Lost in the Wilderness - The Forest of Evergreen Book 1 (6 page)

But it sounded like a piece of trash music to Sophia. However, she was able to bestow him a short-lived smile.

Giovanni strove to wash all the negativities away, and persevered, until his car finally arrived.

Supporting Sophia so she could get inside his car, Giovanni fixed the hair that covered her face, as she struggled to sit down. But his mind warred for a moment. The picture of seeing his girlfriend in her most fragile allure warmed him. Yet, he remembered what her father told him and it just smashed him into pieces. He loped over to the driver’s seat, and handed his driver some cab fare.

Driving slowly, Giovanni determined not to mind the temptation before him. He took a gaze at Sophia and noticed how she remained silent, focusing her somnolent eyes on the flickering lights of the road.

“Honey bear…” He attempted to ring a bell in her. A nickname he would use to sweet-talk Sophia, but most of the time, he would call her
babe
.

It took eons before Sophia turned to look at him, but in spite of it, he seriously waited.
 

“What?” Sophia asked, lackluster.

Giovanni unexpectedly stopped the car. There was this solid stare of his, like wanting to say something very important. It was followed by a wide-ranging smile. “I love you,” he whispered, leaning his face forward, to say it, while looking straight into her eyes.

Hearing his words, Sophia was shaken to her knees. It was as if alcohol hadn’t crossed her brain, and that she was able to process them right away. There was no mistake that she understood his message very well, as Giovanni’s faultless nose was only inch away now from hers. Watching him, watching the flickers in his eager eyes, Sophia’s chest crumpled in its utmost intensity. There were fear, guilt, and apologies. She needed to respond. She had to compensate for his devoted, unconditional fervor with a passion that she knew she wasn’t feeling. But it felt like the more Giovanni tried, the more it put her to the grave. So before his lips could be completely locked onto hers, she quickly shifted her look to the side, unable to feel the slightest voltage of his approaching lips.

“I love you, too.” It was ages before she whispered back these words, but her stare was a million miles away. Heavens, she was torn by the clashes of her own emotions.

Swaying his head in frustration, Giovanni then sighed his disbelief and displeasure. But knowing that Sophia needed to come home before midnight, he started his car again and continued to drive.

The two finally arrived at Sophia’s.

Giovanni was desperate with one more moment with her. He looked at Sophia single-mindedly, and without a second passing by, he kissed her in fast motion, leaving her frozen.
 

Under his controlling kiss, Sophia congealed further as his mouth powerfully travelled over hers. It was their first time, the first kiss out of his thousand attempts. Still, there was a part where Sophia wanted to push him away, but she was quite afraid that it might hurt him. Giovanni was a good guy, she knew that, but it just ripped her heart apart to let him drown into his own pool of desire. Not now. Not at this time of confusion, for someone in Forest Green, was recently hauling her back in a rope of uncertainty.
 

Not prolonging the agony any further, Sophia finally distanced herself and got out of his car immediately.

Giovanni’s eyes were steadfast. They followed her every step until she finally made her way, to open their gate. He waved, smiling broadly, as Sophia tried to look at him once more.

Chapter 3

A Visit to Forest Green

The glorious sunbeams streamed through the thin white curtains of Sophia’s bedroom.
 

With a heavy head, Sophia jumped up from bed and went straight to the bathroom to wash her face. She harked back; later today, they would be heading to Forest Green. She breathed in deeply and sprinted to the kitchen to make herself a cup of brewed coffee. She knew it would help her get rid of the alcohol residues.

“Sophia, honey, do you know where your brother is? I think he did not come home last night,” Elizabeth, seated on the kitchen table, asked her daughter as she entered the kitchen.

“We separated when the prom was over, Mom. He was with Zarah and... Giovanni brought me home.”
 

“Oh, Alex…” Elizabeth flung a heavy sigh and went through her cell phone again. “He knows we’re going to Forest Green today!” she grumbled and immediately lowered down her voice.

