“Sophia?”
That voice made me freeze the action, though. It was Elijah, and I was shocked to hear his voice. I figured he’d still be with them, but he must not have left much long after I had.
“Sophia? It’s Elijah, please, can we talk? I have something really important I want to say to you.”
I took in another deep breath, releasing it slowly. I’d heard more than enough important news for one night. I could do without any more. My hand hesitated in the air for a minute, but in the end, I dropped it back to my side.
“Why did you come here?” I called, raising my voice so he’d hear me. “Shouldn’t you still be at the hotel?”
“I should have come after you immediately,” he said quickly. “Dad said they’d be around for a while, but I want to talk to you before we meet them again. Please, Sophia?”
My heart was pounding irregularly in my chest, and I pressed a hand against it.
“Elijah, I’m going to ask you a favor, and you have to do it for me, okay? I…need some space right now. So could you please go away?”
I didn’t wait for his reply, moving back to my bed. I ducked under my covers and brought the pillow over my head to block everything out. There was no sound, though, so I assumed he was gone.
For the rest of the day and the next couple days, I completely avoided him and didn’t even look at his messages or pick up his calls. My heart ached every time, but I needed to think because the futures of four people were at stake.
Chapter Twenty
Elijah
I hadn't spoken to Sophia for the last few days, but I still felt fucking restless because of it. I saw her around campus, but when she caught sight of me, she would hurry off in the opposite direction. She was a sprinter that was for sure.
It hurt, just a little bit.
Even Logan was happy in his own love life, noticed when I started acting miserable. Then, he saw Sophia’s avoidance routine.
“Dude, what the fuck happened between the two of you?” he asked me on Wednesday as we made our way to class, watching Sophia’s back as she hurried off a distance from us. “Don’t tell me you told her in the end, because that’s stupid of you.”
I sighed. “It wasn’t that, do you think things would be like this between us? This shit doesn’t have anything to do with me. Well, I can't say it has nothing to do with me, but I’m only distantly related to it!”
Logan just frowned at me. “Dude, speak English. I didn’t get any of that.”
I sighed again and trudged forward. “Let’s get to class and sit down, I’ll tell you then.”
Logan shrugged and followed me. We were both early since we’d carried snacks instead of passing by the cafeteria. I wasn’t in the mood to eat anything, but I knew better than to go through a day without proper meals. I couldn’t risk ruining my form so that I could mope around properly. Snacks weren’t the best, either, but at least I wouldn’t go hungry.
As always, most of the students taking the class loitered around outside, and inside, most of the seats especially around the back were empty. We moved to just the right spot so that when the other students came in, they could take the seats in front of us and we wouldn’t seem so far back that the professor called on us specifically to move forward.
“So?” Logan said, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest, looking at me with a serious expression. “What happened between the two of you, now, huh?”
“Remember how I went out on Sunday because my dad was in town, and I wanted to talk to him?”
Logan nodded, arching an eyebrow, probably wondering where that was where I was starting from.
“Anyway, he wanted to introduce me to my new step-mom and step-sister. Only, as it turns out, I ended up meeting Sophia and her mom.”
I gave him a significant look, and it was a while, but he got it.
“No way! You two are step-siblings now? No wonder she’s avoiding you!”
I growled at my best friend. “I know it already; you don’t have to say it so loudly. You don’t have to say it at all, actually, so zip it!”
“Awe, Elijah, but someone has to give you the truth as it is, you know? Before you get your hopes up or anything. This ship, I’m afraid, has already sunk.”
“Couldn’t you have just said it was on the brink,” I muttered. “Anyway, it’s the last night both our parents are going to be around, so if I’m lucky and she shows up, we’ll get to talk about everything.”
“How are your parents acting about the whole thing?”
“Surprisingly accepting,” I grumbled.
Don’t get me wrong, accepting was good. It meant I didn’t have to fight to get their approval to be with Sophia. When Sophia ran out on us, I hadn't followed immediately, but once I got them to understand, they’d pushed me to go after her, even if it was a bit late.
In the end, she didn’t want to talk to me. She didn’t take my messages, and when she saw me, she went away. I hadn't tried to approach her yet, because she’d asked for space and I wanted to honor that much, but I was getting tired of it quite quickly.
The professor walked in then, and my conversation with Logan got cut short.
I hardly paid attention to any of the classes I attended. I had a break after my mid-morning class, I had one late in the afternoon, so I’d told Dad I’d meet him and Emma at the hotel for lunch. As soon as my class was done, I took off. I knew Sophia should have some time around then as well, so she would probably show up at the hotel, right?
Technically, I had a personal car, but because I didn’t move around much while I was on campus, I mostly left it at home. As I waited for a long while for a taxi to stand in front of me, though, I was missing having my car around.
By the time I got to the hotel, it was some minutes past one, the time we were all supposed to meet. I walked around the lobby of the hotel until I found the hotel Dad had mentioned in his text. There was a host standing behind a podium just to the side of the entrance, and she stopped me before I could walk in. I had her lead me to where Dad and Emma were seating. I was disappointed, but not too surprised, to see Sophia wasn’t there.
Dad noticed.
“She might still come,” he tried to reassure me.