"………….I still don't get it." Craig says. Sophia sighs.
"Okay, listen. The valence electrons are the electrons on the outermost orbital of an atom." Sophia explains.
Craig nods in in agreement.
"So you take the number of those, and draw the dot diagram like this."
Sophia scribbles down a dot diagram and slides her notebook across the table to Craig to show him. He examines it thoughtful and makes an expression as to say he finally gets it.
"Ohhhh! Okay, I think I got it."
They both went back to doing their homework. Sophia finished first, closing her book, and putting it back into her backpack. She looked at the clock on the wall.
"I should go, Craig."
He looked up at the clock.
"Uh, okay? Got a hot date?"
"Actually, yeah. It's JT's birthday and I was going to go over to his place and have cake and stuff."
"Ah ha. Well, have fun. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Sophia slung her backpack over her shoulder. She thought momentarily about telling Craig what had happened at her house last week. But she didn't. there was no point in her mind. It hadn't happened since, and she didn't think it was going to happen again.
"Yeah, see ya."
She slipped her shoes back on when she got to the door and went outside, immediately shivering. Racing to her car, she slipped a few times, all to avoid the cold. Before going to JT's apartment building, she stopped at her's, changed, grabbed a present and his cake. She carefully set them into the passenger seat before getting behind the wheel again. When she got to his door, she lightly tapped three times. JT opened the door in a flash.
"Happy sixteenth birthday James 'the sexy' Tiberius Yorke!" She said with a toothy smile. She almost thought she saw him blush at that comment. He stepped aside so she could come in, and she went straight to the kitchen and set down the cake and the shiny blue bag.
"So, is that a bag of goodies for me?" JT asked, jumping up and down like a child.
"It is. Sit down." Sophia directed him to a chair at the dinner table, and he turned it away from the table so he could face her while she was digging though the bag. She pulled out a long black handkerchief.
"What's the for?" He asked inquisitively.
"Oh, you'll see."
Sophia walked behind him and put the handkerchief over his eyes, using it as a blind fold.
"Should I be afraid?" He asked jokingly.
"very." She whispered in his ear.
Then there was silence for about five minutes. Then JT heard high heels on the tile floor, then soon felt a hand on his shoulder. It was soon taken off. Then there was weight in his lap, and he realized she was sitting on him. He put a hand on her leg and was surprised to find it bare.
"Are you…naked?"
"No!" She said, laughing.
"Go ahead and take off the blind fold."
When he did, JT choked on what he saw. Sophia was dressed like a stripper. A white corset, light blue mini skirt, and white pumps.
"Oh. My ….." JT was cut off when Sophia kissed him. They just sat in the chair making out, relishing in each other. Neither of them had felt so free in a long time. JT ran his hands all over Sophia but pulled away.
"What?" She asked.
"We have to stop, or else we won't be able to."
Sophia grinned.
"That's the other part of your present."
"Huh?" JT was confused.
Sophia pulled something out of her corset that made JT's heart stop.
"Happy birthday." She whispered.
JT suddenly stood, swung Sophia over his shoulder, and carried her off into his bedroom, birthday present in hand.
