From The Streets - Chapter 9 (Patreon)

School the next day was early.  Sophie had never been up this early and been so eager to do anything. She went to the Shelter mess area and got a cup of coffee.  There were several adult volunteers mulling around, doing various things, getting coffee made,  getting the kitchen warmed up for breakfast.  

It was only 5am, and Sophie was already dressed with some very light makeup, hair done, and ready, so she jumped right in and started helping too, in between the occasional sip of coffee.  She worked right up until the kids started showing up to work, and then let them take over so that she could get on to school.

She was just outside the school when a couple of boys from the local public school whistled at her from across the street.  One of them did, anyway.  The other rapped him across the back of the head.  “Idiot, that’s Sophie Dee! She’s so the fuck out of your league.  Sorry about that Sophie!” he called over.

Sophie giggled and waved at them. “It’s okay.” she was just too happy for some reason to care, and quickly met up with Susan inside the school, who was talking to a girl with long black hair, carrying a white cane with a red stripe at the bottom.

“Vicky’s running late again,” Emily laughed.  “I swear to God, I’m blind and I can get my makeup done faster.”  She smiled warmly at Sophie, staring as she tried to recognize her face.  She had very thick lenses in her glasses, but they didn’t really subtract from the fact that she had a very pretty face.

“Hi, I’m Sophie,” Sophie said warmly.  “You’re Emily right?” she asked.  “Vicky told me a lot about you.”

“Oh, you’re her cousin,” Emily nodded.  “It’s great to meet you.  She kept me up half the night telling me about you,” she giggled softly.

“Sorry.” Victoria sighed, “I hate mornings.”

“Why are we up so early anyway?” Sophie asked.

“We have morning assemblies everyday.” Victoria sighed. “Then we start early and end early, if you didn’t notice we only had 2 classes yesterday.”

“Yeah!” Hailey said brightly as she joined them.  “Me and Sophie have Art and Chem in the afternoons together.  And History and Science and I’ve had way too much coffee this morning,” she giggled.

“Hello ladies.”  A woman in plain clothes spoke from the stage, “Today we have a special guest joining us for the first time,” she said, “I want you all to give her the same support you give each other.” she paused and Destiny walked out, “Everyone Welcome Destiny McGrievy, from Boston, Massachusetts”

Sophie let out a small squeal of excitement that created a wave of giggles around the auditorium.

“Destiny is on the same program as Sophie Dee.” The woman stated, “Sophie please stand up, I know you’re here.”  More giggles followed as Sophie stood up.

“These two girls represent our school in a much wider way, and I’d like you all to treat them with the same respect you want to be treated with. If any of the Sisters hear or see you mistreating them like any other student you will be expelled. You all know we have a zero Tolerance and a 1 strike rule.”

Destiny smiled nervously.  It wasn’t just her here, but Angela flat refused to allow herself to be pointed out, hiding at the back of the auditorium instead.  As Sophie sat back down she overheard whispers like ‘Is that Ashleigh Brown?’ among the girls nearby her.

“Go ahead and join the others.” The woman told Destiny. Sophie waved to Destiny to join her.  The girls moved as one, giving Destiny the seat next to Sophie.

“This was mine and Angela’s agents’ idea.” Destiny whispered, “And us sitting together, kinda doesn’t help our rumor issue.” she blushed a little.

Sophie giggled, whispering, “I’m just glad they didn’t give us a lecture on public displays of affection.”

A girl behind Sophie spoke, “That was Tuesday’s Assembly.”   She whispered,“Couple of girls got caught making out behind the gym.”  She was trying not to giggle.

“Don’t sweat it,” Victoria whispered.  “Seriously nobody’s going to give you guys a hard time even if you were dating.  But we all know you’re not.  Welcome, Destiny.   I’m Vicky, and that’s Hailey, Emily, and Susan.”

“Angela is in back.” Destiny giggled, “It’s nice to meet you.  We can meet up with her after the assembly since we have the same classes as Sophie.”

“Oh, good,” Hailey said.  “I can show you two when I’m showing Sophie.  I’ve got the same classes as you guys,” she giggled very quietly.

