Ellis Residence
 

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Sophia had tried to keep herself busy and out of the way while Daniem’s ex-wife came into town from the Big Island to visit Spencer, their son. So that meant Soph spent most of the time at her parents' house. Despite being with Damien for over two years and always respecting his co-parenting with Jennifer, the woman still hated her. Damien chalked it up to Jennifer, disagreeing with their age difference, but Sophia thought otherwise. She honestly didn't know what she did to the woman for her to hate her so much. They had already been broken up and divorced before Sophia came into the picture.

Pulling into her parents’ driveway, she turned off the car and gathered up her belongings from the passenger’s seat, and went into the house. “Hey, where’s mom?” After Sophia lost her mother to cancer at thirteen, her father eventually remarried when she was sixteen. She inherited a new mother and a toddler sister. It was hard initially because Sophia thought Nicole was trying to replace her mother. However, that wasn't the case, and Sophia only realized that as she got older. Their relationship has blossomed over the years.

It was hard to ignore the tone of her sister’s voice as she answered her. “Okay, well, she wanted me to stop and look at the family room. She and dad want to redecorate. Do you know what time she'll be back?” It was like pulling teeth to get Sam to answer. Sophia set the bags with her supplies down before joining Sam on the couch.

Sam wouldn't look at her. Instead, she fixated her gaze on the television hanging on the wall. Sophia scanned the immediate surroundings for the remote. When she found it, she grabbed it, muting the television and tucking it on the other side of her so Sam couldn't get to it immediately. “All right, I’m holding the remote hostage until you tell me what’s wrong. Why are you so grumpy? Did something happen at the party?” Sophia had covered for her sister the night of the party. She told their parents she and Sam were having a girls’ night.

Sam didn't really know how to process the information that she'd found out about her best friend, Leighton. The day after the whole awkwardness in the hot tub, they'd talked everything out via texts, but Leighton had also dropped a bomb in the form of the fact that she'd been raped by her now deceased stepfather. Sam knew the statistics and knew that she probably knew someone who'd had it happen to them, but suddenly they were no longer just numbers on the internet, it was her best friend. It made her question, who else in her life carried such a terrible burden every day as well.

The fact that she'd started her period this morning had Sam feeling extra emotional about everything wrong in the world, so it was safe to say, she wasn't in the best of moods when Sophia showed up. "Not here," Sam scoffed and went back to watching Twilight, only taking her eyes off the screen again to side eye Sophia when she started talking again. 'Take the hint.' "I don't know. She didn't tell me." Sam rolled her eyes and crossed her arms when Sophia sat down on the couch with her.

"Hey! What the hell?" Sam complained when she could no longer hear her movie. "My God! You are literally being so annoying right now." Sam had known Sophia for essentially her entire life, she viewed her like a blood sister and treated her as such. "Nothing happened at the party. Well, stuff happened but not like you're probably thinking. It was just a normal party. And I'm grumpy because Aunt Flo is a bitch, okay? Can I have the remote back now?" Holding her hand out, she whined and pulled it back when Sophia let her know that wasn't an acceptable enough answer.

Sam let out a sigh as she tried to figure out how to go about getting her sister off her back without actually telling her what she knew. Repositioning herself on the couch to give herself extra time to figure out how she wanted to say this. "So... Leighton and I were hanging out with this girl we know from school. And well, she told us that her stepfather, well he," she whispered the next part, "raped her." Sam watched Sophia's reaction closely before continuing. "He's totally not in the picture anymore so she's safe, but like, I guess it's totally just fucking with my head. I just... ew... How does someone do that? What's wrong with people?"

Sophia rolled her eyes when Sam tried to use her time of the month as an excuse for being grumpy. “Nice try. Now, what's wrong?” Sam should know Sophia well enough that she wasn't going anywhere until Sam told her what was bothering her. Sophia was sixteen once, and if anyone could understand Sam the best, it’d be her.

However, what Sam told her next, Sophia hadn't expected to be so horrific. It took her a minute to process everything and find the right words. The subject of sexual assault and rape will always be a sensitive subject; luckily, the world has been bringing light to how frequently it does occur. “Damn, that's horrible,” Sophia was disturbed. Who wouldn't be?

“Yeah, the world is a shitty place,” Sophia agreed. “Unfortunately, it happens more than you'd think. I never told dad because he'd flip his shit, but in college, I was sexually assaulted,” Sophia looked away, unable to look at her sister’s painful expression. “I wasn't raped or anything like that,” Sophia assured her sister. “But a couple of frat guys touched me inappropriately and tried to get me to go to one of their rooms. Luckily, my friends were able to save me from that whole situation.”

