Chapter 19: Sophia Changed

Bernard and Luis gazed in the direction of Linda's departure. They had hurried here for Kevin when they had seen Nicholas. They thought things might get out of hand with such an odious person like Nicholas involved. They hadn't expected that it could be solved with just a few words from Sophia.

They had always thought of Sophia as the gang leader, a devil that everyone wanted to avoid meeting. Everyone at school is afraid of her wrath. No one dares to go against her well. They were afraid of her, and at the same time, they despised her. But having witnessed what just happened, a new notion came to the pair of them.

It seemed that… maybe it was a good thing to be a gang leader's brother.

Kevin was stunned too, and after a little pause said, "Thank you, Sophia. I am so grateful that you helped me,"

Sophia's eyes softened as she turned to Kevin, "We are classmates, and I'm older than you. So you can call me sister. Don't worry, I'll be there for you from now on, and I won't allow anyone to bully you. I won't allow any harm that might happen to you,"

Kevin looked back into the hall, lowered his head, and said nothing.

Sophia's words had reminded him of his sister. They were two different girls, but somehow, they made him feel the same. He had felt that the first time he saw Sophia. The tenderness he saw in Sophia's eyes makes him feel happy.

This girl, not only was her name the same as this feeling she gave him, but it was also very much like his sister.

When he looked again in her eyes, he felt they were both very kind and warm.

It was as if his sister was still there. An unexplainable feeling filled Kevin's heart with Sophia's kindness.

Sophia thought he couldn't get used to it. So she began to say, "That's fine. You don't need to call me that if you don't want to. I…"

"Sister." Kevin softly spoke before she had finished speaking. He wanted to cry on her shoulder because he feels that his sister is within this girl. He wanted to tell her how happy he is right now, being with her around.

This long-lost word made Sophia's heart shudder. She was frozen for a moment before she nodded her head slowly.

"Yeah. That's it from now on I will be your sister, Kevin!" Sophia wanted to burst out of her tears in front of his brother, but she can't simply do it as she thought Kevin would not going to believe her if she tells him that she's come back to life in a different body.

Even if her identity had changed, even if she was no longer the same person in her body, in her heart, he would always be her brother, and this would never change.

"I'm going home now. If that woman comes back to make trouble again, just call me." Sophia said, turning away.

She didn't want to see her own burial. If she stays longer, she can't hold her tears, which is threatening to drip down.

As soon as Sophia left, Luis couldn't help but say, "Kevin, you're so lucky to have Sophia as your sister. No one will dare bully you in school now! You can do whatever you want. She will always be at your back,"

Bernard was also a little envious, "How come she was so kind to you? I've always thought she and her friends were mean and bad! I didn't expect Sophia to be so great! That's awesome! Can you tell her that we also want to be her brother?" Bernard can't hold his emotions not to express his opinion in front of Kevin. Witnessing what had happened a few minutes ago made them shocked. Sophia Green really changed!

***

In the evening, Sophia called Kevin and asked him what had happened after she left. She was relieved to hear that Linda hadn't gone back to make any more trouble, and the burial had gone well.

She turned on her computer and saw that she had a response from the resume she had sent out for Kate: a primary school had invited her for an interview!

She told Kate, who noted down the time and place. But Kate wasn't holding out too much hope. There were fewer children in the city and so less demand for teachers. It wasn't easy to find teaching work. To find a formal and stable job like the one she had before was almost impossible. She would never have resigned had it not been Sophia's accident.

But she didn't regret it. She had lost a job, but her one and only daughter had recovered. It was enough for her.

Sophia was also not holding out much hope. She didn't expect much from the chess tournament, and she wasn't sure she would even pass the first round. Now that she had a moment, she logged onto the game page and decided to have a practice. Perhaps she could improve.

She clicked "start". Soon the system assigned her an opponent, and the game quickly began.

Two minutes later, the system popped up a message: 'checkmate.' She had captured her opponent's king. It was game over.

She played a dozen more games of chess, and every time Sophia beat her opponents in less than three minutes. She was shocked. Were those people… all new players?

Finally, in her 18th game, she found an opponent that made her work a little harder, and it took her about ten minutes to win.

She sighed with relief. It seemed that there were a lot of new players and no one on the same level as the player she had met last time.

She had regained some of her confidence in her chess skills. It seemed that it might be possible for her to win an Excellence Award after all. She logged off. What she hadn't known was in that final game she had been playing Albert Pearson.