Hi again!

Look who`s publishing the new chapter one day early! Surprise:D

Omg, it`s so exciting to check my inbox these days..! An ear-to-ear smile is planted in my face each time I receive a new email with a notification about a review, new follower or fav, it makes me so happy! Thanks! I`m really glad you like my story!

I`m also glad you guys liked Sophie. She`s in this chapter too, and she will also appear in the next one. I love how she interacts with Sulley – he`s so afraid of hurting her feelings, and tries his best to watch his words – while she`s always controlled and calm, and apparently unaffected of every mistake he makes.

I`m really excited on the response from you guys on today`s Chapter, since it reveals Randall`s past. I had so much fun figuring out what that was going to be like, and of course I landed on something tragic! I just had to! I hope you will find it plausible and exciting..!

Okay, I think that`s all I have to say for now… Now it`s your turn once again – read, enjoy, and meet me at the bottom:)

Here`s the fourth chapter, I hope you will like it:

Chapter 4: The Runner-Up

Randall hadn`t had his most productive day ever. He had slept heavily through the entire first night back in his own bed, and hadn`t woken up until noon. At first he had been disoriented – he thought he was still in the shed, and that he had overslept and missed an opportunity to stare at closet doors for hours. But as the truth had reached him – that he was safe and sound back in his own home – he had been able to relax and close his eyes again.

Then he had used the next thirty minutes to wake up properly, before he had finally dragged himself into the living room and onto his sofa; still wrapped up in his bed covers, but with his glasses on – no headache in sight today. He had made himself a cup of tea that was finished on the sofa, under his covers, in front of the TV. At around one thirty, he had gone back to sleep.

The clock turned three. Randall was fast asleep on the sofa, cuddled up in the covers from his bed; his black-framed glasses were half on, and he still held the remote control in his hand. The TV was on, and at the moment, it was airing a talk-show featuring to middle-aged monsters arguing about their children`s welfare.

Just as the host of the talk-show welcomed the children in question`s grandmother up on the stage, there was a sound coming from the hall outside Randall`s apartment; Randall rolled over, but he didn`t wake up.

Then there was another sound, the sound of a door being unlocked and opened. Randall was still sleeping, face down in the sofa-cushion, body tightly wrapped up in the covers; as if he was on the inside of a cocoon. Then, there was the sound of a door being shut – and that woke Randall up.

Despite him being tired, confused and even more disoriented than he had been a couple of hours ago, he quickly managed to turn off the TV, camouflage and remove his glasses. He realized that he didn`t have the time to put the bed covers back in the bedroom, so he climbed onto the wall and up in a corner in the ceiling instead. He had no idea of who it was that had just entered his home, but he was NOT going to be spotted! He held his breath as he waited for the intruders to enter the living room, trying to figure out what to do when they did.

When Randall saw who the two monsters coming through the door were, he almost forgot that he had to keep himself hidden; he had to hold back both a gasp and a couple of swear words, and his chin dropped down to his chest: What the hell were Sullivan and Sophie doing in his apartment? And why the hell were they here together?

After a couple of minutes filled with shock and anger for seeing his sister and rival together in his home, Randall figured out that Sophie had to be there because she was probably the new owner of the place now; it was what he had thought about just yesterday. But what about that big, hairy baboon? Why was he here?

"It`s so dark," Sophie said, carefully placing the cardboard box containing Randall`s possessions from his Monsters Inc. locker on the floor and opening its lid; as if she was going to put its content back in their right places. From the ceiling, Randall could recognize some of his belongings in the box, and felt sick as he pictured Sullivan and Sophie, maybe even Wasowski, going through his personal stuff and placing them in there.

"Do you mind opening the curtains, Mr Sullivan?" Sophie continued, as she let go of the box and pointed to the windows.

"Look Sophie, I told you – it`s Sulley". The hairy monster went over to one of the windows and gently removed the curtains, allowing the sunlight to enter the room; Randall felt as if he was blinded by the sudden change of light-setting. Also, the light shone on all the dust that had been gathered up in the apartment over the last month, and that made Randall feel even worse than before – he hated it when his home was messy.

"Did he use to sleep on his couch?" Sulley nodded towards the bed sheets on the sofa. Randall hated the fact that Sullivan was here to see his home in this state; he didn`t want him here no matter what his apartment looked like, but when it looked like this it felt extra humiliating.

