			BRAVING THE ELEMENTS (Chapter 13)

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Sophie, happy birthday to yoooooou!"

Sophia blew out the candles on her cake. Her mother had had a small gathering in the house, prior to Jessie's big bash. Her brother and sister were there, of course, plus her stepfather. And Warren.

As they all devoured the cake, Sophia opened her presents. Her mother got her some nice clothes and her stepfather a gift certificate to the local CD store. Then Warren handed her a package.

" It's kind of humorous, but you'll love it. And this one there is no way I'd have you open at the party!"

Sophia tore open the paper. It was a very large, leather-bound book, very nice. She read: "The collected works of William Shakespeare. Oh, Warren, this is great! What a wonderful present. Thank you so much!"

Warren chuckled. "Hey, if I'm going to turn you into a Shakespeare addict, least I can do is finance it, right?"

"You got that right. Warren, this is the perfect present. Especially from you."

"No, that was the second most perfect present." He handed her a small box.

"Another?" She opened the package. It was a jewelry box, which she opened. And gasped.

Inside, was a gold pendant. On the pendant, hung a small gold heart. All around the outside of the heart were a series of small, perfect diamonds. Inscribed on the heart, in very small letters, it said "Love, Warren." It was gorgeous.

"Oh, Warren, this is beautiful."

"No more beautiful than you."

"I think I'm going to cry."

"'sokay. It's real gold, it won't rust."

Sophia laughed and cried at the same time. "You goof! Put it on me?"

"Gladly". Warren undid the clasp and placed it around her neck from the behind, and redid the clasp. "It looks perfect on you."

Tara, her sister, had to come check it out, as did her mother. "Sophia, this is beautiful. Nice job, Warren."

"Thanks, Mrs. Kovach."


They walked out of the house, and headed to Jessie's house for the party.

"So, you're fifteen now. I'm officially dating an older woman," Warren teased.

"And don't you forget it."

"Sweet Fifteen and never been.....no, you've been kissed. And never been.....no, you've been that, too."

"Warren!"

"Sweet Fifteen and never been..........Soph, is there anything you haven't done?"

Sophia's eyes twinkled. "Anal."

"Really."

"Yeah." She looked at him. "Hmmmmmm. I've always been curious, though."

Warren laughed. "That, ruler of my heart, is a project for another evening. Now we have to go face the jackals."

"Hmmmm. I'd rather go back home and have sex."

"Sophie!"

"OK. Some other time." She stopped. "What did you just call me?"

"When?"

"A minute ago, when you said it was a project for another evening."

"Hmmm. Oh. Ruler of my heart, of course."

"I like that."

"Soph, you are. You are the ruler of my heart. You've got it hanging around your neck, don't you?"

"Dammit, you're going to make me cry again."

"You'll ruin your makeup."

"You goof! Well, this is Jessie's house. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be, I suppose."

They walked in the back door, into the kitchen.

"Well if it isn't the birthday girl and her escort, Studley!"

Sophia laughed. "Hi, Jess."

"Hi, Jess", Warren chimed in. "Where can I put this?" He held out a bag.

"What's in it?"

"My world famous chip dip."

Jessie laughed. "Warren, you're such a nerd." She paused. "Is it good dip?"

Sophia interjected, "I can answer that. It's fabulous. Be nice to him, I told him to make a batch."

Jessie laughed, "Alrighty then. Put it on the table around the corner, there, Prep Boy." She looked at Sophia. "What's this?" She reached out and lifted the necklace. "Nice. B-day gift from Studley, there?" Sophia nodded. "How sickeningly sweet of him. "

Sophia laughed. "We the first ones here?"

"Pretty much. Oh, I have bad news. I think Alexandra is coming. I tried to make sure she didn't hear about it, but I think she did. Oh, and John and Annie will definitely be here."

"Oh that ought to be fun."

"What ought to be fun?" asked Warren as he re-entered the kitchen.

"Nothing, dear heart. Just discussing some of the jackals I'll have to fend off tonight."

Warren smirked. "Did you grow your claws to slash 'em, or did we leave that to Jess?"

"You watch your tongue, Prep Boy. I've been known to bite them off." Jess interjected.

"Well, Jess, I'm taken, but I think I've got a friend that would enjoy that."

"Really."

"Yeah. He'd like your claws, too."

"Oh, really. So, Warren, do you like claws?"

"I wouldn't know. Sophie bites her fingernails."

Jessie laughed. "You're alright, for a preppy, Warren."

"And you're not bad for a she-devil, Jess."

"You just remember that."

"Ahem," interjected Sophia. "Is the mutual admiration society for the Preppy and the She-Devil over yet?"

"Yeah, he's all yours, chickie-babe."

"Thanks." Sophia said dryly.

"Beer's over there. Coke is also over there, Warren, I know that's what you drink. You need help with any.....problems....just holler. This is your birthday, Soph-anyone gives you serious shit, they are so out of here, got it?"

