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Sophie Carmella sat patiently in the cafe, sipping at her hot chocolate, as she listened to music with her eyes closed. She swayed to the slow music that filled her ears and let herself get lost in the music.
She jerked awake when she felt herself moving. She realised that she had fallen asleep listening to the music from her earphones and that Sam was sitting across from her, looking bored already.
"Can we please get this over with?" Sam asked, annoyance lacing her voice.
"Hi to you, too, Sam!" Sophie greeted, her lips stretching into a smile. "How are you?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "I'm fine."
"Aren't you going to ask how I am?"
"Clearly you're great but it's not like I care," Sam snapped.
Sophie pouted before she said, "well, one, you do care but you're just too much of a bitch to say so. And two, I'm not great but I'm feeling okay. I'm getting by."
"Well, one," Sam exaggerated with hand gestures, copying Sophie, "do you think calling me a bitch is an insult? And two, I don't give a fuck, Soph."
Sophie smiled. When Sam got mad at Sophie she never called her Soph but now she just did which had to mean something. It had to mean that Sam was simply putting on a front.
Sophie laughed and smiled at Sam. "Please, Sammy, being called a bitch is such a compliment for you."
Sam's lips twitched but she didn't smile. "So?"
This time Sophie frowned. She leaned on the table and put her hands before her, looking at her now cold beverage. "Life sucks arse. Don't you think so?"
"That's a fact all of mankind knows." Sam was clearly still resistant.
"Yeah, well life is more shitty than it was before."
"You have Andrew."
Sophie looked up at Sam then. "I know," she beamed. "And you have me, Sam."
Sam rolled her eyes before she let out a big huff of breath. "Look here, Sophie, I don't want to burst your little bubble but somebody's got to tell you that-"
"Yeah, blah blah blah," Sophie sang. "I know you're too embarrassed to be seen with me and frankly, I don't care. I know that you need someone and I know that you need to get it all out. I didn't let people in, Sam, and that took a little bit of my sanity. It took a little bit of my happiness away. I'm not saying that I'm not happy now. I am. But I still wish things could be a little different."
Sophie paused to gauge in Sam's reaction. "I know you're hurting, Sam. And I know that a part of you, no matter how small, blames yourself for what happened. There's no logical explanation that exists for why I would be the reason for my father's death and yet a small part of me blamed myself."
Sam's eyes watered and her jaw tightened as she cast her gaze away from Sophie. "It's not your fault that your parents got a divorce."
"If I didn't tell my mother that my father was a cheating whorebag then my family would still be together. My reason is perfectly logical-"
"You did the right thing, Sam! Your parents would have an unhealthy relationship and when has an unhealthy relationship been any good?"
"It's not like Mum is any different though. She's already with another man!"
"You're mother's trying to move on. Maybe she still loves your father but she knows that she's got to move on. That she's got to make peace with the fact that your father doesn't belong with her anymore."
Sam stared hard at Sophie, the tears in her eyes threatening to fall. "She's replacing Dad."
Sophie smiled sadly because this was something she didn't know. "Maybe she is. Maybe she's not. Maybe she's not trying to replace your dad. Maybe she's looking for a new dad, a different one."
Sam's hands shook and she quickly tucked them under the table, out of Sophie's sight. "What if he hurts her?"
Sophie frowned. How could she lie to her friend and say that he won't. There was still a possibility that he could hurt her. But wasn't that the same situation with Andrew? Sophie knew that there was a possibility that he could hurt her but she knew that she was in love with Andrew Smith and when people are in love they willingly take risks.
"Sam?"
"Hmm?"
"I can think of something that will cheer you up."
"Yeah?" Sam asked, a forced smile coming to her lips but it's the first of Sam's smiles that Sophie had seen in a while.
"Lingerie shopping!"
Sam's eyes bulged at that statement and Sophie inwardly beamed. That wasn't so hard as she thought. She distracted Sam. Goal!
"You don't mean to say that you're finally letting Andrew Smith deflower you?"
Sophie blushed. "Oh God, why do you have to say it like that?"
Sam smiled, a genuine smile. "I'm sorry for trying to get up all on Andrew at the bar-"
"Don't. Now I know he's faithful to me."
"No, I need to explain. I saw you at the bar and I was so angry with you. Because I knew you were hurting but you looked fine on the outside and there I was barely keeping myself together with my problems. I was so pissed and I just wanted to do something that would make someone just as mad as I was and - ugh! I'm sorry I'm so pathetic."
Sophie gasped. "Did Samantha Dobbs just apologise?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "Shut up, bitch. Now, I believe you promised me that we'd go lingerie shopping."
Sam winked and Sophie laughed. And when the next week came and Sam swung an arm around Sophie's shoulder instead of ignoring her as she had been doing recently, Sophie was still surprised that Sam truly wasn't embarrassed to have her as a friend. Cheerleader or not, stereotype or not, Sophie Carmella was one of the truest friends Samantha Dobbs had.
