TORMENT

Luke couldn't stop himself from fidgeting. He looked forward to Sundays all week. He always had. Although the reason he loved them now had changed dramatically from when he was little.

Neither of Luke's parents had been surprised when he stopped smiling and blushing when Sofia came to sit with them. Or when he crossed his arms in defiance and demanded to know… "Why does she always have to sit with us, she stinks"! After all, parenting guides (whether they were written for those with human or wolven blood) say it's normal for all little boys to say they hate little girls. Of course they also say it's normal for little girls to say the same but they still found Sofia response of… "Because your dad makes me, you butt head" surprising

However, Luke wasn't surprised. There was a reason he loved to hate Sofia Donner. She acted like a baby. All girls did but she was especially annoying. He even disliked her more then Presley and Brianna and they always tried to kiss him. Sofia had never tried to kiss him, not once. Yet, she was the person he disliked most in the world. And he spent a great deal of time showing her.

He would have liked to torment her at school but couldn't. Even if it hadn't been summertime, she was younger then him and in a different class. They didn't even have recess together. Occasionally they would pass each other in the halls and he would push or pinch her. But it was never as satisfying as when he could watch her get angry and pout. That's why he loved Sundays. He would seek her out and tease her before the service started and she would spend the whole hour glaring at him. He reveled in the attention, could hardly wait to get to church.

But instead of watching Sofia pout through the church service, he did. She wasn't there and it was shocking. He had been on this earth nine long years and he didn't know of anyone who stayed home from church, ever, it wasn't allowed. His dad always said there were only two excuses he would except for someone skipping church. They better be having pups or dead. And Sofia couldn't be having pups. She still lived with her dad and no one could have pups till they lived with their mate, his dad didn't allow it. Which could only mean one thing. Oh God…she had to be dead, like Amanda!

Luke couldn't believe it. He told himself over and over that it wasn't true. And more importantly that he wasn't sad. After all, it's not like he cared. It's not like thinking she may be dead made him want to cry or anything. He never cried, not since Amanda and only his dad knew about that. She was just a stupid girl, he didn't even like her. But she had been his friend before he knew he wasn't supposed to be friends with girls. He needed to ask someone if only to be polite. How would he feel if he died and no one asked about him? It wouldn't hurt to ask his dad, he always kept his secrets. He was probably wrong anyways. Maybe her grandmother died or her dad. He decided to wait until they got home and ask his dad in private if she was okay. But he couldn't wait. As soon as his parents put him in the car he asked in a very quite voice… "Dad, Why wasn't Sofia at church."

Luke held his breath waiting for the bad news but it never came. The answer his father gave left him fuming. Apparently there were three reasons someone could skip church; pups, death and summer camp.

Summer camp was a concept Luke could not understand. He had never heard of any thing as ridiculous as leaving home to stay with strangers. In fact he had never heard of anyone leaving home for any reason. When he asked his father why Sofia was being sent away the answer he received was crazy. She was going away to make new friends and play in the woods. It was extremely confusing.

Sofia's father didn't let her have friends. He never let her roam and play in the woods with her people. Why would he send her away from home to play in other people's woods? Well, he had never liked the man and this was another reason to think Matthew Donner was nuts. And now thanks to him Luke was in for the longest three months of his life.

THREE MONTHS LATER

Luke could barely contain his excitement. Summer was finally over and Sophia was coming home. God, he had missed annoying Miss Priss. Secretly, he wanted to run around and play outside with her but that would never happen. She was a girl after all, so he'd settle for pulling her hair as soon as he saw her. Just a few hours till recess and then the teasing could begin.

His mussing were interrupted by Mr. Blackstone coming in the room in order to talk to their teacher. When she came back into the room a few minutes later, she announced "We actually have a new student this year. She may not be new to town or school but is to our class, you all know Sophia Donner. She has skipped the second grade and will be joining us in the third". She welcomed Sophia with a big smile and much to Luke's pleasure said "Ms. Donner would you please take your assigned seat behind Mr. Cates".

Luke couldn't help following her with his eyes as she walked to her seat. Sophia made a show of ignoring him and turned up her nose as she pasted. He waited until she sat to turn and smile at her as he said "Ms. Donner, I'm going to have so much fun with you this year". This was turning out to be the best day of his life.

Authors Note: Sorry, it's been forever since I updated. I'm not sure if any one is still interested in the story but I thought I'd post it anyway. I stopped updating because of how unhappy I was with this chapter. I still don't like it, think it's kind of silly but couldn't move past it for some reason. Hopefully, my muse and I will agree on the next one and it won't take so long. I'm sure there are a lot of mistakes. Sorry and please ignore spelling and grammar. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to ask or not but I'm open to any ideas for Sophia and Luke interactions. If you have any and give me permission to borrow your idea it might make it easier to write the next chapter. Thank You So Much, Ziha Rain, formally just Ziha