Finally, she could not deny that her room was completely spotless, probably cleaner than it had been in a very long time. She gave her hair one final comb through-with an actual comb this time- before stepping into the hallway. She left the door open, it didn’t really matter to her if someone saw in; not that anyone usually came down this hallway.
She found Mark in the living room, paging through some magazine distractedly. He looked up when she entered, looking troubled.
“Did you sleep well?” He asked softly, barely contained emotion burning behind his question.
“Fairly...” Sophie’s voice was barely a whisper. She was terrified that her violent show of emotion earlier had disturbed him.
“Good, good...” Mark trailed off, clasping his hands in his lap and looking down at them.
“What’s wrong Mark?” Sophie shifted uncomfortably, worried she might already know the answer. “Cody.” He said quietly.
“What?”
“My name’s Cody.”
“I-I don’t understand....” Sophie took a small step back, trying not to comprehend what he meant.
“You’re parents... It was just a job... Please, I had no idea...” Cody’s voice shook with every word, and when he looked up, his eyes were scared.
“You were...pretending?” The horrible truth of it all crashed onto Sophie, and for the second time that day, her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m so sorry...” Cody reached out as though to comfort her.
Sophie pulled away. “No... Don’t touch me...” She felt betrayed, and she almost felt satisfied when she saw the pain in Cody’s eyes.
She turned and ran back to her room, before he could stop her.
Of course Mark wasn’t real, she thought bitterly. Real people simply weren’t that perfect. They lied, and hurt each other. She surprised herself at how easily she accepted this fact.
She ran through her open door, slamming it behind her. She threw herself onto her bed, letting her tears flow freely. Something hard was pressing into her chest. She pulled it out to take a look.
A Lady’s Favor.
Sophie flipped through it, frantically searching for all the best parts that sent such a wonderful shiver down her spine.
Their first meeting, their first kiss, Mark’s disappearance to the crusades, and their passionate reunion. Nothing. She searched more urgently, desperate for some stirring of emotion, the butterflies she used to take for granted.
Still, she felt nothing.
She hurled the book away from her in anger. It hit the wall, where the tortured spine finally gave way, and the book landed in two parts.
Something in Sophie seemed to tear with it. She wanted to tilt her head back and wail. For so long she had relied upon Mark, but now he was nothing.
How could she have been so stupid? Characters did not simply walk from their pages because one silly girl wished it. Even if a million girls prayed day and night, they would stay rooted in the words, doomed to repeat the same story over and over again, so long as people read.
Sophie heard knocking. She turned instinctively to the door.
“Please open the door Sophie! Just let me explain!” Cody’s desperate voice rang through the room. Sophie wanted him to go away. She wanted to make him go away. She opened the door to tell him to go, but paused when she saw his face.
She saw the same insecurities and fears reflected in his face that she had felt for years.
And she found the butterflies. “Sophie, I-”
Sophie wrapped her arms around him, and stopped his words with a kiss.
Her still-wet eyelashes brushed his, and their hearts beat as one. His lips caressed hers more gently than seemed possible, as he wrapped her in his warm embrace.
This time it was Cody who pulled away first. “Come with me.” He begged breathlessly, his eyes bright. “To Broadway.”
Sophie didn’t even have to think about it. “I’d go anywhere.”
###
About the Author
Autumn Rivers is a high school student who enjoys writing, drawing, and reading. Her wish is that some day she can write a book that becomes someone’s favorite.
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