Chapter 5

Sophia POV

Today was finally my day off from work, this means that I was free to spend the entire day with my friends, something I haven't done in a while. A small smile tugged the corners of my lips up as I made my way behind the gymnasium where I found my only friends, sitting together as they usually did.

"Hey." I said softly and they looked up from their seats on the floor.

"Woah, nice of you to show up for once." Pete flipped his bangs out of his face as I took my seat next to Michael, taking the cigarette he offered me and lighting it. Firkle moved closer to lean his head against my shoulder and I reached back to pat his hair gently.

"It's my day off so I might as well spend it with you guys, not like I have anything better to do." I shrugged as I sucked on the end of my cigarette.

"Whatever." Pete looked up at the sky and I subtly looked over at our new friend. Stan Marsh, huh? His friends were pretty worried about him, Green Hat especially, going as far as to come to me for help. They must really care a lot about him... Well, except the fat one, he seems like an asshole.

"Hey Raven?" He lifted his gaze from the floor to me, a little startled, obviously not expecting to be called on.

"Yeah?" He turned in his seat so his body was facing me. Alright, at least I can say they owe me a favor now, here goes nothing...

"What do your friends think about you being goth?" I put my cigarette to my lips. His face hardened, but he looked kind of sad at the same time, obviously torn.

"They don't understand what I'm going through, they'll try to relate, but they can't. They have no idea of the storm raging inside me, and will just tell me to get over it and move on, but I can't. I should have just moved on from Wendy the first time, but I'm fifteen now! I don't have time to start over with someone else, that's why I can't just get over it. My shot at not dying alone is gone." He looked down at the ground and fisted his hands.

"Conformists." I vaguely heard Henrietta, Pete, and Firkle sigh at the same time. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair a few times thoughtfully, seems like Raven is a pretty stubborn guy.

"So, besides what you feel towards Wendy, you don't plan on being their friend anymore? Don't you think they miss you? Whatever went down with Wendy isn't their fault, so why should they loose a friend because of it?" I asked softly and he frowned as he looked at the floor, his eyebrows slowly scrunching together into a glare.

"I don't need conformists like them, I don't feel like putting up with their bullshit." He flicked the ash off his cigarette angrily and Pete nodded approvingly at him.

'Wrong answer Stan...' I thought with a small twinge of remorse, knowing that Kenneth and Green Hat would come asking for me again sometime soon.

"Why all the sudden questions Sophia?" Michael frowned and looked away, his earring swinging around with the motion.

"Just curious about our new friend, unlike the rest of you I've never met Raven before."I shrugged and took another breath of my cigarette, sighing the smoke out and watching it drift away for a second. "I'm just being curious, no harm in that."

"Well it isn't very goth of you to be so worried about Raven's conformist personal life." He crossed his arms and I raised my eyebrows, unamused.

"Hey! I'm not a conformist anymore!" Raven stood up and Michael glared, slowly standing and tightly gripping the handle of his cane.

"Wallowing in self-pity just because you want some conformist, cheerleader back doesn't make you goth, it just means your conformist, macho, ego is bruised." Michael looked down his nose at Raven. They were both tall, but Michael had a few inches on Raven.

"Why I'm goth is none of your business." Raven looked like he wasn't sure what to say but was pretty upset anyway.

"Whatever, you'll be gone by the end of the week, just like last time." He blew cigarette smoke in his face and Raven glared angrily.

"It's none of your business for how long I'm goth either." Raven stepped closer and I watched them in concern, hearing Firkle flip open his switchblade from somewhere behind me.

"You guys are acting like a bunch of jocks in a Disney movie." Pete scoffed as he flipped his bangs out of his face and it only served to make them angrier.

"Your jealously doesn't surprise me Michael, but lay off Raven. We already told you being goth is life for us, not just some hobby; you sound like a conformist so don't get mad if Michael calls you one." Henrietta rolled her eyes but was smirking in an amused sort of way. It got awkwardly quiet and Michael was the first to sit back down, rolling his eyes as he flicked his cigarette bud to the floor.

"So, are we headed to your place?" I asked Henrietta as Raven sat down again too.

"We're heading to the cemetery." She sucked at the end of her cigarette. "There's supposed to be a funeral today, so we'll hang around afterwards." I nodded and sighed as I looked up at the sky.

"I can't wait for my funeral." Michael sighed whimsically and I snorted.

"Just waiting for people to mourn and cry over you, huh?" I flicked the ash off my smoke.