Sophia frowned. She felt terrible that Sam was dealing with all this. Wrapping an arm around Sam’s shoulders, she pulled her sister into a side hug. “Look, if you don't know what to do or say, just know she told you for a reason,” Sophia pointed out. “She trusted you, and all you can do now is be there for her the best you can. That’s if you want to be. It's not your trauma to take on,” Sophia reminded Sam.

It all made Sam realize how lucky she'd been in her life. Not only did she live in paradise, but she'd basically hit the lottery twice with her new extra families. Sure, they still had their own issues but never anything quite as serious as what some people had to deal with apparently. "Right? Like super horrific." Sam agreed, bringing her legs up onto the couch and hugging them in her arms.

One of Sam's hands clasped over her mouth as Sophia opened about how something had happened to her while she was in college. "I had no idea. That's really awful, Soph!" Sam pouted. "I'm sorry that happened to you." Her sister was so brave and strong, Sam had always looked up to her so not once had she thought something like that happened to her. How many more people did she know with similar stories? Probably more than she really wanted to know.

Wiggling her arm around her back to return the hug, Sam stayed there cuddled next to her sister. It felt comforting and safe, and right now all she could think about was how scary the world could be when she looked outside of her personal bubble. "Thanks, sis. That's like really good advice. And like super helpful." Sam watched Bella and Edward interact in silence, not really paying attention even when Sophia turned the volume back on.

Finally pulling away, she reached over at Sophia and turned the volume down. "Not that I haven't loved the extra time with you lately, but like how much longer are you stuck hiding out here? When does the monster go back to her cave? Definitely seems like Spencer is ready for her to go back."

“It's in the past. I'm good,” Sophia didn't let that part of her life impact her. “Was it?” she nervously chuckled. “Because I really had no idea what to say.”

Sophia sighed when her sister brought up Damien’s ex-wife. “Until she takes care of whatever needs her attention,” Sophia shrugged. “Yeah?” A bit confused when Sam mentioned Spencer was ready for her to go too. “Huh. I don't know. I figured he’d like having her around.” That was news to Sophia, especially since he'd been so heartbroken over his parents’ divorce.

“He still doesn't talk much. Always a bit moody,” Sophia elaborated. She chalked it up to him being a growing teenage book and didn't hold much against him. She remembered what it was like when her father started dating Nicole. It wasn't easy. “He seems to be doing better, though, so that's a plus.” Damien wasn't one to set many rules and boundaries, so Spencer came and went as he pleased. He was much more mellow when it came to parenting than Jennifer. She could see why Spencer wanted to live with his father instead.

“So, how an everything with you and Jess?” Sophia jokingly nudged her sister on her side. “I see all those cute pictures you two post of each other. You two seem so smitten. It's precious. I'm happy for you, Sam.” Jess had been around for a long time, and by how he treated Sam, Sophia knew her sister was in good hands now that they were a couple.

“Oh! I saw your Instagram post about the dance. Sam, why on earth would you wear that dress? You looked so uncomfortable in all of your photos,” Sophia chuckled.

"For having no idea, you did great." Sam assured her.

"Yeah, he totally loves his mom and misses her and all that when she's not here, but you know how she is. She's like super strict and sometimes frankly a little scary." Sam clarified with a shrug. "That's Spencer for ya; quiet and moody. He and Leighton are kind of together, so I think that's been good for him though." Sam didn't want to say it out loud because he was her friend after all, but she did worry about if he was going to be good for her.

Sam couldn't help but blush when Sophia brought up Jess. "Oh my god, ew, you sound like a mom. I knew I shouldn't have let you onto my real IG and just kept you on the parent's one." Sam joked defensively. Sophia was definitely cool enough to see her real stories. "But like, yes. We're amazing and he is sweet and totally like the best boyfriend ever." Sam stared off for a moment, absentmindedly playing with her necklace as she reminisced about the valentine's dance.

Sam rolled her eyes before letting out a sigh. "Ugh, don't remind me. Biggest mistake of the night, but don't worry though, I already took care of that stupid dress." Sam smiled at Sophia. "Speaking of boyfriends though, does that silver fox of yours have anything special planned for you two once Spencer's mom leaves? Because he'd better! Also, is it just me or do our lives feel a little soap opera-y. Like you're dating my friend's dad, and my best friend is basically dating his kid, and then you're also best friends with my best friend's mom." Sam paused to shake her head and figure out if she'd forgotten anything else. "I just find it interesting."

