Sophe sat in her bedroom with Chloe.
"Thanks for coming, Chloe", sophe said.
"It was easier than watching my mom play with pua and trim her nails", Chloe said.
"But, how can someone not be there anymore?", sophe said, referring about Eugene, "why do we fall in love with a person who doesn't feel the same way we do?"
"I'm glad you broked up with him, sophe, I'm proud of you"
"I still feel grief, I've known Eugene for a long time"
"I know pain changes people, because even when you heal you're not what you were before. Believe me, toxic is when he can't leave you alone but he won't treat you right either "
"Is it the pain that's searching for me?", sophe thought aloud, "or am I the one that's searching for the pain? Or am I the pain? Chloe, if I could be a different person, I promise you I would "
Later, when Chloe got home, the unkempt house that pua messed was waiting for her to clean.
"Mom, cleaning a house where pua lives is basically a waste of time", Chloe said.
"It's not my fault that I take out waste ", pua said, "humans pee and poo, that's why we call them people "
Chlie turned to her. "So why'd you drink water?"
"Because we can't eat water ", pua replied, sarcastically, "About your boyfriend,How'd you know he loves you?"
"Because he knows the worst things about me and it's okay ", Chloe said.
"So with all the cute boys in this world, I'm just gonna marry one?", pua mumurred.
"I know my mom was so strict ", Courtney said, "I even had to practice asking for permission "
"Really,mom?", Chloe said, "you even had two boyfriends you were sleeping with"
"Eww", pua said. Courtney was shocked beyond words.
"Wait, how are you even exposed like that, Chloe?", she said.
"We got the internet ", Chloe said.
Squall sat in the Front porch of the house with a cigarette in her mouth, trying to activate it with a lighter, sophe walked toward her and hit her mouth, both the cigarette and lighter fell off. Squall got up and turned to her with a straight face.
"Don't you ever put that in your mouth again", sophe told her,"it's not for you, don't do that"
"But you do it", squall said.
"You're not me"
"Well, I don't want to be you"
Sophe stared at her. "Look at you... shaking ", she said, "is it about the cigarette orghe other thing with cyril, if it's the other thing, squall,you're not ready "
Squall sat back down and mumbled,"I am ready"
"Then prove it", sophe said.
"Why are you such a bitch, sophe?"
"I'm not a bitch! Keeping you safe doesn't make me a bitch"
"Lying to me does"
"How am I lying?"
"I know about your past boyfriends", squall said, without looking at her, "I knew about Eugene's guy. I know about gipt"
"That isn't lying, that's just not talking about things that does not matter"
"Tell the truth, sophe, or at least don't lie. I'm not gonna talk to you ever again if you keep lying to me, I'm serious"
"Squall, the answers are tough, and they're things in this world you don't need to know yet"
"What things?"
"Squall, please"
Squall folded her arms and faced the wall.
"I'm here, Squall", sophe said to her, "whatever the question, that's your answer and it's the only way. You have to be careful too,boys changes a lot it's nature and you can't change it. Sometimes not telling people everything is actually a good thing, my life is in three words - 'Everything I was afraid of happening happened ', and no matter how much we try, no matter how much we want it some stories just don't have a happy ending amd the three easiest way to die is to puff a cigarette, drink alcohol daily and to love someone who doesn't love you back"
Courtney walked into the living room and slide on tons of toys on the floor, she fell on the floor, she thought she heard her bone shift.
"Not again "
Pua came running from upstairs.
"Mom, are you okay?"
Courtney got up, her knee was oozing blood.
"Oww", Courtney groaned, "pua, why're your toys so sharp? You promised to clean up"
"I know", pua said, "but it's so much easier not to"
"You promised to", Courtney said, sternly, "when you promise something, you have to do it, because a promise is something you should never break"
"Okay, I'll clean up"
Chloe walked in.
"Did you cook anything, mom?", she said, "pua only knows how to fry an egg"
"Oh come on ", pua said, "at least I learnt to cook alone "
Courtney raised an eyebrow. "What'd you mean alone?"
