Bitter, Sweet, Repeat

5 -- Define Happiness

The head coach blew his whistle several times and pulled two bodies apart. “Von Welt! Grizzle! If you two block heads keep going at each other instead of the ball, I’m going to bench both your asses.” The older, heavily built man was red in the face. He was only inches apart from Rick and Connor. “Have I made myself clear?”

They both mumbled and nodded. Soon as the coach turned his back, they both gave each other another good shove.

In the locker room, they showered and changed. As they put away their padding, Connor spoke to Rick without looking at him; his eyes fixed on his bag, “Hey man… about today…”

“Don’t worry about it…”

After a long silence Connor worked up the nerve to ask, “So, Sophia, huh?”

“Yeah…” Rick looked up at his friend, then down at his own things. “I can back off if you want.”

Connor wrinkled his forehead, “What?”

“You like her man.”

Connor snorted at the idea of it, “As if…”

Rick shook his head in disbelief, “Whatever you say… If you don’t like her, then don’t go stopping every other guy.” The two stared each other down. Finally, Rick shrugged, “Not all guys are as nice as me.” Picking up his bag, he left.

“You’re crazy,” Connor said under his breath.

After classes, Sophia went to a coffee shop in town and sat in one of the corner seats. She opened up a new file on word document and stared at the screen. Her left elbow rested beside the laptop keyboard and propped up her head as she took a sip of hot chocolate.

”What are you working on there?” A familiar voice asked. A body sat down opposite of her on the wooden chair. Looking over the top of the laptop screen, her body tensed.

Her eyebrows twitched, “Nathan, right?”

“Call me Nate,” his voice was low and the corners of his lips curled upward in a mischievous manner. “It’s Sophia, right?”

Sitting up, she nodded.

Nathan began to apologize, “Sorry about our last encounter… it was …”

“Creepy?”

“That wasn’t intentional... A friend of Conner’s is a friend of mine,” he winked playfully. She searched his green eyes for some truth. Looking away, Sophia turned back to her laptop. Resting her finger tips on the keys, she tapped them lightly, but not actually press down. “What are you working on?” Nathan tried to peer over the top of the laptop screen. Sophia quickly closed it.

“Nothing,” she answered quickly.

 “What you working on? Anything I can help with?” Nathan stared back at her intently.

After a moment, Sophia gave in, “It’s to define happiness.” He cocked a brow. “That’s the assignment.”

Nathan was silent as he watched her fidget under his gaze. He got up, “I think I still have that assignment on my laptop at my place."

Hesitantly, she followed him. He unlocked his car and opened the passenger seat for her.

“We are going to my apartment near my school.” He glanced at her. Her eyes remained on the road; taking in the buildings near by. Parking, Connor led Sophia up to his apartment. Knocking on the door, twice, no one answered. Pulling a set of keys out of his pocket, he fumbled with them for a second before getting the right one. Opening the door, he motioned for Sophia to go first. “Welcome to my humble home.” The apartment was modestly decorated. A couch was in the living room in front of a large flat screen. To one side was the kitchen, a basket of fruit sat on the counter, and the table was wiped clean. Nate strolled over to the fridge, his head buried in it while he rummaged through. His head popped up, “Anything to drink?” Sophia shook her head.