Sophia's sleep was disturbed by screaming. No, not screaming. Shrieking. Wait, not that either. Honking? No, she sleepily decided. Beeping. Something was beeping like mad. And someone was saying her name. Loudly. Cautiously, she popped one eye open to find Emma's nose right in her face. She slowly sat up and brushed the hair out of her face.
"Sophia! I've been trying you wake you up for the past five minutes!"
"Sorry, Em. What's that beeping?"
"What's that beeping, you say?! IT'S LIFE! TELLING US THAT IT'S TWELVE."
Sophia lifted an eyebrow as Emma pushed herself to her feet and stalked over to the entertainment stand. She picked up the clock, the source of the beeping, and shook it.
"IT WON'T STOP!"
Emma began to shake it so hard that she dropped it and it smashed to itty bitty pieces on the ground. The beeping stopped. But Emma was still freaking.
"Emma, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong?!?! We've missed half of school! A REALLY IMPORTANT HALF!"
Sophia put a puzzled look on her face.
"I don't understand. It's just school."
Emma slapped her hands to her scalp.
"Just school?!?!"
"Yeah. I don't see the big deal.
"OBVIOUSLY. Tomorrow is our big AP U.S. History exam Sophia!!!!!!!!! TODAY WAS REVIEW DAY!!!!!"
"you know Em, if you hadn't signed up for a grade eleven history class, you wouldn't be freaking."
"Sophia! Why do you have to be such a smart ass?!?!"
Sophia sighed and laid down on the ground. Her head was pounding. Placing a damp, cold hand on her heated forehead, she came up with a solution.
"Emma. We can review without the class. We'll get a bunch of people together and have a huge study session."
Sophia noticed the lack in feet shuffling. Emma had stopped pacing.
"Really?"
"Really. We can even have it here."
Emma broke into a dim smile.
"You're awesome, Sophia."
"I know, I know."
Problem solved and satisfied, Sophia closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
"Uh-huh, so come over at five and bring Jimmy." Sophia had the phone pressed between her shoulder and her ear. She was eating Twizzlers, spinning in a chair, blaring Nirvana on her stereo, and talking to Hazel. She looked over at Emma who was sitting on the computer telling everyone in their History class about the study session.
"What's that?" She threw an arm over the said of the chair and turned the knob on the stereo so the music wasn't so intense.
"Paige? Michalchuk? Why?"
Emma turned around, interested in Sophia's phone conversation.
"Can't she like, force someone to study for her or something?"
Pause.
"But she hates me."
Pause.
"What do you mean she WANTS to come?"
Pause.
"Oh. Good point. That's fair, I suppose. I go to her party, she comes to my study session. Whatever. Keep her off my back."
Pause.
"Okay, see you soon."
Sophia hung up the phone only to turn it back on and dial another number. She sighed. She had dialed many numbers in the last hour, and she wanted this to be her last.
"Hey, is Craig there?"
She clicked a button on the phone stand and put Craig on speaker. Her ear hurt too much to have any more phone conversations that way.
"Speaking."
"Hey Craig. Emma and Sophia here."
"Ah, the dynamic and now ditching duo. What are you fine ladies up to?"
"Setting up a study session, believe it or not. My house, five. Can you come?"
"Study? You? Other people?"
"Craig. Come on, I don't have all day. Yes or no."
"Yeah, sure. It can only help me, right?"
"Right. See you soon. Ciao."
She turned off the phone before Craig even said goodbye.
Sophia and Emma were in the dinning room, getting ready for everyone to come over. Sophia had made sure they had a good amount of pencils, paper, and note cards. She also had put out her and Emma's history books. There was a white isle at the head of the dinning room table with markers for writing on. Ten chairs were put out. Emma made snacks that supposedly help you think better. They wanted to be prepared for this test, and so did everyone else. They certainly weren't going ro take the blame if someone didn't get an acceptable grade. First to show were, to Sophia's surprise, Paige and Spinner. Sophia had a smile on as she pulled the door open and greeting them.
"Hey guys."