Chloe chuckled nervously.
"Come on, pua, I'll help you out away your toys", she said, "let's put them together"
"Great idea", pua played along.
Clude and sophe sat down at the diner with Eugene, the waiter brought their food.
"Thanks for accepting to come", Eugene told them, "enjoy. Sophe, extra spicy, just like you like it"
Sophe cleared her throat.
"New beginning, new me", she said.
Clude looked at her with a side eye.
"So what're you two like?", Clude asked them, "a couple?"
"Yeah", Eugene said.
"No", sophe said, "it was like a few years"
"A long time", Eugene said, "we had a lot in common, like I've known sophe since I moved to Mexico with my parents"
"Got it", Clude said.
"Clude, it's not like that", sophe said, "I wouldn't call what we did dating. We just knew each other as neighbours"
"So why'd you humiliate her", Clude asked him.
"Popularity", sophe mumbled, mockingly.
"Popularity?", Clude scoffed, "you were like a popular guy in school?"
"Oh please, can we focus?", sophe said, trying to change the topic.
"Who is he, really?", Eugene asked her, "is he your new boyfriend you seduced again?"
"Very funny", sophe said.
"What?", Eugene turned to Clude, "oh, you poor bastard, you thought you met a virgin, right?"
"That's how you ruin reputation", sophe said.
Eugene smiled and said, "But hey, at least the no-pant dance back at Mexico was worth it"
"No, it wasn't!", sophe said, with anger in her voice.
"It was for me", Eugene said.
"Oh God " sophe got up and walked away.
Eugene turned to Clude. "And I lost a hand", he said.
Clude looked at his sleeve. "Wait, what? It's fake?"
"Yeah. Touch it"
"Is ut cause of sophe?"
"Yeah"
"How?"
Eugene cleared his throat. "Sophe and I were together", he said, "we ook a romantic dinner at -"
Sopje returned with a glass of red wine, she sat down. She had overheard them.
"No, that was a club party, not a romantic dinner", she said.
"Anyways ", Eugene continued, "things went out of hand. The cops surrounded the club, said there were illegal stuffs going on. I got arrested and sophe took right off, I let the cops take me and let sophe go. Turns out that's the type of torture they gave me"
"Oh my god", Clude said, looking at Eugene's missing arm.
"But don't worry about it. I got one hand and one life, right", Eugene said, making sophe feel guilty.
Clude turned to sophe. "Sophe, you left your boyfriend to get his hand cut off, what is wrong with you?"
"Nothing", Eugene said, "I'd done the same, right, sophe?"
Sophe looked away.
"Look at you now, Clude", he said.
"Every word is making it worse", sophe thought. Suddenly she banged the table and got up.
"Okay, gotta go", she said.
"Without a kiss?", Eugene said, shamelessly, "no? Wow"
"Goodbye, Eugene", sophe told him, "I'm glad that you survived in that town. But just to be clear, do not ever contact me again, I lost your number anyways, you should do same to mine"
"With pleasure", he said, "I've already forgotten your name"
"No, you haven't"
"Yeah, you got me. So? Make me wish you were dead"
"Too late. I'm already dead inside, I'm erasing you and I'm happy", she said, with seriousness written on her face,"you did it to me first, and I still can't believe it, but by tonight you'll be gone. The perfect ending of this piece-of-shit story"
Silently though, Eugene pointed a gun down at Clude, so no one noticed except them, sophe gasped.
"Not a word or everyone else dies in this dinner, come on", he said.
They followed him outside, toward a cornered shady part near he bush where no one was around except them and Eugene's gang .
"I knew this wouldn't end here", sophe said, "I knew you wouldn't leave just like that, a good thing I saw this coming "
"Oh", Eugene scoffed, "you think this story is filled with happy endings? Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet, just accept the fact that love is rare and it probably wouldn't happen to you. But if you choose to stay with me, I'll spend my life with you and I'll make it up to you"
"If you take care of things, Eugene,they last ", Clude told him.