“How’d you manage that?” Susan asked.

“A donation.” Destiny giggled.  “Not my Mum, either.  Your Mum  Katelyn is an amazing lady.”

“Yeah.” Sophie said.

“Oh Jack signed us over to Amanda as our agent because he’s got too many clients.” Destiny stated. “I really liked Jack, but Amanda seems really awesome.”

Morning assembly went on for a bit.  It was more about what was going on in the town, and explanation of off campus passes, which didn’t apply to Sophie, Destiny or Angela, as they weren’t living on campus, didn’t apply to a bunch of the girls, but more than they knew, and there were apparently enough new students that it bore repeating.

“Alright,” the woman said, smiling.  “That takes care of announcements.  Since this is Friday I’ll remind you to please get your homework finished by Saturday evening, that way you have the rest of the weekend for fun.”

They caught up with Angela after the assembly, and after Sophie snapped a selfie with the whole group, they headed for their first class with Hailey leading the way.

“We have our weekends different than most schools.” Hailey stated, “It starts Sunday and we get Mondays off.”

“That’s weird,” Sophie said.

“You get used to it, But Sunday is the day of Rest, and Monday is the day after.”

~oOo~

Art was Sophie’s favorite class, but she loved them all; all the nuns were not what she expected.  Even the old nun that taught their english lit class was really cool, she actually busted into a dance.  But Art opened her eyes to new possibilities with the brush, pencils, even pens.  It was a good thing it wasn’t her last class, or she’d be tempted to stay longer.

“Okay ladies.” The young Nun said, “Today we’re going to be doing something very fun.” she looked at everyone.  They all had a kiln on their art desks,  “We’re going to be working with Glass.  Who can tell me what you need to make glass?”

Sophie raised her hand, “Sand?”

“Aye, and while just any sand will do, different kinds, qualities, and even different minerals in the mix, can turn out many different kinds of glass.”  She raised a sheet from the table behind her, revealing a number of different glass sculptures and statues in vibrant colors.

“Glass is very hot.  We have to heat it up to over 1400 degrees Celsius,  so we will all be wearing safety gear.” The Nun said. “And keep an arm distance from each other with fingers spread.  At the end of class today, I’ve arranged for a demonstration of professional glass blowers to show you how they turn sand into this,” she held up a large glass pear that had gorgeous little ornamentation all over it in several colors that would, in any store, retail for hundreds of dollars. “We’ll be working with what they call Glass base, so we don't have to worry about making it. I can’t wait to see the art you girls create.” she said.

She went into a brief lecture, while the girls’ kilns were heating, about what each tool was, and how to use them.  The most surprising for most of the girls seemed to be the wet newspaper.  She actually demonstrated, using a heavy kevlar glove, how to use the wet paper to shape and roll the molten glass by hand.  Sophie had the most fun with the little hand tools, creating artistic lines and shapes in the hot material.

When she had finished with her glass, she had 6 cats of various sizes and colors, even mixed colors.  After the glass blowing demonstration, as class was ending, Sophie carefully brought her statues up to Sister Mary.  

“I’m not sure these would survive the flight back home,” Sophie giggled.  “Would it be alright to give them to you?”

“Actually.” Sister Mary said, as she carefully wrapped each cat, in wrap, and put them in a box with packing peanuts. “You should be able to get them home now. Your parents will love them.  Glass is very fragile because its crystalline structure is very rigid, but that’s also its advantage if you pack it properly.  As long as no one throws or drops it from a high place, they should be fine.”

“Thank you Sister,” Sophie giggled.

“Seriously though,” Angela said as they left to go to their last class, “Where did you learn to do that?”

Sophie giggled.  “I’ve taken art classes before at my old school, plus I just love art.  I’m usually into drawing or painting, but sculpting is similar, you just have to work really fast.”

“We do a bit of everything in Sister Mary’s art class. Did you know she’s descended from Davinci?” Hailey giggled.  “That’s what I heard anyway.  But there’s no question the woman is a genius.”

“Aye, no question,” Destiny agreed.  “She explains art in a way that even I can understand it.  I’m so looking forward to her drawing classes.”