"I don`t think so", Sophie answered, "he was – is – a very tidy guy. It`s not like him to leave his place like this".

"Well, like I`ve said before: he probably wasn`t in his right mind at the end – this proves it". Sulley`s words came out slowly, as if he hesitated. Randall rolled his eyes, and then a long period of silence fell between Sophie and Sulley, and Randall was afraid they`d hear him breathe.

"I`m sorry". Sophie`s sudden words came as a surprise on both Randall and Sulley, and Sulley`s answer to them was exactly what Randall had in mind, too:

"What?"

"On behalf of my brother. I`m sorry".

Sulley didn`t know how to answer to that, so he just nodded his head. Randall felt like throwing up.

"Randall wasn`t really a bad person", Sophie didn`t look directly at Sulley, "but he had his issues. I know this will probably sound weird, but – please don`t hate him".

A new pause. Randall had to keep himself from strangling his sister.

"I don`t hate him". Sulley didn`t know if he just said so to comfort Sophie, but there was a bit of truth to it. He hadn`t exactly been best friends with Randall, but he had never thought that he hated him. In an attempt to change the subject, he asked Sophie a question: "So… What are you planning on doing with the apartment? Do you want to put it out for sale?"

Randall sharpened his ears – he was excited about the answer to this one.

"I don`t think I want to sell it", Sophie said after a moment of though, "I can rent it out, and then maybe Rex can live here when he grows up."

"Who`s Rex?" Sulley didn`t mean to ask her another question right away, but this one simply dropped out of his mouth.

"He`s my son", Sophie explained, and Sulley noticed how her whole face lit up as soon as she mentioned her boy. "He turns four in August; you know what, he actually had his first day in dayscare at Monsters Inc. yesterday, when I went back to work. He seemed very pleased!"

"You have a son?" Sulley was surprised. "I didn`t even know you were married!"

"I`m not." Sophie smiled at him as she moved Randall`s bed-covers over and sat herself down on the sofa. She patted her hand on the spot right next to her as an invitation for Sulley to sit, too. He sat down, and Randall noticed how he leaned on the pillow from his bed; that caused him to feel the nausea coming his way again.

"And I never was, either", Sophie continued; "Rex`s father and I spent some time together, but we never talked about making things serious. But then Rex came along, and things suddenly got serious anyway. His father and I tried to make it work for Rex`s sake, but we were too different, and therefore we split up when Rex was a baby. He`s completely out of the picture now, Rex doesn`t even know him".

"I`m sorry"; Sulley was clearly uncomfortable, and tried not to look at Sophie. His eyes landed on the place in the ceiling where Randall was hiding, and the purple lizard held his breath.

"Don`t be, it`s alright." Sophie`s voice made Sulley calm down, and he dared to face her again. That caused Randall to relax a bit, too – at least he dared to breathe again. He was hoping that this conversation was over by now, but no way; things were just getting started.

"Wow," Sulley continued, eager to learn more about Sophie and Rex – and Randall; "A son, eh? Randall never told anyone he had a nephew!"

"He never cared about him", Sophie said, "In fact, I think he saw him more as a rival."

"A rival?" Sulley could hardly believe the words he was hearing; "How can a grown monster possibly see a little boy as his rival?"

"Please don`t judge him". Sophie was still speaking in the same, calm voice that made Sulley feel so good; "Randall has been through a lot, it hasn`t been easy for him. And I didn`t say that he hates Rex or anything, he`s just… just not uncle-material."

Sulley was startled. What kind of a person was Randall? Who was he to view his own, three-year-old nephew as a rival and not care about him? Was he completely heart-less?

Sophie, as if she was able to read Sulley`s mind, continued:

"I`m a lot older than Randall. Ten years, to be precise. When he was born, I had been dreaming about getting a brother or sister all my life, and I was thrilled to finally get one. And he was such a cute baby!"

Randall, still camouflaged in the ceiling, wanted to punch something.

Sophie went on: "I took my role as a big sister very seriously. I helped my parents take care of Randall, played with him and read him stories. If he was picked on, I stood up for him. We shared secrets, and developed a wonderful relationship."

"So what happened?" Sulley couldn`t control his curiosity any longer, and chose to give in to his questions.

