The One I Loathe

Chapter 17

I was having second thoughts about pretending to give Sophie the cold shoulder. I did it to make my next move even more surprising, but I think I really did hurt her.


As soon as we got home at 12:00 Sam was practically asleep already. I stayed up though. My plan wasn’t complete yet. At 12:30 I’d initiate phase two.

I flopped down on the sofa and thought about that night. I didn’t know she remembered all that stuff about our childhood! Heck, I didn’t know I remembered all that stuff! I had completely forgotten that I was so in love with her as a kid. Even in 5th grade when she was a little chubby, had braces, huge glasses, and an awful haircut, I loved her then too!

What happened? If I could put a marker on the exact time and place, it would have to be my 10th birthday. Sophie said she didn’t want to come. I was so upset. Sounds lame, I know. But from then on, I decided not to like Sophie Jameson. And up until now, it worked pretty well!

I was wrong about her. I thought she was just like every other snobby girl, but she was far from it. I loved her honesty, her sincerity, her ability to make me feel so…good. I loved…her. And tonight I would tell her.

I glanced at the clock, 12:25. Perfect. It was now or never.



I sat on my bed for 20 minutes, thinking. I wasn’t sure what to think anymore. I tried fighting that I liked, possibly loved, Trent. I tried accepting that he liked Hilary, not me. But now that Sam and I were broken up and he was dating Hilary, that wasn’t an issue. Except that now Trent didn’t seem to like me! Why did I even bother? I was just a jinx when it came to relationships. Either they liked me for my looks, and hate my personality or they like my personality AND my looks but decide to date my best friend instead!

I realized that I was still wearing my dress; so I slipped into some comfy sweat pants and a t-shirt. I didn’t have the strength to take off my make-up or take down my hair.

Then, just as I was about to get into bed, I heard a tapping on the window. Bug? No, too big. I pulled back my blue sheer window panel to see…Trent? He had a tiny stone in his hand. Throwing rocks at my window? How romantic. Except that he didn’t like me like that right?

“Trent?” I kind of yell-whispered, “What are you doing here?”

He smiled that gorgeous smile of his and asked me, “Come for a walk with me?”

If didn’t know any better, I would think he was trying to romance me. Well, if he was, it was working.

“Yeah, sure,” Was all I could muster.

I opened my window all the way and pulled out the screen. There was a rolled up fire-safety escape ladder that lead from my window to the ground. For once, my parent’s paranoia finally paid off!

I unrolled the ladder, climbed down, and hopped off down on the ground to a waiting Trent.

“So, why are you here?” I asked him again.

“To woo you,” He said simply.

I blushed at that, I couldn’t help it.

He reached down and grabbed my hand, then, he bent down and whispered in my ear, “Come with me,”

Anywhere.

I let him lead me to my backyard. That was the one thing that hadn’t changed in 16 years. Having never been outdoorsy type people, my parents had never got around to getting rid of the swing set, fort, and slide that were back there from our childhood. It was one of the other places we played our castle game at kids. Just like he did when we were 5 years old, he lead me up the stairs of the fort and to the upper platform of it.

He turned towards me. I tried to avoid eye contact, because if I didn’t, I’d be locked in those blue eyes forever! And, then I’d be setting myself up for another broken heart. I was smarter then that.

He spoke, “I’m sorry I’ve been so bipolar lately.

It’s just, I lose all sense when I’m around you,”

It was just a line, just a line. Don’t believe it!

“Don’t do that…” I said quietly, trying to hold back tears that were starting to well up.

“Do what?” He didn’t sound angry or confused, just…concerned.

It’s just fake concern! He’s playing with your emotions!

“Don’t be so sweet to me,”

The tears were dripping now.

“Why not?”

They moved into a steady flow.

“Because…because…” They became a whelping sob now. “I don’t want to be hurt again!”

Then I made the mistake of looking at him.

His eyes were full of sadness, sympathy, and utter and complete…love.

He said something like, ‘I would never hurt you’, but I don’t remember because at that moment, he took my wet chin in his palm and tilted it up towards is lips. Then without any fuss or pretense he looked down at me as if asking my permission. I gave it by closing the gap between us.

All my thoughts floated away except one, I loved him.
But not like I “loved” Jeremy or any other guy I dated. I loved him enough to trust him completely. After all these years, he was still my knight in shining armor.

I hadn’t realized it then, but now I did. I gave my heart to Trent when I was five years old, and he’d kept it. And I wanted him to keep it forever.



I kept my promise. I gave my princess her first kiss.
When we finally broke apart I looked down at her face. Her mascara had run down all over her face. Her eyes were all red and puffy. She still looked as beautiful as she did earlier that night when she’d been all made up, maybe more.

She suddenly noticed that I was looking rather oddly at her face. She gasped and her hands flew to her face in panic.

“Oh my gosh! I must look horrible!”

“You look beautiful,” I said, and I meant it.

She yawned. What time was it? At least one o’clock.

“Come on, you need to go to bed,”

She nodded and we walked down the fort, hand in hand.

When she scaled the ladder to go back to her room, I followed. When she got back in her bedroom, I stayed on the ladder, resting my elbows on the windowsill.

“Good night, my knight in shining armor,” She whispered to me.

“Good night, princess,”

We kissed again. Not a long one, we had plenty of time for that.

And I truly believed we did