Blood for Blood - Chapter 5

I was so ticked off from the encounter, but that feeling passed almost instantly when I walked through the door, nearly throwing my luggage across the house. “Oh my God, look at this house!” I almost screamed on the top of my lungs when I looked around, it was perfect! The wall color was a light blue, and the furniture seemed old but in good shape. I guess there were plastic covers on each piece and Rena probably took them all off.

“In here, Sophia!” I heard Rena yell. I followed her voice to find her in the kitchen. The kitchen seemed like it was renovated a few years ago, but it wasn’t too shabby. There was a working oven, fridge, toaster, freezer, and sink. That was good, I guess.

“Isn’t this house beautiful?” Rena asked. She was already in her pajamas, and she was drinking some water. “Sophia!” I heard somebody yell. It was Jewel, and she seemed like she was just on a wild goose chase.

“What’s wrong, Jewel? Did something happen?!” I panicked. “Nothing happened except for the fact that you spent a long time outside with Dally! I want details!” She squealed.

“Will the three of you shut your traps?! I love you all like family, but you can’t keep quiet when you need to!” Ryan groaned from the end of the hall. “Yeah, I’m trying to get my beauty sleep!” Jack yelled, walking out and standing next to Ryan. I just shook my head.

“I don’t think you know how weird that sounded.” Ryan stared at him, absolutely dumbfounded.

“Beauty sleep? Yeah, right.” Rena chuckled, taking a sip of her water and putting it back down at the table. “I don’t think one night of that’ll be enough!” Jewel yelled, nudging me.

“Yeah, if anything, you need to hibernate!” I yelled, rolling my eyes. Those boys were something else; they were like grown-up kids.

Jack didn’t really say anything else, but he just slammed the door to his room like the child he truly is. Ryan looked like he was about to fall asleep in the middle of the hall, so he just started walking back to his room.

“You still haven’t seen the rest of the house yet, right?” Rena asked, looking through the cabinets only to find nothing. Looks like we need to go grocery shopping soon if we don’t want to starve.

“No, I haven’t seen the rest. I can only imagine how cool it is, though.” I said. “What we’ll do is give you a quick tour of the house. Then, change into your pajamas.” Rena told me, her maternal instinct kicking in.

“Wait, don’t think that you’re gettin’ off the hook that easily! You’re goin’ to change into your pajamas, and then you’re tellin’ us all about what happened with you an’ Dally.” Jewel said, squealing like a pre-teen girl. I just rolled my eyes at them both. I have strange sisters.

I got myself up from my chair and walked around the house, following Rena and Jewel. Aside from me already seeing the kitchen and the hall, they showed me a living room with a working fireplace, an attic, and a dining room which was connected to the kitchen. We also have two working bathrooms; my guess is that we have one bathroom for us girls, and another for the boys. The house was big compared to the others around, and there were thankfully – and surprisingly – five bedrooms in total, for each one of us.

I got the room that was at the very front of the house; so that meant that I got a view of the houses in front of us. What else did that mean? Yeah, I have a feeling that Dally will one day see me through the window if I ever leave it open or leave the curtains drawn, which I tend to do a lot. Wonderful.

I closed the curtains in my room and turned around to see my sisters trying to hide their smiles.

“You know, you did that on purpose. I hate you both.” I said, glaring at my sisters and crossing my arms. “No you don’t, you can’t get enough of us. And I’m pretty sure that you can’t get enough of that Dally guy, either.” Rena smiled, plopping onto my bed.

I felt my face get hot and I glared at them. “Get out if you’re goin’ to keep jokin’ like that!” I snarled, almost ripping open my suitcase so I could start unpacking.

“Oh no, don’t unpack just yet! Rena, close the door, close the windows, and leave the lights on because there ain’t no way that Sophia is leavin’ or fallin’ asleep without giving us details!” Jewel commanded, pinning me down onto the floor.

“Ow! Okay, if you get your fat behind off of me, I’ll tell you!” I pushed Jewel off of myself and then sat next to Rena on my bed. “Hey! My butt isn’t fat! It’s Cuban!” Jewel said, following me and jumping onto my bed. Rena and Jewel propped themselves on their elbows, and looked at me as if I was going to tell a bedtime story.

I sighed and started with one simple sentence. “Dally says that he can make me fall in love with him.” I said quietly, but they seemed to hear me because their eyes were as wide as saucers.

“Sweet Jesus almighty!” Jewel screamed, quickly shushed by Rena. “He said what?!” Rena whispered, hitting me with the pillow.

“You heard me! I got ticked off at him, so I told him how that wasn’t going to happen! But then I went on about what would happen if I won, so get this: if he wins or I win, we basically date.” I said, trying to cover my smile with a scowl.

“Oh, lord.” Jewel sighed. “You have got to win this bet! I’m picking out your outfit for tomorrow’s tour!” She squealed, running over to my suitcase and putting my clothing away. I just looked at her in shock; she was doing my chores! I could get used to this.

I noticed Rena still on my bed, looking at me with sad eyes. “Did he go ‘blood for blood’?” She whispered, only I was able to hear her. I froze at her words, avoiding her eyes.

“Sophia Arianna James, did he or did he not?” She asked me with her voice growing sterner with every word. “Maybe.” I replied quietly. She just shook her head, and I could feel the disappointment radiating off of her.

“Sophia, darling, you know what happened last time wit-” “Whatever happened with him is over, Rena. I know, alright? I get it. Don’t remind me, please.” I said on the brink of tears. I bet you’re probably wondering about what’s going on, but don’t worry just yet; I’ll explain when the time is right.

Rena just looked at me with pity, and hugged me. “Sorry, doll.” She whispered in my ear. “It’s fine.” I assured her with a weak smile. We broke from the hug and looked over to Jewel still picking out an outfit.

“Sophia, why didn’t you pack as much clothes as I did?!” Jewel huffed with her hands on her hips. “Sorry that I didn’t pack my whole closet and then some! I’ll just wear shorts, Converse, and my Mickey Mouse shirt.” I said, grabbing my clothes out of her hands.

“I think it’s time we gave Sophia a break; let’s go, Jewel. Goodnight, Spike.” Rena said, hugging me once again.

“G’night, sis. I’m still mad at you since you didn’t pack enough clothes.” Jewel pouted, quickly replacing it with a giggle as I softly punched her arm. “Hey, I did pack enough clothes, I just didn’t pack anything revealing. There’s a difference.” I said, shaking my head with a small smile on my face.

Rena and Jewel left my room, so now I was alone. “So much can happen in one day, let’s just pray for the future,” I thought out loud while changing into my pajamas. After getting ready for bed, I drew back the curtains of my window, briefly looking across the street to see shadows in Ponyboy’s house, and one shadow definitely belonged to Dally.