▃▃▃▃▃▃
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 LAYLA WAS FAST ASLEEP ON THE COUCH, Eric was draped across the floor, Mike was beside his sister, his face pressed against her shoulder and Embry was strolling around the kitchen, trying to clean up to the best of his ability whilst also being a little drunk himself.

Sophie was seeing everyone out, saying her goodbyes and making sure nobody had lost anything, and she knew it was coming, she was just hoping it never did. Bella and Jacob approached, small smiles on their lips as if they'd done something mischievous, only making Sophie more jealous than she already was.

"The party was great." Bella complimented, knowing Sophie was more of a host than the actual hosts were and the aforementioned girl nodded tiredly, smiling a little to hide her discomfort... until her patience was pushed and Jacob's hand landed on her arm, she looked up at him from the ground, her eyes narrowed in not only irritation but confusion as well.

His hand hesitantly moved away after noticing the look on Sophie's face and he glanced at Bella before he shook his head in anger, frustration evident on his expression, "You know what, I'm sick of this! I'm sick and tired of you hating on me, not talking to me as if I did something wrong!" Jacob yelled, waking up everyone in the room, who just watched in silence and Embry marched out of the kitchen, intently watching too, all of them knowing Sophie could handle herself and that was exactly what she did.

"Are you kidding?" Sophie mumbled, her voice tired and she rolled her eyes out of disbelief, causing his anger to rise.

"No, are you? Because you keep ignoring me, ignoring my calls, my texts, my attempts to be civil, you avoid me! What did I do? Tell me!" Jacob yelled and he yelled for the last time before both of Sophie's hands pushed against his chest, causing him to fly back into the wall behind him.

"Watch the painting!" Layla called out tiredly, followed by a groan of pain from her tiny hangover.

"Don't yell at me, you don't get that right. All I've ever done is love you, I comforted you when you were down, I hugged you when your parents never did, I let you cry in my arms when your Mom died, I was there for you, Jake! But where were you when my Grandma died? Where were you when I was failing all of my classes? Where were you when I was fighting with my parents every night?" Tears spilled from her eyes as she sobbed and her eyes flickered over to Bella, who looked as if she wanted to bury herself under the floorboards, "You were too busy fawning over her, you were obsessed with her but she never loved you and never will, she will always choose Edward."

Jacob looked down to his hands in shame, that was a fact he always felt deep down but he always ignored it, hoping Bella would finally see him, hoping he would finally be her first choice and that was exactly how Sophie was feeling, "I'm...—"

"You're what? You're sorry? No, it's too late for that, Jake, you always missed my birthdays whilst you always remembered hers, even going as far as to come to my school to give her a gift." She reached her hands up, wiping her tears from under her eyes but she knew there was no point, they were just spilling out, dripping from her chin.

"So, what, this is jealousy?" Jacob questioned, taking a step forwards and she chuckled in disbelief, looking down to her boots in pure sadness.

"You know... Yeah, it is jealousy because you were always my first choice, Jake and it isn't even about my crush on you, you were my best—friend yet you never cared about me, you never loved me. My mistake was making you a priority when I was your second choice. I will always be your second choice." Sophie stormed forwards, nudging past Jacob on her way out of the door and she rushed down the porch steps, tears just pouring from her dark eyes, uncontrollable tears.

It was dark out, she could hardly see, her vision blurred by her tears but she continued to walk, ignoring the calls of her name behind her. Her feelings were all layered into one large tower threatening to fall, it had been threatening to fall for ages until she found a spot in a nearby park against a stone wall, slumping down on the grass with her knees to her chest.

And that was when she allowed the tower to fall and crash onto the concrete, her tears just coming like a tsunami, she cried into her hands, hardly able to even breathe, "He never loved me." She whispered to herself as she hiccuped, her words only breaking her down even more.

In another life, she imagined Jacob running up to her, she imagined him wrapping his arms around her and telling her it was okay, that she was strong enough to get through it all, but she knew that was just a fantasy world, he'd never care about her enough.

The entire night, all of her tears came pouring out, almost creating a puddle around her until eventually, her eyes fluttered closed and she fell into a deep sleep on the grass, unknowing of the cemetery on the other side of the wall, the cemetery where her grandmother was buried — her guardian angel — she would be okay.

▃▃▃▃▃▃

THE NEXT MORNING, she'd forgotten what'd happened, how she'd ended up in her bedroom and why her mother was fast asleep right beside her. She assumed Corrine was only worried about her, it was the only possible explanation. Suddenly, after Sophie had sat up, the bedroom door opened and her father appeared in the doorway with a tray in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. On the tray was pancakes, chocolate syrup, cinnamon powder and french toast, her favourite dessert breakfast.

A smile appeared on Sophie's lips as if she'd forgotten the night prior, she didn't want to think about that, she just wanted to be happy, she wanted to be happy with her family, at least for a little while. Henry rounded the bed and made sure the bed sheets were flat before he placed the tray down on his daughter's lap, placing the cup of coffee on the placement mat on the nightstand.

"Hope you enjoy, cooked up your favourite." Henry's Australian accent was thick as he spoke, a smirk on his lips as he hopped onto the end of the bed, tickling his wife's arms in order to wake her from her deep slumber.

