Strength

Chapter 7 - Riverwood High

I looked around myself but all I could see was darkness. I couldn't see anything but there were voices, 'You are disgusting' 'You ruin everything' 'You are never going to escape'. I saw people from my old school coming towards me, 'You always get what you want' 'You are so lucky' 'Your life is perfect'. I wanted to scream at them, at the world that, No, my life isn't perfect, it's difficult than you could ever imagine. Neither am I lucky to have this life. But suddenly fingers gripped my neck cutting off my air supply, I opened and closed my mouth but not a single voice came out. Those people started fading away, smiling at me. I desperately tried to break free from the hold on my neck but it only got tighter. And once again, I was left in complete darkness. The grip on my vanished and I took deep breaths. I saw two figures walking towards me at a slow pace. I started taking small steps backwards away from them, but they were stood in front of me the next second. They pushed me and the smirking faces of Daniel and Lilian were the last thing I saw before falling into a bottomless pit.

I sat up on my bed breathing heavily, beads of sweat dancing on my brow. I looked back at my nightstand where my phone was ringing. It was a video call from Violet. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself before answering the call.

"Hi Sophia." Violet's face appeared on my screen with Jake standing behind her. Her cheerful voice did a little help to bring me back to present. It reminded me that I'm no longer living with those awful people. "Sorry if we woke you up, it's quite early."

"Good morning and it's okay." I greeted back.

"So, are you ready for school?" Violet asked excitedly.

"I guess." I smiled back at her. 

"What about the boys? They aren't giving you any trouble, are they?" Her voice was stern which I guess was aimed for her sons.

"No, they are fine. How are you guys?" I asked them. I had learnt that Jake and Violet runs a business for which they travel a lot, while Stephen handles it from here.

They both looked shocked for a second before Violet replied, "Wow, all the boys just talk about sports and want to hang up the phone as soon as possible, having a girl around feels just so good," she chuckled. "And we are totally fine Sophia."

"Sophia, tell me if someone bothers you or if I need to break someone's bones alright? Or if there is some creep like in that ice-cream shop, call me. Stay far far away from any boy who is not a Wilson. And-" Jake's rant was cut off when Violet lightly hit his arm.

"I swear you are an overprotective freak." Violet eyed Jake before returning her attention to me, "Good luck for your first day Sophia." She wished while Jake gave me a thumbs up and an encouraging smile.

"Thank you, bye." I said and then they hung up the phone. I let out a sigh, did they really care enough to call and check up on me? 

My door opened and Max poked his head inside staring at me. "Can I come in?" He asked.

"Uh, Sure."

"I was thinking if we should take revenge from the devil duo," he looked at me practically pleading me with his eyes.

"I don't know," I said slowly. I really didn't like this idea, they could always come up with better pranks and especially, Tony gives me scary vibes.

"Pretty please with a cherry at the top?" He said like he was offering me a deal.

"Fine." I groaned knowing I'll regret it in the near future but he seemed so eager I couldn't help but give in. "What's the plan?"

"Get ready in ten minutes, I'll tell you at school." He said and left my room.