Sophie studied the maps app on her phone as she sat in her car outside her brother’s house. Half-brother. It was only now that her heart started racing and she wondered what the fuck am I doing?
She’d seen pictures of him, she saw every time he had a new ‘life event’ on Facebook and ‘liked’ all of them. She knew who Ace was on the internet, but seeing his world in real-life was surreal. The months leading up to moving to Frostford were filled with imaginings, simulating what would happen when they would finally meet. Now it was the real deal.
Ace had told her not to come when she messaged him over a month ago, but that didn’t stop her. She wouldn’t let him walk away like he did years ago, not that she blamed him. Their mom had cast him away and hardly looked back. Sophie wasn’t sure what she would do if the roles had been reversed and she was the black sheep, the bastard child. So Sophie spent her first few days in Frostford going to the places Ace had checked-in at on social media and to no avail. She finally had the guts to ask a local for his address and plug it into her phone.
She opened the car door and hoisted herself out. Her body felt so much heavier now as she walked up the driveway to the front door of the house. The anticipation was wracking through her; what should she say? Should she start with an apology? A joke? Sophie choked down the lump in her throat as she rang the doorbell.
She checked her phone. Wait another thirty seconds. She knocked on the door.
Check phone again. Okay, now knock again.
Sophie rolled onto the balls of her feet anxiously, looking over her shoulder. All of this build-up for him to not be home. Of course. Sophie sighed, digging her hands into the pockets of her jacket and peeking into a window. The blinds were drawn. Well, he was bound to come back at some point. Sophie sat down on the edge of the stoop leading up to the front door and waited to finally meet her brother.
