Chapter Thirteen

The Sound of His Voice

“Why do I have to go?” Sophie moaned as she threw herself into Charlotte’s bed. “I don’t feel like it. I just want to curl up into fetal position and feel sorry for myself.”

“Stop the drama. You’re going because it will be fun, unlike that little plan of yours,” the red haired answered as she applied make up on herself. She was wearing a beautiful but pretty casual dress that almost reached her knees, her hair in a classic ponytail. “Besides, it’s your brother’s concert.”

“He has them all the time, why do we have to go to this one?”

“Because it will be fun and it will take your mind off of your self-induced misery.” She finished with a touch of her perfume and admired the results: confident, beautiful, discreet and classy, just like she was. Then she turned to her sulking friend who was face down on her bed. “We are going to JazzBell and we’re going to have a good time. End of discussion!”

“But we have classes tomorrow-“

“Like that ever stopped you from going out before. We’ll come back early.”

“And I don’t really feel like going-“

“You know what? I’m not having this conversation with you anymore,” Charlotte said in a final tone. “Now let’s go to your house, we have to get you ready.”

Sophie mumbled something against the pillows and Charlotte, not understanding a word, shrugged it off and turned to the door.

“I said: I don’t want to dress up. I’m going just like this,” Sophie repeated without her face stamped in a pillow this time.

Charlotte looked at her with a reproving stare. Sophie was wearing her oldest pair of jeans that were already all washed out, dirty sneakers and a large sweatshirt with a hoodie starring Snoopy on it that said Coolest Dog in the World. Her hair was tied in the messiest bun she’d ever seen.

There was no way she would ever let her even try to go to the circus like that, much less a concert, she’d seen her looking better in a pajama. The red haired decided it was better to just ignore her friend’s whining and left the room anyway. “I’m waiting for you in the car. Hurry up, J.J. said she’d go by your house in a few minutes, she’s coming with us.”

“Why?” Sophie kept whining dramatically.

In a matter of minutes, both girls were finally inside Charlotte’s borrowed car and driving towards Sophie’s home. It took them minutes to get to the car because Sophie was kind of dragging herself, like a spoiled kid making a fit.

“What’s wrong with you?” Charlotte had asked as she pushed Sophie into the vehicle. “We’re going to a bar to chill out, not to a slaughterhouse! It isn’t that terrible.”

Once inside, the ride was mostly silent, with Charlotte humming a few of the songs that played on the radio and Sophie moping next to the window.

“Why hasn’t he said anything?” Sophie suddenly whispered after an agonized sigh. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Charlotte remained silent and Sophie continued, “Yesterday things seemed to be going so perfectly… But after our talk in the bathroom, he barely even said anything anymore. He sent me a few text messages but that’s all. I don’t get it. He seemed as excited as I was. Did I do something wrong?”

“Of course you didn’t.”

“Then why is he being so distant?”

“He’s probably just really busy with something.”

Sophie returned her stare to the window. The night had settled in already.

“Maybe he didn’t really mean all those things. Maybe he already regretted it. Maybe he’s with some other girl. Maybe he just pitied me-“

“Nonsense!”

“Well, I was crying like a baby. Maybe he just felt sorry for me and said what he thought I wanted to hear.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Then why-“

“Trust me on this, ok? He did not say those things out of pity. I know him, I’ve been with him and it’s obvious to everyone that he is totally taken by you.”

But Sophie didn’t quite believe it because, unfortunately, there was no way to prove that. The facts were, that ever since their moment the day before, Adrian barely talked to her. She felt despair, like a really bad fall after a really high jump.

“I knew it was too good to be true,” she whispered.

Soon they were at Sophie’s place. Charlotte went into her room and Sophie was right behind her, still dragging her feet, when Aaron showed up in the hall. He was all dressed up in his concert gear, his guitar on his shoulder and he seemed stressed out.

“Hey, Sophie, come here for a second,” he called and he got into his room. She followed him with curiosity.

“Aren’t you supposed to be there already?” she asked him, “Doing sound checks and preparing stuff?”

“Yeah, yeah, we did most of it in the afternoon.” He shrugged. “I want to ask you something.”

“Yes?”

“Is that friend of yours coming too?”

“Who? Charlotte?”

“No! That other friend…”

“Angie? I don’t know, I didn’t-“

“Not Angie, you moron!” Then he scratched the back of his neck. “I mean, Jennifer.”

“J.J.?” She smiled devilishly. “Why do you want to know?”

He shrugged, trying to look casual and uninterested but failing epically at it. “No reason, just curious.”

“She’s coming, yeah.”

