Games of Fire

by Airicka Phoenix

  “It’s not that. Joe doesn’t really like anyone. Just give him time. It took me ages to get him to even sit with us at lunch.”

  “I somehow doubt that.”

  Sophie turned the subject. “Tell me about your friends.”

  “I, uh, still keep in touch with some of my friends. I don’t see them as often as I’d like because of the distance, but we still email and text once in a while.”

  “Do you have a best friend?”

  He shook his head. “Not really. Not after Aimee.”

  “What about your dad?”

  His hands disappeared into the pockets of his jacket. “What about him?”

  “I’m assuming he’s alive … ?”

  “He’s alive,” he confirmed.

  “Why didn’t you stay with him?”

  He kept his head down, but Sophie could see the reserve on his face, the hesitation. “Mom needed me. Jamie and Suzy stayed, so … he didn’t.”

  “Did you leave because of Jamie?”

  “Partially,” he muttered. “He had Aimee move in and I just … ”

  Sophie bit her bottom lip, not sure she should push anymore, but wanting to. She raised her head and squinted at their surroundings, noticing for the first time just how far they’d gotten. They were nearly home.

  “Are you tired?” she asked him.

  He shrugged. “I wouldn’t say no to a nap.”

  She stopped in front of Joe’s favorite coffee shop. “Want some coffee? My treat.”

  He stopped, tilted his head back to peer at the large bay window spilling a warm, beckoning glow from within. “I thought you said you were tired,” he reminded her.

  It was her turn to shrug. “I’d rather talk with you a little longer.”

  His gray eyes peered into her face, searching before he leaned forward.

  For a heart stopping moment, she thought he would kiss her. Her lips tingled, parting of their own will. Her breathing hitched in anticipation. Then, a warm gust of air bumped her back and she realized he’d reached around her for the door which he now held open.

  “Oh!” She blinked, shaking herself mentally.

  “What?” he said, but his smile was knowing.

  She ignored him, ducking her head and stepping inside, her cheeks flushed.

  Maybe it was the weather, but the place was unnaturally empty except for the bored girl behind the counter. Sophie couldn’t recall the last time she’d been there and found it so dead. But then she normally didn’t come here except when Joe made her.

  “Avoid the tofu latte,” she murmured under her breath.

  Spencer stared at her. “Tofu … what?”

  She made a face, stepping up to the counter. “Just … avoid.”

  He followed her. “Yeah, no worries there.”

  He let her order for them both. She got them each a mug of hot chocolate and two mystery organic muffins with nuts that looked suspiciously like a mix of cranberries and carrots. They took the window table overlooking the street.

  “Interesting menu,” Spencer said, eyeing the large board over the register, announcing that day’s soup special as Organic Split Pea Soup with Black Bean and Chipotle Bread.

  “This is Joe’s favorite coffee shop. He used to drag me, Jess and Lauren here every day after school. Then we found Bill’s and were saved.” She laughed at her own joke. “But the hot chocolate is good. I think it’s like real cocoa or something.”

  His eyebrow lifted. “Opposed to the fake cocoa they put in regular hot chocolate?”

  She made a face at him. “Ha-ha!”

  He chuckled. He raised a hand and scooped it back through his hair. Sophie watched him, mesmerized by the fluidity of his movement.

  “Thanks for what you did,” she murmured after a moment.

  “What’s that?”

  Her gaze dropped down to the ripples forming inside her mug. “For being so nice to my friends. I know Lauren can be a bit … dramatic.”

  He sat back, drumming his index finger against the table. “They care about you. It would be stupid to get upset about that.”

  “Yeah, they do.” She sighed. “Most guys don’t get that though and it kind of scares them off.”

  He flicked a hand dismissively. “Nah. I watch horror movies for fun. Nothing scares me.”

  Sophie gagged. “Ugh! Don’t remind me.”

  The roll and rumble of his laugh filled the silence. “I did ask if you were sure. You swore you were a fan!”

  “I’ll bring the movie next time!” she said, joking.

