Juliette fan - this a sequel to "Innocence Lost." All the backstory you'll need is there. ;)
Last and final chapter of "Sophie's Tragedy." Enjoy!
Once back at the hotel Sophie sent the girls downstairs while she tried yet again to reach Peter. There were no messages on the hotel phone for her either. Her eyes started to fill with tears as she let her mind run away and imagined Peter hadn't called her back because he just didn't care. The feeling she had on the church steps returned but she pushed it away. She couldn't stand being alone any longer, and she went to go find the girls, who were sitting at a table, people watching.
"Did you get a hold of him?" Juliette asked. The look on Sophie's face was all the answer they needed.
After a minute or two of silence, the girls picked up their conversation again, which Sophie listened to idly. It was getting close to dinner, but Sophie has lost her appetite so she gave the girls a couple of dollars to get something from the deli/guest shop. They took it back up to the room while Sophie spent some time to herself, most of it in the weight room, which surprisingly had a punching bag.
"Okay, it's unlike Peter to not call her back at all, no matter how busy he is. I wonder what the deal is?" Shelby wondered.
"I think we should call the school and see if Peter has called there. 'Cause he doesn't know her sister died, does he? If we leave a message at the school, then someone there can let Peter know and he can call here," Juliette said.
"Good idea," Jet agreed.
"No, better idea. We can call Horizon and talk to Frank. I'm sure he's talked to Peter and told him the situation. I don't think Sophie has called the school since we've been here. Maybe she has the wrong number or hotel or something, and Frank can get us the right number," Shelby said. The others agreed. So they called Horizon.
Frank almost had a heart attack when he heard Shelby's voice. He thought something happened to Sophie for one of them to call. Leaving out the details, she managed to get the information about Peter.
"Wrong hotel, right hotel room." Shelby left the new and correct information by the phone. Sophie saw it immediately when she walked in.
"Did Peter call?"
"No, you had the wrong information. We called the school and got it from Frank."
"Thanks girls. That means a lot to me."
They went into their room and watched a movie on TV so they wouldn't be tempted to eavesdrop. They were halfway through a second movie when they noticed they couldn't hear Sophie talking anymore. They couldn't help being nosy so they knocked on the door that separated the two rooms.
"Come in."
Sophie was on the fold out bed, sitting in the corner, her knees against her chest, and staring off into space. They really didn't have a reason for going in and kind of hung back by the door. Sophie waved them over to sit down when Juliette thought of something to say: "We just wanted to see if you needed anything before we went to bed."
"Thank you for getting the right information. It meant the world that I got to talk to him. He said he had been going crazy because he didn't know how to get a hold of me. So thank you."
"No prob. We could see how badly you needed to talk to him," Shelby said. They were quiet for a few moments.
"Girls, I need to be completely honest with you. You are forever confiding in me even when you don't want to, so now it's my turn. I know you are probably dying to know what my mom was talking about so I'll tell you. I don't really want to, but I know you'll badger me about it at some point so I'm just going to get it off my chest now while I'm at my lowest."
"No, Sophie, don't tell us. I mean, yes, of course we're curious and nosy and want to know, but we really don't expect you to tell us. That's your private information. There's plenty of stuff we don't tell you, and -" Jet began.
"No, Jet, I have to tell you. I have to tell someone. Face to face. I can't keep it inside me any longer. I've been suppressing it for so many years that I can't do it anymore."
"Sophie, are you sure you can't wait another week for Peter?"
"I'm afraid of what I'll do if I wait."
"…Okay."
Sophie took a deep breath. "Okay. More or less, I'm a conglomeration of everyone at school. My uncle, my mom's oldest brother, raped me when I was eleven. She knew and didn't stop him. Whenever my father was out of town my mom would bring home men and force me to have sex with them. It got worse after my father died. She would bring them home and then she would leave, and if I tried to get away they'd beat me. I was hospitalized twice, but my mom had made up some story to cover herself and I was too afraid of what she'd do to me if I contradicted her, so I kept quiet. She beat me often. That was the only amount of attention she paid me. I got straight A's, nothing. I failed everything, nothing. I started cutting but that didn't give me the release I needed. So I got into drugs and alcohol. I fell into a pool at a party once and almost drowned. I was put in rehab after that and when I got out I fell back into my old habits. A part of me did this to get my mom's attention but a larger part did it to escape from reality. By then I knew when my mom would bring home these guys, so I'd get high or drunk so I wouldn't know what was going on. My mom had some sense and always made the men use protection – for their sake, not mine, of course – but once this guy somehow got around it and I ended up pregnant. My mom forced me to go to Planned Parenthood and get an abortion. That's why I can't have children. I was almost eighteen. The day I turned eighteen I was out. I wrote a letter to Jori while she was at school and I left. I traveled. I went as far away as I could, to places where I wouldn't be reminded of home. When I was twenty two I got back into drugs again and was hospitalized for an overdose. I checked myself into rehab and have been clean ever since. I had kept in contact with Jori ever since I left and visited whenever she promised me my mom wouldn't be around. She was never subjected to the hell I went through because mom loved her. I guess Jori told my mother my whereabouts each time I contacted her and that's why my mom knew to call Horizon. And then I found out today – well, you did too – about why my mom hates me so much." Sophie had remained remarkably calm while relating the story.
"Sophie, you are the strongest person I know," Shelby said.
"I wouldn't have made it through today without you guys." She glanced at the clock. "I guess you guys should get to bed, we're leaving early in the morning."
The each gave Sophie a hug before retreating into their room.
For the third night in a row, Sophie cried herself to sleep.
The next day was uneventful. There was an awkward silence in the car most of the time. Sophie was glad for it though, it gave her time to think about the past couple of days and what it would mean for her future. After the girls left the room the night before, she had seriously contemplated not going back to Horizon. But then she thought of how much her past could help get through to students, to connect with them. She knew she was helping the kids so much by being there and it wouldn't be fair to them if she left. It wouldn't be fair to Peter, or to herself for that matter, either. Peter. Her rock. She looked at the sleeping girls in the car and knew everything would be okay. She wasn't really alone after all.
That's it, hope you enjoyed the story. Please review!