The next day was a nightmare for Sophia. She hadn't gone to school. She stayed in bed all day. And when she finally got up to go to the bathroom and saw her reflection in the mirror, she threw up for what seemed like forever. Sitting on the floor, head leaning against the toilet seat, she felt like she was dying. And that would be okay with her. She ran her arm across her mouth to clean it, forgetting about the gash. She winced in pain. Slowly, she began undressing herself, but every movement felt like a thousand knives driving into that one spot. Eventually, she accomplished removing her clothing. Standing, ever so slowly, she swung her leg over the bathtub and got into the shower. She pulled the see-through flowery curtain closed. Turning on the water, the beads that came from the shower head hurt her bruises and cuts. But she knew no other way to be clean. To rid herself of the dirt on the outside. And on the inside. Finishing her shower, she over so lightly glided the towel over her body to dry off. Being sure her mom wasn't home, she walked to her room with the towel wrapped around her and she went back to her room. She didn't come out until an hour later. She was dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans. She had thought about applying make-up, but it would just hurt. She slipped on her open-backed Etnies by the door, quickly dug into her purse and pulled out some money. Just in case. Then she walked out the door. As she exited her apartment building, she avoided eye contact with everyone around her, although she could feel them starring at her. Their eyes burned into her skin like hot pokers. Stepping outside, it was the perfect temperature for what she was wearing. The wind was clam, but it was there, blowing her hair a little every now and then. Sophia put her hands in her pockets and began to walk. She walked downtown. She walked past the school. She walked to parts of the city she didn't know. She walked for hours. Not paying attention at all, just looking at her feet. After about three and a half hours of walking, she looked up to cross a street, and felt like she knew the neighborhood. Because she did. Thinking quickly, she made a decision and walked quickly across the street. She practically ran until she reached where she was going. She stood in front of the house, just looking at it for a moment. She then walked up the pathway to the door. She knocked. It hurt her hand. No answer. Again, she knocked. No answer. She huffed in defeat. Then a thought hit her like a freight train. She knelt down to the flower pot to her left and lifted it. Sure enough, there was the key she had seen him use many times before to get inside. The house was empty when she entered it. She shut the door, slipped off her shoes. Going into the kitchen, she looked at the clock on the microwave. It read 3:00. 'School just got out.' She thought to herself. 'He'll be home soon.' Sophia set the key down on the counter and went back out into the living room. She stood still for a moment, feeling awkward. Then she came up with an idea. Going up the stairs hurt her more than she thought it would. Her eyes began to tear up with every step, but she made it to the top none-the-less. She pushed open the door to his room. Feeling a bit too warm, she took off her sweatshirt and through it onto his computer chair that sat at his desk. She slowly climbed onto his bead, crawling towards the pillow and collapsed in exhaustion when her head finally found it. She dropped her arm over the side of the bed and picked up a navy, fuzzy blanket off the floor. She draped it over her upper body, and closed her eyes.
Twenty minutes later, Craig entered his home. He was surprised to see the door unlocked, but thought nothing more than Joey forgetting to lock it. Jimmy was with him, they were going to work on an instrumental break in one of their new songs that they planned to record in New York in a couple of weeks.
"You can go out to the garage now or grab some food, Jimmy, I'm gonna run my bag up to my room."
"Yeah, alright." Jimmy was already on his way to the kitchen.
As Craig climbed the steps, he skipped every other one, using his long legs as an advantage. He turned the right stepping into his room and was about to swing his bag onto his bed when he saw the feet, then legs, then blanket covered torso, then patch of hair. He set down his bag slowly, wondering what the hell was going on. Slowly kneeling, he reached under his bed and pulled out his baseball bat. He side stepped around the bed, going towards the face of the person who was in his bed. He slowly raised the bat over his head as he gently pulled the blanket away from the mysterious bed sleeper's face. He dropped the bat and it made a loud crashing noise as it collided with his bed side table. Sophia flinched but didn't wake up.
"Oh my god…." He said to himself. He took a step back.
Jimmy came running up the stairs.
"Hey man what's taking so - what the hell?" Jimmy walked over to Craig to see who was in his bed. Just as Craig did, Jimmy starred in horror at the broken face of a well-known friend.
"Craig, dude, is that…no….man…."
"Yeah. It is, Jimmy. It's her."
"What happened to her? What is she doing here?"
"I'm asking myself the same questions."
They were talking quietly, but Sophia stirred. They both looked at each other, and for a moment, Jimmy saw panic flash across Craig's face. Then they looked back at her as she slowly opened her eyes. It was blurry, but she could make out two forms standing above her. And then it got clearer, and she knew who was standing in front of her. Adrenaline shot through her body, telling her to run. But she was far to exhausted and hurt. All she could do is slowly sit up and look at them, as she silently let tears fall, knowing what they saw , what they were thinking, and what they were going to ask. Craig crouched down so he could be level with Sophia, and Jimmy, not wanting to look insensitive, did the same.
"I don't even know where to start." Craig said.
"Why don't we all go downstairs." Jimmy suggested. Sophia nodded and followed them, carefully, down the stairs and to the kitchen table, cringing as she sat down. She looked at her hands, unable to look either of the boys in the eye.
"So, you want to tell us what happened or how you stumbled up on my bed?" Craig said, trying to sound playful, but having a serious demeanor at the same time.
"I…I….was walking down my stairs and-"
"Sophia." Jimmy said. She looked up at him.
"There aren't any stairs in your house. So, um, why don't you start with the beginning." He forced a smile, trying to encourage her to be honest. She took a deep breath.
"Yesterday, after Craig finished helping me with Chemisty, I went over to JT's for his birthday."
