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      "What time will you be back?" It was the next day and we were sitting around in my room as Neil got ready to leave for the last rehearsal before tomorrow night.

      "Around dinner time" I nodded to him as he shoved his script into the small bag that hung over his shoulder.

      The boys were scattered across my room as we quizzed each other for the upcoming chem test. Neil leaned down leaving a kiss on Todd's cheek as the others cheered. Neil shook his head and flipped them off before leaving a now suddenly red todd to fend for himself against the boys.

      After a while the conversations left the exam and turned to the play tomorrow night, before landing on the whole Chris and Knox situation

       "So you're done with her? Completely" Charlie asked biting off a piece of a twizzler that Pitts had brought into the room.

      Charlie was laying on my bed as I sat by him leaning against the wall.

"I guess so, I mean what else can I do" Knox sighed from my desk chair, looking back down at the book infront of him

      "Dont give up, Knox. You cant give up. You think I would be with Sophie now if I gave up?" I pulled my eyebrows together turning to look at Charlie

     "There two completely different situations. I didn't have a boyfriend who punched you in the face" I told him as Meeks moved from where he had been sitting on the floor with the other to sit on the bottom of my bed

      "Sophie didnt have a boyfriend at all" he said looking back to Knox

"She had a brother though" Knox shrugged.

      "And he punched me in the face" Charlie shrugged.

       "Yeah because you asked for it. Literally" The boys turned to look at us with wide eyes, I shrugged and lay down by Charlie.

      "I say you do a big grand gesture" he told Knox sitting up. I cleared my throat and sat up a small bit

      "Please dont do that" I asked him desperately.

      He ignored me completely and turned back to Charlie "like what?"

      "What about flowers" Cameron said from his spot earning all of us to turn and look at him.

     Knox put his arms on the back of the chair and put his hand out "I cant just give her flowers, I have to say something"

     "What about the poem you wrote" Todd spoke up, playing with a ball of paper. Knox stayed quiet for a moment before a smile spread across his face

"Okay, but when?"

     "Tomorrow, go to her school and tell her" I looked at Charlie a clear expression on my face that I didn't think this was a good idea.

      I was completely ignored as Knox gathered up his books and left with a pep in his step. The rest of the boys followed behind him and left Charlie and I in the room alone.

      The time went by quickly and I was now sitting at my desk. Charlie had excused himself from my room explaining that he had a meeting with the soccer club about ten minutes ago so when there was a knock on my door I assumed it was one of the others. I turned towards the door but something got in my eyes because it began to sting as I stood from my spot rubbing it

       "What wrong?" I asked not taking notice of who was standing infront of me till I looked up and saw the dress shoes. I halted all movements as my eyes trailed up to meet my fathers stern face "Father"

      "Sophia" he said, his face stuck in the stoic expression.

       "Do you want to come in?" I asked as he stepped into my room. I silently cursed myself as I shut the door and turn to my father. His back was to me as he stood with his hands joined together, looking out the window.

       My vision was blurry as I put my hand back up to my eye, rubbing it but it was only making it worse.

       "Sophia, I just had a rather interesting conversation with Mr. nolan in his office about the incident that happened last week" he said before turning on the spot to look at me

"Father, I can explain-"

      "Was it the Charlie who put you up to it?" He asked shoving his hands in his pockets. I quickly stepped forward shaking my head

"No, no. Charlie didnt make me do anything"

      "Well then what was it Sophia? You abused your role in the newspaper" he put his hand out to the side. A way he showed his frustration.

      The discomfort must have been clear on my face as my eye got worse because my fathers face dropped from anger to concern

     "Whats wrong?" He asked me taking my face in his hands and tilting my head to look at my eye

      "I dont know something got into my eye" I told him as he pulled me towards the bathroom. He damped a bit of tissue and dabbed it over my eye.

      "There's dust in it. Black dust" he told me as he knelt infront of where I was sitting on the bath edge.