"Hey." they each said, stepping inside. Sophia closed the door softly and turned to them.
"Follow me." She gestured with her hand for them to follow. As they walked out of the entry room and down a hallway. They looked into some rooms they passed, obviously impressed. It didn't take long until they came upon a large opening.
"This is the dinning room and the kitchen. For tonight, aka, the study room. Did you guys bring your books and such?"
"Hun, does Gucci have material to work with?" Paige answered. Sophia gave her a look of confusion.
"She means yes. Food?" Spinner said as he looked into the kitchen.
"Of course!" Emma said, bursting from the kitchen with even more food. Bowls, cups, and plates with food and drinks in them were all along the bar counter connected to the kitchen. Spinner thought he was in heaven.
DING DONG DONG DING DING DING DONG
"I'll be right back!" Sophia said, disappearing. She raced down the hard wood hallway and slid to a hault when she reached the door, not even bothering to look through the eye hole.
"Jimmy, Hazel, Marco, glad you could make it!!"
"We SO need this study group." Hazel said. Looking past Sophia, she smiled and waved. 'Paige'. Sophia figured. Marco held up a bulky white brag.
"I brought food and refreshments."
"Thanks Marco, so thoughtful. But actually, we already have enough food."
"With Spin here, you never have enough food." Marco said, poking fun at his friend.
Just as everyone was settling in and getting comfortable, the doorbell rang. Sophia sighed and stood, exiting the room without a word. She didn't even bother to hurry to the door this time. She slowly took her time, and when she reached the door she pulled it open, already knowing who it was.
"Hey, sorry if I'm late." Craig said apologetically.
"Don't worry. You aren't. we haven't started anything yet."
Ad Craig followed her down the hall, he hoisted his backpack a little high because it was slipping. He set it down against a wall when he entered the dinning room and gave a wave to everyone. Everyone was seated and there were two open seats. One next to Marco, one at the head of the table. Craig sat next to Marco, and Sophia sat at the head. Emma was seated at the other head. She stood.
"Alright, let's get down to business. We have about five hours to cover all of American history, so you can imagine how-"
"Wait." Hazel said. "I have a question. Isn't your mom ever home?" She said, looking down the table at Sophia.
"yeah, but she works a lot and gets home late. Besides, she won't mind. Go ahead Emma."
"Thanks Sophia. As I was saying……."
For the next five hours, the group of teens covered fifteen chapters of their books, from 1670 to 1920. They were completely mentally exhausted. Spinner looked as if he would explode, Paige's eyes were about to roll back, and Jimmy felt as if his brain was going to fall out. But they knew what they were doing. And they were all confident they would pass. Well…almost all of them. Everyone left one by one, thanking Sophia and Emma with their whole hearts, until just Craig and Sophia were left, sitting at the table, quietly reading. Sophia looked up at Craig, who was really into the Civil War.
"Craig?" She softly, not wanting to disrupt his train of thought. He looked up with tired eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Don't think I'm kicking you out or anything, but isn't Joey going to worry about you?"
"Oh, sorry. I just want to finish this chapter, and then I will call him. I told him I would before eleven."
"Oh, ok." She smiled and looked back down at her book.
Lifting her head, Sophia felt something stuck to it. She pulled it off and heard something rip. She had yet to open her eyes. She didn't want to, either. She figured she had dozed off for a little bit, and it was still really early. Nothing to worry about. Then he heard a grunt. At first, she thought it was herself. Practically peeling her eyes open, she looked around. Either she had gone blind, or it was pitch black. She stood to turn a light on, and found out that she had been laying on the floor. Something fell off of her when she stood. 'A blanket?' She thought. 'When did I get a blanket? When did I go on the floor?' taking a step towards the light switch she tripped over something lumpy and fell into the push up position. There was a loud agonized grunt and it scared the life out of Sophia. She jumped up and hit the switch, preparing herself for the worst. What she saw wasn't nearly as scary as what she thought she would see. It was Craig, now covering his eyes, under a green furry blanket and with his book laying on his chest. He said something, but it wasn't clear. His left eye crept open and went in a circle. Then it found Sophia's foot. And it traveled up her leg to her face.