Feeling very much dehydrated, Sophia brought out a bottle of distilled water from the fridge and gulped it gracefully, slipping the name
Forest Green
out of her mind. She was about to grab a cup when her mother spoke again.

“I’ve been trying to reach him for the thousandth time, now,” Elizabeth said worryingly.

“Well, he will be here, Mom.” Sophia acted lethargic.

Alex had just arrived when Sophia saw him through the kitchen windowpane.
 

“Here he comes, Mom! I told you,” Sophia murmured, still in a haze.

Now, Elizabeth made a move to meet her son.

Sophia followed her.

“Alex, where have you been? I’ve been calling you!” Elizabeth’s tone was mixed with worry and anger, as she reached him to the doorway.

“I’m sorry, Mom. My cell phone got low last night. I forgot to charge it.” Alex scratched his head innocently and placed his coat on the chaise lounge.

“Okay, you are forgiven for that! Join your sister for breakfast.” Elizabeth’s aggravation immediately subsided.

Eavesdropping, Sophia butted in. “So, that’s it, Mom? Aren’t you going to ground him or something? He did not come home last night. But if I were to do that, you would ground me for, like a month,” she stressed, and at a reckless pace, went back to the kitchen.

“Because you are a girl, Sophia. There’s a difference between you and your brother.” Elizabeth struggled, to chase her.

Sophia bent her head and filled a cup with steaming coffee, while plopping her mother’s words inside her mind.

“Sophia, honey, don’t get it the wrong way,” Elizabeth implored and grabbed Sophia’s chin to face her. “I worry less, for him…”

Faking a smile, Sophia looked at her mother. “Okay...”

“Good.”

 
Now, Sophia sat down and quickly disregarded her mother’s unjust treatment to them.

“And Sophia...” Elizabeth wanted to say more.

“Mom...”

“Start packing for Forest Green, all right?” Elizabeth demanded with an evident compulsion.

“Later, Mom. I’ll just finish my cup.” Sophia pressed her forehead like she was suffering from a headache, and Elizabeth knew it was hangover.

“How’s your prom?” Elizabeth took a detour first before interrogating her.

“It was great, Mom.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Sophia shook her head negatively and rubbed her cup to avoid her mother’s stare. She knew her mother’s style of questioning very well. Next, she took a slow sip of the coffee.

Noticing how her daughter avoided her, Elizabeth now began to spill out her main concern. “Did you drink a lot last night?”

Sophia got tongue-tied. Her mother was right and she couldn’t say no. She wished to explain her actions but nothing came out, when she opened her mouth.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, already knowing what Sophia was about to say. “You know, Daniella really was a bad influence on you. I’m glad she’s no longer attending your school,” she said in a judgmental manner.

“Please, don’t talk of her that way. She was a good friend,” Sophia defended her old friend.

“Good friend? Does a good friend invite you to the most dangerous clubs in the city and convince you to cut classes?” Elizabeth’s voice suddenly raised.

Sophia stared wordlessly. They were back to the same old arguments again. Hence, she decided to shut up.

“You know, we had a problem about your drinking alcohol before, right?” Now, Elizabeth’s voice turned low.

“I’m sorry, Mom. It won’t happen again,” Sophia immediately apologized, but her eyes rolled away from her mother’s confronting gaze.

Soon after, Elizabeth left her and went upstairs to start packing for Forest Green.

Sophia reflected for a minute, and then, volunteered to wash the dishes that almost crammed the whole fraction of their sink.

Some images slowly wheeled into her vision, like Nadine who came to her and asked for help to pack for Forest Green.
 

Sophia was instantly persuaded, but she asked Nadine to wait first.

“Okay,” Nadine politely agreed, pulled out a chair, and watched Sophia wipe their wet silverware.

But something bothered her, and Sophia faced Nadine, then asked, “Can’t you pack your own things, Nadine?” She made sure she delivered these words without hurting her sister.

“I can but… I’m not really good at folding my clothes.” Nadine brought herself a peg down, which was unusual for her.

