it felt as if we were free. Throughout lunch we talk and laugh and I don’t know why, but I feel guilty, like I don’t deserve to be free with her, laughing and joking, when she doesn’t know how I feel about her.

I’ve made up my mind, so why do the words refuse to come out?. I’ll tell her later!, I decide.

The bell rings and back to class we go. “What class do you have?," Sophie asks.

“I have band. You?”.

“Geometry,” she says, as we head out of the cafeteria.

“See you in english,” she says, walking upstairs.

I walk until I get to the band room. I love this class, but I just wanna go home already. Before I know it, it’s 6th period and I see Sophie walking through the door.

“Hey!,” I say, waving her over.

“Hey”.

“How was Spanish?,” I ask, as she plops down next to me with a heavy sigh.

“It sucked. The teacher still has his head so far up his a*s that he harrasses his students. He’s such a d**k!,” she says that last part a little too loud. I can’t help it, I burst out in uncontrollable laughter as everyone gives us funny looks. Man, I love her!.

I immediately stop laughing when I remember what I resolved to do. I turn my body to her.

“Sophie, I…,” I start.

“What?,” she asks, looking into my eyes.

“Nothing,” I shake my head, turning forward as class starts.

When class is over, I starch and say to Sophie, “school’s almost over, we just have homeroom left”.

“Yeah,” Sophie says with a sigh. “How’re you holding up?. Is your… scar.. I guess you would call it. How is your scar holding up?”.

“It’s fine,” I say. “Can’t play sports for a while tho”.

“That sucks, Alright, I’ll see you later”.

“See ya,” I wave, backing away.

When I’m in homeroom, I can distantly hear the teacher saying some stuff, but right now, the only thing I can think of is the fact that I’ll have to tell Sophie how I feel about her after this. I hope she doesn’t hate me for it. I don’t know if the stuff the teacher’s saying is important, cause I can’t hear it. You know how sometimes you can’t focus on what’s happening around you because what’s going on in your head at the moment is too…… What’s the word?...... immersing, or too important to take your thoughts off of.

Those thirty minutes of homeroom were the slowest of my life. It felt like an eternity. I watched the clock, as the seconds ticked away, ever so slowly, until the bell rings. I grab my bag and run, run to where I know Sophie will be waiting. I approach her and tap her on the shoulder.

“I have to tell you something,” I say, with a blank face.

“Shoot”.

“I’m sorry,” I say, with a sad face.

“For what,” she says, tilting her head slightly.

“I can’t keep it from you anymore,” I say, feeling like I might burst into tears at any moment.

“Jay, you're scaring me”.

“I’m in love,” I say, pausing in a struggle to get out the next words.

“I know. you’re in love with Lily”.

“No, I’m in love with —--,” I start, until I look behind her.

“Who?.” she asks.

“Xander?!,” I say, surprised to see him.

“Yeah?,” Xander says, turning towards me.

“Who’re you?. Are you the person Jay likes?,” Sophie asks, seeming a little lost.

“I’m Xander, and I don’t know the answer to the second question”.

“Can we talk for a moment?,” I ask Xander. As he nods, I grab his arm and start away.

“We’ll be right back,” I say to Sophie, striding away.

When we’re away from prying ears, I say, “what’re you doing here?”.

“I told you I was gonna move here, remember?”.

“I didn’t think you meant this soon!”. He shrugs.

“Now Sophie thinks I like you,” I say, smacking my forehead.

“We could pretend to date?,” he says, shrugging again.

“No, I’ll just tell her that I like her, not you”.

“Suit yourself”. He shrugs and walks away. He pauses a few feet away. He turns so I can see the side of his face. “If you change your mind, call me”. He continues walking away.

I walk back to where we left Sophie, she’s gone. I run all around the school in panic, looking for her, yelling her name. Could she have just gone home?. No. She would called, or texted, or let me know in some way that she’s leaving. I run to the outside p.e area. The sun is setting, where is she?.

I hear a distant cry of, “Stop”. It sounds like Sophie. I run towards her voice.

I hear a scream. “Help!”. I hurry towards the scream. I’m on the gravel, listening for movement. “HELP!,” Sophie yells. I run to the bleachers and say, “Sophie?”.

“Help,” l hear her muffled voice. I see a form coming towards me, when he draws closer, I see it’s a n***d Luke.

I look at him in anger and I don’t know what happened, but next thing I know, his body hits the floor. I walk slowly under the bleachers. I see Sophie, covering herself with the jacket she was wearing earlier, next to a pile of clothes. I wanna go back and punch him until he’ll need an ambulance, but instead I look into Sophie’s eyes, teary and filled with fear, and I calm down. Even if it’s just a little bit, I need to hold myself together for her.

I turn around, covering my eyes, giving her privacy to change.

“Done,” she says, in a barely audible voice.

I walk to her, with tear filled eyes and ask,“Are you okay?”. She starts crying and her legs go limp. I hold her as she cries, “It’s ok.” Do you think you can walk?,” I ask, turning to face Lukes n***d form. “Y–yes,” she says, trying to stop crying. She attempts a step and her legs seem to stop working. I catch her and ask, “do you mind if I carry you?”.

She shakes her head and I swoop her up. I take her from under the bleachers and walk to the front of the school, sitting at the top of the steps with her on my lap. I text my mom, “can you pick me and Sophe up?”.

“I’m still working,” she sends immediately.

“It’s an emergency”.

“You should’ve just led with that ".

Eventually Sophie unburies her head from my shoulder. She looks around, then into my eyes. “ We’re waiting for my mom”.

“Ok,” she says, with a shaky voice and a face wet with tears.

“I asked her to pick us up, and at first she said no because she’s working, but I told her it’s an emergency”.

“Ok,” she says again, shaking.

“It’s ok,” I say, in a soft voice. “She’ll be here soon, she works nearby”.

Sophie curls herself up on my lap and starts sobbing. I just hum a gentle tune and hold her through her tears.

My moms car pulls up after a few minutes and I carry Sophie to the car. I buckle us in and she turns herself into me, draping her legs across mine, and putting her arms around my neck, crying on my shoulder.

I look in the rearview mirror and my moms eyes are doing the same, and they’re asking, ‘What happened?!’.

I shake my head softly. I look back in the mirror, saying with my eyes, ‘later’.