“She’s always been really good with students, did you pay attention to what tuesdays art class is?”

“Unfortunately we’ll be state side Tuesday.” Sophie sighed.

“We’ll be doing Clay.” 

“Maybe we can get our Tutor to stream us in class?” Destiny asked.

“We can ask.” Sophie said.

“I love this school.” Angela said. “I noticed a lot of girls in our classes aren’t even Irish.. Did you notice Hope? We have an actress in our English Lit class.”

“I’m from Essex.” Hailey said, “And yeah Hope is a Euro Disney star from France I think.  You wouldn’t know by her accent though.  I swear she sounds like an uptown Londoner.”

“I’m a little jealous,” Angela giggled.  “I’ve only done a few bit roles.”

“Yeah but you are like a famous runway teen.” Hailey stated. “You and Destiny both.”

“I’m hardly famous,” Angela shook her head.

“Bullshit.” Sophie said out loud and a Nun looked over and walked over.

“Hand.” she said sternly.

Sophie flinched.  “Sorry,” she said as she put out her hand.

The Nun smacked her hand hard with the ruler, “Now you need to go to the prayer room and say 7 hail marys and ask God to forgive you for swearing young lady.”

Sophie gave the poor nun a helpless look.  She had never said a Hail Mary in her life.

“Come.” The Nun sighed and led Sophie to a small room that had a few seats, and some candles with a statue of the Virgin.  She handed Sophie a rosary, and, to Sophie’s surprise, patiently sat down beside her.  “A Hail Mary isn’t just a term used in sports to declare an impossible win,” she explained.

“ Hail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” The Nun spoke slowly for Sophie to follow, she also showed Sophie which beats on the Rosary that belonged to Mary.  “Excellent.  Now do it again.  I’ll help you if you get stuck. You were baptised?”

“Yes.” Sophie answered then went through the prayer a second time.  When she finished, she added, “My parents were protestant from North Ireland, but my adopted Mum is Catholic.”

“So you haven’t been baptised into Catholicism.  Would you like to be?” The Nun asked.

Sophie looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded.  “I don’t want to cause any trouble for the school though.  The gossip rags will have a field day.”

“What trouble?” The Nun looked at her. “That you found God?”

“Can I tell you something Sister?” Sophie asked.

“Yes you can child.” The Nun said.

“It felt right praying to Mary.” Sophie stated.

“Good.  Mother Mary is the patron to women everywhere.” The Sister put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder.  “You don’t have to devote your life to the Church or the convent even, to have faith in a higher power.  You need only let yourself believe and trust. But if you want to be baptised into the church, we can go see Father Durham.  Sister Abigail will understand if you’re a bit late.”  She winked. “We can even have your class there for you if you wish?”

“You mean... right now?” Sophie asked.  “No... big grand rituals, just pop over and have it done?”

“Yes.” The Sister said. “There's a bit more to it than that. But there’s no magical ritual that the Father will do.” she said, “He’ll bless the water, and you and baptise you the way John baptised the son of God.”

“Maybe after class?” Sophie asked, “So my parents can come.”

“If you wish, Sophie.” The Nun said and hugged her. “Sorry I hit your hand so hard sweetie.”

“No, it’s okay.  I asked Sister Mary Francis if she’d show me what to expect for swearing, so I knew it was coming.  I have a really bad habit of swearing.”

The nun laughed at that.  “You’re serious?  You are a very unique young lady.”

“Thank you sister.” Sophie giggled, and the nun wrote Sophie a note explaining that Sophie had to do 7 hail mary’s for swearing.

~oOo~

There was actually a rather sizable turnout once word got around that Sophie was going to be baptised into the Catholic church.  

“Want me to go with you?” Destiny asked, “I’m already baptised Catholic, but I can go with you if you want?”

“Everyone already thinks we’re dating,” Sophie laughed, “So might as well.”

“Fuel for the fire?” Destiny giggled, “Father, I wish to be rebaptised with Sophie Dee.”

“Certainly, child.  There are many ways to reaffirm one’s faith, and I am always happy to help with any of them.”

