Cracks in relationships are like broken bones. They're really hard to fix, and they need some time to be fixed. Not only that, they really hurt. Some can be so much more painful than others. I just added a fresh crack in our relationship because of my ignorance.

Not only that, this crack was painful. And I mean painful. I just hurt Sophia pretty badly because of the side effects of my car accident. But she didn't show me that she was hurt. Which didn't tell me that she was upset.

    After yelling at Sophia, I just stormed off and went to the library to study for finals. I left my friends and everyone at the lunch area and just stormed off to study for mid-year finals. After returning to school from a break, we have to be smacked in the face with finals.

In other words, I may as well shred my foot on a cheese grater. It's the same form of pain.

While I'm studying, Victoria comes up to me. 

"Hey Ray," she says. I look up from the notes that I was typing. 

"Oh. Hey Victoria," I say. 

"Are you okay? You look pretty badly beaten up," she says. 

"It's nothing, Victoria. Just had a little accident," I say.

"Okay, if you say so," Victoria says. I nod. 

"So, how was your Christmas?" she asks. 

"It was great. I spent it with Sophia," I say.

Something about mentioning spending time with Sophia seems to make Victoria uncomfortable. I just can't put my finger on it. I don't think much of it, though. "That's cool. But enough of the small talk. I was having a bit of trouble on the history homework. Do you think you could lend me a hand?" she asks.

I nod, and we go on with our day. During the whole time, I can't help but notice that she always is asking questions about Sophia. It's basically more about Sophia than about me. I got a bit curious, though. What was her interest in Sophia? They are neighbors, and have been for the past ten years, give or take.

But the questions are a little bit on the personal side. I, of course, am the only person who isn't part of her family to know her like I know the back of my hand. I try not to go into too much detail because I still respect Sophia and her boundaries.

Eventually, Victoria leaves me alone and she goes away. I didn't mind her presence. I just felt uncomfortable with her asking all of these questions about Sophia. Once the bell rings, I head over to my 5th period class. As I'm walking, Sonia approaches me.

"Hey, Ray. Have you seen Sophia anywhere? She was with you the last time I saw her," Sonia says. I shrug. 

"I don't know, Sonia. I talked with her and then she left," I say. She raises an eyebrow at me. "That's odd. Maybe she is in the bathroom. Thanks anyways," Sonia says. 

She turns swiftly on her heel and walks away. Eventually, I get to my sixth period class, which is AP Calculus. I just act if everything was normal. Eventually, Sophia walks in, but she avoids eye contact with me. She just quietly sits down and gets out her math book.

I don't say a word to her, and I just commence with my math work. I'm pretty sure people start eyeing us and wondering why we aren't talking. Because most of the time, you can't get us to shut up. We are the two most talkative people in the class. Even Ms. Sanders is eyeing us weirdly. But we act like there is nothing to really worry about.

After class, Sophia and I still don't say a word to each other. I decide to walk with Pete home because we don't live very far from each other. Eventually, Sonia comes up to us. "Ray, I need to talk to you," Sonia says. Pete and I stop walking. 

"Sure, Sonia," I say. Sonia glares at Pete like she's about to stab something in his eye. 

"Alone, Ray," Sonia says through gritted teeth.

Pete seems taken aback. "Okay, Sonia. Don't shoot me that look," he says, truly scared. Pete backs away and goes to wait in a corner. 

"What's up, Sonia?" I ask. Sonia exhales. 

"Okay, will you hate me if I do this?" she asks. I look confused. 

"Do what?" I ask.

Without any warning, Sonia takes her hand and slaps me across the face with it. I am startled. It doesn't hurt, but I'm really surprised. I look back at Sonia, and her green eyes are filled with an angry glare. Despite people thinking that she's harmless because of her blonde hair and green eyes, I'm actually genuinely scared right now. 

"What the hell? What was that for, Sonia?" I ask. The fear is mixed in with a lot of anger at her actions. 

"Why the hell would you yell at Sophia like that? She didn't do anything bad to you! What the hell is your problem?!" Sonia shrieks. I can see people stopping and starting to stare. I don't care about that at this moment. 

"That's no reason to slap me across the face like that!" I yell, while massaging the side of my face.

"Dude. Do you realize how upset Sophia is? You had no right to yell at her like that," Sonia hisses at me. I can tell that she's really pissed off right now. 

"I just told her to leave me alone," I say defensively. 

"Dude. You didn't tell her. You basically yelled it at her and called her a leech. You're lucky I didn't go harder," Sonia says, while rubbing her hands together. I roll my eyes. Sonia sighs.

"Ugh, why do I even bother? Good luck with trying to talk to her, Ray," she says, and she stomps away. I can hear her muttering random Russian curses under her breath. Pete comes back to me. 

"Dude, what was that about? You got slapped by Sonia," he says. I raise an eyebrow. 

"You think?" I say. 

"No seriously. What was that about?" he asks. I tell Pete about everything that happened today. Pete looks at me like I'm an idiot.

"Alright. I'm doing this," Pete says. "What are you-," I say, but Pete slaps me across the face as well. I'm startled, because Pete is the last person that would slap anyone on the face, let alone consider it. 

"Two times in five minutes? Really?" I yell, while still holding the side of my face. 

"Dude. I specifically said that if you do anything stupid, then I will personally slap you across the face. Sonia beat me to it though," he says. I raise an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you meant it. Your jokes and sarcasm are drier than sandpaper," I say.