"Sophia?"
"Sophia! I've been trying you wake you up for the past five minutes!"
"Sorry, Em. What's that beeping?"
"What's that beeping, you say?! IT'S LIFE! TELLING US THAT IT'S TWELVE."
Sophia lifted an eyebrow as Emma pushed herself to her feet and stalked over to the entertainment stand. She picked up the clock, the source of the beeping, and shook it.
"IT WON'T STOP!"
Emma began to shake it so hard that she dropped it and it smashed to itty bitty pieces on the ground. The beeping stopped. But Emma was still freaking.
"Emma, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong?!?! We've missed half of school! A REALLY IMPORTANT HALF!"
Sophia put a puzzled look on her face.
"I don't understand. It's just school."
Emma slapped her hands to her scalp.
"Just school?!?!"
"Yeah. I don't see the big deal.
"OBVIOUSLY. Tomorrow is our big AP U.S. History exam Sophia!!!!!!!!! TODAY WAS REVIEW DAY!!!!!"
"you know Em, if you hadn't signed up for a grade eleven history class, you wouldn't be freaking."
"Sophia! Why do you have to be such a smart ass?!?!"
Sophia sighed and laid down on the ground. Her head was pounding. Placing a damp, cold hand on her heated forehead, she came up with a solution.
"Emma. We can review without the class. We'll get a bunch of people together and have a huge study session."
Sophia noticed the lack in feet shuffling. Emma had stopped pacing.
"Really?"
"Really. We can even have it here."
Emma broke into a dim smile.
"You're awesome, Sophia."
"I know, I know."
Problem solved and satisfied, Sophia closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
"Uh-huh, so come over at five and bring Jimmy." Sophia had the phone pressed between her shoulder and her ear. She was eating Twizzlers, spinning in a chair, blaring Nirvana on her stereo, and talking to Hazel. She looked over at Emma who was sitting on the computer telling everyone in their History class about the study session.
"What's that?" She threw an arm over the said of the chair and turned the knob on the stereo so the music wasn't so intense.
"Paige? Michalchuk? Why?"
Emma turned around, interested in Sophia's phone conversation.
"Can't she like, force someone to study for her or something?"
Pause.
"But she hates me."
Pause.
"What do you mean she WANTS to come?"
Pause.
"Oh. Good point. That's fair, I suppose. I go to her party, she comes to my study session. Whatever. Keep her off my back."
Pause.
"Okay, see you soon."
Sophia hung up the phone only to turn it back on and dial another number. She sighed. She had dialed many numbers in the last hour, and she wanted this to be her last.
"Hey, is Craig there?"
She clicked a button on the phone stand and put Craig on speaker. Her ear hurt too much to have any more phone conversations that way.
"Speaking."
"Hey Craig. Emma and Sophia here."
"Ah, the dynamic and now ditching duo. What are you fine ladies up to?"
"Setting up a study session, believe it or not. My house, five. Can you come?"
"Study? You? Other people?"
"Craig. Come on, I don't have all day. Yes or no."
"Yeah, sure. It can only help me, right?"
"Right. See you soon. Ciao."
She turned off the phone before Craig even said goodbye.
Sophia and Emma were in the dinning room, getting ready for everyone to come over. Sophia had made sure they had a good amount of pencils, paper, and note cards. She also had put out her and Emma's history books. There was a white isle at the head of the dinning room table with markers for writing on. Ten chairs were put out. Emma made snacks that supposedly help you think better. They wanted to be prepared for this test, and so did everyone else. They certainly weren't going ro take the blame if someone didn't get an acceptable grade. First to show were, to Sophia's surprise, Paige and Spinner. Sophia had a smile on as she pulled the door open and greeting them.
"Hey guys."
"Hey." they each said, stepping inside. Sophia closed the door softly and turned to them.
