The Quest Read Free Page B

the carbs when she awoke, and some Gatorade to replenish what she lost in my toilet.
                  Around noon, Sofie emerged from my bedroom with a big oversized navy T-shirt and crumbled up red locks. She stopped short of the kitchen crossed her arms across her chest and glared. She had no words. Of course, I didn’t either. I wasn’t sure if she even remembered coming here last night. The look on her face told me she didn’t remember much. I scooted over to her and just hugged her. She hugged me back and I heard her sniffle. I guided her to the bar in silence and pulled a Gatorade out of the fridge for her to drink while I made her a bagel. After slapping it with some cream cheese, I passed it to her on a napkin. I stood behind my sink and watched her, sipping my cup of pumpkin latte while waiting for her to speak. I hadn’t had much sleep, my brain was in overload with concern, and I was on my second cup of coffee which was very rare for me. But functioning without the help of caffeine wasn’t an option either.
                  Quietly I watched her eat waiting for a moment when she would open up and talk about it. I stood there wondering was this what I was like when I was broken? Was I this bad? Then I figured I was probably worse. At least Sofie wants company; I for sure didn’t when I was broken. No, I just wanted to be left alone to wallow in my own self-pity. Yea, pathetic I know, but at least I do know how she feels. Not sure I can help her, but I was determined to be there for her if she thought I could.
                  I watched Sofie drink all of her Gatorade and eat a couple bites of the bagel. She never made eye contact with me. She sat there in silence until she left the bar. I waited for her to return to the kitchen hoping she would be ready to talk, get it all out, cry again, or open up to me, but she never returned. After a bit, I scooted down the hallway with concern in search for her calling her name in hopes she was okay. I found her passed out in my bed again. I guess she wasn’t ready to face the day and I’m sure she figured going back to bed was the easiest option. I covered her up and closed the door behind me.
                  With my fuzzy blue blanket, I settled back down on the couch again. About the time I got comfortable it started to rain outside. From where I lay, I could see the rain beating down on the streets surprising those that were caught out in it. Funny, I had no idea it was to rain today either. The sound of the rain was soothing so I opened a window to let more of the sound in. I closed my eyes for a moment and was asleep for hours.
                  When I awoke, it was still raining and a familiar knock was on my door. I reluctantly left my couch to answer it. I really didn’t want to deal with anything else today. Having Sofie here was flooding my head with memories and it wasn’t helping that it was raining outside or the fact that Radley came by last night with that kiss. I could tell by the knock he was the one on the other side. I stood staring out the peephole trying to decide whether to open the door or not. I wondered if I just ignored him would he go away? I figured he would have to right? So I chose to ignore him and shuffled back to my couch. I flipped through the channels and turned the sound of the TV up louder to drown out the knocking. Yeah, he knew I was home, but Sofie was here. I just didn’t have the strength to deal with them both.
                  “Did you know someone’s knocking on the door?” Sofie scooted to the door and peeked through the peephole.
                  “Yea. He’s been here a while.”
                  “Wow! It’s Radley! Aren’t you gonna let him in?”
                  “Nope.”
                  “Really? Why not?”
                  “Don’t care to see him