Eugene turned to the boys. "Shut him up!"
One of the boys hit Clude, stuck a cloth in his mouth and tied his both hands.
"Losing me sounds good when you're mad, sophe", Eugene told her, "but when you calm down, you're gonna miss me"
"You have no idea what I am now", sophe said.
"I know you, sophe", he said, "I know you because I was you. Now I'm just here for the keys to the healing stone"
"Even you too?"
"You two really need to spark", one of the boys said.
"We did", sophe said, "that's what got us into this mess"
Eugene smiled and pointed the gun to sophe's chest.
"Bad form", sophe said.
"Bad form?", he chuckled, "you've always been rotten, sophe, rotten languages and it's always with the influence. But your girlfriends aren't here to help you anymore, especially your little darling, helda. Do you want to know about helda, Clude? That's why solue abandoned me for her. You wanna know about their secret relationship?"
"You're an asshole!", sophe said, through gritted teeth.
"So say your goodbyes, for you shan't be seeing her in the world again ", eugene said t Clude, Clude struggled to talk, the boy standing beside him hit down.
"I know you really want to help pensivia, sophe", Eugene said to her, "but allow them to miss you, they take you for granted because they think you'll always be available"
"You have no idea what I am now, Eugene ", sophe repeated.
Eugene smiled. "I know you", he said, "Because I've been you, disposable, except one day I found myself bleeding out in a ditch on the edge of pensivia "
"Wait", sophe said, something just hit her memory, "ansel's your dad?"
*Yes", he said, "he had another family, his wife was a Japanese and she died leaving him a son, Jay. He abandoned me and my mom and my mom got married again, but they shut me in the cold forever and that struck me! So you see I once lived in pensivia before I moved to Mexico, so you see that this accession and stone has been for a while, and you can't stop it alone now, so you have to surrender that keys and light up the resurrection "
Sophe hissed. "Like father like son"
"And back in my story ", Eugene continued, "there was trash everywhere and then suddenly I got clarity - I had given them everything and sacrificed everything, it is a waste of time and life, and what are we? Instruments? We deserve better, sophe! Right now then, tell me where the keys are and walk away, or rather stay that I may kill you both"
"And if I don't?", sophe dared, "you have betrayed me twice, Eugene, and it's very painful for me"
Eugene looked at Clude and smirked.
"I'll get what I want and you'll die anyway, for nothing!", he said, " and I'll blow your boyfriend's head off just like you did gipt"
Sophe's eyes widened.
Clude managed to shift the cloth in his mouth.
"Hmm?", he said, "who's gipt?"
"A guy at the club sophe killed out of anger ", Eugene said, staring at sophe.
Clude turned to sophe. "You're a circlepart?", he asked her.
"I'm not", sophe said.
Clude scoffed. "You know who says that a lot? Circleparts!"
"This is bigger than you and me, sophe", Eugene said, "relationships. Believe me, she is not a girlfriend material "
"I don't care ", sophe said to Eugene,"either ways you die!"
Eugene pointed the gun at Clude.
"Where is the keys,boy!", he yelled at him.
"I don't know either!", Clude said.
"So I should just kill you now, right?"
Eugene set to pull the trigger.
"Wait!", sophe cried, "wait, I have the keys"
Eugene turned to her. "Bullshit!"
"He doesn't have anything ", she said, "but I do"
"Oh really?", Eugene said, in disbelief, "so we can kill him "
"No, wait", sophe said.
"The keys!", he said, "now!"
"Sure", she said,"it's in my pocket. Check inside "
"Really? Open it"
Eugene realised they had tied her hands earlier, he gestured to one of the boys, the boy walked toward sophe with mixed feelings and reached his hand into her pocket and took out a beeping bomb, his eyes widened.
"It's a bomb! Already counting!", he screamed.
Sophe grabbed Clude to run, Eugene shot at them, the bomb exploded, flinging both Clude and sophe into the bush.