XOXOXOXOXO

Chapter 41

Sofia

I quickly ordered the costumes, and the intercom buzzed around us.

"Attention students," the secretary's voice echoed, "I would like to announce the winners of this year's Homecoming King and Queen: James and Sofia Talbert!"

Everyone in the room clapped and cheered for us, and James pulled me up, bowing us theatrically.

"Homecoming princess will be Vivian Kendall, Bridgett Greenbush, and Cleo Martine, and the princes will be Garth Justice, Brent Hanes, and Nicholas Bradley. Congratulations to you all!"

"It's going to be like our wedding all over again," I giggled, sitting back down.

"Right?!" James laughed, "It's going to be great!"

"It's crazy. This is going to be my first school dance, and I'm the Queen," I chuckled, letting Pinterest pull me back in.

"You've never been to a school dance?" James asked.

"God, no," I snorted, "I was out of place enough on the cheer squad," I shook my head, keeping my eyes on the screen.

Plus, I never had anyone to pick me up after.

"So I'm the first person you've ever danced with?" the excitement in his voice was undeniable, and I looked up at his intense, shining eyes.

"Yeah, baby," I nodded, wondering why I never told him that, "The last night of our camping trip was the first time I ever danced with anyone. I've never been comfortable being that close to people,"

Just the idea of being touched by anyone sent me into panic attacks.

But all I wanted was to be touched by James.

"It was mine too," he beamed, bringing my lips to his.

At least that was one thing I could honestly say was a first with him.

I wished more than anything that he had been my first everything, but I would take whatever I could get.

I changed out of my uniform after practice Thursday and joined James and mom in the gym.

"Dad called," James ran his hand through his hair, "The truck is totaled,"

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry," I frowned, tapping the toe of my shoe on the ground.

I still couldn't understand why anyone would do that.

I've never cheated on anyone, and I sure as fuck would never cheat on James, but the kidnapper part was too close to home for it to be a complete coincidence.

"We need to meet him at the dealership outside of town to get a new one," mom sighed, "Luckily, the insurance covered the damages,"

"It's not the end of the world, but damnit, I liked that truck," James grumbled.

"I did too," I hugged him, "We'll get another one like it,"

"I want you to pick out the new one," he kissed my cheek, "Anything you want,"

"Nope," I shook my head, backing up, "I'll get my own car eventually; this is yours,"

It was potentially my fault his truck was destroyed; there's no way I'm going to let him reward me.

"Ours," he poked my nose, "You pick this one, and I'll get something this summer,"

"We'll get something we both like. I didn't plan our wedding alone, and I'm not going to force you to drive something you don't want," I stated, crossing my arms.

"Damn, I married the right girl," he chuckled, pulling me back into his arms, "You're so agreeable, it's almost scary,"

"And don't you forget it," I laughed, fishing the keys out of his pocket and ducking out of his arms.

"I'll meet you guys there," mom smiled as we headed to our cars.

I hopped into the driver's seat and waited for James to get in.

"You know I've never cheated on you, right?" I asked, staring at the steering wheel.

"Hey," he turned in his seat towards me and pulled my face to him, "Of course I do, princess. Someone got the wrong truck, I'm sure of it,"

"You're not mad at me?"

"Never, my love. I have no reason to be," he pulled me to him, "You cheating on me never even crossed my mind,"

"Thank you for trusting me," I trembled.

"Thank you for being mine," he whispered.

"Forever," I whispered back, "I'll always be yours,"

He kissed me, and we met mom and dad at the dealership.

We walked between rows of brand-new vehicles, making a pros and cons list of each one until we came to a row of Jeep Gladiators.

We looked at each other with huge grins on our faces.

"What color?" I asked, running my hand over the hood of a burnt orange one, trying not to show how much I wanted it.

"I'm a fan of the black," James mused, "But that is a nice orange,"

"Yeah?" I smiled, "It's up to you,"

"The orange, for sure," he laughed, opening the passenger door for me and running to the driver's side.