"This time I mean it. You are a total idiot. I don't usually do this, but I'm siding with Sonia on this one. What you did wasn't cool, bro. I hate to admit it, but you just screwed over Sophia and her mood. She was trying to be nice to you, but you had to push her away and let the dose of asshole pills get to you. I can always count on you, Ray, to screw things up," Pete says. I shake my head.

"Dude, stop sounding like my mom. It's creepy," I say. Pete raises an eyebrow. "No. This is more like your mom.  Minu kannatus ei testi. Usalda mind (Don't test my patience. Trust me) ," Pete says. I can't help but laugh. I love when Pete imitates my mom by talking in her mother tongues of Czech and Estonian. I can't help but laugh. 

"I gotta go," I say. 

"Sure. Don't get slapped by anyone else, Ray," he says. I walk home peacefully, with no disturbances. Once I get home, my mom is already there, to greet me. 

"Ray! How was school, sweetie?" she asks. 

"It was fine," I say. Immediately, my mom throws me a suspicious look. My mom can read me like a book, and she knows something is up.

She raises an eyebrow at me and knows there is something definitely off about me. "Are you sure, Ray? You don't sound very sure of yourself," she says. I sigh. 

"Okay, not everything is okay," I say, completely guilty. 

"What's wrong? You can tell me anything," she says. I sigh. Hesitantly, I tell her everything that has happened over the course of today.

My mom has a very concerned look on her face at first. Then, it turns into an alarmed look. She doesn't say anything, and I'm starting to get a bit worried. "Mom. Please say something," I say. My mom doesn't say a word. She just comes up to me, and she slaps me across the face.

"Oh come on! That's the third time today! What is the obsession with people slapping me today?" I exclaim, as I'm sure that my face will be very red from the excessive physical contact. 

"I didn't slap you twice today," my mom says, confused. 

"Pete and Sonia did," I say.

"I can't blame them, Ray. I know the doctor says that irritation is a side effect of the accident, but I didn't expect stupidity to also be a side effect," my mom says. My mouth falls open in offense. 

"Mom! That's basically verbal abuse," I say. My mom raises her eyebrows.

"Ray. I'm not abusing you, physically or emotionally. I'm being brutally honest. Do you realize that Sophia was trying her best to comfort you and be there for you? She's trying to be a good girlfriend, and you're just treating her like a piece of garbage. You should never talk to a woman like that. Especially a woman like her," my mom says.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I don't know what came over me. She was just being so annoying, and then, I just snapped. I don't know why," I say. My dad walks into the room. 

"I heard yelling. What's going on?" my dad asks, but his tone is like he walked into a dangerous zone.

"Our son is being completely unreasonable," my mom says. He looks at me with a look that says, "Do I want to know what happened?" I shoot a look that says "It's your funeral." 

"What happened?" he asks, with the hesitation that he'll make a wrong move. 

"Sophia was trying to be nice since he just got out of the hospital, but he called her a leech and screamed at her to leave him alone," my mom says, like she's trying to make a point.

My dad looks at me with a blank look on his face. He doesn't know what to say. "You're not going to slap me?" I ask. He looks surprised. 

"What? No. Why do you ask?" he asks, like I'm an idiot. 

"Well I've been slapped three times in the span of less than an hour. One by Pete, another by Sonia, and the last by Mom," I say.

"Well, okay. But, Ray, I agree with your mom, Pete, and Sonia. You really had no right to say that to Sophia. If you really wanted her to leave you alone, you should have asked nicely for some space. Not yell it at her like she's been stalking you for half of your life," he says, with a little bit of disappointment running through his voice.

"But, I think she cares a little bit too much. It's a little creepy," I say.

"Ray. You just got out of the hospital after a life threatening car accident. You were so close to death that you needed blood from two donors. Her being one of them. Of course she would be worried. But, let me ask you this. Would you rather have a girlfriend who loves you for who you are, who cares about you, and wants you to be safe? Or a girlfriend who's a gold digging slut, who doesn't give two damns about your well being, and will shoot you in the head for a million dollars? Take your pick," my dad says.

My mom and my dad walk out of the room, leaving me with the instant regret of how I acted with my girlfriend.

    The next day, I already have prepared how I'm going to apologize to Sophia. I regret everything that I've said so far, and I just want to make it up to her. I try to find her eagerly to apologize. Eventually, I do, but in a position I never wanted to see.

She is in a tight hug with a guy that seems a few years older than I am. He has dark hair, and the same warm brown eyes that Sophia has. Eventually, they let go of each other a little bit. Sophia plants a kiss on the guy's cheek. The guy plants a kiss on Sophia's cheek.

Anger starts to build up inside of me. I knew I screwed up, but I didn't know Sophia would move on that fast. Plus, we didn't even break up. Oh my gosh. She cheated on me. She just kissed another guy behind my back. At this point, I just don't want to talk to anyone. I just want to be alone. I turn swiftly and get the hell out of there, while the anger runs through my veins like alcohol.

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Wow. Just wow. Sophia, why would you do that? *sigh*. Do you think Ray deserved getting slapped 3 times? And do you think Sophia cheated on Ray? Let me know in the comments.

Hello hello everyone! Yep, another evil chapter. I feel so evil for putting out these lovely chapters. So if you hate me for this, then I'm sorry? Don't kill me for these last chapters haha.

Also, massive thank you to RavensOfOld for this beautiful aesthetic down below and for the ones in the "cast" chapter. They are absolutely gorgeous, and I was so surprised when I found out you made these. So thank you thank you!

That's pretty much it. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all next Sunday with a new chapter of I Never Imagined! Have a great week!

Love you guys.

S.V.T.S.