-

I froze as Sophia looked down at me with an already knowing smirk.

I groaned, embarrassed to be caught in my lie. How did she even find an Ethan Meyers that goes to Blake Town High.

"My father works there Avery. Plus Ethan is my tutor." Sophia said, reading my mind. My face erupted into pink, and I ducked my head in embarrassment. Well now she thinks I'm an idiot; she knew I was lying from the beginning.

Sophia gave Ethan a satisfied smile and hugged him.

"Thanks Ethan. You can head back to school now." She said releasing him from the hug. He nodded and smiled back before heading out of the school and leaving me alone with Sophia.

I shuffled uncomfortably under her deep stare. "Now are you going to tell me who really beat you up or are you going to take the other option? And I think you know now that lying won't work out." She asked me with her hands on her hips.

My eyes scanned the hallway for an out but most people had left the hallways to get to class on time. Unfortunately, I don't think Sophia cares about that at the moment.

There was no way in the world I was taking the other option. But there was also no way in the world I was telling her that it was Chris; they'd break up, she'd be unhappy and it'd be all my fault.

I only had two terrible options, but one has to be worse than the other right?

Δ

When Sophia said all the time and everywhere, she really did mean all the time and everywhere. In the classes we had together, she asked the teachers if she could move seats and sit with me, and of course they said yes; this is Sophia we're talking about. In the classes we didn't have together she would be waiting for me outside the door, making sure that I was still alive. I couldn't get a free moment to myself, but hopefully that would all change at lunch time.

Ever since a particular incident¸ I haven't set foot inside of the cafeteria. I had never been a big fan of lunchtime anyway, I was more of a snacker, so I spent my lunch hour in the library.

My plan was to lose Sophia in the chaotic mess of a crowd that is the people going to the cafeteria for lunch. It would be physically impossible for a person the size of Sophia to make it through the crowd on their own. Just the thought of Sophia trying to navigate the crowd brought an amused smile to my face.

I watched the clock for the last few seconds, getting ready to act. When the bell ran, people began to pile out and I timed it correctly to where I was surrounded by a mass of people walking the halls. I was extremely uncomfortable being shoved back and forth, but I couldn't see Sophia which meant my plan was working.

Eventually there was a chance to break through the crowd, so I took it and checked behind me to make sure Sophia wasn't there. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked to the library.

A slow smile made its way onto my face when I opened the doors to the library. I hummed to myself happily, as I walked over to my side to the room. But when I turned the corner, my face paled.

"You know, I can't decide if I like Shakespeare or Edgar Allan Poe more." Sophia said holding up two different books. I internally groaned wanting to bang my head against the bookshelves. I hide in the classics section because no one likes the classics.

There was absolutely, positively no way to get rid of Sophia. You could probably send her to Hogwarts and you'd see her an hour later on a broomstick.

"I can't believe you don't want to spend time with me. I thought I was nice." She said with a pout.

Sophia may actually be the death of me. How could she think that I don't want to spend time with her? That's literally all I think about. It's not my fault that her boyfriend was homophobic and abusive, and would probably kill me without a second thought if he saw us together.

I stayed quiet, looking down at her and her spot on the ground with a raised eyebrow. That was about all I could do because if I opened my mouth something idiotic is most likely to come out.

Sophia laughed quietly and pulled me down to sit next to her. I instantly blushed and pulled my hand away from hers, putting it in my jacket pocket. Sophia rolled her eyes and sat with her legs criss-crossed.

"So, do you want to go to lunch or stay here and read?" She asked rocking herself back and forth.

"You're going to lunch, I'm staying here." I clarified, looking through the books.

Sophia shuffled until she was in front of me. She placed her hand s on each side of my face and pull my attention away from the books. She gently pulled my face towards until we were just an inch away from contacting.

Nervous breaths escaped me and I could feel her shallow ones against my lips. The close proximity was doing all kinds of things to my heart. My stomach was doing somersaults. All that existed right now was Sophia Helms.

"Obviously," She started. There was a nervous shake in her voice that made me tilt my head in her hands. "Obviously you don't understand the agreement." She repeated after quickly composing herself. I rolled my eyes, but let her continue.

"Where you go, I go. Where I go, you go." She told me sternly.

Her thumbs grazed my cheeks and heat rose on my skin where she touched.

I couldn't tell if this was just Sophia being caring or if she was maybe feeling more. My brain told me that this was all a friendly gesture, but my body and it's stupid hormones were telling that it was something more. And your brain can never really overcome true instincts.

I moved closer towards her, shrinking the already limited space between us. This time it was Sophia's turn to blush which only made my smile grow larger. All I could think about was her lips meeting mine.

Sophia opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it shortly after. Instead she opted to lean closer into me until the tips of our nose touched. And then our lips.

The whole cliché description of kissing someone and feeling fireworks is a complete understatement. Fireworks couldn't come close to what what was happening in my heart right now. I couldn't think straight. I'm pretty sure that I wasn't breathing right correctly. My body was quite literally shaking.

And this wasn't my first kiss. But it was my first time kissing the girl who I've been madly in love with for the past 3 years. This was completely different territory.

Our lips moved together for a few moments longer, until my lungs decided that they absolutely needed to get air. I heard her quick and soft breathing when she pulled away, to lean her forehead against mine. I wanted to see her; see how she felt about the kiss.