“I haven’t been the greatest Catholic in the world.” Destiny nodded, “But I have made confession as much as I can, and I do a prayer every night and before every photo shoot.”

“I”ve got a whole novel’s worth of confessing still to do,” Sophie said, trying not to laugh.

“Come.” The Father led the two girls into a pool of pure water. “My dear brothers and sisters, let us ask our Lord Jesus Christ to look lovingly on this child who is to be baptized, on  their parents and godparents, and on all the baptized.”

He began the entire baptism and a girl slightly older than Sophie and Destiny spoke, “By the mystery of your death and resurrection, bathe these two children in light, give them the new life of baptism and welcome them into your holy Church.”

“Through baptism and confirmation, make them your faithful followers and witnesses to your gospel.” the girl continued.

Everyone in the small church said, “Lord, hear our prayer.”

When the ceremony was all over and Sophie and Destiny were coming back out to meet with Sophie’s parents, Katelyn put an arm around Sophie.  “I want you to meet someone,” she said.

“Before we do I have a question.” Amanda asked her straight up, “You didn’t do that just for Katelyn did you?”

Sophie shook her head.  “I did it for myself.  I prayed with a Sister today, to the Virgin Mary, and it felt like something clicked into place in my head.”

“Sometimes Religion is all a person needs.” The Father said at them, “Katelyn.” he nodded to her.

“Father Durham,” Katelyn said, beaming as she shook his hand.  “Thank you for looking after the girls.”  She turned back to Sophie.  “Don’t worry, this isn’t a business contact that I want you to meet.”  She motioned to an older woman in her 40s with light red hair.  “I’d like you to meet your grandmother.”

The older woman looked Sophie over and said, she hugged Sophie tightly, “Don’t let yer mum fook with you, yer a strong girl.” she teased and then she did the cross and a small prayer for swearing since they were in the house of God.  “Just a shame yer aunt couldna make it in.”

Victoria said, “Hi Nan, Mom is getting ready for a trip.”

“Aye,” she said with a  grin as she hugged Victoria, “She told me all about it.”

Katelyn laughed a bit.  “I’m just glad she’s not mad at me anymore.  One at a time I’m going to win everyone back if it takes the rest of my life.” she followed everyone out. “Sophie, Melissa is going to live by the way.”  She waited until they had left the church to give her that bit of news.  “While she was semi conscious she told her lawyer she wants to retire so we decided to wait till she’s recovered a bit before we call the meeting.”

“Did she... mention me?” Sophie asked cautiously.

“Yes, she asked the lawyer if you were in the car with her, and she was upset till he said no.” Katelyn stated.  “I won’t lie to you.  I’ve never seen her like this, and I’ve known her for years.  That accident did something to her.”

“Not surprised,” Sophie said.  “I learned some things yesterday.  I’ll wait till we can talk in private about it, but...”  She smiled a little.  “But I found some peace.  Tell her, if she asks about me again, that I don’t hate her.”

“Sure, if that’s what you want,” Katelyn nodded, hugging her again.

~oOo~

“This is so exciting,” Victoria said as they walked into the studio where Sophie and Destiny had a photo shoot scheduled.  “I can’t believe I get to watch Aunt Katie in action.  Oh, and my awesome cousin, and Destiny,” she giggled.

Destiny walked over to Nicole after she had changed, “Nicole, I wanted to say something but I haven’t had the chance yet.”

Nicole looked down at her.  “I know,” she said.  “I’ve been watching you, and I think I know what you want to say.”

Destiny hugged Nicole, “Thank you, and Thank you for taking care of Sophie.”

Nicole put an arm around Destiny and leaned down.  “You know she’s not going to just turn you away if you tell her how you feel.”

“I know, we’re going to talk tonight.” Destiny said.

“I can’t promise she’s ready, but I can promise she spoke up for you, even when I tried to warn her away.”  She winked.

“I’m not the same girl you knew.” Destiny said.

“Destiny you’re in Wing.” A woman called.

“Good luck kiddo,” Nicole said.  “Knock em dead.”