The salesman gave us the rundown about the features, and we signed the paperwork inside.

James insisted on putting it in both of our names, and I felt like I was going to explode.

He had just bought me my first car.

"Would you like to drive home, Mrs. Talbert?" he asked, tossing me the keys.

James did so much for me, but he was always so casual about it like he didn't fully understand how amazingly perfect he was.

Do you want to move to Ohio with me to get away from your abusive mother? Great, let's go pack.

Do you want to get married a month into our relationship because I want to spend the rest of my very long life with you, and so your abusive mother can't get you back? Great, let's do it this weekend and be sure to get everything you want.

I loved him so much, but I still wasn't sure I deserved his extremely high bar of loyalty.

I pushed the start button and closed my eyes as it hummed to life.

"I'm hungry. Are you in the mood for Chinese?" he asked, snapping me back.

"Sure," I smiled, grabbing his hand and kissing it.

"I'm glad the queen agrees," he laughed, kissing my hand back.

"Oh! Speaking of homecoming," I exclaimed, "I ordered our costumes, and they should be here this weekend!"

I've always loved Halloween, but knowing I was spending it with James made me love it even more.

I was way more excited about the costumes with him than the dumb crown.

"Great!" James beamed, "I can't wait to see them!"

Mrs. Talbert has a visitor," the deputy announced Friday afternoon, and mom looked down the driveway.

"Who is that?" mom asked, motioning James to her side.

"Mrs. White," James sighed, "What the fuck does she want?"

"Do you want to talk to her, Sofia?" mom asked, and I shrugged.

"I guess,"

"I'll make some coffee," Mom nodded, "Go ahead and send her up,"

"Yes, ma'am," he disappeared from the doorway.

"Are you sure, baby?" James asked, grabbing my hand.

"Might as well see what she wants," I sighed.

Even if it was weird.

"Hello, Sofia," Mrs. White smiled, knocking on the doorframe.

"Hello," I nodded, "What are you doing here? You're not my therapist anymore,"

"I know," she half-smiled, "I just wanted to check on you,"

I waved her inside and kept my grip on James's hand as we led her to the kitchen.

"Coffee?" mom asked, filling a cup.

"Sure," Mrs. White nodded, sitting across from dad and staring at me, "How have you been, Sofia?"

"Fine," I answered flatly as James and I took our spots at the island.

"Why are you here, Mrs. White?" dad asked, narrowing his eyes at her, "My daughter made it clear she didn't want to see you anymore,"

"We ended things on a sour note, and I am sorry for being so unsupportive," she looked at the table, "I know I can help you if you give me another chance,"

"Do you make a habit of begging all the patients that drop you to come back?" James chuckled sourly.

"I refuse to continue seeing you, Mrs. White," I stated harshly, "You've never approved of my relationship with James, and the medicine you gave me made me hallucinate. I've got enough problems without my therapist adding to them,"

"You had an allergic reaction to the anxiety medication I put you on, but I can fix that, and as for not supporting your relationship, you rushed into something you aren't ready for," she explained, "It's my job to listen and advise. That's all I was doing,"

"You called me a potential murderer; how is that advice?" James snapped, "You were supposed to help me help her, but you continuously tried to get her to leave me!"

"It's time for you to go," dad pointed to the door, "She's not interested in seeing you anymore,"

"You can't hide behind these people like you hid behind your dad's hoodie, Sofia. You need to speak for yourself," Mrs. White snapped, her dark eyes piercing mine.

"How did you know about the hoodie?" I whispered, "I never told you about that,"

I didn't tell anyone it was Patrick's except Miranda, James, and Sasha.

"Yes, you did," she cocked an eyebrow, "You wore it for years because you felt safe in it,"

"Then what happened to it?" I stood up, glaring at her, "If I told you about it, then I would have told you what happened to it,"

"You never told me," her eyes flashed to the left, and I knew she was a fucking liar.

DAMN IT!

