I already knew I screwed up when my aunt wanted to talk to me. I screwed up a little bit when she said that she didn't like Sophia. Now, I epically screwed up because Sophia overheard and I didn't intend for her to overhear. 

"Belle. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," I start. Sophia shakes her head. 

"Ray, I'm not mad at you. I can't be mad at you," she says, with her brown eyes twinkling into mine. I'm confused. She looked like my neighbor's dog had ripped up her heart, and she says that she's not mad at me? Something's not right in this equation. 

"Wait, you're not mad? Then why did you look like you saw Titanic and you're trying not to be emotional?" I ask. Sophia sighs. 

"Well, it's because you weren't the one that made those comments. You couldn't have done anything to stop her opinion. And second of all, she's not doing anything wrong. She didn't insult me or drag me down in any way. I can't get mad at her for that. It's only when she starts insulting me and dragging me down that I'll put my foot down," she says, and I smile. Gosh, her heart is carved out of pure gold. I'm so glad that I brought her here to meet my family.

 "You're amazing, belle," I say. She smiles. 

"You're even better," she says, and she throws me a cute smile. Our cute moment is cut when I hear someone clearing their throat behind me loudly. We turn our heads, and Kristyna is standing there, with the car keys in her hand. 

"Are you coming? We're going to go out for food. Should we abandon you guys?" Kristyna asks. 

"She's just jealous because you have a better love life than she will ever have," Anna says, while Kristyna stomps on her foot. I shrug. 

"I don't know. I mean, we can go out for food on our own, and I'd love to treat Sophia for being-," I say, but Kristyna cuts me off. 

"I was joking, you doofus. Come on. I'm starving, and there's an amazing Thai food place near our house. Come on, let's go!" she says, and I drag my feet. 

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Chill out. Come on, belle," I say, and Sophia tags along with me. We follow the sound of Kristyna's car keys clicking together and sounding like little jingle bells. When we get there, Anna is holding the car keys, with a little bit of a goofy look on her face. 

"You guys are brave to be getting into a car with me. I applaud you," she says, with an amusingly demented look in her eye. Sophia gulps a little bit, and Anna starts to chuckle. 

"I'm joking. Stop looking like you're about to piss your pants. I passed my driving test on the first shot," she says. 

"Not without some bribery money," Eduard shoots from the backseat of the car. Kristyna snickers, while Anna rolls her eyes. 

"Come on. Let's go," she says, and I step in the front seat of the car. As Anna drives, we all start talking about random nothingness. 

"So, how was dealing with our mom?" Eduard asks. I can see Sophia shrug. 

"I don't know. She's not bad," Sophia says, shyly. Anna sighs. 

"We all know what that means. Sophia, I'm sorry if she offended you in any sort of way. She's just insanely critical," Anna says, while I drum my fingers on my knee. Sophia sighs. 

"Not your fault. I guess I didn't prepare myself well enough for this. I should prepare myself a little bit more," she says. Anna shrugs. 

"No one is really prepared for what she throws at us. I guess we ourselves are used to it, as we're her children," Anna says, as she makes a turn. 

"Oh well. Now I know how bad she can be," Sophia says, and we all chuckle. 

"I like your optimism, dude. Well, carry that optimism into the restaurant, because we're here," Anna says, and she pulls into a parking spot near the restaurant. Eduard releases a big sigh. 

"I didn't die in this ride! I can finally exit this journey, triumphant and proud to have survived this battle!" he claims proudly, while hitting his chest like a champion. I start to die of laughter, and Anna shrugs. 

"I'm not paying for your ice cream, Eduard," she says, and she gets out of the car. Eduard's face turns from amused to frightened. 

"I was just joking! I'm sorry! Not the ice cream!" he says, and he leaps out of the car. I rip my seatbelt off, and I get out of the car, with Sophia following behind me. 

"You doing good?" I ask her. She nods. 

"Just a little stuffy back there, but I'm fine," she says, and she throws me a smile. I return the smile. 

"Good. You seem to be liking them," I say, as we walk towards the entrance. She nods. 

"Your family's wonderful," she says, and we keep on walking. 

"Come on, lovebirds! Save the PDA for later!" Anna says, holding the door open for us. We roll our eyes, and get inside the restaurant. We're seated, and our waiter brings us our drinks to serve. While we're sipping on our drinks, we all chat and be merry. 

"So, what part of the Czech Republic are you guys from?" Sophia asks, as she sips her Sprite. 

"We're from a town not far from Prague. It's maybe about a 15 minute drive outside of Prague. Ray has visited us several times in the summer," Anna says, while she sips her water. Eduard looks like he is studying Sophia thoroughly.

 "Sophia, I'm curious. Are you Greek, Italian, or both? You have a lot of the same facial structures and features of some of my Greek and Italian classmates," Eduard says. Sophia smiles. 

"I'm a huge mix, Eduard. My mom's half Italian and half French, and my dad's half Greek and half English. I guess I look like a mix of my mom and dad then," Sophia says, with chuckle added in there. Kristyna smiles. 

"Well, wow. That's cool. I'm learning Italian right now, and it's a lovely language. Can you speak Italian?" Kristyna asks. Sophia nods. 

"I can speak Italian and French fluently. Greek is a bit of a problem, as I'm insanely slow at reading it, and my speaking skills are below average. But other than that, I'm not bad," she says. Anna nods. 

