Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-43347423-20200111144721/@comment-43347423-20200131014810

Chapter Thirteen

Sophie scanned her parents’ faces.

Edaline had silent tears slipping down her face. Sophie had expected as much.

But Grady was turning red.

And redder.

And still redder.

“Dad-”

“Why didn’t she tell us?” he interrupted.

Sophie shook her head. “I don’t know. We only found out today and I told you as soon as I could.”

“We know, sweetie,” Edaline said, wiping her tears and coming over, sitting on the bed next to Sophie and wrapping an arm around her adoptive daughter. “And do you know what this means?”

Sophie shook her head again.

Edaline smiled. “You’re going to have an older sister.”

Well, that was a weird concept.

Sophie had never had an older sister before. She always was the older sister.

She knew her parents wouldn’t love her any less, and she knew they didn’t compare her to Jolie anymore.

But what if Jolie decided to live with them? That would be so weird, having a sister again.

But… it’d be nice.

“Do you want me to ask her if she wants to stay with us at school tomorrow?” Sophie offered.

Edaline nodded. Grady reluctantly followed suit, adding, “But I am going to have a long conversation with her about faking her own death and lying to her own parents for years.”

“Don’t be too hard on her,” Edaline said, starting to cry again. “We only just got her back.” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she started sobbing.

Sophie wrapped her arms around her mom, and Grady joined them, turning it into a group hug.

“We love you, Sophie,” Grady said, and Sophie felt so much better. Edaline was quick to agree with him, and Sophie felt her own eyes get watery.

She smiled. “I love you guys too.”

- - - - - -   -

The next day Sophie went to school, nervously plucking out eyelashes. What was she supposed to say to Glimmer?

She stumbled through the halls to the Silver Tower.

“Sophie? Why are you here?” Lady - or, Master - Cadence asked.

Sophie looked at the woman urgently. “I need to talk to Glimmer. Is she in her dorm?”

“She should be,” Lady Cadence agreed, “but you and your friends have a tendency to not be where you’re supposed to be.”

“Can you show me where it is?” Sophie asked, ignoring the possibly-an-insult.

The Beacon nodded, and she led Sophie up the stairs to an area with what had to be hundreds of doors. Each one had a name printed on it in silver, cursive font, and Lady Cadence showed Sophie to one marked “Glimmer.” It was missing a last and middle name that every other room had.

“Here you are,” Lady Cadence said. “I’ll leave you be.”

Sophie thanked her and summoned the courage to knock.

A beat.

“Who is it?”

Sophie sucked in a breath. “Um, Sophie.”

The door opened a second later.

Jolie wasn’t wearing her hood.

Sophie saw why everyone said they looked alike now. The girl staring back at her looked exactly like an older version of herself with Edaline’s turquoise eyes and makeup.

“Come in before someone sees me,” Jolie said.

Sophie nodded mutely and entered the room.

Even though Jolie had only been in there for a few days, it had tons of personality.

Pink walls, glitter. A fluffy, velvet couch. A bed with silver-laced pillows and blankets. Books, stacked everywhere and anywhere. Art supplies. A desk with makeup piled on it and a mirror.

That reminded Sophie…

“Do you want Vertina back?”

Jolie whipped around. “You have Vertina?”

Sophie nodded.

“I’d love to talk to her again,” Jolie agreed.

Sophie smiled awkwardly. It was weird admitting that she was going to miss the makeup-obsessed girl in her mirror. “I can bring her if you want.”

But Jolie shook her head. “Grady and Edaline can’t know.”

And… it got ten times more awkward. Sophie didn’t say anything, but Jolie seemed to guess.

“You already told them, didn’t you?”

After a second, Sophie nodded.

Jolie ran a hand down her face, smearing some of her perfect mascara. “What did Dad say?”

Sophie hesitated but eventually told her. “He said that he was going to have to talk to you.”

“What about Mom?”

“She was just happy you were alive.”

Jolie nodded. “Sounds like them.”

Sophie didn’t know what to say to that, but there was one other thing she wanted to ask.

“Okay, but… that means we’re sisters,” she finally said.

Jolie gave an awkward laugh.

Sophie didn’t know how to reply to that.

But in the end, Jolie did for her.

“I’m not your sister,” she said. “I’m your mother.”