▃▃▃▃▃▃
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 SOPHIE, LAYLA, EMBRY AND QUIL WERE ALL HANGING OUT ON THE RES, strolling down a path when they recognised Bella's car in Jacob's driveway, "Is that Bella Swan's truck?" Layla squinted her eyes, a scoff escaping her lips when she realised it was, indeed, Bella Swan's Chevrolet. Sophie wrapped her arms around herself, a self—conscious feeling washing over her for reasons that were extremely obvious.

She had gotten over Jacob, yes, but it was just the fact that Jacob put in so much effort for Bella, showing up at times where Bella needed him, giving her gifts, showering her with the attention she deserves. Did Sophie not deserve that attention? Did she do something to push Jacob away from her?

Quil's voice brought her from her thoughts, "Let's go!" He exclaimed, grabbing onto Embry's arm and he dragged him towards Jacob's rather large barn, leaving Layla and Sophie stood on the pathway nearby.

"Do you wanna just stay here?" Layla asked, noticing how uncomfortable Sophie looked but the aforementioned girl just shrugged, spinning on the spot. She pushed herself out of her comfort zone, dragging her feet after Embry and Quil, Layla hot on her trail until they reached the barn, finding Jacob stood up beside a bike which was pulled apart and Bella, who was sat down on a stool.

In front of them was Embry and Quil with grins on their lips, but when the two cousins arrived, standing on the other side of Embry, Jacob's mood shifted to a much more negative energy, "Hey, guys." Bella greeted her school friends and Layla grinned, throwing her arm around Sophie.

"Hey, Bells. Having fun getting down and dirty?" Layla winked and Sophie snorted quietly, unable to contain her laughter no matter how uncomfortable she was in that situation. Bella chuckled, tilting her head in a gesture that told them that she kind of was having fun.

"I'm Quil Ateara." Quil lifted his chin, his eyes squinted in attempt to be seductive but it didn't work, Bella smiling at him awkwardly, "So, the bike building story's true..."

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I taught him everything he knows." Bella joked without a hint of humour in her expression and Embry nodded, glancing over at Sophie for a mere second to check on her, knowing she was probably more uneasy than anyone in that situation.

"What about the part where you're his girlfriend?" Quil randomly asked, the boy oblivious to the tension between Sophie and Jacob and Embry elbowed the younger boy in the ribs, causing Quil to scream out in pain, holding onto his ribs, "Ow! What was that for?"

"Shut up." Embry warned, his hand reaching up to rest on the St. James' shoulder in a comforting manner, whilst Layla's thumb caressed her upper—arm. Jacob's eyes flickered over to Sophie, whose face showed no emotion yet he could see the vulnerability in her eyes, his expression turning tense.

"You got it wrong, Quil. Remember, I said she's a girl and a friend." Jacob clarified, but Quil only chuckled, still holding onto his ribs, a bruise already forming from Embry's force. The aforementioned boy glanced at Quil with a warning look, the look transferring the information that Embry would beat him up if he said anything.

"So you guys have girlfriends? That's awesome." Bella joked, clearing the tension in the air as they all laughed lightly. Layla nodded, pulling Sophie closer to her.

"Yeah, this is my hot girlfriend, always flaunt your girlfriends guys." Layla sent them all threatening looks, a small smile on her lips and Embry scoffed, grabbing onto Sophie's arm in attempt to pull her near him.

"Hey, she's my girlfriend, too." Embry furrowed his eyebrows in playful anger, the two tugging at Sophie's arms until she lifted her arms in the air, swirling around in attempt to escape them.

"I'm being attacked!" Sophie ran around the barn, pretending to be chased by zombies and Quil rolled his eyes at their antics, letting out a grumble of slight jealousy.

"Don't be jealous that you don't have a girlfriend of your own, Quil." Jacob teased, leaning down to whisper to Bella although they all could hear him, even over Layla's laughter, "He's taking his cousin to prom." Bella snorted, causing Quil to furrow his eyebrows in irritation.