"That's so cool though. Ray's Czech accent sounds like a drunk person with a napkin shoved down their throat," Anna says, and I roll my eyes. 

"Am I a joke to you?" I think, while eyeing Anna weirdly. 

"Come on. My Czech isn't that bad," I say, and I sip my drink. Anna raises her eyebrow. 

"Really? When you tried to speak to me, I had to have you repeat it a good 4 times so that I could understand you. And it still didn't work, and I had to ask your mom," she says, and Sophia snickers. 

"Come on, Ray, it's just a joke. Don't take it to heart," Sophia says. I sigh. 

"Fine, belle. But I'll get them back," I say slyly, and we continue with our meal. After returning from the restaurant, we just all talk and be happy. My aunts and uncles are all cooking dinner downstairs, and we're all just talking. 

"So, you actually learned some Bosnian from your brother because he wouldn't stop mumbling it and trying to practice it?" Kristyna shrieks. Sophia nods. 

"Yes! Gosh, that guy tattooed it into my brain. I can't get it out of my head right now," she says, and we're all goofing off.

 "Dinner's ready!" aunt Danicka calls, and I gulp. I know things aren't going to go too well, because aunt Basia is going to be making snide remarks all throughout dinner. 

We all get up, and trudge to the dining room near the bedrooms because we all know what Aunt Basia is going to do. I even sense Sophia preparing herself for what is to come. When we get to the dining room, the smell of hot food is drifting from the table and filling our noses. Danicka comes in and smiles. 

"Sit down! This food isn't going to eat itself!" she says, and we all sit. The first part of dinner is actually really quiet. No one really says anything, and we're all just shoving our mouths with food. While Uncle Filip goes and gets dessert, my aunt Danicka starts the conversation. 

"How was the dinner, Sophia?" she asks. Sophia smiles. 

"Really delicious! I really like your cooking, Danicka!" Sophia tells optimistically. 

"It'll never match up to your own," Basia mutter under her breath. I can see Sophia grit her teeth a little bit, as the first insult takes its blow. Sophia wipes the bit of sauce painting the side of her lip, and she patiently waits for dessert to come. 

"So Sophia, how's school? Have you decided on college?" Danicka asks. She nods. 

"I'm going to Princeton!" she proudly exclaims. 

"I don't even know how she got in," Basia quietly snarls, but Sophia doesn't bother with it. 

"Princeton! That's an amazing school! What's your major?" she asks. 

"Molecular biology. I'm accepting a full ride there," she says. 

"Pulling some strings were clearly involved in this," Basia yet again spits. The venom in her remarks and the sharpness of her fangs only intensifies, making the wounds worse and the poison more lethal. 

"What about your brother? Is he doing fine?" Danicka asks again. Sophia nods. 

"He's finishing up his senior year at UC Irvine. He's majoring in engineering," Sophia claims, with pride dusting her face. 

"He's probably just as dull and fake as you are yourself," Basia spits. At that moment, it's like Sophia breaks. That's the last straw. Insulting Anthony is like telling Sophia she's Satan's daughter. That never goes down well. 

"Pardon my arrogance, but who are you to judge my brother based on the person that I am? He's a wonderful guy, and you've never even met him," Sophia snaps back. Aunt Basia yet again looks at her. 

"You're siblings, and you yourself are not even that good. So what's the guarantee that he's any different?" Basia asks, with disdain ringing her voice. Sophia scoffs. 

"Why don't you like me? Everyone has their own opinions, which I thoroughly respect, but you've only been insulting me since I got here with Ray. Why? I've never done anything to hurt you or offend you in any sort of way. I want answers," Sophia demands. Basia herself stands up. 

"You're a very shady girl, Sophia. I don't like you, and I don't even know how Ray ended up with someone like you. He deserves much better than you anyways," Basia says, and at that moment, Danicka stands up. 

"Okay, Basia, you're taking this too far. How could you say something like that? Sophia's a wonderful lady, and Ray deserves someone like her. Why are you so concerned about Ray's love life anyways?" she asks. Basia scoffs. 

"I'm just doing the right thing for Ray. I know there's something wrong with this girl. I can't put my finger on it. I'm just telling Ray so that he doesn't end up regretting his time spent with her. It's for his own good," she hisses. Sophia grits her teeth together again, and she calms herself down a little bit. 

"Fine. Think what you want about me. I'm not going to change anything about that. But just know that I'm only with Ray because he stole my heart, and I'm treating his with the best care that I can. If you can't bare to accept that, then that's fine with me. Because I won't take any of this, where you accuse me of being a horrible person and insulting my family along with it," Sophia says, and she gets up and bolts out of the room. I throw myself up and I follow her. Before I leave the room, aunt Danicka catches my shoulder. 

"Go talk to her, and make this right. I'll be here if you need anything," she says. I smile, and I go follow Sophia. I knew things were going to get messy when aunt Basia was around. I just didn't expect it to get to this rare moment where Sophia loses her temper. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow.... wow... things went down, to say the least. I mean, that fight got kind of heated. Do you think Sophia did the right thing by standing up for herself and Anthony? Or should she just have kept quiet? Let me know in the comments. 

Hey everyone! How are you all? Oh my, only 9 more chapters to go! I'm going to be so sad when it ends! But, as a reminder, before the last chapter, I'll be doing a Q&A chapter. Let me know all your questions, and I'll try to answer as many as possible. 

That's pretty much it. Hope you guys liked 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, 

Shree