She grinned wider when she noticed how he tried to hide his nervousness at her answer.

“You’re into her, aren’t you?”

“Please, Sophie, try not to sound stupid once in a while.”

She laughed. “I thought she was too arrogant for you. An arrogant know-it-all, actually.”

“What you call arrogance, I call attitude. And I like women with attitude.” He turned to leave. “Honestly, Sophie, you outta be less judgmental.”

Sophie rolled her eyes and exited his room as well, only to leave for their small living room as she heard the doorbell. When she got closer to the door, she saw a scene that would be pretty comical, if it wasn’t so darn cute. Aaron had gotten to the door first, as he was leaving the house, and right outside was none other than J.J. herself. She was stunning and edgy with her spiked short hair, her heavy make-up and her tight dark jeans, long boots and tight red top. They were both stuttering something that vaguely resembled the words ‘Goodnight’ and ‘How are you doing’. They looked so embarrassed it got awkward very quickly. Sophie rescued the situation by taking the girl by her hand into the living room.

“I guess we’ll see each other later tonight?” she said, looking at him, blushing slightly.

“Yeah, I guess.” His hand went back to his neck again and Sophie noticed with surprised delight that he was also blushing. She had never seen him blush before, it was the most adorable thing in the world. She just wanted to squeeze his cheeks and tease him about it forever. Aaron must’ve noticed his sister’s mocking smirk, because he quickly dropped out of it. “Whatever,” he mumbled and left in a hurry.

Sophie looked at J.J., still wearing the same teasing smirk.

“What?” Jennifer asked, but Sophie didn’t have time to reply because Charlotte stormed into the living room.

“What are you doing? You should be in the shower already!”

Sophie took the quick shower that Charlotte insisted she should take, despite not understanding what was so urgent about it, since she had showered that morning. She figured she must be smelling or something. During her time under the hot pouring water, she thought about how she should probably ask J.J. if she was feeling ok after the whole Mark fiasco and the best, most sensible way of doing it. When she re-entered her bedroom, a towel around her body and another on her head, the two girls were chatting with enthusiasm. J.J. was asking Charlotte the name of one of the guys from her drama classes, she thought he was cute.

She seemed to be doing fine.

Sophie found on her bed a whole toilette laid out, apparently they had spent their time deciding what she should wear. Looking at it, she noticed it was her black shorts, black tight sweater with sleeves that reached her elbows and black boots.

“Am I going to a funeral?”

“Don’t be silly, black is a classic. Besides, it looks great on you, it goes with your skin tone, your hair and it brings out your beautiful blue eyes,” J.J. said with way too much excitement.

Sophie shrugged, she really didn’t care. She got dressed up quickly and J.J. forced her to put on a few silver bracelets that she had brought. Sophie tried to fight it, but it was useless. Then, Charlotte bullied her into letting her dry up and style her hair while J.J. did her make up.

“A pair of earrings, a little perfume and you’ll be perfect!”

“Girls, why all this trouble? This is too much, we’re only going to JazzBell to see Aaron play,” she said with exasperation.

“You never know, you could find the guy of your dreams tonight.” J.J. giggled.

“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes. The guy of her dreams she had already found, but he couldn’t be less interested, apparently.

“Here, put this on, it’s the final touch.” Charlotte handed her a large belt which she put on, stepped aside a few feet and admired the final result. “Hmm… There’s something missing.”

“Maybe a little bit of color?” Jennifer suggested.

Charlotte snapped her fingers. “Exactly.” She went to Sophie’s scarf’s drawer and took out one of her favorites: a bright green summer scarf. She put it around Sophie’s neck and smiled. “Now you’re perfect.”

“Great.” Sophie rolled her eyes. She could barely contain her joy.

“Let’s go! We’ll be late for dinner.” J.J. looked at her wristwatch.

Sophie put on her jacket and they left her house. The three girls went out to eat at a small diner. It was a pleasant time, actually. They laughed and got to talk about a little bit of everything. She noticed how Charlotte seemed a little bit distracted by her cellphone though, and that she looked a bit nervous or anxious, but before she had time to ask what was concerning her, J.J. asked some random questions about school and she all but forgot about it. She would ask Charlotte once they were alone.

They finished off their meal and went to JazzBell. Once they got there they found it way more crowded than usual, filled with familiar faces from their high school, including all of Aaron’s band fangirls. Sophie looked around and her heart tightened when her eyes locked with Mark’s.

