"Come on, Sophia. Don't be unreasonable."
There was not a chance in hell I was going in that house ever again. I swore it to myself nine years ago and I was not about to betray my seven year old self.
I crossed my arms over my chest stubbornly. "Do they have an orphanage or something around here?"
My father sighed. "I know you're not happy about this right now, but you'll get used to it eventually. I promise you."
"Since when are your promises valid, huh?" It gave me satisfaction to watch him cringe.
"Be fair, Sophia," he said weakly. "I can understand that what happened to your mom has taken quite a toll on you, but try to make an effort with me please."
"You have the nerve to-to-" I stammered. "Make an effort! You- you've got to be joking! How can you even say that? You fucking hypocrite!"
"Sophia-" he started, but I had already snatched up my bag and started jogging down the street. "Sophia, come back!" I didn't look back.
After about ten minutes of running the drizzle turned into rain in earnest. I had no idea where I was going, no recollection of the layout of the town I grew up in. By the time I stumbled upon a convenient store I was soaked to my skin and freezing.
I sighed as the heat enveloped me when I opened the door. I walked to the counter and cleared my throat. The guy at the counter looked up from his book and raised his eyebrows. "Get caught in the rain?"
I ignored his question. "Do you have a bathroom?"
"It's in the back corner," he said as he handed me a gold key attached to a big, red, plastic rectangle that read bathroom.
"Thanks," I said waving the key at him.
The bathroom was surprisingly clean. It was cute actually. Cozy. It had wallpaper patterned with tiny wolves and little ceramic wolves in varying colors prowling along a shelf guarding the soap and paper towels. Somebody around here had an unhealthy obsession with wolves. I smiled, picking up one of the larger wolves with dark fur. I set back down, my face dropping back into a frown.
I changed out of my wet clothes and into jeans, my favorite brown boots, and the light blue rain coat I had so unhappily purchased in preparation for my move to rainy La Push. Once, I was in dry clothes I felt much better.
Changing my clothes didn't fix my face, though. Purple circle ringed my dark blue eyes, my freckles stood out against my pallid, sick looking skin, my lips were chapped, my blond hair was straggly and limp. I looked seriously unwell.
I quickly averted my eyes from my reflection and picked up my sopping clothes and trainers.
Back at the counter, I asked the clerk for a plastic bag to put my clothes in.
"Sure," he said. "There you go." He smiled a white smile at me. His teeth stood out brilliantly against his russet skin. I attempted a half smile back at him.
I started to hunt around the store for something good to eat. I was deliberating between the marshmallow and the peanut butter protein bar when a voice spoke from right behind me.
"The peanut butter is better."
"Jesus!" I said, whipping around. "Don't sneak up on people like that!"
He held his hands up defensively. "Whoa. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
I instantly felt bad for yelling at him. "Alright, apology accepted." I paused. "The peanut butter, you think?"
"Totally," he smiled. "The marshmallow is too sugary."
"You're probably right," I said, setting the marshmallow bar back down and heading to the refrigerators. He followed me. I grabbed a bottle of Nesquick chocolate milk and turned around. He was standing there watching me. I raised my eyebrow.
"Are you trying to be creepy?" I asked. He blushed.
"No, sorry."
"I'm just messing with you. Relax."
"Oh, okay," he said, clearly confused. "So what's your name anyways?"
"Lisa." It was the first name that came to mind.
"I'm Embry."
"Nice name," I replied, at a loss at what to say. I passed him, searching for chapstick. He trailed after me, of course.
"Are you new to town or something?" His dark eyebrows knitted together. "I don't think I've ever seen you before."
"Yeah, I'm new, I guess." I spotted the chapstick hanging on the lowest rack and bent down to retrieve one.
"What do you mean you guess?"
I glanced up at him and was suddenly struck by how incredibly tall he was. I grabbed a tube of cherry balm and straightened up. I felt like a dwarf next to him.
I walked over and set my items on the counter. Embry walked over and began scanning my purchases.
"Are you going to answer my question?" he asked.
"Oh," I said. "I used to live here when I was little. I moved to Georgia when I was seven so I'm new and I'm not," I shrugged. He handed me my bag of stuff.
"See you around, Lisa."
"What? Oh- yeah, see you around, I guess." I headed for the door and then abruptly turned around halfway there. "I like the bathroom by the way. The wolves. They're cool."
"Really? You like it? Do you like wolves or something?" He was beaming, his eyes dancing as if he was enjoying some private joke.
I smiled at little and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."
"I guess," I heard him mutter as I walked out the door. "Does she say anything else?"
I grinned in spite of myself.
