Mismatched socks

Sophia - Chapter 4: Red Hot Chili Peppers

I walk out of my class, thinking, and bump into someone. 'Ugh, watch your ste- oh!' Renée looks at me in surprise. 'Sorry,' she says and walks with me. 'Rough day?' I ask. 'Just irritated that we need to paint a painting within a week,' she says while stuffing her pencil case into her bag.

'I thought you liked art?' 'I do! It's just that we need to paint the person who is the dearest to us. And I don't really know who to pick,' she says and looks at me for a moment. 'Why don't you paint Colin?' 'That's just the obvious answer for anyone. He may be my best friend, but he wasn't there when I needed a friend the most,' Renée says while looking in the distance at a memory she is thinking of.

'Well, I'm free now, guess I'm going to paint while listening to a YouTube video explaining the DNA.' 'I'm free too,' I say. 'Then good luck with studying!' she says and walks off. I kind of hoped she would've invited me with her. I sigh and walk to my dorm where Elise is lying on her bed.

'Do you want to read lines with me?' she asks, not looking up. 'I'm not in the mood, sorry,' I say and fall onto my bed. 'What's wrong?' Elise asks, sitting straight on her bed and looking at me with a frown. 'I have a huge crush and it's most likely she won't like me back, ever,' I sigh. I forgave Elise for exposing my crush to Renée, but only because Renée was so kind.

'You don't know that?' 'Well, she has a free period and I said that I am free too and she just walked off,' I say. 'Maybe she had other things to do? Or deadlines? And you said she's an introvert, maybe she needs a recharging moment?' 'It's all possible,' I sigh. Elise makes a compassionate sound when she comes lying next to me and hugs me for a moment. 'Thanks,' I mutter. 'You're welcome,' she says silently.

Later that day I'm drafting a story for my class Creative Writing. Elise is rehearsing a dance with a classmate. There's a little knock on the door. 'Door's open,' I say, typing a battle scene between Greek gods and an army of Cyclops. 'Hi.' I look up at Renée, she looks sad. 'Colin is mad at me, and I don't know why. And my father just called that my grandmother died. And I have only you to come to now,' she says with tears in her eyes.

I save my story and close my computer. 'Are you okay?' That's a stupid question to ask, Sophia. She's clearly upset. 'No,' she says, it's more like a whisper. I stand up and walk to her. I wrap my arms around her and hug her as comforting as possible. She starts crying even more.

'She was the only one who accepted me for me. She accepted my flaws, my quirks,' Renée says when she is calmer. I let her talk and keep comforting her. 'My father is already on a train back to Belgium. My mother refuses to go, as well as my sister. And Mathieu tries to leave, but his work won't let him.'

'Are you going?' 'I want to, but I will miss so much.' 'When is the funeral?' 'Probably in three days.' 'Then it's Friday. You can take a train in the morning, and you can be there. You will have the whole weekend to spent time with you family and if you're up to it, you can review what your classmates did when you were away,' I say.

'You're right,' she mumbles and wipes away a tear. She looks at me with watery eyes. I look at her too. Her hair is a little messy, she has red rings around her eyes. But behind all that, she's still beautiful, even if she doesn't see or believe it.

'I'm sorry for barging in here,' she says and looks away. 'You knocked very politely.' There's a little but sad smile on her lips. 'And don't ever apologise for being sad and wanting to talk to someone,' I say and give her a last tight hug. 'Thank you.'

'Have you eaten yet?' I ask after a moment. 'No, not yet' she says. 'Do you want to?' 'Do you want to?' I smile at her. 'Yes,' I say and get up from the bed. Renée patiently waits till I have my shoes on, grabbed my coat and my keys. We walk out of the door to the cafeteria.