  He threw an arm over the back of his chair, looking very relaxed. “Tonight.”

  She blinked, surprised by his quick acceptance. She’d been expecting resistance, maybe even conditions, like no chick flicks. “Serious?”

  His shoulder jerked in a shrug. “Unless you have plans.”

  “Uh … ” She had to wrack her brain. “No, no plans.”

  His chair creaked as he sat forward, folding his arms on the table. “Would you like to come over?”

  The intensity in his eyes made her swallow hard. “Yeah,” she whispered.

  He smiled, reaching out a hand. His finger hooked a curl resting against her cheek and moved it delicately aside to tuck behind her ear. “I look forward to seeing what you pick.”

  Across the street, teeth bared in a snarl. Hands balled into fists as fury rippled off the figure watching the two behind the window.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Four hours later, ten minutes before she was to arrive at Spencer’s house, Sophie was still in the center of the living room, surrounded by every single movie the Valdez family owned. Everything was too old, too girly, too emotional, too preachy. She was on her hands and knees, wondering if they even owned a normal movie when her mother walked in.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for a movie,” she answered.

  “You have about fifty there,” her mother said, as if it needed to be pointed out.

  “Yeah, but I’m watching it with Spencer and I don’t think he’ll like any of these.”

  Her mother moved closer. “Is Spencer coming over?”

  Sophie shook her head. “We’re going to hang out at his place.”

  Out of her peripheral vision, Sophie watched her mother move to the sofa and sit. “Sophia.”

  Sophie sighed, sitting back on her hunches. She turned to face her mother, already partially knowing what was about to happen.

  “What’s going on between you and Spencer?”

  Well at least she hadn’t been wrong about her assumptions.

  Sophie went for the truth. “I don’t know.”

  It irked her that her mother didn’t look the least bit surprised. “And you’re all right with that?”

  A frown drew down her brows. “What do you mean?”

  Her mother splayed her hands, palms up. “Well, is he serious about you? Are you serious about him?”

  “Mom, we’ve been on like one sort of date, which wasn’t even really a date and a movie at his house. I think it’s too early to be thinking about serious … ” she trailed off, sighed. “He doesn’t want a relationship,” she said. “He says he’s not ready and may never be ready.”

  Her mother nodded slowly. “How do you feel about that?”

  Sophie snorted a laugh. “I hate it. I don’t think it’s fair. I know he’s been hurt, but I’m not like her and I hate that he keeps treating me like I am. But what can I do? I can’t push him.”

  “Sophia.” Her mother waited until Sophie was looking at her before continuing. “You should never settle for anything less than what you deserve. If this situation bothers you, talk to him or … ” She didn’t have to finish the or part of her sentence. It came through loud and clear. “It’s not fair of him to categorize you based on someone else’s actions. Everyone deserves a clean slate. You most of all. You’re a good kid and he’ll see that if he opens his eyes.”

  “It’s not that simple.” She began systematicall
y stacking the DVDs, keeping herself busy in hopes of avoiding her mother’s watchful gaze. “He’s been hurt and I get that he wants space to find himself and he doesn’t trust women and whatever, but … am I being selfish to want him to … I don’t know, move on?”

  Her mother sighed. “The only advice I can give you is, give him a reasonable amount of time, but make sure he knows that you’re not going to wait for him to come around forever.”

  Sophie picked at a piece of torn cover on a DVD case, delaying the words burning on her tongue, her fears. “What if … what if he’s never ready? What if … ”

  Her mother did the hand splaying thing again, giving a delicate shrug of her shoulders. “You can’t keep something that doesn’t want to be yours. If he’s not ready, he’s not ready. You’ll need to accept that and you’ll need to move on.”

  Sound advice, but Sophie wasn’t sure she wanted to let go. She wasn’t sure she could accept that defeat with grace. But forcing him wasn’t an option either.

  “Don’t think about it so much.” Her mother rose and walked towards her. She lightly patted Sophie on the shoulder. “You’ll only drive yourself crazy.”