"Yeah, if anyone bothers to care that is." He snorted and I rolled my eyes. After school was let out, we got up and made our way to South Park's cemetery, taking our time in walking there. People often thought of the cemetery as a dark and dreary place, some even found it scary, but not me. The cemetery, especially at night, was such a beautiful, peaceful place. The lack of life, no pun intended, made it the perfect, quiet paradise. The dirt next to the tombstones was soft and comfortable to lay on, and the mausoleums were a great place to sit and just watch the falling of rain snow. The little flowers, trees, and patches of grass always made me smile when I watched them grow, it showed that life continued on and can always be found even in the most unexpected places. I really wished I had a talent for drawing or poetry so I could express my love for the cemetery, but unfortunately I lacked in those skills. We reached the cemetery just as the funeral finished, somber and tearful people walked by us, some looking like they didn't care and others looking like they wanted to throw themselves in the grave along with their deceased loved one.

"Oh, it's you kids again." The grave digger scowled as he saw us. We didn't bother to learn his name, and he didn't bother with ours.

"You know us, we never miss a good show." Henrietta rolled her eyes and smirked. The grave digger was one of the few people my clique was civil to, this is probably because he was just as, if not more, jaded about life than us.

"You little bastards sure are cynical." He scoffed and walked away from us, continuing his work. The other reason why we're polite towards him is because he doesn't rat us out; any other person would have called the cops on kids loitering around in a cemetery, but he doesn't seem to care and we'd like to keep it that way. We walked to our favorite place to sit, an old tree that's highest branch had an amazing view of the entire cemetery. Cigarettes were passed around and we took our seats, except Firkle who climbed up the tree to sit on one of the lower branches and lean his back against the trunk. I sat under him on the ground with my back against the trunk, the tree's large roots made a comfortable nest where I could comfortably lounge.

"How would you guys want to be burried?" Pete suddenly asked and I tilted my head back in thought.

"I'd want my body to be left in a huge mausoleum with a curse on whoever entered." Michael passed me a cigarette and I leaned over to accept it from him.

"I want to be cremated and turned into a jewel, that way I could possess anyone who wore me." Henrietta lit a cigarette and sounded amused with herself.

"An unmarked grave is fine for me, I don't want to deal with conformists in the afterlife if I can help it." Firkle said from up in his branch.

"How I'm buried will be the problem of whoever's still alive." Raven shrugged and Pete smriked.

"Well I want to be buried under a tree so my dead carcass can fertilize it and be useful for at least something." Pete turned to me. "How about you sophia?"

"How I'm buried..." I mumble and look over the graveyard, my eyes flitting over all the gravestones, some abandoned and others looking well taken care of, very clean and full of flowers. "I think I'd want to be buried normally, and just hope that someone cares enough to visit my grave." I said softly and stood up, brushing off the bit of dirt that stuck to my jeans. I looked up at Firkle and he offered me a hand, I grabbed it and lifted myself up, carefully climbing the tree. A familiar branch acted as my seat and I smiled softly as I parted the leaves and smaller branches, looking across the cemetery's beautiful scenery. My body relaxed against the trunk of the tree, lighting the cigarette Michael gave me with a flick of my wrist. I think I might need a new lighter soon, the flame on this one is getting pretty small...We spent the afternoon here, exchanging our thoughts and occasionally writing a few lines of poetry when the inspiration came. I even managed to get most of my homework done, knowing I probably wouldn't have a chance once I got home. Pretty soon, the sun started setting and night started falling, bathing us in cool, calm semi-darkness. I sighed as I let my legs dangle over the edge of the branch, looking up at the stars as they finally showed up.

"Let's get some coffee." Michael said from below and I looked down.

"Village Inn?" He nodded I started making my way down the tree, careful to find the footholds so that I wouldn't fall.

"I doubt you'd want to go to Benny's on your day off." He shrugged and I dusted myself off as I finally made it to the ground.

"Well, let's start going then." Pete flipped his bangs out of his eyes just as Firkle jumped down from his own branch. Everyone got up from their seats and dusted themselves off. I pulled on my backpack and grabbed my bike's handle bars, pulling it along as we started walking. We slowly made our way out of the cemetery, nodding at the grave digger as we left. It was really quiet for a few minutes and we all flinched when my phone suddenly rang.

"Sorry about that." I apologized softly. We stopped walking and I picked it up without checking the name on the screen. "Hello?"

"Why aren't you home yet?" No beating around the bush huh?

"It's my day off." I said softly.

"Well why didn't you come home then! Am I the only one who lives in this fucking house or what? You'd better get your ass over here and do some goddamn house work for once in your life! Just because we're trash doesn't mean we have to live like it!" The call got cut off and I stared at the screen for a bit longer before slowly putting my phone in my pocket. She was pretty loud so I'm sure my friends could hear what she said...

"I have to go." I said softly.

"You're flaking on us?" Firkle frowned and I sighed, smoothing down my bangs a little anxiously.

"Not by choice." I bit my lip and turned to walk in the opposite direction. "I'll see you guys some other time."

"We'll be at the Village Inn for a while." Pete called out to me and I stopped briefly to nod. "You know, incase you can catch up later or something." He flipped his bangs out of his face and looked away.