I really couldn't trust anyone.

"Get the fuck out of my house," I snarled, pointing to the door.

"Baby?" James grabbed my shoulder.

"She's working for Miranda," I snarled, "I don't know who you are, but I swear to God, If I find out that you're the reason everyone knows where we live, I won't hesitate to get your license revoked and put your ass in jail!"

"You're working for Miranda?!" James and dad grabbed her, pushing her to the door.

"I'm not!" she insisted, turning back around, "Please don't do this!"

Dad flagged the deputy down, and she bolted through the back door.

Mom pulled me to her as we watched Dad and James explain the situation to the deputy.

"I love a good plot twist," Seth laughed, sitting on the island, "But your therapist telling mom everything? That's just sad,"

I tried to control my breathing.

He's not real.

It's stress.

Don't talk to him.

My phone rang, and Miranda's name appeared across my screen.

"Right on cue, little sister," Seth crossed his legs.

"Right on cue," I trembled.

"Deputy!" mom called, and they all rushed in.

"Answer it," he instructed, pulling his phone out.

James reached for my phone, but mom shooed him away.

"Did your minion call you?" mom answered, putting it on speakerphone, "Leave Sofia alone!"

"What the fuck are you talking about? I called my daughter," Miranda hissed, "Let me speak to her, now,"

"We all have restraining orders against you, Miranda. You shouldn't be calling at all," mom hissed back.

"Cut the bullshit, bitch. You stole my daughter, and I want her back,"

"Don't you fucking talk to mom like that!" I barked, making everyone jump, "I wasn't your daughter before I left, I'm not your daughter now, and sending people to spy on me isn't going to change that!"

"Playtime's over, Sofia. It's time to come home,"

"My wife is home!" James squeezed my hand.

"Your what?! Tell me you're fucking joking!" Miranda screeched, "They have to get divorced!"

"Fuck you. You have no claim to Sofia anymore," Dad growled, holding his phone up to his ear.

"Didn't Mrs. White tell you?" I asked sarcastically.

"Who the hell is Mrs. White? You don't understand; you've screwed everything up!" Miranda cried, "They're coming for you, Sofia, and if you don't fix this mess, their blood will be on your hands!"

"Don't you dare threaten her," mom snarled, "If anyone else shows up here, the police will haul you back to jail so fucking fast-"

"You have to give her back to me; it's the only way to keep her safe!"

"You've never cared about her safety," James spat, "You locked Sofia in closets, beat her, left her outside, kept her on drugs, made her suffer through sickness, and let men rape her! You can go straight to hell, you worthless piece of shit, because there is no way she will ever go back to you!"

Hearing my list of traumas coming out of James's mouth almost hurt worse than the traumas themselves.

"Sofia," Miranda's voice was disturbingly calm, "I know I hurt you, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for blaming you for Patrick and Seth's death, I'm sorry for letting Sam control us, and I'm very sorry for everything I haven't told you,"

Did she just...apologize?

"Wow, she's desperate," Seth put his hand over his mouth.

"If you're so sorry, why did you send Sam after us and hire Mrs. White to feed you information?" I snarled, glaring at the phone.

"I didn't send Sam, but there was nothing I could do to stop him," she whispered, "And I don't know any Mrs. White, but if she's been feeding someone information, and if you refuse to come with me, then you need to hide,"

"Mrs. Benton, this is Deputy Gunderson with the Sydney Sherriff office; I'm informing you that you have broken your restraining order, and there is a warrant out for your arrest,"

The phone went black, and we all looked at each other.

"She apologized," I whispered, "What the fuck?"

"Don't tell me you buy that bullshit," Seth rolled his eyes.

"She's insane," James slammed his hands on the counter, "Don't think about her; that's exactly what she wants,"

"James is right, sweetie," mom put her hand over mine, "She's just trying to confuse and scare you,"

She's never apologized for anything.

Did she really forgive me for killing Seth?