      "Are you unhappy here?" I was taken back by the gentleness in his tone of voice "have you tried to tell your mother and I? I know sometimes I'm not the best listener but I dont want you unhappy"

"No, I love it here" I told him.

"Then why?"

       "I dont know, I'm sorry, I really dont" I told him. He stood up with both his hands in his pockets.

      He cleared his throat and ran his hand over his face "right" he took a pause and checked his watch "what time is Neil back from rehearsal at?"

      "Soon" I said not thinking but my eyes widened and trailed up to meet my fathers "how do you-"

       "That does not matter. The point is you knew about it and hid it. You helped your brother chase this silly dream" I stood from where I was

      "Father its not-" he put his hand up stopping me from talking before shaking his head

       "I'm very disappointed in you Sophia" he nodded towards the door and I left through it, a pang of guilt in my chest. We ended up in Neil's room waiting for him to come back from rehersal. The food bell went and I knew it was only a matter off time.

       I sat on neils bed as footsteps ran outside of the hall and I could hear Pitts shouting about food

      "Are they always like this?" My father asked as he sat back in neils chair. All I could do was nod as I fidgeted with my hands.

      The bedroom door swung open and in my peripheral vision I could see Neil halt. "Father"

      "Neil" neils eye fell on mine and I shook my head.

"Before you say anything, please let me-"

      Neil didnt get to finish his sentence as father pushed up out of his chair

      "Dont you dare talk back to me. It's bad enough that you've wasted your time with this absurd acting business. But you deliberately deceived me" my eyes fell to the floor as I refused to look up at my brother and father

      It hurt me to hear Father call Neils dream absurd so I could only imagine the effect it had on him.

      "How did you expect to get away with this? Answer me" he was now in Neil's face. "Who put you up to it? Was it this new man, this, uh, Mr. Keating?" My eyebrows pulled together as my eyes found Neil's. He looked at me for a second before looking back at father

     "No, nobody- I thought I'd surprise you. Ive gotten all A's in every class" Neil argued

      Father turned and walked away before turning to look back at Neil "so did you think I wasn't gonna find out?" Father looked between the two of us before focusing back on Neil "oh, my niece is in a play with your son" says Mrs. Marks. 'No, no, no' I say 'you must be mistaken. My sons not in a play" Father took a breath before continuing

      "You made a liar out of me Neil. And if that wasn't bad enough. You dragged your sister into it too" I stood from the bed shaking my head

"He didnt drag me into it"

     "Did he swear you to secrecy?" Father asked me as Neil put his head down

       "No" I stopped taking a second before I continued "I'm the one that convinced him not to tell you" fathers face dropped

     "Why" he demanded and I crossed my arms kicking my foot

      "Because I knew how you would react" I told him as he took a breathe preparing himself

"And hows that?"

     "Like you are now" I said. He stoped and stared for a moment before turning to Neil and getting close to him

     "Now tomorrow, you go to them and you tell them that you're quitting" my eyes widened and I made my way to the two men

"No, I cant. I have the main part"

      "Father the performance is tomorrow night" Neil and I argued as father shook his head taking a step back

      "I dont care if the word comes to an end tomorrow night. You are through with that play. Is that clear?" He looked back at me and then to Neil

      "Yes sir" Neil answered not meeting his eyes. Father moved out by him and stopped in the door turning back to us

      "I made a great many sacrifices to get you two here. And you will not let me down" I put my head down as both of us answered him

"No, sir"

      "No, father" he looked back and us and I could barely meet his eyes so instead I kept them trained on Neil. The moment the door closed I crossed the room and pulled him into my arms. I could feel him let out shaky breaths and I knew that he was holding everything in

      "Do you need anything?" I asked him as I pulled away. He wiped his eyes and shook his head.

       "Dont let anyone know about what happened okay" he said to me as I nodded. "I need to go do something" he told me as I stepped out of his room.

    "Okay, well I'll be in my room if you need me" he nodded and began to walk away "hey Neil, we'll figure it out"

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      I lay in my room for the rest of the night going over what had happened in my head.

