Wind whipped around her as
Sophia Sinclair sped down interstate 75, windows down, her dark hair flying as she sang along to Taylor Swift blaring through the car. It was the last stretch of the almost 4 hour drive from Savannah to Atlanta, and only lagging a bit behind schedule. Taking the extra time had been worth keeping her sanity; she hated longer drives, even one as 'short' as this. Atlanta traffic certainly didn't make anything better, though it had mostly been avoidable through careful timing.
Her exit was coming up and she slid one lane over, her fingers fumbling with the buttons to the windows, braking harder than she intended to when the light came sooner than expected.
"Fuck," she muttered, feeling one of the boxes in the back seat slam behind her.
She didn't have a lot, only clothes, bedding, and whatever else that fit, but she still grimaced at the heavy thud. There were some expensive things back thereโa laptop and a new TV that she didn't really need, but would have been insane to leave at her old apartment. Hopefully they would escape her poor driving unscathed.
A sharp ring came through the speakers, pausing the music, as the light turned green and she accelerated into her left turn.
"Hey, mom," she answered, her green eyes briefly flicking down to the caller ID on the dashboard display.
"Sophieโ" Marie Sinclair's voice was soft on the other end of line, tinged with sleepiness. There was a pause as she yawned. "I just wanted to make sure you made it okay."
"Almost there, a few minutes away. I stopped to get coffee." Sophie gently rolled to a stop sign and, as if just now remembering the drink even existed, picked up the plastic cup from the console. She swished the liquid around, the ice cubes tumbling loudly within. "Lance knows I'm coming, rightโฆ?" she asked after a sip, "I didn't want to call super early, so I texted him and he hasn't responded."
"He knows, I told him even before you came down to visit, and I reminded him last night. But you know how he is."
"Yeah."
There wasn't much else to say. In fact, Sophie barely knew her brother at all. Technically he was her half-brother, considerably older than she was, and aside from the annual holiday gatherings, she had never spent any time with him. Not out of any disinterestโshe'd tried to get to know him beyond her childhoodโbut he seemed to intentionally distance himself. And if she had to guess, he specifically distanced himself from
her.
"Ask him for the extra key. I told him to give it to you once you get there," Marie said, then cleared her throat, and Sophie could hear the shuffling of sheets in the background as her mother got out of bed, probably away from her father's ears. "Andโฆ I know you didn't want to discuss it while you were here, but if you ever want to talk about Ryan, Iโ"
"
Mom," Sophie interrupted her, a hard edge to her normally sweet, bubbly tone.
She decidedly did
not want to talk about her ex-boyfriend to anyone, even her mother. At least, not yet. The breakup was fresh and it had been messy, still shooting pangs of heartbreak if her mind ever wandered far enough to dwell on the memories. Catching her boyfriend with her best friend wasn't exactly the kind of thing that was easy to get over, and it was made worse by the fact that she and Ryan had recently gotten an apartment together for the upcoming semester. And while Sophie had graciously been allowed to stay with Lance (whose rented townhouse was paid for by their mother), her parents had made it very clear that, as punishment, she would still be financially responsible for her lease. It was an expensive, and important, lesson in why 20 year-old college students shouldn't be moving in with their boyfriends.
Outside, the city gave way to the more residential North Atlanta, trees lining the streets as she cruised past brick facades, white fences, and immaculately trimmed hedges. It was cookie cutter America, but it was safe and near enough to campus that she wouldn't have to worry about a long commute. She was close now.
"I'm here, I have to go," Sophie murmured, cutting through the silence, now regretting the harsh tone she'd taken earlier. "I'll call you later. Love you."
She hung up after Marie said her own goodbyes, then turned right to a small townhouse neighborhood. It looked newer, with young oaks and small lavender bushes lining the sidewalk. The scent of fresh mulch permeated the air, thick and earthy. Lance's place was nestled in the middle of the row, the entryway noticeably bare in comparison to his neighbors, not even a welcome mat at the door. As little as she knew about her own brother, she wasn't the least bit surprised. The emptiness seemed very on-brand for him.
It shouldn't have taken her as long as it did to exit the car, sitting in the driver's seat for five minutes before finally grabbing her things. Just nerves, she supposed, but how bad could it really be? She'd had unfriendly roommates before, and this would be no different if they both decided the other was insufferable. In the end, it wasn't like she had a choice.
She tucked the coffee cup into the crook of her elbow as she walked from the driveway to the front step, hopping up the stoop and pulling her phone out. She hugged the drink to her body as she typed, the cold biting into the bare sliver of midriff that peeked out from underneath the hem of her tank top.
Hey, I'm here
Her thumb hovered above the screen as she debated whether to send the message, yet another in a string of unanswered texts. After a few moments of consideration, she tapped the button and tucked the phone in her back pocket, then reached for the doorbell. It chimed inside, bright and echoey, and she waited.
And waited.
Seconds turned to agonizing minutes as Sophie stood there awkwardly at the door, shifting weight from one hip to the other. It was almost 10 AM on a Saturday; surely Lance couldn't have been sleeping in that late.
Are u up?
She sent the text and brought her fist to the door in a quick succession of raps, her annoyance bleeding through in the aggressiveness of the knock.