Shit! Why did he have to be there? He was with another girl, who kept whispering something in his ear. He wasn’t looking at her though, he was fixed on Sophie. She felt horrible, as if he was giving her the meanest x-ray ever. Someone held her hand and turning around she saw it was J.J. Sophie tried to find the same feelings on her eyes but they weren’t there – which was a relief. The British girl said, “Forget about the loser, let’s go get a drink.” She could tell Jennifer was a little upset but refused to dwell on it. Sophie wished she could become as strong as her. “You know, I always hated that he called me ‘Jenny’.” She winked at Sophie and the blue eyed smiled.

“And I always hated that he called me ‘babe’ all the time.”

“I know, right? What’s up with that? Where in the bloody hell did he hear that it was sexy?” They both laughed.

The three of them went to the bar, chose their drinks and found a table to sit in, waiting for the concert. Sophie decided to follow J.J.’s advice and completely let go of her concern over Mark. The girls sat at their table, drinking and laughing for at least an hour. Soon, a few friends of J.J. arrived and, after joining them for a few minutes at their table, decided that it was time to go fill the dance floor, to which J.J. whole heartedly agreed.

Once it was half past midnight though, the music stopped and the lights went out, leaving only those of the small stage and bar lit. The concert was about to begin and they tried to get as close as possible to it, but found it impossible to get too near, as the closest spots were already full with energetic and excited girls who screamed the band’s name.

The boys entered and the vocalist talked to their audience. Sophie only called her brother’s name and waved at him. Aaron winked at them and right after that the concert began. They jumped, cheered and danced with the music, Sophie singing all the songs – she knew them all by heart, after hearing them so many times. She looked at Aaron jamming in his guitar, happier than ever, like he always was when he played. It was a sight worth seeing and she suddenly felt her chest swelling with pride and love towards her older brother. He really was fighting for his dream and, when he played, it was easy to be sure that he was born to do it – and nothing else mattered. Nothing else had to.

After an hour or so, Sophie and Charlotte decided to sit for a while, to catch their breath. JazzBell was alive and soaring around them, it had the greatest vibe to it. Charlotte returned with their drinks but didn’t stay for long. She yelled in Sophie’s ears that she had seen some of her friends from the drama club and was going to talk to them for a while.

“Do you want to come?” she asked.

Sophie shook her head. “I’m going to stay here and rest a little more.”

Charlotte nodded and went, saying before leaving, “If you can’t find me afterwards send me a text, I’ll be watching my phone.”

Sophie nodded and smiled, to reassure her friend that it was alright, and she watched as Charlotte’s fiery hair disappeared through the crowd. As she was tracing the direction into which her best friend had gone, she had an unwanted vision of Mark. He was with the same girl from before and they were having a full make-out session that would embarrass even the most ‘rebel’ of popstars. Hands were everywhere, lips were furiously ravaging each other and she didn’t even want to imagine what was going on with their tongues. It didn’t upset her, it just made her really uncomfortable.

“Look at the sad, sad spectacle.”

She looked around and found J.J. behind her, her eyes fixed on Mark with nothing but disgust. “Can’t you just see his desperation? It’s palpable. Quite embarrassing, really.” Then, she looked at Sophie and smiled. “I’m glad we’re both rid of him.”

Sophie returned the smile and J.J. continued, “He’s just pitiful. We can both do much better.” And she looked at Aaron with an enchanted smile on her pretty features. Sophie followed her gaze and noticed that Aaron was looking back at her. She had the feeling he was showing off to her, playing for her.

“I’ll see you around, sweetie,” she said and walked closer to the stage, her eyes still focusing on Aaron.

Sophie looked around again, suddenly feeling a little lonely. She took out her cellphone and realized with a pain to her heart that she had no missed calls, no messages. She felt the urge to text Adrian but decided against it.

Be strong.

When she put her cellphone back into her purse, she couldn’t help but look at Mark again. He was still in the process of eating the girl’s face, but this time, his eyes were open.He was looking at her. She could almost see his smile. He kept looking at her without blinking. It was a little disturbing and Sophie couldn’t help but feel disgusted. Was he really trying to make her jealous? If he was, he was failing at it though, she could only feel repulse.

Disgusted and uncomfortable about that scene, Sophie decided to go outside. The whole place suddenly felt too crowded, too noisy. She needed to breathe. Sophie tried to find Charlotte but her red hair was impossible to see. Deciding that she would text her once she was outside, she grabbed her things and went towards the door.

Sophie took a deep breath and fully enjoyed the fresh air that filled her lungs and the cool breeze that gently caressed her skin. She took off all the hairpins that Charlotte had forced her to wear and felt good as her wild hair fell into her arms and shoulders in its full glory. She walked a few feet away from the loud music coming out of the bar, closed her eyes and felt pleasure in the silence that surrounded her. There was too much sound going on in her world, she missed the sweetness and wisdom that only silence can bring.