     My heart ached for my brother and that feeling was mixed with the anger I had for my father.

     How he could be so calm with me then turn and be horrible with Neil was beyond me. He was two different men when it came to his children and while that had always been obvious. Tonight made it even clearer.

     I came out of my bathroom after finishing brushing my teeth when my door creaked open. Charlie made his way over to me pulling me into a long kiss as he hoisted me up allowing my legs to wrap around his waist.

      I smiled into the kiss before he pulled away dropping me onto my bed "I wish I was staying in here tonight"

      "It's one night Charlie" I told him leaning up to kiss him again. Charlie had an early service club meeting in the morning and because I'm such a joy in the mornings he didnt want to run the risk of waking me.

      "One night is still too long" he smiled giving me one more kiss before moving towards the door "I love you"

     "I love you more" he smiled and shut the door behind him.

      Down the hall I could hear Hager calling out that the boys had five minutes left before bedtime. I climbed under the covers and shut my eyes hoping to find some sleep soon but it didnt work that well. Twenty minutes later my door was opened again and in the dark it took me a moment to take in who was coming in.

     "Mind if I stay in here tonight?" I made out his face and moved across in the bed towards the wall as he climbed under the covers.

     "You okay?" I asked laying on my side facing him.

       "No, not really. I'm gonna talk to father tomorrow" even in the dark I'm sure he could make out the shocked expression on my face "I know. But he needs to know how I really feel. He might even let me do the play"

      "Well if you think thats for the best, do it" I tell him as he grabs my hand

      "Thanks for tonight Phi, for telling him it was your idea. I really do appreciate it" I smiled at him and squeezed his hand

     "Hey what have I told you a million times? Ill back you no matter what" he gave my hand one last squeeze before turning out

"I love you"

"I love you too"

"Hugs"

     "Kisses" the room went quiet for a moment until Neil cleared his throat

"Night little sis"

"Shut up Neil"

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      Neil had gotten up early the next morning on a mission to go and see our father and I swore to Knox that if he asked me if he looked okay one more time I would punch him.

      By the time the first bell went the six of us, excluding Neil and Knox, stood around the book shelf trying to find the books we needed for the next few classes.

      The books shelf was filled with loads of different subject, all there in case someone misplaced a book. In my case, Neil had my chemistry book in his bag which was gone with him.

      I reached over to grab the last chemistry book and I could see and found that someone else was looking for it too.

     "Cmon, cameron. If I dont have a chem book, Mr. Aufiery will go crazy. This will be my second time this week" I told him, recounting the last interaction I had with the stern chemistry teacher.

     "Well what am I supposed to do?" The boys had now halted their movements to watch the interaction

      "I dont know suck to him like you do all the other teachers" I shrugged. He tugged the book from my hand, earning me to tug it right back

"Cameron!"

      "Here, well rock paper scissors for it okay?" I sighed and dropped the book. Both of us getting ready. Pitts counted it down and while I put out paper, I couldn't quite explain was cameron had put out.

     "What the fuck is that?" I asked looking down at his hands. Both were in the form of rocks but were joined together.

     "It's a boulder" I squinted at him as he moved his hands around "duh"

     "Oh I'm sorry, I didnt realise we were suddenly playing boulder, paper, scissors" I said, earning a laugh from Pitts and todd

     "It's okay Sophie, it's a common mistake" Cameron shrugged with a smile. I shook my head pushing him back

      "Cameron you fool" Charlie said pulling me back towards him. I turned to look back at him but was met with the man of the hour

      "Knox, how'd it go?" I asked him as he leaned over grabbing a trig book

      "Did you read it to her?" Charlie asked pulling Knox's arm back.

     "Yeah!" The boys bursted out in cheers, patting his back

     "What did she say?" I asked, tucked into Charlie's side, his other arm holding books.

"Nothing" I looked at him confused,

      "Nothing? What do you mean nothing?" Charlie asked him as Knox turned away from us and I stepped away from Charlie's side.