Just then, she heard Craig start to grind his teeth. There was a fierce passion in his eyes now. She knew what he was thinking, and he was right. She pleaded with her eyes for him to wait, so she could finish. She gulped.
"When I got there, we.." She wasn't sure how to continue. "I can't do this. I'm sorry." She looked down.
"Sophia, you need to finish. Please." Jimmy told her.
"No. I can't." She was crying.
"C'mon Sophia. What happened?" Jimmy was ready to beg.
"Jimmy, no. Please…."
Craig stood.
"Sophia tell us what the hell happened!" He was ready to scream. She looked at him, a scared, disgusted expression on her face. She too, stood, even though it killed her to do it so quickly.
"We went into his bedroom and had sex, okay? It got a little rough! Is that what you wanted to hear? That's all! There's nothing else!"
Sophia thought she saw a tinge of jealousy in Craig's expression. It soon passes. Jimmy saw what was coming next. He knew it would end badly.
"That's not all, Sophia! Look at you! You look like you got hit by a car! He hit you!"
"HE DIDN'T! HE LOVES ME!" Sophia was terrified. This is what she wanted.
"yeah, sure looks like it. We all hit the ones we love!"
"Craig stop it! Why are being like this? I'M FINE! I'M FINE! I'm fine! I'm fine! I'm fine! I'm fine…I'm fine…I'm fine…" her voice was growing faint and she was slowly sinking to the floor until she was on the ground, rocking back and fourth crying. Craig was immediately sorry for being so harsh. He knelt and lightly wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to hurt her. She cried and whispered into the nook of his neck.
"When we went into his room, I shut and locked the door. Then….." She stopped. She wasn't going there. "Afterwards, I must've said something that offended him, because he started yelling. He pushed me out of the bed, and when I stood he kicked me in the stomach and I stumbled backwards and tripped over a pile of clothes, hitting the side of my face on the table. He ran to my and picked me up, squeeze my shoulders. He pushed me against the wall, and kept pulling me and pushing me, and pulling me. Then he shoved me towards the door, and threw my clothes at me. When he opened the door, he literally threw me out! What did I do wrong? How could I have made him so mad?"
Craig didn't know how to answer her questions. How to comfort her. He was lost. And so was she.
"Okay, listen. The valence electrons are the electrons on the outermost orbital of an atom." Sophia explains.
Craig nods in in agreement.
"So you take the number of those, and draw the dot diagram like this."
Sophia scribbles down a dot diagram and slides her notebook across the table to Craig to show him. He examines it thoughtful and makes an expression as to say he finally gets it.
"Ohhhh! Okay, I think I got it."
They both went back to doing their homework. Sophia finished first, closing her book, and putting it back into her backpack. She looked at the clock on the wall.
"I should go, Craig."
He looked up at the clock.
"Uh, okay? Got a hot date?"
"Actually, yeah. It's JT's birthday and I was going to go over to his place and have cake and stuff."
"Ah ha. Well, have fun. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Sophia slung her backpack over her shoulder. She thought momentarily about telling Craig what had happened at her house last week. But she didn't. there was no point in her mind. It hadn't happened since, and she didn't think it was going to happen again.
"Yeah, see ya."
She slipped her shoes back on when she got to the door and went outside, immediately shivering. Racing to her car, she slipped a few times, all to avoid the cold. Before going to JT's apartment building, she stopped at her's, changed, grabbed a present and his cake. She carefully set them into the passenger seat before getting behind the wheel again. When she got to his door, she lightly tapped three times. JT opened the door in a flash.
"Happy sixteenth birthday James 'the sexy' Tiberius Yorke!" She said with a toothy smile. She almost thought she saw him blush at that comment. He stepped aside so she could come in, and she went straight to the kitchen and set down the cake and the shiny blue bag.
"So, is that a bag of goodies for me?" JT asked, jumping up and down like a child.
"It is. Sit down." Sophia directed him to a chair at the dinner table, and he turned it away from the table so he could face her while she was digging though the bag. She pulled out a long black handkerchief.
"What's the for?" He asked inquisitively.
"Oh, you'll see."
Sophia walked behind him and put the handkerchief over his eyes, using it as a blind fold.
"Should I be afraid?" He asked jokingly.
"very." She whispered in his ear.
Then there was silence for about five minutes. Then JT heard high heels on the tile floor, then soon felt a hand on his shoulder. It was soon taken off. Then there was weight in his lap, and he realized she was sitting on him. He put a hand on her leg and was surprised to find it bare.