A few people were hanging around at the dark entrance of the small bar, just like her, and few cars were just arriving, making her feel relieved to be outside, for it was about to get even more crowded inside.

Sophie took out her cell with the intent of texting Charlotte but her fingers dialed Adrian’s number instead. Damn. Yes, so she was weak. Whatever. If being weak meant she loved hearing the sound of his voice, then so be it.

She put the phone close to her ear and closed her eyes again, waiting for her favorite sound with as much anticipation as a drug addict has when waiting for her next fix.

“Adrian…” she whispered his name as soon as he took the call.

“Murphy,” he said with the same kind of quiet joy she felt.

Sophie didn’t even want to bring up the fact that he had been neglecting her for a day. She didn’t care; all she wanted was to hear him, to feel close to him.

“I miss you,” was all she could tell him.

She heard him laugh in a light manner. “I’m glad you do. I miss you too.”

“I wish I could see you right now.”

“Do you want to?”

She sighed. “Yes.”

“Then maybe you will,” he said in a mischievous tone.

“Don’t play with me, Adrian…” But, before she could continue, Sophie, being faithful to herself, tripped on a (very) badly positioned rock and fell to the ground, her cellphone flying away from her hand. She didn’t even have the time to register what had happened, she didn’t even noticed if she was hurt. All that worried her was finding the little lost object. She crawled on all fours, desperately looking for it on the dimly lit stoned ground, cursing inwardly. When she finally found it, she noticed with relief that it wasn’t broken, just a little scratched and quickly stood up again. Sophie immediately put it on her ear, breathlessly calling, “Adrian?” but obtaining no answer. She looked at the small screen and noticed with disappointment that her call to him was ended.

Damn.

The blue eyed girl cleaned the dust and dirt off her clothes, noticing just then how her knees and hands were a little scraped. She shrugged, nothing major, nothing she wasn’t used to, by now. She had just made the decision to call him again when suddenly her breath was taken away from her. Someone was standing close behind her, and he quietly spoke to her, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Sophie.” Her eyes opened wide, her heart ran a mile. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t move. She heard his voice, but not on the phone. She heard his familiar, attractive, charming voice, the voice she had grown to love, directly on her ear. She felt his breath against her skin, it made her shiver. “Turn around.”

Sophie slowly turned and, facing her, just a few inches apart, was him. Adrian. Closer to her than she’d ever thought he’d be, close just like she’d wished to be. She looked at him with awe, finally close enough to look him in the eyes. They were dark green. His green eyes were captivating and she could get lost in them forever. It was hard to believe that he was really there, so close that she could touch him just by barely stretching her arm.

Adrian returned her stare but he didn’t just look into her eyes, he looked at her fully. She blushed as she felt his eyes running through her whole body and then returning to her face with a large smile. She returned the smile, although hers was a lot smaller, a shy one.

His hand gently caressed her cheek and she closed her eyes, enjoying every second of his touch. His fingers traveled to her jawline, stopping under her chin and touching her lips with his thumb. She opened her eyes and whispered, “How did you-“

“Charlotte.” He smiled. “We wanted to make you a surprise. I didn’t talk to you much since yesterday because I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it from you. Sorry about that. It was our last secret, I promise.”

If she thought she loved his voice over the phone and it couldn’t possibly get any better, it was because she had never heard it in person before. She smiled wider as she finally gave use to her other senses. He looked amazing this close to her, he had the perfect scent and his touch was Heaven.

“I have something for you.” He grinned and reached for one of his pockets. He took out a little box and gave it to her. With her hands trembling, she accepted the little object and looked at him in surprise.

“Open it.” He laughed.

Sophie did as told and opened the small lid. She gasped, inside it was a beautiful silver bracelet, very simple and classic, but what she really loved was the small silver turtle that was pending from it. She took it out of the box and admired it.

“Oh, Adrian, you shouldn’t –“

“When I saw it, I had to get it. It reminded me of you instantly,” he said with excitement. “I bought it weeks ago. Do you like it?”

“It’s perfect. I love it!” She smiled as she admired him now.

“Cool.” He smiled too, visibly relieved as he took it out of her hand and helped her put it on her wrist, his finger lingering a little more than necessary on her bruised skin, gently stroking it. “It suits you.”

“I wish I could give you something as well,” she lamented.

“Don’t worry, you have plenty of time to do that.” He smiled mischievously at her and it looked exactly like she’d thought. “Besides, there is something that I really want to do right now and it’s something that only you can give me.”