"You want funny, Black? I'll give you funny." Quil rushed towards Jacob, tackling him to the ground and the two play—fought, knocking tools onto the ground with a care in the world. Sophie found herself heading towards Bella, standing beside her as Embry and Layla fought nearby Quil and Jacob.

"I'm betting five on Quil." Sophie joked, crossing her arms over her chest and Bella giggled quietly, glancing up at her friend.

"You're on." Her eyes widened as Quil and Jacob became more aggressive, and Sophie clapped excitedly as Quil knocked Jacob to the ground, causing the Black to let out a loud yelp.

"You owe me five dollaroonies. Pay up, Swan." Sophie held her hand out, a playful smile on her soft lips and Bella chuckled, reaching into her pockets only to pull out the pockets themselves, showing her that she had not even a penny to give, "I will never forget this." Sophie narrowed her eyes at her jokingly and headed back over to Layla, jumping onto the blonde's back.

▃▃▃▃▃▃

AT SCHOOL, Sophie was strolling down the hallway, heading towards her locker when a body bumped into hers, seemingly purposeful. The brunette glanced down at the culprit, forcing a smile when she realised it was Miss Swan, "Hey, Bella." Sophie clutched her backpack strap, approaching her and Bella's lockers.

"Hi, I wanted to propose something... You can say no— if you want, I just thought it'd be a good idea." Bella smiled, strangely happier than usual and Sophie couldn't help but assume it was because of her time with Jacob, it would make sense, "Would you, maybe, want to have a sleepover tonight?"

Sophie's eyes went wide, her brows raised in shock, not expecting that question whatsoever. She turned to the inside of her locker, switching out her History book for her Math book, contemplating whether to agree or let her down politely. Her father, who was a doctor, was working a night shift that night and her mother was to be going out with friends, so she'd be home alone.

"Uh... Sure." Sophie forced a kind smile, closing her locker and Bella grinned, her eyes lighting up with surprise.

"Okay, I'll text you." Bella nodded at her enthusiastically before walking away, leaving Sophie's mind in shambles. It seemed as if Bella was getting dangerously close to Sophie and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. It was nice having a new friend, but Bella was an odd person, a heartbroken person.

But, insanely heartbroken. The type of heartbroken that tends to make you lose your mind and do reckless acts, putting not only yourself but others in danger too. Sophie watched her walk away, slight confusion spread across her features when Eric placed his hands on her shoulders, making her jump.

"Sorry..." Eric winced apologetically, a slight smile on his face and Sophie chuckled, spinning around to walk with him, "I just needed to ask about Emily, you know Emily, right?" Eric raised a brow in questioning and Sophie nodded, her thin eyebrows slightly knitted together.

"Right, continue." Sophie gestured, holding her book to her chest and he grinned mischievously, his mouth glued shut, "Oh..." Her eyes lit up, her face full of realisation of what he was asking her to do, "Fine."

"Yay, I love you." Eric leaned forwards, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before running down the opposite way of the corridor, leaving Sophie with a smile of disbelief on her lips. She rolled her eyes, walking straight into her Math class where Emily, the girl Eric was obsessed with, was sat at the back, where she usually sat, right beside the St. James.

"God..." Sophie muttered to herself, remembering how annoying the blonde girl was but she walked towards her despite the hesitance, slumping down beside her, forcing a grin, "Hey, Emily, it's so lovely to see you."

▃▃▃▃▃▃

SOPHIE STOOD ON BELLA'S PORCH FOR JUST A MOMENT LONGER THAN NECESSARY, feeling the need to breathe the fresh air before forcing herself to be kind and civil with the Swan girl. With Embry, or Layla, it was different, she was more than excited to hang out with them, even if it was just for an hour but with Bella, for an entire night, it felt like hell and it hadn't even started yet.

After a few more deep breaths, in and out, in and out, she stepped forwards and pressed her knuckles to the door, knocking three times. She wrapped her arms around herself as she waited, her backpack strap hanging from her shoulder and the door opened after a couple of seconds, Bella Swan in her lounge—wear stood on the other side, "Hey."

