Page 161 of Return Policy
SOPHIA
“Hey there, Ladybug,” Leah says, strolling into my room as I sit on Chloe’s chair, sketching in the corner of my room. “Elijah head out already?”
“Hey, Scaredybug.” I close my sketchbook and set it on the side table as she throws herself onto my bed. “Yeah, he went to see Mark and Cole.”
“Perfect. So now I can finally ask… How was your trip to meet his mom?” She waggles her eyebrows.
“It was… good.”
“Good? That’s all I get.”
“It wasgood,” I repeat with raised brows.
“Why do I feel like there’re some lines I’m supposed to read between?”
“How do you always do that?”
She smirks. “Do what?”
“Know there’s something I’m not saying even when I didn’t know there was something I wasn’t saying.”
“It’s my special skill.” She winks.
“It was good. It was really good.” I smile faintly. “But it was also a really emotionally draining trip.”
“Why?”
“Well, first of all… Elijah told me he loves me.”
“Oh my gosh, Soph!” she shrieks, sitting straight up with a wide smile.
“Yeah…” Heat flushes my cheeks. “I didn’t say it back yet.”
“What? Why not?”
I exhale loudly. “I honestly can’t pinpoint it.”
“You know you can talk to me, Soph.”
A heavy rock sinks in my stomach. “I feel horrible for even saying this out loud because I’m making it all about me and it’s so not but… I don’t know, it’s just how I feel…” Leah tilts her head, waiting for me to continue. “While we were there, I found out Elijah has a dad and a sister I didn’t know about. I wouldn’t say he hid it, per se… He just never talked about them or told me.”
“And it hurt your feelings that he didn’t share it with you?”
“Damn.” I laugh weakly. “You’re as good as Janine.”
“You’re not the only one who went to therapy, Soph. And also, I do know you pretty damn well.”
“True… But the thing is, his dad died in April.”
Leah’s eyes go wide. “And the sister?”
“She’s alive.”
Leah exhales a whoosh of relief. “Thank God.”
“Yeah… It’s just, Elijah’s been struggling a bit at school, and I guess he’s just had all this pain inside I never knew about. And I hate that he didn’t trust me enough to be there for him.”
“Soph.” She looks at me with sympathetic eyes. “I totally understand where you’re coming from. I do. But just to play devil’s advocate here… People do unexplainable things when they’re grieving.” Her gaze falls to her hands, and she picks at her fingernails before returning her eyes to mine. “Some people like to share all their feelings, and some people bottle them up, shove them down, and just try to move forward. That doesn’t mean he cares about you any less or doesn’t trust you. It just hurt him too much to speak the words out loud.”