Now that I was outside the store I was faced with the dilemma of where to go. I decided to walk around for a while until I came up with a solution. Thankfully the rain had lightened up and equipped with my raincoat I remained pretty dry. I listened to my Ipod and munched on my protein bar. Embry had been right. The peanut butter was good.
After a half an hour or so, my food was gone and I still had no place to go. I felt like crying. I sat on the edge of the road and tapped my foot anxiously and stuffed my hand in my boots. Panic was beginning to set in in earnest when a gray truck pulled up beside where I was sitting.
I had no other option. I got in.
"Sophia, do you have any idea how worried I was?" My father said the moment I shut the door.
"I'd guess about as worried about me as you have been the past nine years of my life," I replied dully.
He ignored my remark and turned on the heat. "You must have pneumonia."
We were silent the rest of the way home.
He held open the front door of the house to let me in. I gritted my teeth and stepped over the threshold. The moment wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but my pride definitely took a hit.
"Your bedroom is-"
"-The last door on the left. What do you think I have amnesia? I lived here for almost half my life, remember?"
"I know. I'm being silly."
I rolled my eyes and ascended the stairs. The upstairs hallway was just as I remembered it. The same three pictures hung on the wall (my parents on their wedding day, my fourth grade picture, and mom and I building a sand castle on first beach). The floor creaked in the same places. It still smelled like Dad's famous double chocolate cookies. Tears welled in my eyes. I wiped them away angrily.
My room was packed with boxes of my stuff that had been shipped over a little while before I had moved. I searched through the boxes until I found the one with bedding scrawled across it in my messy handwriting. I pulled out the comforter and draped it over my bed. I would worry about unpacking later. For now all I wanted was to sleep. I kicked off my boots and shed my raincoat and then crawled into bed and promptly fell asleep.
I passed the next few days in my room, unpacking all my things. I came out only for meals, to use the bathroom, and to shower.
On the Sunday before my first day, I sat at my desk absently tapping keys on my crappy old electric keyboard when my dad appeared in the doorframe.
"It looks really good in here, Park," he grinned.
"Thanks," I said as unemotionally as I could manage.
He walked over to my bookshelf and ran his fingers over their spines. "You've always loved to read."
I bit back the cutting retort that immediately sprang to my lips and said instead, "Wonder who I got that from."
He chuckled and glanced over at my bed. I knew he was looking at my sketchbook and I scrambled to put it away.
"You're still in to art, huh?"
"Yeah, pretty into it," I said sarcastically, tucking my pad into my underwear drawer. I turned around and crossed my arms. He seemed to sense that I was done talking to him.
"I won't be here in the morning because I have to work. I've arranged a ride for you with one of my buddy's daughter. Carrie Whether. She's going to pick you up at 7:30, okay? Try to be nice. You guys could be friends."
I seriously doubted that.
"Okay, hun?"
"Okay," I sighed.
"Night, Sophs."
"Goodnight, Dad."
He smiled and closed my door.
I woke up the next morning with a flurry of nerves. Every outfit I put on seemed like I was trying to hard or trying to little. I finally settled on my favorite pair of holey, light wash, skinny jeans and a navy and white polka-dot button up.
I ate a few bites of cereal, but was to worked up to eat any more. After I was done, I sat in the kitchen's bay window untying and retying my converse.
When Carrie Whether's beat up old Ford Taurus pulled into the driveway, I grabbed my light blue cardigan and slipped my backpack on to my shoulders and rushed to the door. Taped over the peephole was a note that read, Have a good first day at school! Here's some lunch money, -Dad, and five bucks. I shoved both the money and the note in my pocket and exited the house.
My first impression of Carrie was that she was beautiful. Light brown hair, pale green eyes, and slightly tanned skin. Her hair was thrown into perfectly messy bun. She was wearing a Quileute Tribal High School soccer team shirt and jeans. She was one of those girls who always looked effortlessly perfect, sloppy but gorgeous. I would bet a my life savings that she ate whatever the hell she wanted with not a single concern and still had abs. Ugh.
She smiled and stuck her hand out. I took it and we shook.
"I'm Carrie."
"Sophia," I nodded. She backed out of the driveway.
"Okay then, Sophia. So how are you liking La Push so far?" she asked politely.
"Um, it takes some readjusting…"
"I'll take that as not at all," she laughed. I rubbed my neck sheepishly.
"It's the rain," I said, frowning at the droplets on the windshield. "I don't like rain."
"Did you live somewhere sunny before?"
"Atlanta, Georgia." She nodded.
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it soon enough."
"If you say so." She laughed and pulled into a parking space and stopped the car.
"What do you have first period?"
