TWENTY-TWO

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"No Lea, that piece doesn't go there. It goes ever... here." I say while completing the little girl's puzzle. I dust the imaginary dust off of my jeans as I stand up before I continue to sort out the classroom. I cast a glance at Alex over my shoulder to see humming quietly to himself and take this as my opportunity to absorb his apperance.

His hair is done messily yet it's still attractive as always, he wears a blue shirt and a pair of jeans with blue sneakers and O can't help bu notice that as he fixes a few things on the wall, his muscles flex. However, shortly after, the muscles are no flexing and when my eyes move up to his face, I see hazel orbs staring at me in amusement.

He caught me. Great. He smirks at me as his eyes shine with mischief and I look away with flushed cheeks. I hear him chuckle- one that can easily send any girl to her knees- and I let my hair hide my face because I'm dying with embarrassment of him catching me checking him out.

Ugh! Dang you and your good looks Alex!

I can feel his intense gaze on me so I pretend like I don't and head over to the bookshelf until I feel a hand grab my wrist and turn me around. Alex looks at me with a shit eating grin on his face.

He steps towards me and I immediately step back.  He takes another step forward causing me to take another step back and after he's done it once more I end up hitting my back against the wall. I shrink myself against it until I look up at him. My heart is beating widly within my chest begging to come out and I swallow thickly. For what reason, I don't know.

He pushes himself against me and puts both his hands beside my head before looking down at me in amusement. I bite nervously on the inside of my lip trying not to freak out.  He doesn't say anything for a while and just stares at me while I hold my breath, dazed at how close he is to my face and how my body seems to be on fire from that.

"You seem to blush a lot." He eventually comments, flicking his eyes between both of my own. I immediately lift my hands to my cheeks to feel that they are indeed, very, warm.

I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest. "What do you want Rosewood?"

"Nothing." He shrugs, his lips twitching to break into a smile.

"Then why are you still here?" I ask in fake exasperation.

" 'Cause I need to ask you a quick question." He says mischievously.

"Okay?" I respond

"Are you a Sea lion?" I should've seen the pick up line coming.
" 'Cause I can see ya lying in my bed later."

It doesn't take me long to start laughing which causes him to grin at me.

"Give... me... a ... minute." I say between my laughter. I wipe a tear off my cheek from laughing so much and he grins at me, obviously amused at my reaction.

"Where do you get this stuff?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest but my smile never fading.

"Wouldn't yo-" Alex is cut off by the door opening and a very familiar voice talking before it stops.

"Sophie?" The voice then asks. Alex immediately drops his arms from the side of my head and we both turn to see who the voice belongs to. I turn to see a pair of blue eyes and blonde curls falling down a girl's back. "Rachel?" I ask, my eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.

For a second I just watch her but after realisation dawns upon me, my face breaks into a smile. "Rachel!" I exclaim before rushing towards her and embracing her in a hug.

"Oh my gosh." I mutter to myself as she returns the gesture.

"I've missed you so much." I say, my voice muffled by her hair.

"You have no idea." She responds. I pull back from her embrace and scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. "Wait. What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I was going to ask the same thing. I'm here for an interview Soph." She responds which only confuses me more. It then hits me like a ton of bricks that she's wanting to work here and that's the job interview that my mom had mentioned to me earlier. Suddenly I smile. "That's great Rach!" I gush.

"What are you doing here?" She asks and I chuckle.

"I actually already work here." I tell her, causing a grin from ear-to-ear to form on her face.

"Oh my gosh! We could work together!" She shouts excitedly.

"Wait, you already got the job?"
She nods her head vigorously which makes me squeal before hugging her again. My childhood best friend just returned back to town, will be living a few blocks down from me and is going to be working with me from now on.

How much more luck am I going to get?

I hear someone clear their throat from behind me and I turn around to see Alex staring at us with a raised eyebrow. I roll my eyes before speaking. "Rachel, I'd like you to meet Alex- the idiot from over the phone. Alex, Rachel." I say. Alex playfully glares at me but Rachel simply laughs. He sticks his hand out for her to shake. "So you're the Rachel Sophie keeps going on about."

"I have that effect on people." She teases with a wink, earning a chuckle from Alex.

"Yes, yes Kathy. I got it." I hear Lucy call before she walks into the room. "Oh Rachel, I see you've already met Alex and Sophie."

She chuckles, "I actually already know Sophie." She informs Lucy. Lucy smiles happily.

"Well then, I can see you two having fun since you'll be partners."

"Absolutely." I answer.

"Alright, I'm going to go continue working. I assume you'll be alright?" Lucy asks with a raised a eyebrow casted Rachel's way.

"Yes. Thank you Lucy." Rachel says as Lucy leaves the room before she turns to the children who are watching us inquisitively.
She walks towards them, her court heels clicking softly on the floor. She introduces herself to them I can see her eyes twinkling with happiness. Rachel was always able to find happiness in the smallest of things. It was one thing I absolutely loved about her. I allow myself to observe her appearance as well. Her blonde hair is still fairly long and curled like usual while her smile is as bright as ever. She seems to have grown an extra few inches and her skin is a lot paler due to her stay in New York. However, she still looks very much the same; her presence radiating optimism and kindness.

After shes spoken to them, she turns back to Alex an I.

"So..." Rachel drawls, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Are you two a thing?" She asks, gesturing towards Alex and I. We both look at each other before simultaneously answering, "No!" at the same time. She holds her hands up in defense before smirking at us. "Was just a general question."

I roll my eyes before looking at Alex who seems to be deep in thought. I hear Rachel chuckle as Henry says something to her and I smile to myself.

****

"Memories." Rachel says more to herself than me.  We both walk towards the front door of my house and I grip the doorknob twisting it and pushing the door open. Rachel follows me inside, smiling while she looks around. I hear voices coming from the living room so I walk in that direction to see Rachel's parents and my mom sitting comfortably on the couches.

