Chasing Sofia

Prologue

I nod at him. Sometimes I wish our dads didn’t work together at the Embassy. He knows way too many embarrassing things about me because of it. Like the time I got a severe case of pink eye in both of my damn eyeballs, or when I got my wisdom teeth pulled out and looked like a chipmunk for two weeks. Things that no one should know about, let alone the star of the college soccer team in Madrid.

I turn back to the TV to watch the therapist drop dead of a sudden heart attack.

Adrian laughs at the scene. “So... was I right?”

“About what?” I ask confused.

“Your favorite part was earlier?” he clarifies.

“Oh, right. I guess this is my second favorite part then.”

Adrian smiles again and turns back to watch the movie. What the hell is he doing? Usually he doesn’t hang out with me…especially just the two of us. I have learned that the hard way over the last couple of years.

“Did Nico send you?” I ask before I can stop myself.

“Um, no. Why?”

“Then why are you here?” It comes out a bit harsher than I had intended, but I am really just trying to understand this bizarre situation.

“I uh …” he fidgets for a split second, the first time I have ever seen him do such a thing. “Do you wanna come to the movies with us? We’re going to the theater downtown in Sol so we can watch it with subtitles and not the dubbed version.”

What? I didn’t expect that to come out of his mouth in a million years. Sure, we have all gone to the movies together before in a big group, but why is he asking me specifically to go this time? He never seemed to care before whether I was there or not. Hell, I didn’t even think he noticed I was there half the time.

“I um ... was kind of watching a movie here,” I say pointing to the television in front of us.

“I know. But now that your favorite parts are over, I thought you might change your mind.”

“Why do you want me go?” I ask bluntly.

He shrugs and looks away from me for a second. “You never come out with us anymore. Nico’s girlfriend and a few of her friends are coming too, so I figured we could all hang out together.” He looks straight back at me and searches my eyes. “C’mon, Sofia. Please?”

“Okay,” I answer immediately, surprising myself. Maybe it is because of the way I secretly melt when he says my name. Plus, I always did like Nico’s girlfriend, Ana. She is really sweet to me. Maybe I should make more of an effort with her.

“Cool. Let’s go then,” he says with a big smile. He sure is being extra smiley today.

“It better not be a horror movie, though. You know how freaked out I get.”

He pauses for a minute and looks at me apologetically.

“It’s a horror movie, isn’t it?” I ask, even though I already know the answer judging from his expression.

“Technically I think it’s categorized as a suspense or thriller. It’s one of those end of the world type of movies,” he explains.

“I don’t know, Adrian. I’ll probably have trouble sleeping regardless.” I can never really explain it. It is just something that happens to me every time I watch a potentially scary movie. Even if it is War of the Worlds or World War Z, I still dream of machines or zombies trying to kill me afterwards.

“Look, why don’t you just record the rest of this one? I’ll finish watching it with you afterwards. That way you won’t be thinking about the scary stuff when you go to sleep later.”