I've Changed

30. pillow fight

"Hello," I say over the phone when I see Sofie enter the kitchen, her eyes swollen and her cheeks flushed. My face remains expressionless as she slumps down on the stool in front of me and bites into my oatmeal, prompting me to give her the whole bowl.

"Ellie," Theo murmurs, making my brows furrow. "I-I need your help."

"With what?" As Sofie takes a bite of my meal, I ask.

"We have practice and Jae is scaring me," he says, twisting my stomach. I close my eyes, repressing the same feelings I had last night. "I'm sad because he's making these noises and sniffles."

"Theo," I say, and Sofie's head snaps to face me. I raise an eyebrow, and she shrugs before returning her gaze to the oatmeal. I check the time and see that we still have an hour before school, so I sigh irritably. "Why don't you come over-"

"Hello?" I ask, removing my phone from my ear and noting that he had ended the call. As I look up, Sofie is stuffing the rest of my breakfast into her mouth, covering her smile. I take a seat next to her at the counter, watching as she slouches and moves the empty bowl away.

"What the fuck happened last night?" Sofie says, making me shake my head in disbelief. She draws the marble lines of the counter as she looks at it. "I never liked that bitch," she snarls as I reassuringly rub her back. Everything I could do was remain quiet because I knew Sofie and Jae were the ones who were suffering the most. I don't have the right to respond right now; I need to take care of them first.

"Alex and Eric are on their way," I tell her, sheepishly smiling to lighten the mood, but she just nods and stares at the counter.

Sofie looks up to meet my eyes and says, "I wonder what Jae is going through." "I don't want to know...if this is how I feel about Aaron," she pauses when she notices me swivelling my chair away.

"You don't," I say, remembering how Jae cried in my arms the night before. I was hurt and angry to see him break down in front of me, blaming himself for Cassidy's mistakes.

The ringing of the doorbell jolts me awake. I and Sofie share glances as our brows furrow and we shake our heads, unsure who it is. When she pushes me off the stool to answer the door, I roll my eyes. Theo runs in, sweaty and out of breath, as I make my way to the entrance. Before returning my gaze to Theo, I cast a glance over my shoulder and note the same perplexed look on Sofie's face as it is on mine.

"It's just been a few minutes," Sofie says, furrowing her brows even more as Theo dashes over to our sink and drowns himself with water.

"Really? That's cool," He smiles, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand, and Sofie and I exchange glances once more.

"Did you run?" Sofie frowns, her eyes darting up and down as Theo's breathing settles into a normal pattern.

"I drove here, then got bored and ran the rest," he shrugs as he climbs onto the counter. As Sofie tries to push him off the counter, I shake my head, biting my lower lip to keep the smile and laugh from coming out. That gave me the signal to grab my keys and backpack and head out the door.

~

"Jae, you better open this door," I say, annoyed that I've been standing outside his apartment door for nearly ten minutes. As I approach the door for another knock, the door swings open, exposing Jae in just his pyjama pants, his abs and chest exposed, his hair messed up, his glasses hiding the visible signs of swollen eyes and red cheeks that have worsened, making me frown.

He walks back to his room with the same broken and hurt look he had yesterday, leaving the door open. Before reluctantly joining him, I close the door behind me. I enter his room slowly, my gaze wandering to the bean bag in the corner, his bed sheets strewn around the bed and on the floor, the few medals and ribbons on the walls, Polaroids taped around it, and his figure lying flat against the bed. His face buried in the pillows as he embraces one by his side, him trying to get the covers over his bare upper half, but the sheets slowly fall down to the floor, eliciting a disappointed groan.