Sophie sighed in relief when Sam admitted she thought Jennifer was scary too. “Oh, God, isn’t she, though? She terrifies me!” Sometimes Sophie felt like Jennifer enforced her dominance just because she could. “She can make me feel so tiny,” Sophie said as she slumped back into the couch cushions. “It’s why I leave when she comes to visit now. I don't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she makes me feel like shit.” It’s not like Sophie was some ignorant 30-something-year-old. She had a full-time job as an interior designer and took care of Damien and Spencer by taking care of the daily house chores. Sophie wasn’t some useless live-in girlfriend like Jennifer seemed to believe.

Gasping drastically, “What!” Sophie shook her head. “I sound nothing like mom,” she pouted a little. “And no! Do not deprive me of your teenage love story! It’s cute and so sweet.” She smiled, watching as her sister beamed as she spoke about her boyfriend. “You know, my first boyfriend got me a ring from one of those quarter machines at the grocery store. It turned me green,” she chuckled. “You got a good one there, sis.”

Sophie shrugged when Sam brought up Damien's plans for after Jennifer left. “Honestly, we’ll probably get back to living our lives like she hadn’t interrupted them for two weeks with her overbearing presence,” Sophie answered. “We’re far past the honeymoon stage. Don’t get me wrong, he still does cute little things, just not as frequently,” she explained.

“I see your point,” Sophie agreed and grinned once, realizing how much their lives were intertwined. “Or it could just be because we live on an island?” She pointed out and shrugged. “It’s funny, though; I’ve always had a crush on Damien. Like, when I used to go pick you and Jess up from Spencer’s,” her eyes got wide as she made the exploding gesture with her hands, “Fucking heart eyes all day long.” The fact that they ended up together and were still going relatively strong was one in a million. Sophie had been somewhat hesitant when it came to a relationship with Damien. Sleeping together with no strings was one thing; having to feel inferior to his ex-wife while trying to navigate her place was another. It’s gotten better over the years. Now she’ll remove herself from the situation beforehand like she did today.

“Hey, while we are kind of on the topic of Violet and Leighton,” she hesitated because she didn’t know if her mind was making things up, and she didn’t want to alarm her sister if it wasn’t necessary. “Does Leighton talk about her life before moving to the island?” Sophie was starting to feel like her best friend was only telling her things she wanted her to know. “I only ask because the night of the dance, I went over for girls' night. And, like, I feel Vi never talks about herself. She does, but not really if that makes sense?” Sophie didn’t know if it was just her gut overreacting, but then again, what if it wasn’t? “Sometimes I feel like something is off, that’s all.”

Sam would absolutely want Spencer's mom defending her if the situation ever arose, but to have to go against her? That was terrifying. "I think she's intimidated by you. She and Spencer's dad got a divorce and she ended up with some boring dentist. Meanwhile, Damien bagged himself a major babe." Sam attempted to make her sister feel better about having to be on the receiving end of Jennifer's wrath.

"Jess makes me rings everytime we go out." Sam admitted proudly. "Usually it's out of random things he finds - wrappers, napkins, string - kinda sounds weird and lame but it's actually really cute and sweet." Jess was actually setting the bar pretty damn high, if for whatever reason they didn't work, she didn't know if she'd ever be able to find someone who could make her feel as special as he did.

Sam tilted her head and smiled as she watched Soph how she'd had eyes for Damien for a long time. "That's fucking adorable, but oh my god, if you two get married, that'll make you Spencer's stepmom and then I can be like his aunt in law. I have no clue if it works like that but if it means I can be bossy, I'm all for it. I mean, I'd obvs be happy for you but it'd also be a real win for me." Sam joked. She didn't need a reason to be unnecessarily bossy.

"No, she totally has this air of mystery surrounding her. It took forever to get Leighton to start opening up to me. And still, she hasn't told me too much." The fact that Sam had a habit of steamrolling conversations probably didn't help with that. "They moved around a lot. Apparently she was always jumping into relationships and then forcing them to move somewhere new everytime it didn't work out. Anyways that's why they have this deal that Violet won't date anyone until after Leighton graduates, so she has somewhat of a chance at a normal, stable life. But other than that, I really don't know much more about her."

Sam shrugged; she didn't really feel bad about spilling the tea she had on Violet because it was all stuff a best friend would or should know. "She also kind of scary but just in a different way. Sometimes I swear it's like she has little mice or birds spying for her. Like, she always seems to pop up at the most inconvenient times."