     "Nothing. But I did it" he told us walking back. Charlie and I exchanged a look and took off after him.

     Todd tapped me on the arm holding a book out to me. The chemistry book.

     "I took it when cameron wasn't looking" he shrugged. My face broke into a smile as I linked arms with him pulling him along.

     "Sophie!" We could hear cameron call from behind us, both of us breaking into laughs as we caught up with the boys.

     "Seize the day!" Knox called out as we entered our chemistry classroom. I took my seat between Knox and Charlie as Mr. Auifery paced up and down the rows.

     "Mr. Cameron, where is your book?" My eyes widened and I put my head down, to hide the smile that was creeping up on my face.

     "Sir, I seem to have misplaced it" Charlie's face lit up as he and Knox tried to contain there smiles at the thought of cameron getting in trouble

      "Well find it Mr. cameron and dont let it happen again" Sir said as he walked away. I turned to look at Charlie who had the same look of disbelief on his face.

"If that was me id be skint" I told Charlie.

"Ms. Perry"

      "Sir" I turned to look at Mr. Aufiery who was stood at the blackboard with his hands behind his back

"Where is your brother"

     "He's gone to see our father, sir" I told him, my hands fidgeting beneath the desk.

     "Very well, open your books to chapter 13" I exchanged a look with the two boys and pulled open the book infront of me.

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      By the time Keating's class rolled around it was the end of the day, we were winding down by wearing blindfolds and listening to Mr. Keating's record player. It was peaceful but the only thing I could think about was whether or not father was going to allow Neil to do the play.

       The bell went and one but one we took off our blindfolds as Mr. Keating turned down the music.

      "Words can never contain as music does, the unsayable grace that cannot be defined. It leaps like light from mind to mind" he moved off the desk and rubbed his hands together "thats it for today. Keep it in there" he said pointing to his heart as the rest of us began to move around and collect our items.

      I stood from my desk, collecting my books as the classroom got emptier. I took in how Neil still had his blindfold on and I exchanged a look with Mr. Keating, who nodded at me. I knew he would talk to Neil and get through to him in a way I couldn't and I was thankful that Neil had someone he could confide in.

      I left thought the door, following the boys back to the rooms. It was only a matter of hours before we would have to begin getting ready for the play. One I hoped my brother would be in.

      It made me curious as to how he would tell the boys he wasnt in It if father hadn't allowed him. Would he go anyway? Disobey father? I assumes as much.

      I dropped my bag down onto my bed and fell down beside it. Thoughts ran through my head like they were on a treadmill that wouldnt turn off but they came to a halt ten minutes later when my bedroom door was opened and my brother walked in.

      "Did you talk to father?" I was now sitting up with curiosity written all over my face. He took a seat against my desk, taking a moment to respond. He looked like he was in a completely different world "Neil?"

"Sorry, yeah I spoke to him"

      "And?" I encouraged. He looked at the ground before looking up to me with a forced smile

     "He said I can do it" my eyes widened and my mouth dropped open

     "Really?" He pushed took his hands from the desk and crossed his arms

      "Yeah, he said as long as I keep up my studies" I laughed a bit in shock before standing

     "How? He seemed pretty determined last night that you weren't doing the play"

"I guess he just changed his mind" he shrugged.

      "Is him and mother going to come and see it?" I asked. He shook his head with his eyebrows pulled together

      "No. Father has a meeting this evening so he wont get to come" I nodded and smiled finally wrapping my brother in my arms

      "I'm so happy for you" I pulled away and held onto his shoulders "your going to do amazing"

     He let out a breath and once again forced a smile "thanks Phi" he looked over at the small clock on my bedside table before looking towards the door "I've got to go and get ready, were doing another run through before the show starts" I nodded and let go of him as he made his way to the door.

     "Thank you" I looked at him confused

     "For what" he shrugged at me and glanced into the hall before looking back

     "For everything" and with that he closed the door and something in my mind clicked

Something wasn't right