My Best Friend's Girlfriend

Chapter 5

 The next day at school, Biana reluctantly allowed Sophie to sit with us. She continued to be the bare minimum of polite. I could see how nervous Sophie was around her, and I did my best to make her feel welcome.

"How's school going for you?" I asked her as she quietly nibbled on her salad.

"Fine," she replied, offering a small smile. Biana's face was stony as she absentmindedly inspected her nails. I sighed. She's being as mean as ever, I thought, annoyed.

After lunch, I confronted her. She was walking to her next class, gossiping with Maruca. I heard Sophie's name come up more than once.

"Hey, Biana!" I called out. She turned away from her friend, surprised. Her glossy lips curved into a smile when she saw me, and she shooed Maruca away, walking up.

"Hi!" She greeted me. "What is it?" I frowned down at her until the smile faded from her face.

"I don't like the way you treat Sophie," I informed her. She scowled, rolling her eyes so high they looked like they would be stuck that way.

"Sophie, Sophie, Sophie," she grumbled. "That's all I ever hear about! She's not even pretty! She—"

"Biana," my stare silenced her, and she glowered at her feet, sighing for a moment.

"Fine," she spat. "I'll be nice." She gave me one last glare before turning and following Maruca. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. Hopefully she will be, I thought, not believing it for a moment.

. . .

I ran into Sophie again as I walked to my car at the end of the day. She was leaning against a telephone pole, texting someone and occasionally looking up and surveying the mostly empty parking lot.

"Sophie?" I said, rolling down my window. "You okay?" She looked up from her phone and saw me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. "But Grady and Edaline can't pick me up because they're working, so I'm trying to figure out how to get home."

"Need a ride?" I offered. It's not like my parents would care if I get home late.

"I would love one! Thank you!" she grinned, relieved, and climbed into the passenger seat. At first, we were both silent. I yearned to talk to her, but I didn't know what to say.

"Where do you live?" I finally questioned. "Not to be creepy or anything. She laughed and told me her address.

"I just memorized it," she admitted, her brown eyes full of pain. "I keep wanting it to be my old one." I watched her for a moment as she yanked out an eyelash, looking down at her lap.

"What happened?" I inquired softly. She looked up at me. Her eyes were glassy, and her mouth was a tight line. I could see her working her jaw through her cheek, her teeth gritted together. I almost regretted asking.

"There was a poisonous gas leak in our house." her voice was choked, and she looked so... raw. It was raw emotion sketched across her entire face. My heart hurt for her.

I'm so sorry you had to go through that." I had stopped driving at that point, and we were parked in front of a row of houses. "I know you're probably so sick of hearing that."

"I was at a sleepover," she explained. "Otherwise I would be..." Sophie couldn't seem to get the word out.

"Oh, Sophie," I reached across her seat and wrapped my arms around her. She had gone through so much. My own problems paled in comparison. The rest of the ride was completely silent, and it took a moment to realize she was close to tears. I didn't comment on it, pulling into her driveway without a word.

"Thank you for driving me home," she smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"No problem," I assured her as she climbed out of my car and walked up to her house. I could've sworn her eyes flickered back to me as she went inside.