"She might, but I sure as hell don't," Seth glared at me, "Just let me know when you're ready to come home," he jumped down and disappeared.

God, I was insane.

"She'll be back in jail soon," dad hugged me, "Don't let her get in that pretty head of yours; she doesn't deserve a second thought,"

I hugged him back and laughed.

He called me pretty.

I knew they were right, and there was no reason to trust Miranda, but the chill in my spine told me otherwise.

Did she really not know Mrs. White?

Who was she working for?

Sam?

Were Miranda and Sam not working together?

How much danger had I put us all in?

There was a pounding in my head, and I grabbed an ice pack.

"I'm going to go lay down," I sighed, slumping up the stairs.

"I'll be right there, love," James came up behind me, pulling my face to his and kissing me.

I nodded and heaved myself to our bed, putting the ice pack on my forehead.

Everything was unraveling.

Moving here was pointless.

All the mental stuff I had been working on was reversed.

I hadn't had any nightmares in over a week, but I saw Seth while I was awake, which was worse.

I've put the three nicest people on the planet in imminent danger, and I married James, putting him in the most danger.

"Give up yet?" Seth put his hand on my shoulder.

"This isn't a game!" I growled, "And you're not my brother!"

"Ouch," he chuckled, "Who am I then?"

"A figment of my imagination," I shrugged, "My subconscious desire to die, fuck, I don't know. Seth wouldn't push me to kill myself. He always told me to be strong and have courage,"

"Sometimes the courageous thing is leaving a doomed situation. If you don't, the Talberts are going to die,"

"I'm not going to cut anymore," I huffed, pressing my temples.

"I'm sure Texas daddy has a gun somewhere. Quick. Painless. More than you deserve," he growled, pressing his fingers to my forehead.

"I couldn't do that to James,"

"You'll be doing him a favor. Mr. health-conscious is going to live to be a hundred. Do you think it's fair to make him save and spend sixty-plus years with a freak like you?"

"Please stop," I covered my ears.

"You can't drown me out, moron," Seth rolled his eyes, "I'm in your head,"

"Baby?" James frowned from the doorway, "Who are you talking to?"

"No one," I sighed, lowering my hands, "I'm just tired,"

And fucking scaring myself.

"I've got you, princess," he whispered, wrapping me in his arms and laying me back, "I know it's scary, but I've got you,"

"For now," Seth shrugged, kissing my forehead, "I'll have you soon,"

The following week went by in a hazy, paranoid blur, but our costumes came in, and I insisted on decorating the house for Halloween.

I kept my Seth hallucinations to myself since James was already worried about me leaving his sight at all.

I didn't want him to know I was cracking around him.

"Okay, and the giant spider goes in the middle of the web," I smiled, placing the huge, fuzzy, stuffed spider on the cotton webbing.

"You really like Halloween, huh," James cringed at the fake arachnid.

"It's my second favorite holiday," I laughed, placing the Jack-o-lanterns on the porch, "I love how all the horror is fake. It's a nice break from reality,"

I deal with too much real horror on a daily basis.

"Come here," James brought me to his chest, "You've got me to chase away all the horror, real and imaginary,"

"I know," I smiled up at him, "And I love you for it, husband,"

"I love you too, wife," he smirked, kissing me, "So are we going to binge horror movies all night?"

"Fuck yes! We're going to stay up all night eating candy and watching Into the Dark movies as soon as we get back from homecoming," I laughed excitedly, "I've been dying to watch They Come Knocking!"

"So you're going to get high on sugar and have the shit scared out of you?" he shook his head incredulously.

"Yes! See, you get it, baby," I flipped away from him, finishing the decorations.

"Yeah, I suppose I can get on board with that idea," he chuckled, "Why are we decorating the porch? No one is allowed to trick or treat here,"

"For the experience, my darling husband," I sang, I'm not missing out on any holidays because of my stalkers,"

Saying the word out loud left a nasty taste in my mouth.

I had stalkers.

Plural - Stalkers.

And most of them wanted me dead.