"Thank you, Dad." Sophie giggled, picking up the cinnamon powder and she poured some on top of her chocolate syrup covered pancakes, watching as her mother groaned, resistant to wake up. Corrine slapped her husband's hands away, snuggling into Sophie's pillow and Henry took the pillow from under her head, making her almost scream.

"Give that back!" Corrine sat up, an angry look on her face towards Henry, who only grinned, the pillow on the bed behind him. She shook her head, her eyes narrowed in his direction and she looked towards her daughter, her expression immediately softening as she watched the girl enjoy her breakfast, "I'm surprised he hasn't given you cavities yet."

"Same." Sophie stated, a short—lived chuckle escaping her lips as she bit into one of her french toasts, closing her eyes in delight at the succulent taste. Her father was an amazing cook, so was her mother, she supposed you could say she was blessed with her parents, she felt blessed every day.

Her parents continued to teasingly bicker for a while, but she zoned them out, her eyes drifting over to her bedroom window, the exact one where she'd received that strange note. The corners of her lips upturned as she stared at the sun just hanging above the trees, she knew that it was going to be better day than the one before, she just had a feeling.

After she finished up with her breakfast — she wasn't able to eat it all — she got dressed into a purple hoodie and some blue jeans with her Converse and headed downstairs, not bothering to do much with her hair. She was glad she could just brush her hair and move on, that was another blessing she acknowledged.

Her mother was sat at the table, enjoying her breakfast and her father was stood at the sink, washing all of the dishes. Sophie entered the kitchen, placing her tray and finished cup of coffee in the sink with an apologetic smile, hoping her father didn't make her wash the dishes and she let out a relieved sigh when her father stayed silent, a smile on his lips.

When she moved back through the kitchen doorway, going to sit down beside her mother, she felt her cell buzz in her hoodie pocket and she pulled it out, looking down at the notification with furrowed eyebrows.

TEXT MESSAGE...
LAYLA :)

I need you

"Uh... Mom?" Sophie looked up from her screen and over at her mother, who stared at her with concern evident in her eyes.

"Hm?" Corrine hummed, one brow raised and still chewing a piece of pancake, worried about her daughter and Sophie stuffed her phone back in her pocket, picking up her keys from the bowl in the center of the dining table.

"Layla needs me, I'm gonna go to her house, is that okay?" Sophie smiled, internally begging she would say yes so she could go and comfort her best—friend and Corrine immediately nodded, her brows now knitted together in pure confusion.

"Of course, is she okay?" Corrine questioned, anxious about her beautiful niece and Sophie nodded, approaching her mother to place a kiss on her cheek.

"Yeah, I think I know what it's about." Sophie rolled her eyes, knowing it was about the blonde's drunken make—out session with Miss Weber and she headed out of the dining room, "Say bye to Dad for me."

It took about five minutes to arrive at the same place she was the night prior, probably one of the worst nights of her life but she tried to forget, she tried to just move on. Sophie headed up the driveway and up the porch, opening the front door, she knew she didn't need to knock.

Inside, it was clean as if they'd ordered twelve maids to completely dust it all up and she looked to her left, the painting she'd pushed Jacob into on a slant and she closed the door, moving forwards to straighten the canvas. In the living room, Eric and Mike were sat on the couch, both playing some game on their Wii and she rolled her eyes, not bothering to go in and disturb them.

She headed straight up the stairs, making a beeline for her favourite cousin's bedroom only to find her balled up in the corner of her library corner, crying her eyes out, scrunched up tissues scattered all around her, "Layls?" Her gentle voice caused the Newton girl's tears to come to a halt and Layla looked up from her hands, staring at Sophie for a moment before she burst into tears again. Sophie closed the door and sped towards her, wrapping her in a tight hug, "Hey, it's all right."

"She told me she doesn't like girls, that she was just drunk." Layla sniffled, her voice muffled through her crying but Sophie knew exactly what she was saying, shaking her head in disagreement.

"Layla, she's probably just figuring out her sexuality, she just needs time." Sophie explained, she'd had a few conversations with Jess over the last couple of months and she knew that Angela had feelings for Layla too, but she was just confused and that was understandable, Layla was confused too when she first figured out she found women attractive.

"How do you know that? How do you know that she wasn't just actually drunk?" Layla sobbed, the thought of Angela only kissing her because of the alcohol in her system and not because she actually liked her ripping her heart into two. Watching the blonde breakdown in a way Sophie had never seen before broke the aforementioned girl's heart too.

"I've just... I've heard things. Come here, you don't need to worry about that right now." Sophie held her closer, resting her head atop hers as Layla continued to cry into the St. James' purple hoodie, the tears soaking the purple fabric but Sophie couldn't care less, she only wanted her best—friend to be okay.

And that she would be because Sophie never let go, they stayed there for hours and Sophie stayed even when Layla fell asleep. That just sums up the type of person she was... and not to mention the fact that Layla did the exact same thing when Sophie was crying about the boy she was in love with.

She never wanted to think of Jacob Black ever again.

@amxliewrites — 2024