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Chapter 7%
Sophie’s POV
I stopped sleeping the night Callie left.%
Not right away%
At first, it was just harder to close my eyes. Harder to slow my brain down %
The bed felt too big. Too cold. Too loud with nothing but Ava’s heels clicking on the tile downstairs, the clink of her wine glass, the sound of her fake laugh echoing off the walls like she wanted the house to forget who used to live here.%
But I didn’t forget.
I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, tracing cracks that weren’t there.
I tried to remember the way Callie used to hum under her breath when she folded laundry. The way she’d sit at the edge of my bed and fix the blanket just right, tucking the corners like a secret she was protecting.
Now Ava stood at my door and said things like, “Ten more minutes and lights out, princess,” in a voice that sounded like she was daring me to talk back.%
Some nights I did.%
Some nights I didn’t.
But the worst part wasn’t Ava pretending she cared.%
It was Dad pretending everything was normal.
It started small.%
He came home from work later. Smelled like tiredness and hospital soap. Ava would greet him at the door, a glass of wine in one hand and a joke ready for the other.%
“Rough day, doctor?” she’d purr, brushing his shoulder like she had any right.%
He didn’t pull away.
I sat at the kitchen counter pretending to do homework while she pressed too close, giggling at things that weren’t funny.
Once, I saw her slide her hand across his chest.
“Don’t,” he muttered, stepping back.
She smiled like she wasn’t embarrassed. Like she was winning.%
“Come on, Marcus,” she whispered. “You keep saying you’re tired, but what you really mean is guilty. That’s the problem. You’re not moving on, you’re staying stuck.”
She said it loud enough for me to hear.%
He glanced at me then. Just a flicker. I didn’t look up from my notebook.%
“Not now,” he said.
“Oh, come on. She’s not a baby. She knows what this is.“%
I tightened my grip on the pencil.%
“I said, drop it,” Dad snapped.%
Ava stared at him for a second, her lips tight. Then she turned and walked away like it didn’t matter.%
But it did.
Because I heard her whisper as she passed behind me.%
“Sophie’s the reason Callie left. Everyone knows it.“%
I turned my head sharply, but she was already gone.
The next day at school, I drew a picture of Ava with fire for hair. My teacher asked if it was “a monster.” I shrugged. Got sent to the counselor’s office for the second time that week.%
They asked if I was angry.”
I said I was tired.
That night, I didn’t eat. I waited until Ava left the kitchen, then tossed the food in the trash and ran the water to make it sound like dishes.# I didn’t want her to ask questions. I didn’t want her voice near me.%
Later, in the dark, I crawled out of bed and found the shoebox under my dresser. The one with the old photo inside, me, Isabelle, and Callie in the backyard. We were covered in paint, holding a canvas full of handprints./
I was little. Probably two or three. Sitting on Mom’s lap, squinting into the sun.
Callie’s next to us, crouched low, arms wrapped around both of us like she was keeping the moment still. Like she already knew how fast it would be gone.%
Before, I used to look at this photo and think that Callie doesn’t belong in this. That she was pretending.
But now I look at it and think, “She’s the only one who stayed.“%
Until I made her go.
I stared at the photo for a long time, heart thurnping too fast, like something inside me was trying to say what I couldn’t.
Than tucked it under mu millor &
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I stared at the photo for a long time, heart thumping too fast, like something inside me was trying to say what I couldn’t.”
Then I tucked it under my pillow.”
I hated that I missed her.”
I hated that I still expected her to come back just because I wanted her to.”
I wanted to go back in time to the moment I asked if I could call Ava “Mom.“W
I wanted to shove those words back in my mouth.”
I didn’t mean it.
I just wanted Callie to stay.”
But she didn’t.}]
She looked me in the eye and walked away.}
And I didn’t chase her fast enough.”
One night, I came downstairs to get water and stopped in the hallway.
Ava was whispering. Too quiet. Too close.
“You need to stop treating me like I’m a guest,” she said. “I live here now. That girl needs to learn I’m not the help.”
Marcus sighed. “She’s just a kid.“}
“She’s not a kid. She’s a manipulator. Like her aunt.”}
“Enough,” he said.
But Ava didn’t stop. “You want peace? Then pick a side. Her or me. Because you can’t keep trying to hold onto ghosts.”
I dropped the glass before I could stop myself. It shattered across the tile.}
They both looked up. Ava cursed under her breath.
Marcus opened his mouth, but I didn’t wait.”
I turned and ran back upstairs.
Slammed the door.
And for the first time since Callie left, I cried.
Not loud. Not messy.”
Just the quiet kind that shakes your whole body.}
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