"Got it."

They went out and grabbed the loveseat where Sophia usually held court during Jessie's parties. 

"So", Warren asked, "What am I going to be up against?"

"Don't worry, dear heart," smiled Sophia. "There will be some people that give us shit. Now, there are some people who I don't care if they give us shit or not. Some people I do. You'll be able to tell the difference. Just go with the flow."

"OK."

Sophia popped open a beer. "It might go a bit easier if you grabbed one of these."

"I am not particularly fond of the taste of beer. And, yes, I have had it. I'm not a goody-two-shoes completely. In fact, if Jess has any rum, I could be persuaded to pop some in my Coke."

Sophia laughed. "Rum? Really? Next time Jess breezes by, I'll ask her."

"There she is."

"Jess! You got any hard stuff?"

"A little. Right over there. You steppin' up from beer?"

"Nah. Warren likes rum."

"Prep Boy likes the hard stuff? Wonders never cease......"

Sophia giggled. Warren just smirked and dumped some rum in his coke.


The party filled up quickly. A few people wandered over to Sophia, and wished her happy birthday. Nobody had yet taken too much notice of Warren.

"Hi, Sophia, Happy birthday."

"Why, hello, Lisa."

Lisa looked at Sophia, and then at Warren. "And what...is this?"

"This is my boyfriend, Warren. Warren, this is Lisa." Sophia shot Warren a "trouble coming, watch out" look.

"Boyfriend? That?"

"That's right."

"I don't know him. He doesn't look like your type. Does he go to Oceanside?"

"St. Michael's."

"You are dating a preppy?" Lisa giggled. "Oh, wait till everyone gets a load of this. This is the funniest thing I've ever seen. Sophia Daniels is going out with a geek! And you used to think you were so cool, too. What a pity," Lisa smirked.

"Ah, well, Lisa, you know how it is. There are more important things than being cool."

"Like what?"

"Earth-shattering, mind-blowing sex, for one."

Lisa looked at Warren with amazement. Warren just got a little grin on his face. "You've got to be joking," Lisa said.

"No joke. He's a stud."

Lisa just walked away, shaking her head. Sophia and Warren looked at each other and cracked up.

"You are shameless!" Warren exclaimed.

"Yup. Hi, Karen."

"Hey, Soph. Happy birthday."

"Thanks. This is...." Karen interrupted her.

"Warren Kelleher? How you doin?"

"Karen Laskovich? Long time no see!"

"You two know each other?" Sophia asked.

"Went to grammar school together," Karen smiled. "Warren got me through fifth-grade math almost singlehandedly. You're about the last person I expected to see here, though. Did you switch from nerdiness to partying?"

"Nope, still a nerd." Warren laughed. "Just a nerd that happens to be going out with Juliet, here."

Karen blinked. "You're going out with Sophia?"

"Yeah. For about a month now."

Karen grabbed a chair across from them. "This is just about the last two people I ever expected to see hook up. No offense-Sophia, you know that I love you, and, Warren, you know I think you're the salt of the earth. But, together? Wow."

"You weren't the only one surprised," interjected Jessie, who was walking behind them.

"You just shut up or I'll bite those fingernails off," called Warren.

"Promises, promises," Jess shouted back.

"Let's face it, Soph, he's not your typical guy. Heck, I've always liked Warren, but he's not my typical guy, either," Karen was saying.

"Yeah, well, my 'typical guy' has been treating me like shit for too long."

"I heard about what happened with Scott. Was Warren the knight in shining armor that I heard about?"

"Yeah. We were just good friends, then. And then we were more than friends."

"Good for you. It's working?"

"So far so good."

"Good for both of you, then. Nice to see you again, Warren. I'll see you later."

Sophia looked at Warren. "That one was better."

"Yeah, well, Karen always was good people. Even when I knew her, she was a bit of a hell-raiser, but very non-judgmental. She'd talk to me when lots of people wouldn't."

"I like Karen, always have. But here comes a crucial one." Warren looked up to see a guy approaching them. 

"Sophie-dophie!" Sophia stood up and gave the guy a big hug. "Happy birthday, little one. Having a good one?"

"So far, so good. How are you, Nickie?"

"Super and duper, all at once." Sophia sat down back on the loveseat. Nick grabbed the chair. "How you doin'? Is the asshole still locked up?"

"Last I heard."

"Good. He ever gets out, I kill him. I wish I had been there when he pulled this shit. Thank God for the guy who was there, I heard you had someone who took some punches for you."

"Yeah. Speaking of which, this is Warren. Warren, this is Nick, one of my best friends in the world."

"Nice to meet you," Nick said. "Hey, I know this guy. Didn't you go to East Elementary?"

"Yeah."

"I was a year ahead of you, I think."

"Yeah, you were." Warren had a disturbed look on his face.

"Warren, something wrong?" Sophia asked.

"No, everything's fine. I'm going to grab another coke. Want a beer?"