Destiny walked onto the wing area, waiting for her cue to step out.  She was surprised to see Sophie was still out there when she got it.  She had never done a double before.

“We figured we’d have a little fun with this dating rumor,” Katelyn said.  “Even if you’re going to quash it when we get back.”

“Oh, okay,” Destiny laughed.

“Okay let’s start with you two back to back, arms folded with just a little bit of a ‘Fuck you’ glare at the camera,” Katelyn instructed. They were both in what were called Summer Love dresses by Lauren Cross.  . Lauren was actually there watching.  She had asked if they had two girls who were willing to work together.

Destiny leaned over, “I didn’t set this up, I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Mrs. Cross wanted me to ask you girls for double your wages if you would do a lesbian shoot for her new clothing line. There will be no nudity, and just harmless teen girls holding hands, cuddling and the such.” Katelyn stated, “You both can say no right now and Mrs. Cross won’t be mad and is willing to still give you the doubled wage offer.”

What the girls hadn’t been told was that they were being paid double because this was being filmed from several angles for a commercial for the Lauren Cross collection.  There were DSLR cameras set up around the studio to record from different angles, so they didn’t really notice.

Mrs. Cross spoke up, “I just sprang it on her. She had no clue I was going to ask.”

“Can we have a moment to talk about it?” Sophie asked.

“Sure.” Katelyn nodded, “5 minute break. If you need more time let me know.”

Sophie and Destiny stepped away, but not back to the dressing room.  There were too many eyes and ears there.  They pulled a diva, chasing off an intern so they could take over a private office, and locked the door behind them.

“I feel bad for her.” Sophie sighed. “Okay so I’m not angry they asked, but I want to make sure we’re okay if we do this and I wanted to tell you that I have.. Um feelings for you.”

“I’m mainly worried about you, to be honest,” Destiny laughed.  “This isn’t my first rodeo.  I’ve been accused of far worse than dating a super hot, super sweet model and wait what?”  She stared blankly at Sophie for a second.  “You do?”

“Yes.” Sophie nodded, “I'm used to listening to my gut, and my gut gets all weird around you. That fuzzy oooey warm weird.”

Destiny giggled.  “Yeah.  Um...  Nicole told me I should tell you how I feel about you, too.  I don’t know how she knew.  Every time I see you I just want to be close to you, I want to talk to you and find out more about you,” she giggled, blushing.  “I am crushing so hard.”

“So do we do this and use it as a confirmation?” Sophie asked.

Destiny put her hand in Sophie’s and squeezed it.  “Let’s do it.  We can have a private date this weekend somewhere in Galway before we go home.  I’ll be honest, I don’t rush into things usually.  I’m terrified of being hurt, but this just feels like the world is conspiring against us, and... that maybe it’s not a conspiracy.”

“If it doesn’t work out,” Sophie said firmly, still holding Destiny’s hand, “We were friends first, and we will be after.  But I hope it works because god damn you have amazing lips,” Sophie giggled.

“Oh?” Destiny grinned, “Well I’ll let you find out how well I can use them when we get in front of the camera.” she teased.

Sophie laughed, giving Destiny a hug.  “God I feel like a huge weight’s been lifted off my shoulders.”

“Me too.  We should totally apologize to that Intern though.” Destiny giggled.

“We’ll explain we were just freaked out,” Sophie laughed.

“I don’t want a bad rep anymore.” Destiny said.  She took Sophie’s hand again for a moment.  She started to let it go as she opened the door, but Sophie grinned, giving it a squeeze first, then let it go.

“Well, your lipstick’s not messed up,” Angela teased, waiting outside the door.   Victoria giggled and gave her a play smack on the arm.

“You’re terrible,” Victoria teased.

“Where’s the intern we ran off?” Sophie asked.

“She’s crying in the corner,” Victoria said with a straight face, and then burst out laughing.  “I’m joking.  She didn’t even bat an eye.  She’s over there talking with Auntie Kate about the studio or something.”  She pointed.  The young college intern was smiling and laughing, pointing at something on Mrs. Cross’ tablet.

“Aye I love that style.  A line really seems to compliment Sophie’s figure right now,” they heard the girl say as they came closer.  “I’d absolutely wear it and I’m 19.”