But as soon as I opened my eyes, it was like a bucket of cold water was dumped on my head.

And it wasn't because of Sophia's face. If anything she looked like she was on a brand new level bliss. There was a pleased smile that painted her face along with her rosy cheeks. Strands of her hair had become untucked from her ear.

It was because it was Sophia. A very straight girl with a murderous boyfriend.

"Avery wh-"

"I have to go Sophia." I said briskly, pushing away from her and standing up from the ground.

Sophia's hand shot out and grabbed my arm. "Avery wait!"

I roughly snatched my arm away from her and quickly walked out of the library. When I heard her sounds of protest telling me to stop, I picked up into a run that took me in no real direction.

I slid into the first bathroom I found and locked myself into a stall. I leaned against the stall door breathing heavy pants until I slid down onto the floor.

Why in the world would I do that? Not only was I going to get myself killed, but if anyone ever found out about that, Sophia's reputation could be ruined. She'd go from being the school's golden girl to their scum all because I made a stupid mistake.

The angry pants soon turned into hyperventilating, and that's when I decided that last resort measure needed to be taken before my heart gave out.

I pulled my blade out of my pocket and pulled up my left sleeve. The state of my arm almost made me laugh. There was barely any patch of skin that wasn't bruised because of Chris and his friends. And yet I still thought it was a good idea to make out with his girlfriend. Maybe I deserve this.

When my blade was pressed against the most clean patch of skin, there was a yell.

"Avery! Avery are you in here!" Sophia yelled in a panicked voice.

An unexpected escaped the confines of my throat at the sound of her voice. I didn't have the slightest idea of where it could have come from. I know that the second before it released itself, I was telling myself to stay silent and let her walk away. But maybe my heart knew something that brain didn't again, and decided to do what it need.

I didn't even know if Sophia had heard it until she was climbing underneath my stall door. She immediately pulled me into an embrace. Even though she was the holding me, she was still crying into the hollow of my neck. And that's what made me release all of my held back waterworks.

Eventually both of us had calmed down enough to where we could pull away from each other a little. I took in her puffy eyes and disheveled hair, and my heart broke a little bit more.

"We look a mess don't we?" She joked in a hushed tone. I gave her a sad smile and nodded. She sniffled and gave a weak laugh that made me smile a little more.

"Do you know why I'm crying?" She asked quietly laying her head on my shoulder.

After some though, I shook my head silently. I would have expected Sophia to be furious or offended after what happened. Not sad. I couldn't fathom why she would be upset.

"I'm confused. I think that I liked that kiss just a little too much." She joked quietly before sniffling again. She lifted her head from my shoulder to look at me. "It was different. In the best way that different can get." My face heated up at that. "But I-"

Sophia cut herself off with a sigh. "I'm confused on what to do because I don't want to hurt you ,but I also don't want to hurt Chris."

The verbal mentioning of Chris popped any possible bubble that might have existed. If possible, that bubble popping was worse than the bucket of cold water. I shouldn't have let the idea that we could actually be something pop into my brain for a second. It was impossible. Sophia could never be like me.

I gave her the best smile I could muster right now. "Don't worry. You're going to get some rest tonight, wake up, and realize that it was all just a spur of the moment thing. You were being the good person that you always are. You're still straight Soph."

"And if you're wrong?" She shot back immediately.

I didn't let my brain think about that. My words were already hard enough to say the first time, but they were the truth, and there was no other option that that.

"I won't be." I promised her.

She gave me a long look, but eventually nodded.

Soon the bell rang, and Sophia was standing up from her spot. She held out her hand with a smile and when I took it she pulled me to my feet.

"To Biology you go, young lady." She spoke, back to her normal self. I rolled my eyes at her and let her pull me out of the bathroom.

Δ

I waved a goodbye to Sophia as her car drove away. When I walked through the door, I immediately stumbled into a hard chest.

"Who was that?" Zack asked and I could hear the smirk in his voice. He peeked over my head, trying to get a glimpse of Sophia's car. I shoved him back into the house and brushed passed him to go to the living room.

"No one you need to concern yourself with." I said dully taking off my shoes. He walked over to the couch and plopped down next to me.

"They most definitely are someone I need to concern myself with, if they're giving my baby sister a ride home." Zack's voice was playful, but I could tell he was being serious. He didn't trust anyone with me and I couldn't really blame him. Too much had happen to me.

"Sophia," I mumbled, grabbing the remote.

I saw his mouth form into a large grin out of the corner of my mouth, and I immediately threw a pillow at him.

"Not a word." I threatened.

Zack let out a boisterous laugh and chucked the pillow back at me.

Commence the pillow war.

Δ

The next the day I walked into school humming a happy tune. I was in a little better mood today, since Zach and I had stayed up all night watching movies. As nosey and protective as he was, Zach was one of my favorite people and quality time with him always made things better.

I made my way to my locker and opened it placing my bag inside. While I was digging through my purse, my locker was forcefully slammed shut making me jump. When I looked up and saw Sophia, I glared playfully.

"Soph, you have got to stop doing that." I joked, but the smile slipped off of my face as I took in her mildly panicked and upset facial expression.

"What's wrong Sophia?" I asked gently and she looked around as if she was being watched.

"Avery, I think I might be bisexual."