As soon as they notice our presence, they smile widely. "Sophie!" Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Andrew say while standing up to hug me. "Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Andrew, it's so nice to see you again." I say, hugging them tightly.

"Oh sweetheart, you've grown so much since we last saw you. And oh, you're so beautiful. Emily is truly blessed." Aunt Stephanie gushes as she rubs my shoulders, her eyes becoming glossy.

"Thank you Aunt Stephanie. I'm so happy you're back." I say with a wide grin.

"We could say the same thing," Uncle Andrew replies. While Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Andrew catch up a few things with me, so does my mom with Rachel until we all take a seat together. I sit next to Rachel and watch our parents talk animatedly before Aunt Stephanie turns to us with a curious look.

"How come you two arrived together?" My mom asks Rachel and I before taking a sip from her coffee.

"Rachel and I will be working at the same place." I explain and cast a glance at my mother.

"At the children's home?" Uncle Andrew clarifies and I nod.

"Great, right?" Rachel pipes up, grinning widely at her parents.

"Absolutely! What a wonderful coincidence." My mother  exclaims.

"Oh, this is so exciting!" Aunt Stephanie claps her hands together excitedly. She's always been one to be so enthusiastic about everything.

I giggle, along with Rachel, as I realise how much I've missed Aunt Stephanie's excitement and bubbly personality, and Uncle Andrew's calm and understanding ways. After our parents return to their conversations, I turn to face Rachel.

"How about we ditch our parents, and go upstairs?" I whisper to her. She nods at me and smiles- she's always happy, just like her mother. We excuse ourselves and head upstairs to my room. As I open my door, her eyes widen and she plasters a smile onto her face. "Your room is beautiful Soph!" She exclaims.

"Thank you." I answer while taking my shoes off and sitting on the edge of my bed.

Rachel gazes around my white room before she focuses on the wall that has pictures hung up all along it. Some of these consist of pictures of my family, friends- the Elite obviously- and  places I've been to. Her fingers run along one photo of Me, Zoe and herself. She smiles wistfully. "I miss her." She says.

"Yeah. I do too." I answer.

She then looks at a photo of Courtney, me and the others, smiling at a party.

Her eyebrows draw together. "Oh." She mutters, although I can sense the disappointment and disdain in her voice. "You're still friends with those girls."

I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face.

Rachel and Zoe were never really fond of the Elite ever since the beginning. However, back then I thought they were just been judgmental about my friends although I can't agree with them more now.

"You could say that." I mutter. She looks over at me with a sympathetic smile. "What's wrong Sophie?" She asks, taking a seat next to me.

"We're just... not really getting along all that well at the moment. Thats all." I say.

She hugs me before saying: "Don't worry. I'm sure it'll work out." I smile back at her, grateful for her comfort.

"Yeah. Hopefully..."

She then stands up and puts her hands on her hips sassily. "Now, are we watching Divergent or Hunger Games?" She asks.

I smile at her, no question about what I'll choose. Without any hesitation I answer: "Divergent!" to which she responds with a squel.

****

"Theo James is so hot I swear If I could pull him out of that TV I would." I say before popping another popcorn into my mouth and watching the hunk on the screen who smiles at Shailene Woodley. At the moment Rachel and I are on my bed with popcorn and snacks all around us while Divergent plays on my TV and we fangirl over Tobias Eaton.

She chuckles but agrees with me nonetheless. "Speaking of hot, how do you know that Alex guy?" She asks casually.

I look at her with a smirk "Already considering him as a potential boyfriend?"

She bursts out laughing as if what I just said was the funniest thing she has ever heard. "Don't be crazy, Soph. I'm just wondering if you guys have a thing going on." She says, picking up the remote and pausing the movie. I pout at the action, wanting to see more of Theo.

"There is nothing going on, I can assure you. And I know him from school." I say with a shrug. She giggles, "Sure."  She has a look of humour on her face, her not believing me which makes me slap her shoulder playfully.

"I'm serious Rach. We don't have anything going on."

"I believe you." She says holding her hands up in defense. I give her a deadpan look before she smirks at me.

I sigh. "Can we just continue watching the movie?" I ask in exasperation. She presses the play button and we return to the topic of how hot Theo James is. I mean, how is it even possible? I know Alex isn't far off but Theo James is def-

I internally scold myself for even letting my thoughts drift there.

Two hours later and the Withersons family are finally leaving. "Bye sweetheart." Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Andrew call out to me from the car.

"Bye!" I shout as I wave at them. Rachel smiles at me and mouths that she'll call me which I chuckle at and with that they speed off towards their home.

"It was so nice seeing them again." My mom sighs with a smile once we're inside.

"Yeah. I really missed them." I laugh. "The craziness and all that..." I trail off. 

"Yeah, they sure are one family who know how to throw a party." She chuckles. "Well I'm tired sweetheart so I'm going to hit the sack. I love you." She kisses me.

"Love you." I answer, and she walks upstairs but not before she gives me her heart stopping smile.

I grab a glass of water and head upstairs to my room shortly after, where I spread myself out on my bed. I flutter my eyes shut and with that I let sleep take me in.

Hello Beautifuls :)
I hope you had an awesome Easter (Happy belated Easter
by the way :D)

Also, thank you guys so much for being patient for these updates.
I really wanted to update while on holiday but the signal was
not that good ; (

Thirdly, if you spot any mistakes please drop me a polite comment since I do miss my errors sometimes.
Thank you guys so much!

Anywho... I hope you guys enjoyed the chapters.
Please let me know what you think :)

Q: How do you guys feel about Dylan and Thalia being so cold towards Sophie?

Thank you guys so much!

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