Sophie blushed but smiled wide. “Well, that depends… What is it?” she playfully asked as she grabbed his shirt, she had to slightly look up to look him in the eyes.

Adrian simply returned the smile and put his strong arms around her. Being in his arms was the best feeling ever.

“It’s a good thing, I promise,” he whispered.

His hands went back to her cheeks and he suddenly got serious, as if he was wondering if he should really do it. Sophie closed her eyes to encourage him and it seemed to be the only confirmation he needed. When his lips found hers, she mentally took back what she had thought previously. This was definitely the best feeling in the world. The kiss was delightfully gentle and slow, like they were taking every second to revel in each other’s feel and taste. Sophie’s hands stopped clutching his shirt and instead marveled through his hard chest. It was the perfect first kiss.

They parted and Adrian smiled at her sweetly, but she wanted more. Sophie wasn’t ready to let go of the feeling of utter bliss he gave her. She grabbed his shirt again and locked her lips into his, almost desperate. This second kiss was longer and way more passionate. Adrian licked her bottom lip as if asking for permission and she gladly gave it, allowing him to deepen the kiss. They kissed hard, with hunger and urgency, his hands now traveling through her back to her waist, hers tangled in his hair. Sophie had never felt anything like it. It was like she had never been kissed before.

Their lips reluctantly separated and they stared at each other and smiled again, catching their breath. Sophie couldn’t help but crash herself into his arms, hugging him closely.

“I thought this would never happen.” She laughed.

“Tell me about it.”

He played with her hair and carefully tugged at it to bring her face to his. She loved the way he looked at her. She felt beautiful and worthy for the first time in her life. Adrian playfully kissed her bottom lip, then her chin and her jawline, until he reached her earlobe.

“God, I’m happy you misdialed the number that night,” he quietly said, making her smile and feel warm inside.

Sophie suddenly remembered she still had a question. She grabbed his shirt again and brought their bodies just a few inches apart.

“Adrian?”

He kissed her forehead before looking at her.

“Yes?”

“You had never seen me before tonight, right?”

“Unfortunately, because if I had seen you before, you would’ve been mine a long time ago.” He grinned as his arms locked around her again.

Sophie blushed again. “Then how did you know who I was?”

He took a few strands of hair from her face, and got his lips as close as possible to her ear, whispering with the voice she had grown to adore.

“Murphy… You look just like I imagined.”

THE END

Author's Note - THE END! *opens bottle of champagne* Time to party. You are all invited for the most awesome party ever, I've called all the penguins I know and the South Pole is waiting, eheheh.

Alright, so there is a few things I want to talk about. First, some people asked me why the story was ending so soon. Well, darlings, the truth is, this is a short-story :) And, originally, it was supposed to be only six chapters long, but since I can't shut up, it grew to twelve. This also explains a lot of other things, like why the plot is so simple and the character development is not very ... well, developed.

Second, some people also asked me for an Epilogue *flattered xD* I never wrote one, because I felt like it ended in the perfect place, with the perfect sentence. BUT, if you don't feel that way, if you'd like more closure, if you honestly don't think that an epilogue will hurt anything in the story for you, I WILL write it with pleasure :) Just talk to me about it, eheh. Since someone suggested it, I've actually thought about it a little and I have a scene in my head, but not too developed either. Will have to give it more thought.

Third, some people also asked me to write the book again through Adrian's POV. I admit, ever since someone talked to me about writing a chapter in his POV, I've been playing with the idea in my mind, but nothing concrete. And then someone suggested I wrote the whole book and, I have to admit, even though I immediately imagined the cover and the title for it, I also got pretty surprised. Would you really like me to write it? I mean, is it really fair to you? To me it would be fairly easy, the dialogue would be the same and, since most of the story is dialogue, I guess I would just copy&paste a lot. But that's just it, do you really want to read the same story again? Wouldn't it be boring, repetitive? In my honest opinion, I think writing a couple of chapters or scenes would be better, not so tiresome for you. But, I am open to ideas. I think I'll leave this one up to you. If you really want me to write a specific chapter or scene in which you wished to know what was going on in Adrian's mind, let me know and I'll see what I can do ;) I'll be leaving this story as incomplete until I have come to a decision.

Finally, and most importantly, thank you so much to everyone who read this and, in particular, to those who voted, added, fanned and commented. It was, truly, a pleasure writing this and it's thanks to you. You all made this an amazing journey for me and I hope you had as much fun as I did. I will miss this story :) I will miss all of you and receiving your messages. You're all awesome! I love you all! *cries* My squirrel will miss stalking you the most!

And I'll just shut up now. This note has gone way out control, ahah. Talk to me, you epic people made of infinite coolness!