"Hi." Sophie forced a grin and stepped inside, her eyes instantly scanning the inside of the house. It was warm, cozy and oddly comforting. Bella closed the door and headed straight up the stairs awkwardly, tugging at her sleeves as she led her friend up to her bedroom, "Your house is really beautiful, Bella." Sophie complimented, to which Bella smiled slightly, her eyes glued to the wooden floorboards in order to ignore the photographs of her parents on the walls.

"Thanks." Bella muttered, rushing into her bedroom and Sophie followed behind with a slight furrow of her brows, stepping inside of the rather large, cluttered yet clean bedroom, "Make yourself at home. Should I make hot chocolate?" Bella stood awkwardly in front of her bed as Sophie placed her backpack down in front of a dresser, a sweet smile making its way onto the younger girl's lips.

"Oo, yes, please!" Sophie could squeal, the sound of the milky chocolate—ness causing her heart to warm. Bella chuckled at her enthusiasm and strolled out of the room, leaving Sophie on her own. It was dark outside already, that was something she was glad to know, she trailed over to the window, pushing open the curtain just a tad as she stared past the familiar trees she saw everyday.

The sound of Bella's footsteps just a few moment later brought her from her trance and Sophie quickly approached her, taking the cup of milkiness from Bella's hand.

"Thank you." Sophie smiled, taking a seat at the end of Bella's bed whilst the aforementioned girl sat by her pillows, placing her own cup down on her nightstand.

"So, I have some games, we could also watch a movie. I've never really had a sleepover before." Bella scratched the back of her hand nervously, brushing some of her hair behind her hair and her statement made Sophie grin from ear—to—ear.

"I'm your first time?" Sophie's eyes lit up in surprise as she quickly stood up, placing her hot mug on a coaster on one of the dressers and Bella giggled, nodding unsurely, "Good choice! I'll show you what a real sleepover is about."

That night was spent doing manicures, stuffing their faces with desserts such as ice cream, popcorn, snacks, they even made a trip to the nearby store for more snacks considering Charlie's lack of cupboard storage in the house. They watched movies and TV shows Bella never had before, exchanged pyjamas, spoke about celebrity crushes, did face masks, braided each other's hair, spoke about future weddings and just talked majority of the night until the topic went dark.

Sophie laid across the end of the bed, Bella laying right beside her as they stared up at the popcorn ceiling, the older girl cleared her throat, opening her mouth to speak, "What's with you and Jake?" No response. Only silence, "I mean, I asked him but he didn't say anything." Crickets. Bella turned her head to look at the St. James, her brows furrowed and Sophie only stared up at the ceiling, her eyes slightly watered.

She thought she'd clarified everything that night at the party, but clearly not.

"He says he's sorry." Bella shrugged, and Sophie finally turned her head, looking directly into Bella's eyes with watered ones, "He means it, Soph. He misses you." She rolled her eyes and spun around, her back facing Bella's face, "Come on, please, forgive him. He hardly even did anything." Bella placed her hand on Sophie's shoulder, pulling her backwards to face her again, but her words only angered the younger brunette.

"You don't even know what happened, Bella." Sophie's tears were evident, now falling down from her eyes to her freckled cheeks, "Couldn't you have just stayed quiet? I was having so much fun." She swallowed back her tears, wiping them away from her cheeks in attempt to appear stronger than she was acting.

"He's my best—friend... I'm going to defend him." Bella stuttered out, waving her hands around and Sophie only stared at her with furrowed brows, a lightbulb turning off in her mind, her eyes widening in realisation.

"Did he ask you to do this?" Sophie swirled her finger around, gesturing to the entire sleepover and Bella glanced down at her hands, her silence gifting Sophie her answer, "Okay." The St. James jumped up off of the bed and pulled her shoes on, picking up her backpack from the ground.

"Sophie, don't go. Please." Bella begged though it was useless, Sophie had already left the bedroom, rushing down the stairs. As she opened the front door, Charlie jumped up from the couch, his eyes widened in confusion as he watched the girl close the door behind her.

The next morning, Jacob had a war coming.

@amxliewrites — 2025