"When Randall was eight," Sophie continued, "he went with mum and dad to visit our grandparents over the weekend. I stayed at home. I was eighteen, I would rather stay with my friends; you know what teenagers are like…"

Sulley just nodded, remembering himself as an eighteen-year old.

"Well," Sophie`s face gained a more serious look, "they were supposed to get home on Sunday night. That never happened. It was late in the autumn, and the roads were icy. When they drove through a turn, the car lost its grip - and they drove off the road."

Sulley sat completely still, eyes wide, as he listened. Randall was looking in another direction.

"Our parents died at the scene," Sophie spoke slowly, as if she re-lived everything, "and Randall was badly injured. He was hospitalized for more than a month. I was there to see him every day. They… They said his chances were small. They thought he wouldn`t make it. But he`s a fighter, he`s always been…"

Sulley fell silent. He never would have guessed. Randall… A little boy, seriously injured, orphan… This was just tragic. If only he had known before…

Randall was still watching the scene, and he hated the compassionate, soft look on Sulley`s face more than anything else in the world at that moment – the last thing he wanted was pity, especially from his rival.

After a short break, Sophie continued the Boggs` family story:

"When Randall got out of hospital, I was given custody of him. I was only eighteen at the moment, remember, and, well, things weren`t going very well to start with."

"I thought you said that you and Randall had a good relationship?" Sulley asked.

"We did, but Randall changed after the accident", Sophie explained. "He became silent and anxious; he fell behind in school, and lost most of his friends. He cried himself to sleep almost every night, but he never allowed me to comfort him or even talk to him about it, he just wanted mum and dad back. I didn`t know what to do for him, I just felt so helpless – at one point he even said that he wished he had died in the accident, too. Can you imagine hearing something like that from an eight-year-old?"

Randall hung his head – now he was wishing that Sophie had died in the accident. Listening to this was pure torture.

"What happened further?" Sulley found himself to be genuinely interested in the rest of Sophie`s story – he didn`t even think his questions over; he just wanted answers.

"It got better", Sophie smiled again for the first time in what had felt like hours; "There was this one night, five or six months after the accident, when there was a thunder-storm and a black-out in the city. It was in the middle of the night, and I was actually sleeping despite the terrible noise, when Randall suddenly woke me up. He had entered my bedroom, and was crying his eyes out; he`s always been afraid of thunder".

Randall rolled his eyes. He was not afraid of thunder…

"When mum and dad were still alive, they used to cradle and comfort him when he was scared, but this time they weren`t around to do so. So like I said, he came to me instead, scared to death. So I lifted him up in my bed, tucked him in with me and allowed him to stay there for the night". By now, Sophie`s eyes had gotten somewhat the same glow they`d have when she had first mentioned Rex to Sulley. She went on:

"When I woke up the next morning, Randall was still asleep; two of his hands were holding on to me, and the look on his face was so incredibly peaceful, I`ve never seen anything like it. He even slept for another couple of hours; it was as if he slept off all of the bad feelings that night. And I just lay there right next to him, silently watching, afraid to disturb him. When he finally woke up, we made ourselves some breakfast, and then we just stayed inside the entire day, listening to the rain on the windows: we read, talked, played board games; all the time with lit candles all around us. It was wonderful."

"So then… Everything went back to normal?" Sulley didn`t understand. This didn`t make sense. How could the sweet little Randall who slept in his big sister`s bed possibly have ended up being the ruthless bastard who`d been chasing him around the factory a month ago?

"Not entirely", Sophie admitted. "Randall still didn`t socialize very well, and he became extremely dependent on me – he was silent and shy, and afraid to bond with other monsters; I guess he was scared he would lose them again".

"Maybe he still is", Sulley thought to himself; he had never seen Randall with any friends.

Sophie continued her story: "I tried to arrange play-dates for him, but he always wanted me to go with him; so then he became the wimpy child nobody wanted to play with because he always brought his sister along. It stayed that way through elementary school, and he didn`t get more popular as he grew older. He was so lonely, and it was truly painful for me to watch – he was such a sweet guy, and all he wanted was friends, but his shyness and fear of bonding always got in his way. Nobody ever fully got to know him".