"Are you…naked?"
"No!" She said, laughing.
"Go ahead and take off the blind fold."
When he did, JT choked on what he saw. Sophia was dressed like a stripper. A white corset, light blue mini skirt, and white pumps.
"Oh. My ….." JT was cut off when Sophia kissed him. They just sat in the chair making out, relishing in each other. Neither of them had felt so free in a long time. JT ran his hands all over Sophia but pulled away.
"What?" She asked.
"We have to stop, or else we won't be able to."
Sophia grinned.
"That's the other part of your present."
"Huh?" JT was confused.
Sophia pulled something out of her corset that made JT's heart stop.
"Happy birthday." She whispered.
JT suddenly stood, swung Sophia over his shoulder, and carried her off into his bedroom, birthday present in hand.
The next day was a nightmare for Sophia. She hadn't gone to school. She stayed in bed all day. And when she finally got up to go to the bathroom and saw her reflection in the mirror, she threw up for what seemed like forever. Sitting on the floor, head leaning against the toilet seat, she felt like she was dying. And that would be okay with her. She ran her arm across her mouth to clean it, forgetting about the gash. She winced in pain. Slowly, she began undressing herself, but every movement felt like a thousand knives driving into that one spot. Eventually, she accomplished removing her clothing. Standing, ever so slowly, she swung her leg over the bathtub and got into the shower. She pulled the see-through flowery curtain closed. Turning on the water, the beads that came from the shower head hurt her bruises and cuts. But she knew no other way to be clean. To rid herself of the dirt on the outside. And on the inside. Finishing her shower, she over so lightly glided the towel over her body to dry off. Being sure her mom wasn't home, she walked to her room with the towel wrapped around her and she went back to her room. She didn't come out until an hour later. She was dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans. She had thought about applying make-up, but it would just hurt. She slipped on her open-backed Etnies by the door, quickly dug into her purse and pulled out some money. Just in case. Then she walked out the door. As she exited her apartment building, she avoided eye contact with everyone around her, although she could feel them starring at her. Their eyes burned into her skin like hot pokers. Stepping outside, it was the perfect temperature for what she was wearing. The wind was clam, but it was there, blowing her hair a little every now and then. Sophia put her hands in her pockets and began to walk. She walked downtown. She walked past the school. She walked to parts of the city she didn't know. She walked for hours. Not paying attention at all, just looking at her feet. After about three and a half hours of walking, she looked up to cross a street, and felt like she knew the neighborhood. Because she did. Thinking quickly, she made a decision and walked quickly across the street. She practically ran until she reached where she was going. She stood in front of the house, just looking at it for a moment. She then walked up the pathway to the door. She knocked. It hurt her hand. No answer. Again, she knocked. No answer. She huffed in defeat. Then a thought hit her like a freight train. She knelt down to the flower pot to her left and lifted it. Sure enough, there was the key she had seen him use many times before to get inside. The house was empty when she entered it. She shut the door, slipped off her shoes. Going into the kitchen, she looked at the clock on the microwave. It read 3:00. 'School just got out.' She thought to herself. 'He'll be home soon.' Sophia set the key down on the counter and went back out into the living room. She stood still for a moment, feeling awkward. Then she came up with an idea. Going up the stairs hurt her more than she thought it would. Her eyes began to tear up with every step, but she made it to the top none-the-less. She pushed open the door to his room. Feeling a bit too warm, she took off her sweatshirt and through it onto his computer chair that sat at his desk. She slowly climbed onto his bead, crawling towards the pillow and collapsed in exhaustion when her head finally found it. She dropped her arm over the side of the bed and picked up a navy, fuzzy blanket off the floor. She draped it over her upper body, and closed her eyes.
Twenty minutes later, Craig entered his home. He was surprised to see the door unlocked, but thought nothing more than Joey forgetting to lock it. Jimmy was with him, they were going to work on an instrumental break in one of their new songs that they planned to record in New York in a couple of weeks.
"You can go out to the garage now or grab some food, Jimmy, I'm gonna run my bag up to my room."
"Yeah, alright." Jimmy was already on his way to the kitchen.
