Be Careful Who You Trust

Chapter 13

I got to Sophia's house but her car wasn't there. I still went to her door and knocked in case anyone else was home. Her mom answered the door. "Hi dear how are you? I haven't seen you in ages," said Sophia's mom. "Hi Ms. Karla, I'm doing fine and you? I was actually wondering if Sophia was home," I told her. "She's not here, would you like to come in and wait for her? I'm not sure if she'll be back any time soon though," said Karla. I went in and waited for her, while I waited I text her and tried calling her a couple times, but I got no answer. I felt defeated. "Has she told you anything that's been going on recently?" I asked Ms. Karla. "Yes she has actually, believe it or not it's not the first time this happens. Mary has a weird obsession with Sophia. I've always worried about their friendship because any time Sophia gets close to someone who isn't Mary, Mary tries to ruin it for her. She makes up rumors about her or threatens people to stay away from her," Karla said worriedly, "whatever is going on now, is nothing compared to what she has done in the past. Unfortunately, Sophia says she doesn't want to stop talking to her out of fear that she might hurt herself or hurt someone else." I was shocked at what I was hearing. I knew nothing about their past, I had no idea how manipulative Mary was. The knob on the door turned and Sophia walked in, she looked both shocked and annoyed to see me sitting there, talking to her mom. "What are you doing here? Mom didn't I tell you not to let him in?" she was mad, I could tell in the sound of her voice. "I'm sorry, Sophie, but he deserves to know the truth," Karla told her. "YOU TOLD HIM?! Mom why would you do that?" she asked furiously.

"Because, it's time for you to have a life and stop having to deal with Mary and her manipulation, maybe he can help you," Karla said and looked at me hopeful. "Sophie, I want to help you, but please you have to let me try. I'm sorry for believing her, I should've spoken to you first. Please forgive me," I begged her. She was thoughtful for a moment, she looked torn, like she wanted to tell me everything, but didn't want to betray her best friend.

"Ok, I'm going to tell you what's been going on, but you've got to help me. I don't know what to do anymore and i'm scared she might hurt one or all of us," Sophia sat down on the couch across from me and began to speak.

"Before you met Mary, she had been locked up in a psych ward because she tried to hurt another one of our best friends. His name was Brandon. Mary and I met Brandon at a bar when we used to bartend, he was a server. The three of us became really close and started hanging out on our days off or sometimes after work. Brandon and I started hanging out when Mary would work and we were off, but as nothing more than just friends. Mary didn't like it because she felt like Brandon was trying to take me away from her or that I would like Brandon more than I liked her, but to be honest, hanging out with Brandon was such a relief because when we were around Mary we always had to do what SHE wanted or she'd get pissed. We still hung out with her because she was fun, but when she wasn't around we had more fun. So one day I text Brandon to see if he wanted to hang out and he ignored my texts, when we would all work together he started avoiding us, the three of us completely stopped hanging out and I was starting to think it was because of Mary. She always did or said something when she noticed I was becoming close to someone who wasn't her. I went out by myself once to get some groceries and I ran into Brandon, we talked and he told me Mary had told him I didn't like him because he was black, can you believe that? I am NOT that type of person. I loved Brandon as a best friend, I was hurt and felt betrayed, but I knew she'd end up doing something like this. My mistake was confronting her about it, she ended up going to Brandon's house and hit him over the head with a brick. He didn't press charges on her but only if she agreed to check herself into a psych ward and get help. She was there for a few months and, honestly, when she came out I thought she had gotten better. Especially because we started hanging out with you and she didn't make a big fuss about it. I started working with Lucas and everything seemed perfect, until she felt I was spending too much time at work. She got with Lucas without even liking him, she got with him just so she could work with me and keep an eye on me, see if I had any other close friends at work. She even got her friend Frank a job so he can tell her everything I do there. The day that you walked in and heard someone having sex at the office, it wasn't me and Lucas, it was her and Angel, the guy that works in IT. She made me promise not to say anything and that if anyone asked, I would say it was me in there. That's why when you asked me I agreed that it was me. Then when she found out about you and me she let me know she had feelings for you. I knew it wasn't true she just wanted to separate us. I don't know why she has this weird obsession with only letting me be her friend, but I've had enough of it. I love you, Alex, and I'm not ready to lose you," she said with tears in her eyes.

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. It made perfect sense. There were times the three of us would hang out and Mary would ask Sophia to leave she'd say "Don't you have a project to do for work?" or make up any other excuse for her to leave. I always noticed Sophia's face and how uncomfortable she looked when she was leaving. I thought Mary was doing this because she knew Sophia annoyed me a little when she would start talking non stop. "Why would you put up with this for so long?" I asked Sophia, I held her hand to make her feel comfortable. "Out of fear, she has a way of manipulating people. I was always scared that if I stopped talking to her she would destroy me the way she is right now," Sophia admitted, she looked ashamed. "I've been trying to get a hold of her today, but she doesn't answer. I'm afraid she might do something she'll regret later. Mom, I'm going out with Alex to look for her, please, PLEASE, promise me that you won't answer the door to anyone. I don't want her coming here and trying to hurt you," She begged her mom. "I won't open the door hun, I'm going to lock myself in my room until you come back home," Karla reassured her. We drove off and I tried calling Mary a couple times, she didn't answer. Could she possibly know that Sophie and I were together right now? Lucas texted me, "You need to come to the office right away, bring Sophia with you." How did he know Sophia and I were together?