Novel {Untitled and a Work In Progress}

Preface:

Love is described in many ways, but to put it simply, Love is the object of attachment, attachment is the object of attraction, and attraction is the force which combines two things. Therefore, love is a force. A force that is so strong, it causes even the wisest men to be dumbfounded and speechless and the strongest of women to become weak at the knees at even the thought of being in his arms.



Chapter 1.

"Five more minutes,"

her mother yelled from the bottom of the staircase too cheerfully to ever be sincere. As she listened from her hot red painted bedroom, Sophie could see her mother's smile fade from her face as the reality of her daughter's departure began to sink into her mind.

"Be down here in two minutes!"

she yelled less cheerfully now. Sophie listened carefully for her mother's faded black pumps to click across the clean, polished hardwood floors towards the kitchen. Sophie then slammed her suitcase shut and zipped the sides without tenderness. She slung her green messenger bag over her shoulder and lifted her other luggage from off the crisp black and white comfortor that covered her bed that was too large for only one person. As she rolled her suitcase clumsily towards the door, she took one final glance around the scarlet walls and finally reached the door. With much difficulty, she turned the knob and stepped through the frame. As she struggled through the doorway, her plain brown rolling suitcase bumped the edge of the door and fell on its side, dumping all of her belongings on the soft grey carpet. Sophie heard a gentle chuckle from down the hallway.

"Like out of a movie,"

her brother voiced, his blue eyes sparkling with the laughter that filled the air. Taking his time, he meandered across the floor to his sister's side to help with the newly created mess.

"If I'm not down those stairs in less than a half a second, and counting, Mom will eat me alive with a fake grin on her face."

"Haha,"

Joseph smiled,

"That was classic, I'll have to take it on a loan sometime."

"Sorry, it's copyrighted,"

Sophie retorted.

"Well, okay then,"

Joseph replied, knowing she was only kidding, for he knew his sibling all too well. As Joseph helped his sister up from her crouched stance, he stole the handle of her bag and took off down the stairwell. Sophie had always been envious of her brother's fluidity and grace, a trait that Sophie herself hadn't inherited.



She followed him down the steps with her other bag over her shoulder. Her red Chuck Taylor's squeaked on the second stair from the bottom, just as always. Sophie remembered her junior prom when she tripped in her high heels and gown on that step and had landed in her date's arms. Little instances that are amazingly embarrassing, thus utterly unforgettable. What Sophie didn't realize was that she had been standing almost perfectly still at the bottom of the stairwell staring at the second step for longer than normal. When she looked up from her daydream, her three other family memebers were standing in the foyer with annoyed looks on their perfect faces.

"Sorry,"

she said shyly staring down at her Converse covered feet.

"Let's just get this over with,"

her father said. With a glance only to her elder brother's smiling face, Sophie stepped out the front door and out to her brother's black Jeep Grand Cherokee. She had always loved her brother's car. It smelled of his cologne and smoke from a former owner. It had always been a comfortable place to go where she could just breathe. Joseph took Sophie virtually wherever she needed to go if she didn't want to be alone. Sophie and her brother had always been so close. Maybe it was because they liked the same music, or that they had practically the same brainwaves, but it was probably because they both were so different from their parents and felt that if they weren't with eachother, they might become someone whom they wouuld never want to be, just as their fake, confused parents had. Joseph had always been the more beautiful of the two, more fluid as well, but they both could be considered good-looking. Sophie was talented in the arts, while Joseph in athletics, but somehow, they clicked with an indescribable love. Joseph, along with his parents, followed Sophie out to the car. With ease, Joseph lifted his sister's suitcase and placed it in the trunk and slammed the hatch closed. Sophie stood leaning against the driver's door, waiting for the moment she had been looking forward to all summer. Her mother took a step towards Sophie and gave her a meaningless hug and kiss. As skilled of an actress as her mother was to most, Sophie knew better than to believe her sign of affection. Next, her father took a long, fluid slide towards his daughter and cradled her in his arms. Again this hug was meaningless in Sophie's eyes.
"Bye, honey,"
each of her parents said one bye one,
"We love you."
"Bye,"
Sophie said,
"Love you too."
Joseph walked around the car from his stance behind the Jeep and stepped over beside his sister and took the same position leaning against the driver's door that Sophie had held a minute ago.
"You ready?"
he asked, smiling.
"Yes,"
Sophie replied, returning the smile. They both climbed into the car, Sophie in the passenger's seat, Joseph in the driver's position. Joseph backed his black car out of the driveway and rolled down the street. Neither of them waved or even looked back. Joseph knew how glad his sister was to go to college. He had felt the same way graduating high school with a scholarship to the college that he preferred. A college that was close to home, but not close enough to stay at home. Joseph attempted to strike up a conversation.
"So, you excited?"
"I'm just happy to finally get out of that house,"
Sophie replied.
"I know the feeling..."
Joseph said. They had hours ahead of them, and yet, there wasn't much to talk about; nothing that interested them enough to pursue for a conversation, for that matter.

They would arrive at La Guardia Airport with just enough time to eat a quick lunch and get through the security procedures. They had decided earlier, at home, that they were going to eat Subway because it was another one of those many things that Joseph and Sophie had in common, but their parents didn't always agree with them on. They decided to go through security first and following those typical procedures, eat in the down time while waiting for the plane to arrive and unload. Besides, the Subway was beyond the metal detectors. Of course, when Sophie and her brother arrived at the front of La Guardia, there was a lengthy line of people waiting to check their bags, inside as well as outside. Just their luck.
"Damnit. Damnit. Damnit to hell,"
Joseph cursed. Sophie was reminded of the first time Joseph had cursed in front of her. To say the least, Sophie had her brother placed slightly lower in her 5th grade eyes that day. He rarely used unbecoming words, but when it came down to the more frusterating moments of life, it seemed as if some words can not describe a situation better.
"Time to stand in line. Inside or out, you choose. *cough* Inside! *cough*"
"Hmm... It's such a beautiful day... I think some fresh smog filled air in my lungs would do me good... Ou..."
"Inside it is!"
Joseph interrupted. He eyed the valet and said,
"I won't be too long, no more than trois hours,"
he said holding up three fingers and flipping him a twenty.