Raising an eyebrow, Sophia pondered at such unassuming nature from her erstwhile sister. “Wow! At least you humbled yourself this time.”

“Can you help me or not? Otherwise, I will ask mom to do it for me.”

“Of course, I’ll do it for you.” Sophia then appeared to tease and bent down to wobble her sister’s hair.

“Touch not my sacred hair, sistah!” Nadine clowned in an exaggerated way to play along with her.

Sophia giggled and after she finished the dishes, they swiftly went upstairs and packed for Forest Green.

As the shorter arm of clock pointed ten, the Vabuerettis were ready for Forest Green.
 

Alex and Nadine were incredibly raring to go, but for Sophia, there again were those recollections. Unhappy events of her childhood that deluged her memory as if in a storm surge. She never mentioned them to her family, not even to her grandmother. It was only Jericho who knew all of them. But the moment Jericho’s face reappeared in her mind, she quickly squeezed her eyes shut and stopped herself from thinking of him.
 

“Oh, God. Please, Jericho, get out of my mind,” Sophia whispered to herself.

“Sophia, are you okay? Honey, what’s wrong?” Elizabeth examined her as they were almost done putting their suitcases into the trunk. “Are you sick?” she kept on and on and placed her palm on Sophia’s forehead.
 

“This is nothing, Mom. I’m all right!” Sophia let some brightness appear in her face to cover up her emotions.

“I have some Tylenol with me. You might as well take one.”

“Mom, I’m fine,” Sophia insisted.

“All right.” Elizabeth gave Sophia another once-over and continued setting things in order.

But a moment ago, Nadine happened to hear Sophia whispering Jericho’s name.

“Who’s Jericho?” Nadine suddenly asked Sophia, like a kitten begging for food.
 

Surprised that she had whispered his name so clearly, Sophia’s mouth was completely paralyzed. She didn’t expect her sister to overhear. And she had no idea how she was going to answer her puerile sister. Because of it, she answered in tidbits.
 

“Oh, he’s a good friend.” Sophia attempted to stretch her lips sideways.

“A good friend? How come I never met him?”

“Because he’s not from Orlando, Nad.”

“So, where is he from?”

Sophia was tight-lipped again. She massaged her forehead and decided to speak the truth. “He’s from Forest Green.”

Nadine smiled, like wanting to start a wisecrack, and it made Sophia defensive.

“Look, he’s a good friend from Forest Green, okay?” Sophia stressed as Nadine finally laughed it out, guessing that he and her sister were once an item.

“Hey, stop it!” Sophia prodded Nadine, lightly.

Still, Nadine teasingly laughed.

Elizabeth was distracted and interfered, “What’s going on?”

“Mom, Sophie’s excited to see Jericho!” Nadine continued, putting forth a playful jest.

“Jericho? Who’s Jericho, Sophia?” Alex intervened too. He just overheard them while helping their father check the car’s condition.

“Um, her childhood sweetheart, perhaps.” Again, Nadine made fun of Sophia.

“Nadine, stop!” Sophia tickled her. Doing it to her sister usually helped to change the topic, but today, Sophia was wrong. It actually became a magnet that finally attracted their father’s attention.

“I did not know about that Jericho. You never mentioned him to us, Sophia.” Philippe joined the issue with a very serious aura.

“He’s a good friend, Dad.” Sophia was beginning to find the situation unbearable.

“Okay, so let’s just get inside the car, then.” Philippe, right away, was sidetracked by the flow of their talk, but Elizabeth’s wondering eyes were still focused on Sophia.

“All right!” Nadine soured out of her eagerness and entered the car ecstatically.

Feeling a bit of awkwardness, Sophia sat at the back seat near the window. Right next to her was Nadine while on the other side was Alex. As for Elizabeth, she joined her husband in front.

The family was now geared up. They whispered some prayers for their safety on the road, and Philippe started the car.

Alex, on the double, tuned in to his iPhone and swept himself off his feet with music, while Sophia sustained a reply to each of Giovanni’s text.