"we're finally free." lily exhaled as we got on the bus.
it was already 4 pm. i had to stay because of my volleyball practice and lily just ate my chips and watched me train out of boredom.
"when's your next tournament?" she asked me when we sat down.
"on saturday. i'm pretty excited!" i squirmed, already feeling the adrenaline cursing through my veins when i thought about it.
"me and chris will come and watch you! I'll even make a board which has your name on it!" she giggled, taking another chip and putting it in her mouth.
"please for the love of god, don't." i joked.
we continued laughing and chatting when we finally reached her house. that familiar scent overtook my nose, this time not causing me to have a coughing fit.
"i have some clothes you can change into, also my parents aren't home so we have the whole house to ourselves." she spoke as she took her shoes off.
"okay, can i just use your telephone to call my parents real quick?" i asked politely, reaching for the phone as she hummed.
i typed in the number, which was quickly picked up by my mom.
"ciao mamma, posso uscire con lily oggi?" i asked.
"hai mangiato?" she asked back.
"sì, sì, mamma. ho pranzato con la scuola."
"va bene. assicurati di tornare alle 8. chiedi a chris di portarti a casa."
"mamma! posso andare a casa da sola!" i suddenly got mad.
"chiamerò sua madre in questo momento. godere." she hung up as i groaned in annoyance. why did she think i was incapable of defending myself in the 20th century?
"you good?" lily shouted.
"I'm fine." i replied as i changed into her sweatpants and sweatshirt.
the afternoon slowly passed by, and after a full movie, cookies, gossiping, dancing and listening to music, we were finally playing truth or dare.
"sophie, truth or dare?"
"truth."
"booooring." she rolled her eye. i just flipped her off. she thought for a little while and then it clicked.
"do you have a crush on someone?" she asked.
i started thinking hard. i wanted to have a crush, my life was so boring, i needed some action again. and then i got it.
"there's this one guy in my math class."
"OH MY GOD!" lily squealed as i laughed.
"what's his name? what does he look like? his height? grades? family? ethnici-"
"calm your 5'2 ass down." i teased to which i received a kick.
"his name is ethan. he's really good at math and pretty much the dream guy." i replied.
she squealed again and hugged me.
"i think i know that leonardo dicaprio looking ass. he's new here, i think. i bet he likes you." she said happily.
i smiled back, thinking back to our moments together.
*4 days ago*
as i was entering my math class, some guy accidentally pushed me. i quickly turned around and saw some leonardo dicaprio looking guy taking his headphones off and immediately apologizing.
"i'm so sorry oh my god, i wasn't watching where i was going!" he apologized over 10 times.
"it's fine, seriously, i wasn't even hurt." i chuckled.
"sorry, once again. what's your name, if i may ask?"
"you may. it's sofia, but you can just call me sophie."
"sofia, nice to meet you. I'm ethan, i just moved here from florida."
"nice to meet you, too. wanna sit together?" i asked him.
"sure!" he smiled.
we finally sat down together, did some math problems and overall enjoyed our time. even though we barely talked, it was nice being with someone who loved school just ad much i do.
the bell finally rang, and as i was about to leave, someone stopped me.
"if you want to, can we maybe, go out sometimes? only if you're up for it." he shyly said.
i giggled as i felt my ears getting red, "sure, i would love to." i asnwered and left.
"THAT'S SO ADORABLE!" lily's screaming brought me back to reality.
"I DIDN'T EVEN SAY IT OUT LOUD?" i screamed back.
"THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE SAYS IT ALL!" lily screamed again and we burst into laughter.
minutes turned into hours, and soon it reached 8 pm.
i was putting on my jacket and my shoes when i suddenly saw lily in the hallway.
"farewell, lily, in another life." i sadly looked at her as i handed her a leaf i picked up outside.
"goodbye, sophie. I'll never forget you." she said dramatically as she hugged me.
we hugged for a minute, and quickly after that said our real goodbyes, which led me to leave the house.
"hey hey hey." chris said, standing by the door.
"oh, hey chris." i jumped, not expecting him to already be here.
"let's go, your mom told me we have to jump by the store to buy some coffee." he pulled my hand as we went on a walk.
"it's embarrassing how much my mom thinks of you as her son." i deadpanned. the fact that I'm not joking makes it worse.
"not really, we have known each other since birth." he shrugged and placed our hands in his pocket, that way our hands got warm. we each took turn to switch.
we continued walking to the store. it was already very dark, the only thing that could he heard was our footsteps.
"what'd you do at lily's?" he asked out of boredom.
"just normal friend stuff." i replied, not wanting him to tease me about ethan.
"sure sure. you and lily are anything but normal." he said as i rolled my eyes and hit his knee.
"fuc-my apologies, ma'am." he dramatized, making me laugh. he also started laughing, which made us look physhotic.
as we finally reached the convenience store, we bought the coffee he payed for and as we were about to exit, the worst had happened.
it started raining.
"for fucks sake." i cussed. he just look at the rain and sighed.
"do you have an umbrella or something?" i asked.
"soph i'm literally in my sweats, where the fuck would i even hide the umbrella?" he sarcastically replied, receiving a middle finger.
suddenly, a voice from the shop was heard. we quickly came back inside, being met with the cashier.
"y'all kids i have an umbrella, it's just one, but take it. i live a minute from here so i don't need it." he said.
the cashier was a sweet 60 year old man who knew chris and I very well. he always gave us discounts and even sometimes free stuff.
"you're actually a life saver, thank you so much." i replied, taking the small, red umbrella and shaking his hand.
"you can use the umbrella." chris said as he started walking in the rain.
"bullshit. either both or none."
"but we don't fit, smartass."
"we can squeeze."
and that was exactly what we did.
we were so close that i could feel his breath. it wasn't a really nice experience, but hey, at least i wasn't wet.
"chris, i have something for you." i suddenly spoke up.
"really, what is it?" he replied in excitement.
as i handed him a mint, he kicked my knee and flipped me off.