"Yeah, thanks." Warren got up. Sophia watched him go. "I wonder what got into him?"

"I think I know," Nick said. "Soph, I'm not always a nice guy, you know that. I can be brutal to people."

"Only those that deserve it."

"No, not always. Sometimes to people who are weak, or who are easy to bully. I've gotten better-and I've never done that to a girl or anything-but in grammar school, I hung around with a couple of bullies, and got carried away a few times." Nick took a deep breath. "And your friend there was one of the victims, I'm pretty sure. Warren, you said?"

"Yeah. Warren Kelleher."

"Yup. It was him. He recognized me right off, I could tell."

"Oh, shit. And I introduced you as one of my best friends. After what he did for me concerning Scott, he must be furious that I'm calling someone who beat him up one of my best friends."

"Sophia, I'm sorry. Wait a minute. He's the one who took the punches from Scott?"

"Yeah."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Believe it, Nick. He's got a lot more guts than you realize."

"Anyone who takes a bullet for a woman is all right in my book. I have to see what I can do to fix this when he comes back. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine-shit, I never even knew the guy, he was just an easy target."

"We do need to fix this. Nick, you are one of my best friends, despite your faults"-she smiled at him-and Warren is my boyfriend."

"BOYFRIEND? Shit, I thought you guys were just friends. You're dating HIM?"

Sophia giggled. "For about a month now. You jealous?" she teased.

"Of course not. We've never had that type of relationship, and, besides, I have Missy. But you, and him? I mean, what's the attraction, besides gratitude?"

"If it were just gratitude, we'd still be only just friends."

"OK, so why are you going out with him? I just don't see it. He's so different than the guys you used to be attracted to."

"Yeah, he doesn't fucking beat me up, for one."

"OK, I suppose I deserved that."

"Nick, he's brilliant. He's funny-keeps me in stitches most of the time we are together-he's fun to be with. Believe it or not, we like a lot of the same things. He's a skater, too-in fact he got me back on the ice, and we're going to try dancing together. He likes the Beatles. He's got me reading again. He's delightfully endearing. He's sweet, caring, and treats me like an absolute princess. He's got me believing in myself again, I didn't think that was even possible."

"Wow." Nick looked at her and saw the necklace. "Birthday present, from him?"

"Yeah." She showed it to him. "He gave this to me because he says I am the ruler of his heart."

"Sophia, you are glowing. You're really in love with this guy, aren't you? I know it can't be the sex, not with him," Nick added dryly.

Sophia punched him playfully on the arm. "First of all, yes I am completely in love with him. I love him more than I ever thought I could love another person. He loves me just as much. And, for your information, the sex is mind-blowing."

"You are kidding."

"I would never kid about something like that, not with you. I've shared my sexual encounters with you since I began having them. You always told me that the guys I was going to bed with were creeps, that a real man would make me....you know......feel it. Well, Nick, you were right. Warren is a real man, a thousandfold."

"Wow. I think I've got some serious reassessing to do. And some serious fence mending. Where is he?"

"Over there. Don't look. He's lurking, kind of watching us. I think he's waiting for you to leave."

"Damn. I don't want this hanging over your head, Soph. I care about you too much for that."

"Let me take care of it." She raised her voice. "Hey, PREP BOY, where the hell is my BEER?????"

The whole room cracked up. Even Warren forgot his trepidation about Nick, and hurried back to the love seat. "Sorry, ma'am, here you go, ma'am" he said in mock submission as he sat back next to her and handed her the beer. 

"There's a good boy. You can bow and scrape later, in bed." Warren blushed. "Oh, you are too damn yummy when you do that!" Warren blushed harder. "I may have to attack you right here."

"Oh, baby," Warren giggled. He put his arm around her and gave her a big kiss. 

Nick just laughed. Warren abruptly realized that Nick was still there, and dropped his hand, and got a blank look on his face. Sophia grabbed his hand and put it in hers, and squeezed.

"Nick was telling me about your....history."

"Oh."

"Listen, Warren." Nick began. "I've done some things I'm not proud of. Bullying people in elementary school is one of them."

"Really."

"Yeah, really. I had some problems back then. Hopefully I've worked them out. I'm not proud of my part in what was done to you back then." Nick took a deep breath. "I suppose I've been quick to categorize people. And now it's coming back to haunt me. Because I see a guy that, a few years ago, I wrote off as a loser-a wimp-a pussy-I see this guy here, and he's making my surrogate little sister light up like a Christmas tree. And I know that this same so-called wimp took a beating on behalf of the same little sister not too long ago. I like to think I've gotten better at judging people, and I certainly hope so, because I so obviously misjudged you back at East. Anyone who can make Sophia glow like that is someone that I'd like to get to know better. Sophia's very important to me. I haven't seen her smile like this in a long time." He took another deep breath. "So, Warren, whatever went on back then, whatever I did-I am truly sorry."

Nick held out his hand.

Warren thought for a second. And then took it, and they shook.