"Follow me." She gestured with her hand for them to follow. As they walked out of the entry room and down a hallway. They looked into some rooms they passed, obviously impressed. It didn't take long until they came upon a large opening.
"This is the dinning room and the kitchen. For tonight, aka, the study room. Did you guys bring your books and such?"
"Hun, does Gucci have material to work with?" Paige answered. Sophia gave her a look of confusion.
"She means yes. Food?" Spinner said as he looked into the kitchen.
"Of course!" Emma said, bursting from the kitchen with even more food. Bowls, cups, and plates with food and drinks in them were all along the bar counter connected to the kitchen. Spinner thought he was in heaven.
DING DONG DONG DING DING DING DONG
"I'll be right back!" Sophia said, disappearing. She raced down the hard wood hallway and slid to a hault when she reached the door, not even bothering to look through the eye hole.
"Jimmy, Hazel, Marco, glad you could make it!!"
"We SO need this study group." Hazel said. Looking past Sophia, she smiled and waved. 'Paige'. Sophia figured. Marco held up a bulky white brag.
"I brought food and refreshments."
"Thanks Marco, so thoughtful. But actually, we already have enough food."
"With Spin here, you never have enough food." Marco said, poking fun at his friend.
Just as everyone was settling in and getting comfortable, the doorbell rang. Sophia sighed and stood, exiting the room without a word. She didn't even bother to hurry to the door this time. She slowly took her time, and when she reached the door she pulled it open, already knowing who it was.
"Hey, sorry if I'm late." Craig said apologetically.
"Don't worry. You aren't. we haven't started anything yet."
Ad Craig followed her down the hall, he hoisted his backpack a little high because it was slipping. He set it down against a wall when he entered the dinning room and gave a wave to everyone. Everyone was seated and there were two open seats. One next to Marco, one at the head of the table. Craig sat next to Marco, and Sophia sat at the head. Emma was seated at the other head. She stood.
"Alright, let's get down to business. We have about five hours to cover all of American history, so you can imagine how-"
"Wait." Hazel said. "I have a question. Isn't your mom ever home?" She said, looking down the table at Sophia.
"yeah, but she works a lot and gets home late. Besides, she won't mind. Go ahead Emma."
"Thanks Sophia. As I was saying……."
For the next five hours, the group of teens covered fifteen chapters of their books, from 1670 to 1920. They were completely mentally exhausted. Spinner looked as if he would explode, Paige's eyes were about to roll back, and Jimmy felt as if his brain was going to fall out. But they knew what they were doing. And they were all confident they would pass. Well…almost all of them. Everyone left one by one, thanking Sophia and Emma with their whole hearts, until just Craig and Sophia were left, sitting at the table, quietly reading. Sophia looked up at Craig, who was really into the Civil War.
"Craig?" She softly, not wanting to disrupt his train of thought. He looked up with tired eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Don't think I'm kicking you out or anything, but isn't Joey going to worry about you?"
"Oh, sorry. I just want to finish this chapter, and then I will call him. I told him I would before eleven."
"Oh, ok." She smiled and looked back down at her book.
Lifting her head, Sophia felt something stuck to it. She pulled it off and heard something rip. She had yet to open her eyes. She didn't want to, either. She figured she had dozed off for a little bit, and it was still really early. Nothing to worry about. Then he heard a grunt. At first, she thought it was herself. Practically peeling her eyes open, she looked around. Either she had gone blind, or it was pitch black. She stood to turn a light on, and found out that she had been laying on the floor. Something fell off of her when she stood. 'A blanket?' She thought. 'When did I get a blanket? When did I go on the floor?' taking a step towards the light switch she tripped over something lumpy and fell into the push up position. There was a loud agonized grunt and it scared the life out of Sophia. She jumped up and hit the switch, preparing herself for the worst. What she saw wasn't nearly as scary as what she thought she would see. It was Craig, now covering his eyes, under a green furry blanket and with his book laying on his chest. He said something, but it wasn't clear. His left eye crept open and went in a circle. Then it found Sophia's foot. And it traveled up her leg to her face.
"Sophia?"