Chapter 86

Sophia's POV.

I walked up to the door. It was hard to not smile knowing that Alex was standing at the other side of the door, even though I was about to cancel our plans. I swung the door open.

“Stephanie?”

She walked right into the house and headed straight for her bed.

“What are you doing here? I mean, I know I was about to call you but didn't you say you'd be back by tomorrow morning?”

“Change of plans.” Her voice was brittle, almost like she had been crying. I frowned and walked up to her, noticing the redness in her puffy eyes.

“Hey, are you okay?” I placed my hand on her shoulder. She only nodded, turning sideways to avoid my gaze.

I just knew there was no way I could bring up the conversation about Harvey with her state of mind like this.

Since I was pretty sure that Harvey's got something to do with this, I'd just wait for her to open up to me. I knew he'd never physically hurt her, at least not yet according to Steve.

“Stephanie?” I sat down next to her. “What's the matter?”

“I'm fine.” She breathed and shut her eyes. And then, as if realizing something, she opened them again. “The house seems different. Are you expecting someone?”

Now I was the one avoiding her gaze.

She raised a brow and sat up on the bed. “Wait, did you have plans with Alex?”

I was hesitant to say yes. She needed someone to talk to at the moment and I also really needed to talk to her.

“Not really,” I muttered.

“Seriously?” She gave me a death glare before shaking her head and stepping out of her bed. “I'm so sorry, Soph. I had no idea. I should probably go.”

“What?! No! You don't seem okay right now. There's no way I'm letting you go anywhere. Just get some sleep.”

Without another thought, I took my phone and dialed Alex's number.

“I'll be fine. Don't cancel.” Stephanie protested.

He picked up after a few rings. “Missing me already? Don't worry. I'm almost there.” “Alex,” I spoke hesitantly. “I'm sorry but we have to call this off. Something came up.”

There was a pause. “Is everything alright? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I'm fine. I'll explain later.” I heard him sigh. “Okay.”

Placing my phone down, I looked back at Stephanie. “What happened?”

As if recalling something, her eyes pooled with tears again and she shook her head. A tear rolled down her cheeks but she quickly wiped it away and sniffled, trying to put on a brave face. “Nothing.”

“Oh my God, Steph.” I wrapped my arms around her, stunned by how weak she looked. I don't think I've ever seen her break down like this, something was wrong. Why wouldn't she tell me?

“I'm so tired.” She sobbed into my shoulder. “So exhausted from everything. I can't do this right now.”

“It's going to be okay. You don't have to talk about whatever it is right now. Just get some sleep.”

She shook her head. “I don't wanna spoil your plans, Sophia. Just call him up and say it's still on. I'll be out of here.”

“Are you crazy? I can see him tomorrow, Stephanie.”

She sighed.

“For now,” I gave her a cheerful smile. “Would you like some ice cream?”

“Yes.” She smiled, wiping her tears away.

I brought the ice cream to her bed and as we ate it, I kept throwing her fleeting glances to look for a hint of what could've happened but found nothing. The urge to just ask her if Harvey did anything to her grew stronger but I knew better.

Now's not the time, Sophia.

“You know what?” She set her ice cream container on the bed after finishing it. “I'm feeling much better and more powerful now. I feel like I can take a few people down.”

“What?” I muttered in confusion as she stepped out of her bed.

“Call Alex. Tell him he can still come over. I'm out of here.”

“No way Stephanie.” My jaw dropped. “I'm not letting you leave like this. Not when I know you're only doing this so I can have Alex over. You need to be here right now.”

“No” she shook her head. “I need to be somewhere else and I mean it.”

“What's going on? Can you at least tell me where you're going?” I snapped, following her to the door.

“Don't worry about me. I'll be back tomorrow morning.”

“God! Stephanie, wait!” I sighed when she shut the door after her.

There was no point in following her. If she wanted to leave, she was going to leave. No one could stop her. Not knowing what else to do, I sat down at the edge of my bed and groaned in frustration.

Shaking my head, I unlocked my phone to find a text from Alex.

Hope everything's okay. Call me whenever you can. You've got me worried.

A smile formed on my lips and I missed him right then.

I wanna explain everything right now but not over the phone. I'd come over but not sure if I could catch a bus this late.

I placed my phone down but quickly realized that he would probably send Josh to pick me up so I typed another message.

Alex, this does not mean you sent Josh to pick me up, okay?

After a few seconds, my phone buzzed.

Okay, I won't.

I frowned at the screen. That's all he had to say? Was he mad at me?

Picking up the empty ice cream containers, I disposed of them and got so lost in worrying about Stephanie that the sudden knock on the door made me jump in my spot and almost gave me a whiplash from turning my head so quickly.

I made my way to the door and opened it. My jaw instantly dropped at the sight of Alex.