"Call if things get weird or something." Michael stared right into my eyes intensely, almost as if my bangs weren't there, making the corners of my mouth twitch upwards.

"Thanks." I turned around and swung my leg over my bike, getting on began pedaling home quickly, before she got any angrier than she already was.

3rd POV

Christine Harte is an alcoholic, single mother of one. She wasn't always like this, but then again there were many factors that led her on the path she was currently on. For starters, her long term boyfriend and high school sweetheart, Charles Smithings left her before they could get married. Another factor was that she got pregnant very early on in life, her junior year of high school to be exact, this is what led the decision for them to begin planning their early wedding. And the final nail in the coffin was realizing that Charles left her for her bestfriend, saying he just wasn't ready for this kind of commitment and that she would be fine on her own, but he would always have his phone ready in case she ever needed anything.

Christine later realized that he changed his number and no longer had a way to contact the father of her child.

The young mother scraped on by and barely managed to finally finish her high school education. Her parents, ashamed of their daughter, immediately kicked her out after graduation, leaving her all alone in the world with a baby girl not yet even a year old. Christine was able to find odd jobs here and there, some more degrading than others, nothing high in salary given that she only had a high school diploma, but made enough to be able to eat and pay for rooms or garages people were renting.

Even at a young age, Sophia began to realize that her childhood was vastly different than others' her age. She realized that her lifestyle wasn't like others' and that her mother wasn't like other mothers. Her's was too busy to nurture and take care of her, but even when she had the time, Christine still neglected her daughter, sometimes refusing to even look at her. The reason for this being Sophia's resemblance to her father. Like her father, Sophia's hair was black and she inherited a condition shared by his family called Complete Heterochromia, meaning that, just like her father, her eyes were two different colors. Once upon a time, Christine wished that their children would have his eyes, something she now regretted. Sofia's right eye was like her mother's, her left like her father's. This resemblance only made Christine more bitter and she began to take that bitterness out on her daughter, barely speaking to her and having no patience for a child, which is understandable to an extent considering her young age.

Christine was never one for drinking in her youth, but as she got older and life began taking its toll, she found that alcohol was a small escape away from her difficult life. It numbed the pain and made her forget about her worries, like a vacation at a fraction of the price.

Unfortunately that escape turned into a daily occurrence.

Almost daily, when she got home from work, she would guzzle down alcohol as if she were dying of thirst. Once it settled into her blood stream, she would more often than not take her anger out on Sophia, often screaming profanities or ordering her around. The times Christine got violent with her daughter were few and more often when they began. After a particular incident, Sophia began to realize that what triggered her mother the most was seeing her eyes, so so she cut her bangs to hide them, lessening the times her mother went after her, preferring now to complain, loudly, about how full of shit her life was.

Despite her neglect, Christine was strict with Sophia, often yelling at her not to make the same mistakes she did. The most upheld rule in the house was to never speak of Charles Smithings, the few times Sophia did ask weren't pretty and she quickly learned that some things were better left unknown. That's why the young girl is in such a rush to finish her education, wanting to get away from her abusive household and thanking whoever was out there that she didn't have siblings that needed her.

"There you are." Christine scowled as she saw Sophia, taking a drink from her bottle. Sophia turned her gaze downwards and silently walked to the kitchen to begin washing a large pile of dishes that hadn't been there this morning when she left for school. "Off with your little emo friends again, huh? What a waste of time." Christine tched and threw her empty bottle on the floor, making Sophia wince as she hurried to finish washing the dishes. Christine grabbed another bottle and opened it, throwing the cap over her shoulder since she wouldn't be needing it.

"I'm going to bed." The younger girl said softly, drying her hands before practically running to her room, making her mother scoff and roll her eyes.

"Not yet you're not, you still need to clean the kitchen and the bathroom, I won't let you slack off just because you're deciding to spend all your time with a couple of freaks!" Sophia sighed and put down her backpack, walking back out and quickly grabbing the mop and some rags. "Your homework better be done, I'm sure even you can finish high school." She sneered. "Although, considering the crowd you hang out with, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't." Sophia ignored her and silently cleaned the kitchen first, the faster she'd finish, the faster she'd be able to get away. "That'd be a laugh" Christine chuckled bitterly and took another gulp of alcohol, laying on the sofa and turning on the small television. "So, which one of your little friends is trying to get you pregnant? That's why they let you be with them, isn't it? They probably got tired of fucking that fat girl and moved on to you." Sophia continued to ignore her and mopped the kitchen faster, not caring if she missed a few spots. "If you get an unwanted package, I'm sure the nice people at the abortion clinic can help." Sophia wiped down the tables and counters as fast as she could. "They're godsends that people don't know how to appreciate." Christine's tone turned bitter and Sophia practically ran out of the clean kitchen.

"Done." She mumbled and ran into the bathroom to quickly clean it before putting everything away and throwing herself into her room.

"Tch." Christine changed the channel and glared at the screen.