Home -Zach Dempsey-

chapter vii

-Sophia's POV-

Today was my first day back to school in a while, and I was scared. I was scared to walk by the same people who knew so much about me, who saw the picture.

I walked by Bryce with my head down, covering my face with my hair. But he saw me. "Oh, look who's back!"he grinned, grabbing my arm.

I looked at him, wide eyed. "Bryce, please.. Not today,"I begged.

"But why not?"he replied with a smirk.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Bryce from behind and yanked him away from me. I saw Zach, looking furious. "Hey, leave her alone. Don't ever touch her again,"he spat. Bryce pushed Zach off and rolled his eyes, walking away.

"How are you?"Zach asked as we started walking.

"I'm fine. I just want to go home after our stupid presentation,"I mumbled.

Zach replied,"Good thing we have English first period. If you want, I can take you home after that."

I smiled slightly and nodded. "I'll see. I just don't want to hear stupid stuff about me,"I sighed.

We walked into English class and everyone's eyes immediately went to me. I sat in my normal seat behind Zach and Justin, hearing whispers about me.

Justin turned around and said to me,"Hey, Soph. I just want to apologize for what I said yesterday at Zach's house. I'm sorry."

I slightly smiled and replied,"It's okay. Thanks for apologizing, it means a lot." He nodded and turned to face the front of the classroom.

Mrs. Ross spoke,"Ah, good to have you back, Sophia. Let's not waste any time this morning and get started with presentations. Sophia, your group first."

Clay, Justin, Zach, and I stood up and proceeded to the front of the classroom. Everyone's eyes were on me throughout the whole presentation, making me extremely uncomfortable. But we did fairly well with our presentation, despite Justin stuttering when reading his parts. I was just happy to get the project over with.

After English, Zach asked,"Do you want to go home?" I looked around and saw everyone whispering about me. "Uh, yeah. I really don't want to be here right now,"I said, rubbing my arm.

"Okay, I'll drop you off,"Zach said.

I shook my head and insisted,"It's okay, I'll just go home right now. Please stay here. I don't want you kicked off the basketball team just because you skip class to be with me all the time." He looked away, knowing that was true. Coach had already given him a warning about skipping class.

"I'll come over after school then, okay?"he asked.

I smiled and nodded. "Sure, my mom's at work until late tonight, so I need the company." I laughed lightly, giving Zach a hug. "See you soon, Dempsey."

I went home and caught up on some Chemistry homework I had missed. Then I just talked with Jen and Jason over Skype. I missed everyone back home so much. Everything was so easy in New York with my friends.

At around 3:00pm, Zach knocked on the front door. I walked over and let him in. "Hey, Soph,"he said, sitting on the couch.

"Hi, how was school?"I asked, sitting beside him.

"It was fine. Got an A on my math quiz,"he smiled.

I grinned and hugged him. "Good job! I'm so proud,"I giggled. Zach kept his arm around me as we watched TV silently for a bit.

I got a phone call so I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my phone. There was no Caller ID, but I decided to answer it. "Hello?"

I heard a chuckle and my heart started racing. I could never get that chuckle out of my head. "Hey princess, did you miss me?"Kyle asked. That voice sent a shiver through my body.