As Craig climbed the steps, he skipped every other one, using his long legs as an advantage. He turned the right stepping into his room and was about to swing his bag onto his bed when he saw the feet, then legs, then blanket covered torso, then patch of hair. He set down his bag slowly, wondering what the hell was going on. Slowly kneeling, he reached under his bed and pulled out his baseball bat. He side stepped around the bed, going towards the face of the person who was in his bed. He slowly raised the bat over his head as he gently pulled the blanket away from the mysterious bed sleeper's face. He dropped the bat and it made a loud crashing noise as it collided with his bed side table. Sophia flinched but didn't wake up.
"Oh my god…." He said to himself. He took a step back.
Jimmy came running up the stairs.
"Hey man what's taking so - what the hell?" Jimmy walked over to Craig to see who was in his bed. Just as Craig did, Jimmy starred in horror at the broken face of a well-known friend.
"Craig, dude, is that…no….man…."
"Yeah. It is, Jimmy. It's her."
"What happened to her? What is she doing here?"
"I'm asking myself the same questions."
They were talking quietly, but Sophia stirred. They both looked at each other, and for a moment, Jimmy saw panic flash across Craig's face. Then they looked back at her as she slowly opened her eyes. It was blurry, but she could make out two forms standing above her. And then it got clearer, and she knew who was standing in front of her. Adrenaline shot through her body, telling her to run. But she was far to exhausted and hurt. All she could do is slowly sit up and look at them, as she silently let tears fall, knowing what they saw , what they were thinking, and what they were going to ask. Craig crouched down so he could be level with Sophia, and Jimmy, not wanting to look insensitive, did the same.
"I don't even know where to start." Craig said.
"Why don't we all go downstairs." Jimmy suggested. Sophia nodded and followed them, carefully, down the stairs and to the kitchen table, cringing as she sat down. She looked at her hands, unable to look either of the boys in the eye.
"So, you want to tell us what happened or how you stumbled up on my bed?" Craig said, trying to sound playful, but having a serious demeanor at the same time.
"I…I….was walking down my stairs and-"
"Sophia." Jimmy said. She looked up at him.
"There aren't any stairs in your house. So, um, why don't you start with the beginning." He forced a smile, trying to encourage her to be honest. She took a deep breath.
"Yesterday, after Craig finished helping me with Chemisty, I went over to JT's for his birthday."
Just then, she heard Craig start to grind his teeth. There was a fierce passion in his eyes now. She knew what he was thinking, and he was right. She pleaded with her eyes for him to wait, so she could finish. She gulped.
"When I got there, we.." She wasn't sure how to continue. "I can't do this. I'm sorry." She looked down.
"Sophia, you need to finish. Please." Jimmy told her.
"No. I can't." She was crying.
"C'mon Sophia. What happened?" Jimmy was ready to beg.
"Jimmy, no. Please…."
Craig stood.
"Sophia tell us what the hell happened!" He was ready to scream. She looked at him, a scared, disgusted expression on her face. She too, stood, even though it killed her to do it so quickly.
"We went into his bedroom and had sex, okay? It got a little rough! Is that what you wanted to hear? That's all! There's nothing else!"
Sophia thought she saw a tinge of jealousy in Craig's expression. It soon passes. Jimmy saw what was coming next. He knew it would end badly.
"That's not all, Sophia! Look at you! You look like you got hit by a car! He hit you!"
"HE DIDN'T! HE LOVES ME!" Sophia was terrified. This is what she wanted.
"yeah, sure looks like it. We all hit the ones we love!"
"Craig stop it! Why are being like this? I'M FINE! I'M FINE! I'm fine! I'm fine! I'm fine! I'm fine…I'm fine…I'm fine…" her voice was growing faint and she was slowly sinking to the floor until she was on the ground, rocking back and fourth crying. Craig was immediately sorry for being so harsh. He knelt and lightly wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to hurt her. She cried and whispered into the nook of his neck.
"When we went into his room, I shut and locked the door. Then….." She stopped. She wasn't going there. "Afterwards, I must've said something that offended him, because he started yelling. He pushed me out of the bed, and when I stood he kicked me in the stomach and I stumbled backwards and tripped over a pile of clothes, hitting the side of my face on the table. He ran to my and picked me up, squeeze my shoulders. He pushed me against the wall, and kept pulling me and pushing me, and pulling me. Then he shoved me towards the door, and threw my clothes at me. When he opened the door, he literally threw me out! What did I do wrong? How could I have made him so mad?"
Craig didn't know how to answer her questions. How to comfort her. He was lost. And so was she.