Randall wanted to sneak out of the living room, this conversation made him feel sick. However, he was still in the corner, surrounded by two monsters he hated, and if he`d try to get out, his sister or that big, hairy clown would probably hear him. He couldn`t even use his hands to cover his ears – he needed all four of them to hold on to the ceiling. All he could do was pray for this nightmare to be over soon.

"That sounds like the Randall I met in college", Sulley said eventually, as if he needed to confirm Sophie`s last utterance.

"He changed drastically in college", Sophie followed up. "Before he went there, all he talked about was how much he wanted it to be a new start. Nobody there knew his past. He would finally get friends; go to parties – do all of those things normal teenagers take for granted. And when he came home for Christmas, he told me that he`d been accepted into an exclusive fraternity. However, he didn`t want to talk much about it – I have a feeling the people he hung out with were bad influence on him".

Sulley could have told her that himself.

"When he went back for the spring semester", Sophie continued, "he was eager to participate in the annual scare games. He went on and on about how he would be the school`s top scarer and help his team bring home the trophy. But we all know how that went, don`t we?"

Sophie looked at Sulley, who turned red under his fur.

"That`s right", she said, "his team became the runner-ups, and he made a fool of himself; I`ve been told that he tried to do a scare when his skin was covered in pink hearts he got from a fall caused by… well… you". Sulley looked down as Sophie continued:

"He was devastated, and when I heard he got kicked out of his fraternity, I seriously started to worry about him. However, he never talked about quitting school. He just became even more eager to become the greatest scarer ever. And he graduated with good results, but not the best; still the runner-up".

Sulley started to see a pattern.

"Then he got the dream job at Monsters Inc., and he was more determined than ever before to become the best. However, he became the runner-up again; to you this time".

"U-hum", Sulley said. It was all he could think about saying except for another apology, and he felt he had used that card a couple of times too many today already.

Randall had a headache. It filled his entire head, and tried to push everything else out; maybe that was why he had to hold back a tear. It made him feel so angry.

"So that`s Randall", Sophie sounded as if she was about to reach a conclusion, "always the runner-up, never the best".

Sulley just looked at her. Randall wanted to scream.

A moment of silence followed. To Randall, it seemed to last forever. When Sulley finally spoke again, it was as if an hour had passed:

"But what about that whole nephew-rival thing?" Sulley still couldn`t see how Randall could possibly dislike his own nephew.

"Before I got Rex", Sophie spoke slowly, "Randall was the only family I had left. He was number one to me. But when I had my son, he became my new obvious number one. He needed me more than anyone, even Randall. So I think… That Randall dislikes Rex because he sees him as the person who made him the runner-up again; Rex made Randall the second one in line to my heart."

Randall had never seen a face express more sympathy than Sullivan`s did at that moment. He hated it. He hated it just as much as he hated his sister.

More than an hour had passed since Sulley and Sophie had left Randall`s apartment. Their words were still ringing in Randall`s ears, and he felt straight out terrible; he tried his best not to think about the things that had been said between the two, but he could not escape it. And he didn`t even know what the worst part was – that he had just been reminded of every single part of his miserable life, or that his sister had shared his entire life story with Sullivan. Inside his mind, he could still picture the stupid look in Sullivan`s eyes when Sophie told him the story, and he hated it – just the idea of Sullivan feeling sorry for him made him feel nauseous again.

The headache was on its way once more, and Randall was back on the sofa, under his covers. He didn`t feel like eating; he probably didn`t have any fresh food in the house anyway. He wondered how he was going to do his groceries now that he had to stay hidden, but decided to think it over tomorrow - he was too depressed and tired right now, and all he really wanted to do was relax. He turned the TV back on, and as a sit-com rolled over the screen, he went back to sleep.

Puh..! There`s a lot to take in here!

Poor Randall, look at the past I`ve given him..! And poor Sophie, it hasn`t been easy on her, either.

I hope you liked the chapter – and Randall`s history. Please tell me what you think, I really appreciate your opinions!

I`m sure some of you were disappointed that Sulley and Sophie didn`t see Randall when they visited his home. I`m sorry about that;) Sulley will run into Randall very soon, and they will eventually grow a little closer *blinks* I can`t wait for that to happen, either!

That`s it for now – I`m currently working on the next chapter alongside with my fulltime job and my other hobbies, and I think I will be able to publish it on Wednesday or Thursday! I hope all of you will be back to read it:)

Have a nice day!