  With no other choice, Sophie nodded. “So, you’re okay with me and Spencer now? I mean if things … progress or don’t?”

  Her mother sighed, putting her hands on her hips as she contemplated. “I admit I wasn’t a fan of the whole idea at first. You are my little girl and always will be, I guess I didn’t like the idea of you being all grown up, but … ” She wrinkled her nose as if the next set of words were hard to push out. “I just have to accept the facts, I suppose. You’re old enough to date and if I had to pick any boy for you, Spencer is a good choice.”

  “You really liked him in the beginning,” Sophie reminded her.

  “I still like him, Sophia! I probably always will. He saved your life and I’m eternally grateful for that.”

  “How do you think Dad’ll take this?”

  Her mother winced, patted her on the shoulder once more and stepped back. “I’ll let you handle that.”

  In the end, Sophie decided on an old favorite of hers, Rebel Without A Cause. It seemed perfect for some reason. The fact that James Dean was in it was an added bonus.

  She grabbed her jacket, slung it on and hurried out the door.

  It wasn’t raining as she hurried over to his house, but she walked quickly, disliking the creepy feeling of being watched skating down the back of her neck. Several times, she darted glances over her shoulder, anxiously searching for the source, but the street was deserted. On Spencer’s porch, she did another sweep of the area. A shudder coursed through her and she hugged the DVD to her chest. She turned quickly and knocked.

  Suzy answered the door.

  “You again,” the girl said in greeting.

  “Yeah, me again. Can I come in?” Sophie asked when Suzy continued to stand there eyeing her as though she were something very suspicious that didn’t belong.

  “Spencer said you’d be by,” the girl said, still not moving to give Sophie entry. “I told him it was a bad idea.”

  Sophie started. “Why’s that?”

  “Because I don’t like you.” It was said without a single moment of hesitation, in a tone that left no room for doubt. “You’re not good for Spencer or this family and you’re wasting your time.”

  Willing herself not to react, Sophie narrowed her eyes. “How old are you?”

  The girl ignored the question. “He’s not going to get over Aimee you know. He still loves her. He always will. If you were smart, you’d forget this silly crush you have on him and go away. You’re just making a fool of yourself.”

  It took all her willpower not to let the heat prickling behind her eyes show, to not tear out of there at a run and never glance back. It took even more strength not to beat the girl over the head with the movie, which seemed illogical considering she’d done nothing but tell the truth while simultaneously throwing all of Sophie’s fears back into her face.

  “You know I’m right,” the hell-spawn continued. “It’s actually kind of trashy of you to keep throwing yourself at him when he’s clearly not interested, which shows by the way. I bet he even told you he didn’t want you, but you keep coming back. Kind of sad, don’t you think?”

  Refusing to let a pint-sized brat talk dirt about her, Sophie straightened, squaring her shoulders. “You know what I think?” She bent at the waist until they were eyelevel. “Not only is Spencer’s life none of your business, but the next time you talk to me like that, I will tell your mother.”

  A cold smile curled Suzy’s thin lips, giving her an almost demonic leer. “You can pretend to be tough all you want, Sophia, but we both know I’m right. Aimee is a hundred times better and prettier than you and she has something you will never have.” Her grin widened cruelly. “Spencer’s heart.”

  The girl could have reached out and ripped Sophie’s heart out with her bare hands and Sophie would have hurt less. Her hand actually fluttered, nearly moving to touch her chest where she was almost certain a hole had appeared, but her muscles had stiffened all over, immobilizing her on the spot. Her mind spun with words, but they made no sense. The only thought that seemed to be the loudest, was the voice asking how someone so small could be so evil?

  “You should go.” Suzy began closing the door in Sophie’s stunned face. “Save yourself further humiliation.”

  “Suzy? Who’s at the door?” Feet thundered as though coming down the stairs. “Is it Sophie?”

  For a split second of panic, Sophie actually felt her feet turn, her flight reflex kicking in. Then the door was being opened fully and Spencer was there dressed in black sweats and a black t-shirt. His feet were bare, his hair tussled. He looked beautiful.