Sophie and Destiny approached, “Hey um, we’re both really sorry about earlier.” Sophie spoke. “Just had something very urgent to talk about.”

“I heard,” the girl said matter-of-factly, but gave them a supportive smile.  “Don’t even sweat it.  I didn’t take it personally at all.”

“Thanks for being understanding.” Destiny said.

“Okay Destiny and I both agreed to do the shoot the way Mrs. Cross suggested.” Sophie stated.

“And,” Destiny grinned, “We’ve decided how to deal with the rumors.”  She looked at Sophie.

“Well, sort of decided,” Sophie giggled.  “I was thinking we should string it out for awhile, and then confirm it via a legit news outlet so the gossip rags don’t get credit for the ‘discovery’.  Make it look like this photo shoot is what the rumor was about, just to fook with em.”

“If you want to use the Tabloids, the only one I trust is TMZ.” Katelyn stated.

“Oh that’s twisted though,” Destiny giggled.  “I love it!  We can do a TMZ interview about how the ‘rumors’ were about the photo shoot, but we had so much fun that we don’t know what the future might hold.”

“Just don’t mess with them too much, you want them on your side.” Katelyn said.

“Well, it’s true,” Sophie said.  “We only started talking about dating because everyone’s conspiring against us to talk about it.”  She stuck out her tongue, at that.  “If we have our first date after the TMZ interview, then it’s technically true.”

“Smart.” Katelyn laughed. “Nicole can you handle having Destiny around more often?” she asked.

“Depends, are you going to talk Sophie into ditching me?” Nicole asked as she walked up behind the two.

Destiny looked sheepish.  “No ma’am.”

“Then I don’t mind.” Nicole said.

“We’re ready now, if you want to start,” Sophie said.

“Okay, everyone that needs to be on stage on stage.” Katelyn said.   “Tara, hit the timer.”

“Lisa, Erin, Jackie,” Tera called, “Break’s over, let’s move!”

“Hold on I can’t find my SD card with the music,” a blonde haired girl with a pair of nice white custom headphones around her neck, laying flat, called.  “It was just here, I swear.”

“Found it!” the intern said, sprinting over.  “My fault.  I accidentally picked it up with some folders.  Sorry everyone,” she said as the blonde haired DJ plugged in the SD card.

The girls did a bunch of safe poses, holding hands, a dance pose, but they snuck one in on Katelyn a kiss on the lips.  It wasn’t anything deep or graphic, just an innocent peck on the lips.  Katelyn, being the professional that she was, snapped two shots from different angles in the time it took them to try and ‘surprise’ her. “Nice try.” Katelyn winked. Sophie gave her an innocent who us look.  She snapped two more.

“It was a great shot though,” Vicky giggled.

“Let’s check the footage before we celebrate,” Katelyn said.

“Footage?” Destiny asked.

“For a commercial.” Katelyn stated.  “We didn’t want you to be nervous so we didn’t mention it sooner.”

“You should know Destiny we’re allowed to film shots, it’s in the contracts.” Katelyn stated.

“Aye, but you usually use bigger cameras,” Destiny laughed.  “I didn’t notice the little ones everywhere.  That’s cheating.”

“I’ve been filming too,” Vicky giggled.  “For my vlog.  I’ll let you guys and Aunt Kate review the final edits before I post anything though.”

“You’ll have to run it by Amanda.” Sophie said, she was in the least bit angry at all.

“Aye,” Vicky nodded.  ‘I don’t plan to use much, just a couple of glamour edits, I already recorded the intro.  I got some behind the scenes shots, and just need to do the outro, but I can do that later.  I just wanted you to know.”

“You haven’t gotten any backstage footage,” Destiny pointed out, grinning.

“Well duh,” Vicky laughed.  “Backstage is a no camera zone.  Even I know that.”

“Okay girls next outfit.” Katelyn said.  Sophie and Destiny flanked Victoria and hooked their arms with hers.

“Come on.  We don’t have anything you’ve never seen before,” Destiny giggled as they escorted her backstage to take some footage.