Killer

Chapter Twelve

As Sophia slipped on the royal blue, cut out shoulder button down that went with her matching blue wedged sneakers and black skirt Tuesday morning, her laptop started ringing. She answered it and Abigail's face appeared. She was wearing the same skirt except her cut out shoulder button down was green.
"Hey, hey, hey," she greeted. "Like the bun, nice touch."
"Thanks," Sophia said halfheartedly as she touched her hair.
"What's wrong?" Abigail asked.
Sophia shook her head. "It's nothing, really."
The laptop rung again before Lola, matching designed bright pink shirt and all, came onto the screen.
"Hey!" Lola exclaimed. "You guys look cute!"
"Thanks," Abigail replied, fluffing up her ringlet filled hair. "But something's wrong with, Sophi."
"Nothing's wrong with me!"
Sophia insisted. "I'm perfectly fine."
"Sure," Abigail said before, thankfully, letting the matter drop.
"So, are you taking Abby's ride again or is Mr. Hunk taking you to school?" Lola asking, teasingly.
Sophia rolled her eyes. "I'm riding with you guys."
"Are you and Dean not speaking to each other or something?" Abigail questioned. "Did we miss something?"
"So because I'm riding with you guys, it means something's wrong with my relationship?"
"No, not at all," Abigail said, raising her hands in surrender.
"I gotta go," Sophia lied. "See you guys when you get here." And she logged off.
She sighed as she leaned against her vanity dresser. She couldn't get Dean out of her mind. What was he about to say in the car yesterday? Was it really that bad? That's when she gasped. What if he's cheating? She hadn't read his mind in days.
"Sophia, breakfast!" Peter called from downstairs.
"Coming!" Sophia called back as she grabbed her book bag and clamped down the staircase. She sniffed the air. It smelled like pancakes, bacon, and.....was that oatmeal? She hadn't had oatmeal in a while. She padded into the kitchen and saw Peter sitting at the island on a stool, a stack of pancakes coated in syrup and about four bacon strips on his plate. The places where her and her mom sat had oatmeal sprinkled with raisins, apples, and dried cranberries in them.
"Breakfast!" Peter said cheerfully.
"You made this?" Sophia asked. "I didn't know you cooked."
"My wife taught me a thing or two," he replied, a sad smile playing across his face.
Sophia placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hard, isn't it?" she asked.
Peter sighed, nodding. "Difficult. I made coffee too." He pointed to the maker.
She grabbed her favorite mug from the cabinet that said Daddy's Little Girl and poured some coffee inside before dressing it up with sugar and creamer. She went and sat down at her place as Ms. Parker padded down the stairs in a black pencil skirt and a cream colored blouse with matching heels.
"Where are you going?" Sophia asked curiously.
Peter grinned before wrapping his arm around Ms. Parker's waist.
"I got her an interview at the hospital," Peter explained.
"I'm gonna be a nurse. I went to school for it, so," Sophia's mom specified.
Sophia smiled. "I'm happy for you, Mom," she said.
"Thanks," Ms. Parker replied with a healthy blush to her cheeks as she sat down across from her daughter.

Dean slipped into a semi-dark gray t-shirt and wet his hair a little before trotting downstairs with his book bag on his back. His parents weren't home which was a first since they've been here, but a first he didn't mind one bit. He grabbed an apple from the wire basket on the counter in the kitchen before walking out of the house and into his car. He took a bit bite and cringed.
"This is horrible," he spat before throwing the fruit out the window. An animal would finish it off. Then he started to look back on what happened yesterday. He was so close to unloading his burden. So close to finally revealing to Sophia that he was a vampire, but then Peter came along and interrupted it and he wasn't actually upset about it. He didn't want to lose Sophia. He didn't want for her to be scared of him. Yeah, there came times when he was close to biting her, but at the end of the day, he pulled himself back and righted himself. He banged his head against the steering wheel, his horn interrupting the peaceful silence that engulfed his neighborhood before cutting the engine on. Sophia would probably never let him be if he didn't admit to her the truth. He had to tell her soon. He needed to be honest.
*****
When he pulled into the Hamilton High parking lot, he parked his car into the slot right across from a purple Mustang, Abigail's car. He peeked out the windshield at the steps of FLML and saw Sophia alone pacing as if she was waiting for someone, him. He sighed before killing the engine and getting out.
Sophia looked up, smiling sadly. "Hey," she said.
"Hi," he replied.
They just stood there for a few moments, staring at each other uncomfortably.
Sophia looked as if she was about to cry. "What you were about to tell me....yesterday....before we got interrupted. I think I know what you were about to tell me."
Dean stepped back a little, gulping. How? How could she possibly figure it out. "You do?" he asked dumbly.
"Yeah," she said. "And it's okay. I'm cool with it. I should've known I wasn't good enough. I mean, that brunette at Marshall's party is way prettier than I am and she can do things that I can't-"
Dean placed his hand on top of Sophia mouth, bewildered. "Wait, what?"
Sophia removed his hand. "You cheated on me," she stated. "That's what you were gonna tell me in the car, right?"
Dean stepped back again as if he'd been slapped. How could she even think that way? Did he really look untrustworthy. "You think I'd cheat on you?" he questioned, hurt.
Sophia shrugged. "Well what else were you gonna tell me?" she asked before laughing a little to ease the tension. "That you're some freak creature. What, like a werewolf or a vampire or something." She giggled, but Dean winced.
Her smile faltered a little as she frowned. "You're not one of those things, are you?"
"Of course not!" Dean lied. "It's crazy to even think that." He forced a laugh.
Sophia nodded. "Yeah. So, then, what were you gonna tell me?"
Dean sighed. "That I love you so much," he whispered. "I mean, you're everything to me. I'm happy that I found you; that I'm here with you."
Sophia made an inaudible gasp before sheepishly slipping her hand in his. "I love you too," she whispered back. "No one's ever said that to me."
"Don't cry on me," Dean teased as he wiped a tear that slipped down her cheek.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated, wiping her face. "I don't usually get this emotional."
Dean chuckled before placing his forehead against hers. She was really warm.
"Aw," a chorus of female voices said close by.
Dean and Sophia shot away and turned to see a group of girls staring at them in awe, except for one girl. The brunette that hit on Dean at the party. Her scowl was so deep it looked etched in.
"You guys look really cute," a different brunette gushed.
"I wish my boyfriend would show me some PDA once in a while," a blond with fuchsia tips complained.
When they left, Sophia looked up at Dean, her cheeks rosy red. Then she turned to the door. "We should head inside. Class starts in a few."
Dean mutely agreed as they ascended the steps together and broke off to go to their lockers.
"See you at lunch," she called out before disappearing around the corner into the Foreign Language Wing.
Dean sighed as he watched her go. So much for telling her the truth. He turned on his heels and headed to the Math Wing.