  His eyes lit up and he smiled. He looked so happy to see her, which contradicted everything she was feeling at that moment.

  “You made it!” He motioned her over the threshold, giving her ability to move ever again too much credit.

  Carefully, Sophie slipped the movie behind her back, an apology and excuse nipping at the tip of her tongue. “I … ” Then she saw Suzy’s smug little face peering at her from around Spencer, mocking her for her weakness. Sophie swallowed the cowardly little voice telling her to run. “Yeah, sorry I’m late.” She wasn’t going to let the spawn of Satan run her off.

  It was almost a pleasure seeing the smirk melt off Suzy’s face as she stepped over the threshold and joined the two in the tiny foyer. Spencer closed the door behind her.

  “You got everything?” He turned to his sister, raising a hand and ruffling her hair.

  She swatted at him, glaring. “This isn’t a good idea!” she told him.

  Spencer sighed. He took her shoulders, physically turned her around and gently nudged her towards the living room. “Go watch your movie.”

  On the coffee table, Sophie could just make out the small mountain of treats. There was a bed made up on the sofa and something was on pause on the TV.

  “I don’t want to watch—”

  “Keep it down or you’ll wake up mom,” he told her as he guided Sophie towards the stairs.

  Suzy turned, narrowed blue eyes finding Sophie’s. She didn’t say a word, but the look on her face filled Sophie with a surge of embarrassment and shame, like Suzy knew exactly why they were going to Spencer’s bedroom and it had nothing to do with the movie. Which wasn’t the case, but the implication and accusation was there, burning into Sophie as they climbed the stairs.

  In his room, Spencer took the movie from her, turning it over in his hand as he stalked to the machine.

  “Are you trying to tell me something?” he teased, popping the disk out of the case and slipping it into the player.

  Sophie started out of her reverie. “What?” She shook her head to clear it. “Oh, no. I just like that movie.”

  He set the case down on the shelf and headed for the bed. He flopped down and patted the spot beside him. “Coming?”

  With no
thing else to do, Sophie shuffled over. She toed off her sneakers and climbed up on the mattress.

  “Are you going to take your jacket off?”

  Having forgotten all about it, she quickly shrugged out of the warmth and draped it over the foot of the bed. Then sat back against the pillows and drew her knees to her chest.

  The movie started, but Sophie didn’t watch any of it, although her eyes were fixed unblinkingly at the screen. Her toes tingled from her curled position, but she couldn’t seem to find the strength to uncurl her legs from her chest. Moving, period, felt like a tedious chore. Beside her, Spencer didn’t speak, a bonus in this case. But by the end of the movie, the building pressure in her chest threatened to explode. She could feel the climbing tension rise inside her until she felt near mad with it. When Spencer struck the stop button at the credits, Sophie all but lunged off the bed. She had her feet in her shoes and her jacket in hand before he even got to his feet.

  “Sophie?”

  “I have to go,” she blurted, already backing to the door.

  Even in the near dark, the confusion was evident on his face. “What? Why—?”

  “I’ll see you later, okay?”

  “Sophie—”

  But she had already spun on her heels and bolted from the room. She didn’t stop running until she was safely inside her own room, protected by two sets of doors. She fished her phone out of her pocket and texted Lauren.

  “Can’t do this!”

  Lauren answered a second later. “???”

  Sophie sniffled, not realizing she was crying until she had to swipe her forearm across her eyes to see the screen. “Come over?”

  “Be there in 10.”

  True to the text, Lauren and Jessie were crammed inside her room ten minutes later, squishing her between them as they huddled on the floor next to the bed. Jessie gently stroked her hair, making soft soothing noises while Lauren threatened to beat the snot out of Suzy.

  “That little brat needs a good kick in the ass!”

  Sophie sniffled. “She’s twelve!”

  “So? Never too late for a spanking!”

  “I’m sure she was only trying to protect Spencer,” Jessie rationalized. “He is her brother and she did witness everything Aimee did to him. Maybe she just doesn’t want to see him hurt again. She’s just a little girl.”