My phone began to ring, and James watched me check the Caller ID.

"It's Vivian," I showed him the screen and answered it.

"Hey, Viv, what's up?"

"Can I come over?" she sniffled.

"Of course, James and I are just hanging decorations," I explained, knowing something was wrong.

"I'll be right there," she hung up.

"What's going on?" James asked, playing with a skeleton.

"Viv's coming over. She sounded upset," I frowned.

"Go make some tea; I'll let the deputy know to let her through," he nodded, jumping off the porch and running to the end of the driveway.

I love how every time we have company, the first response is to make tea, coffee, or snacks.

It's very compassionate of them.

I headed inside and put the kettle on the stove.

I hope I can be like that someday.

"Sofia!" Vivian cried, rushing into my arms as I grabbed the cups.

"Hey, Viv, what's wrong?" I asked, patting her back.

I was never on the giving end of condolence, and I was at a loss of what to do.

"I broke up with Garth," she sobbed.

"Did he take it okay?" I wrapped my arms around her.

"Yes! He said he's wanted to break up for a while and that he was glad it was over," her tears began rolling down my back, and I looked over at James.

"Fucking Garth," he huffed.

"Did he say anything to you?" Vivan looked at him, "I didn't really want us to break up, but he seemed so relieved,"

"He may have mentioned something at my bachelor party," James admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

I tried to motion for him to run far away, but he stood there, all cutely oblivious.

"Over two months ago?" she fumed, "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"It wasn't my place," he answered regretfully, "We told him it wasn't fair to you,"

"Did you know, Sofia?" she narrowed her eyes at me, and I shook my head.

"I had no idea, I swear. I just knew that you wanted to break up with him,"

"If you wanted to break up with him, and he wanted to break up with you, then shouldn't you be happy?" James asked, and I audibly groaned.

"I wanted him to be a better boyfriend!" she growled, "You do all these adorable things for Sofia; you kiss her before and after each game, call her your good luck charm, stare at her constantly, always talk about her, you're always touching her, you got her a matching hoodie, and you guys go on vacations all the damn time! I just wanted a little of that!"

"It's not fair to compare your relationship with ours," James warned.

"You don't know what we've been through to get to the cute, cuddly, happily married couple we are," I added.

"Or what we're still going through," James nodded.

"I'm sorry you're upset, but I promise you'll find someone better," I assured her, "Just give it time,"

"You're right," she sighed, wiping her eyes, "I'm sorry. I'm just mad,"

"And you have every right to be. Garth is a self-proclaimed dick," James rolled his eyes.

"We've only got six months of high school left; I bet you'll find someone in college," I smiled, hugging her shoulders, "You need someone mature,"

"So college guys are better than high school guys," James raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

Of course, he would spin that in front of Vivian.

"I don't know the statistics offhand, but I do know I have the best high school guy, and he's married to a college girl," I stuck my tongue out at him, and he laughed.

"Fair enough, wife," he shook his head and uncrossed his arms.

"God, I want what you have," Vivian whispered longingly.

"Every relationship is different. You'll have your version of happiness eventually, with someone who deserves you," I reassured her, "Now, we all need to get ready for homecoming,"

I sorta felt bad for her.

I wished people would stop envying us so much, I trusted James with my life, but I didn't trust anyone else.

"Okay," she sighed, "I'll see you guys tonight,"

I walked her to the door and threw my head back as I closed it, "Jaaames," I groaned.

"Yes, baby?" he looked down at me, chuckling and kissing me.

"I'm not cut out for friends; they're going to steal you,"

"HA!" he laughed, "I'm steal proof, my love,"

"I'm going to have to install an alarm on you," I turned around and put my arms around his neck, "You're too James Talbert for your own good,"

"Let them be jealous, baby; I'm your James Talbert. Now and forever," he rubbed his nose on mine.

"Forever," I kissed him, "Let's go get ready,"

We put on our costumes, and I giddily took all the selfies.

They were perfect.