I rummaged through my backpack for my schedule. "Um… Honors Chemistry 1 and 2 with Mr. Barth."
"Oh, lucky you," she grinned. "We have it together."
Mr. Barth surprised me. I was expecting a tall, lean, 50-something with lots of moles, big old fashioned glasses, coffee stained teeth, and a bad attitude. He was nothing like I imagined.
I was right about him being in his fifties, but that was about it. He was short and stout. Short, curly blond hair covered his head and he had stubble around his jaw as if he had forgotten to shave that morning. Behind his glasses (rectangular and modern not old fashioned as I had guessed) were pale blue eyes that sparkled with curiosity. He had a jolly smile and a fun aura about him. I could tell just by looking at him that he was a good teacher.
I approached his desk shyly. He smiled at me and asked if I was the new student.
"Yes."
He consulted a sheet of paper on his desk. "You would be… Sophia Long, then?"
"Yes."
"Well, welcome to Honors Chemistry. I'm Mr. Barth. You may take a seat wherever you would like."
"Okay, thank you."
Carrie had saved me a seat near the back of the classroom. Five minutes into class, her head drooped down onto the table. I had to shake her awake at the end of class.
"Sorry about that," she apologized as we left the classroom. "I had soccer practice at five this morning. I'm exhausted."
"It's fine," I said dismissively. "I get it."
"What do you have next? Gym?"
"Yeah. Do you?" I asked hopefully.
In answer, she grinned at me.
God, I hated gym. I was so bad at it. I hated being bad at things.
I mean, it wasn't that I was clumsy, really. I just wasn't very coordinated. Carrie, on the other hand, flew around the basketball court making shot after shot. I moved around the court following the ball, but making no effort to engage. At, one point someone slammed into me so hard that it knocked the wind out of me and sent me crashing to the ground.
As soon as I regained my breath I stood up, ignoring the giant russet colored hand that was being held out to me. "Watch where you're going!" I exclaimed, angry and embarrassed.
"Sorry, Lisa," he said. "I wasn't paying attention."
"Lisa?" I asked. It dawned on me who this was as soon as the name was out of my mouth. The guy from the convenience store. Embry.
"Isn't that your name?" he questioned, confused.
"Er, no," I said, sheepishly biting my lip.
"Yeah, I didn't really have you pegged as the Lisa type."
"I guess," I replied indifferently.
"There it is again," he mumbled. "So what is your name?"
"Sophia."
"Sophia what?"
"Long." I suddenly felt defensive for unknown reasons.
Coach Ryan blew the whistle. "Alright, that's enough for today. Y'all can go change now."
"Catch you later, Long," Embry said before jogging off.
"Hopefully not," I whispered.
"Damn boy," Carrie said as she came up beside me. Her eyes followed Embry into the boys locker room. I gave her an exasperated look. "What? Embry Call is as hot as they come."
"Oh, come on." I lead her to the locker room. "I'm hungry. Let's go to lunch."
The day passed uneventfully after my run in with Embry. It hadn't been bad though. My classes (excluding gym) weren't to bad. I had Carrie, who I was surprisingly comfortable already. I sat with her and her friends at lunch. Most of them played soccer. They were all nice and welcoming. Even my awkward run in with Embry Call hadn't been too awful. When I arrived home from school, I was in a better mood than I had been since I had arrived in La Push.
Dad made French toast in celebration of my first day. It had been my favorite food since I was little. It was delicious.
"So did you like Carrie?"
"Yeah, I liked her a lot. She's a little obnoxious, but she's nice. Really into sports. Well, she's only into soccer, but she's good at every sport. You should see her in gym. She's fantastic. I look handicapped next to her."
Dad laughed. It was the first time I had heard him laugh in nine years. "That's great, honey! I knew you two would be friends."
"Thanks for the lunch money, by the way," I said as I rinsed my plate and stuck it in the dishwasher.
"No problem."
Before bed, I pulled out my sketchbook and charcoal pencils and began on some rough sketches of Carrie. Something about them was off but I couldn't tell what. I put my sketchbook away and resolved to study Carrie tomorrow and fix the sketches. I popped Alteril sleeping pill and drifted off in no time.
I just want to make this clear before someone says something: this is not an Embry/OC fic. Okay?
Anywho, how did you like it? Sophia's kind of a bitch, huh? BTW the story is called Unknown. That's the title. I just wanted to clear that up because I'm sure there are a few people who thought I just didn't have a title. Okay. Yep. I'll try to write more soon. I love you, my precious readers.
-PeanutButter12
P.S. If you want to review then go ahead. I promise I won't be mad at you! ;)
