Chapter Seven:
I Know a Cute Couple When I See One
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Cameron's POV
I sat up in my seat at Sophia's kitchen table and waited for her to say what she was trying to say.
I came here earlier so that she could tutor me a little bit more. Instead, it turned out ot give me some of the most laughs I had in a long time. I also wanted to tell her about my disorder, but seeing that we were having a good time together, I didn't want to ruin it all by her feeling sorry for me. I hated it when people felt sorry for me and I wasn't about to let her do it.
"You know, you should smile more often. It makes you look," She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at me as if to find the right word, "Cuter." Blush crept her neck and rested on her cheeks. It didn't leave for a while, either. I smiled at her as she looked down at the book in front of her. I chuckled at her reaction and opened my book to the right page.
Sophia told me where to start off at and pointed to the paragraph that we ended at. I began to read slowly and tried to process each word so it wouldn't come out wrong. It was hard to do, to be honest. All the letters were jumbling in my head and I couldn't tell if one said dig or big. It was frustrating to no end.
Finally, after about a half an hour of reading and straining my brain, I asked Sophia if we could just stop for a while. She seemed to be studying me. Like she could just tell that's what was wrong with me. It may sound childish, but I honestly have a feeling that if she finds out she'll see me as...well... I don't know, weak? What would she think of me as?
Nothing, now quit being a baby and tell her so there are no more secrets. The voice in my head snapped at me. I mentally smacked myself in the head so it would leave me alone.
"Sure. Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Sophia asked as she stood up from her seat, her book locked in her arms. I arched an eyebrow at her offer, "What kind of movie?"
She shifted on her legs nervously and looked around the room, "I have a bunch in my room. Come pick some out and we can watch them down here with Matt." Before I could object, she turned on her heal and was walking up the steps.
I slammed my book shut and followed her up the steps. In her room, I admired the pictures she had of her and her family all in one of those boards girls put there pictures on. They were all of her and Matt when they were younger, along with some of her friends that I recognized from school. I never see her talking to those girls anymore, I wonder what happened to them. Maybe they got in one of those fights girls get into and don't talk to each other for a while. Then again, Sophia isn't the type of girl to hold a grudge.
My mind had a ton of questions floating around in it when I reached a picture that just about made my jaw drop. I turned around to see if Sophia was looking at me, she was digging around in her back pack with her book still her hands, mumbling to herself.
The picture was her -a little younger looking than now- sitting on a hospital bed with Matt against her. She had her arm slung around his frail shoulders while he was slumping down under her arm. Sophia was dressed in regular clothes, but Matt was in a hospital gown. He looked really different with no hair and a bandana wrapped around his skull. Did Matt have cancer? Does he still have it?
I plucked the picture from the board and turned to Sophia. I sat down beside her, making the bed sink under my weight. When she looked up to see what was in my hands, her whole body tensed from beside me. I felt a pang of guilt run through my veins when her face became wary.
"Is this, uh, Matt?" I asked, unsure of how to approach it. Sure, it wasn't really my business, but I don't think Sophia will push me away from this.
"No," She said a little to quickly, "That's my, uh, Cousin. Yeah, he had leukemia." For some odd reason, I could sense she was lying. It was practically etched all over her facial features. I decided not to push the subject since she obviously didn't seem to want to talk about it.
"Over there are the movies." She broke the comfortable silence that fell over us. I followed her finger until I laid my eyes on a stack of movies that were all lined up in a crate acting as a shelf. There was another crate sitting on top of the movies loaded with chapter books. They looked like they had been read. Gosh, Sophia must really like reading.
"How about Harry Potter?" I asked her, pulling it out of the shelf. She took her eyes away from the photo she was putting back on the board. I stood up when she nodded, walking over to her and standing behind her in grit of the board.
"Who's this?" I pointed to the girl standing beside a younger Sophia. They were both in our high school's basketball uniforms and making a Number one sign with their fingers. The girl beside of Sophia had blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and light Blue eyes with freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheek bones. Sophia smiled for a moment.
"That's Amber. She sits at my lunch table and we used to play basketball together," She pursed her lips, "We don't talk as much anymore." Before I could ask more questions, Sophia turned and began walking out the door. I clamped my hand around the DVD in my hands and followed her downstairs and to the living room. Matt was staring at the TV watching Tom and Jerry while he was sprawled out on the floor.
Sophia suddenly stopped in front of me and held her pointer finger up as if to say hold on a minute. I stopped and waited for her turn around and tell me what was up.
"Would you mind helping me with one more thing before we turn the movie on?" She asked me eerily. I stared at for a second before nodding my head and following her to wherever she needed me. We ended up in the laundry room, grabbing clothes out of the dryer and tossing them into a basket. Sophia propped them up onto her hip and walked out of the room and back to the living room. She dumped them on the love seat and dropped the basket to her side, catching Matt's attention.
"Whatcha up to, sis?" He bounced up on his feet and wrapped his arms around her waist. A smile spread across her face from ear to ear and she patted his back, "Folding clothes. Cameron here is going to help me." She gave me a pointed look and I smiled down at the dark haired boy. He had a frown on his face before tugging on his sister's shirt gently.
"I thought I was your helper?" He pouted, his bottom lip flopping out. His Blue eyes grew wider and made me almost melt- Wait. I'm not a softie. I simply grabbed a pair of jeans that looked like might be her dad's and began to fold them. My mom used to make me help her fold our clothes, so I wasn't new to this kind of thing.
"You are! Just... Why don't you clean up your little mess here," She gestured to his the blankets and pillows spewed out on the floor, "and we'll make a big bed so we can all watch Harry Potter?" Matt's face immediately lit up and he flung himself towards his things, gathering them up in his small arms and carrying them up the steps.
"I guess he likes Harry Potter?" I asked Sophia as she began to fold some clothes as well.
"Yeah. That's why we have the movies." She said matter-of-factly. I nodded my head, wanting to know why she liked them, like I did.
"Which one is your favorite?" I picked up a t-shirt and folded it while I waited for her to respond.
"Probably The Chamber of Secrets. I've read all the books, but I've never watched the movies." She told me. She's never watched them, yet she has the movies?
"Of course you've read them. You're like a little bookworm." I joked and smiled at her. When she giggled, it was like music to my ears. Corny, yes. Sophia smacked my arm with the shirt she had in her hands playfully.
I kept my eyes on her red face as I picked up something else, only to look down and see a pair of pink zebra-print underwear in my hands. I kept my laugh down which was most likely making my face red, "Hey Soph, look what I have."
"I told you not to call me- OH MY GOSH!" Her face began to burn red as she snatched them out of my fingers and waded them up, placing them under another t-shirt that must've been hers. I let out an enormous amount of chuckles that made me feel like I was going to have abs on top of the abs I already had.
"Your pretty pink panties!" I said through laughs. Sophia scowled at me. I could tell she was holding back a laugh.
"They aren't panties," She scolded me, "They are underwear." I saw the blush continue to color her face beet red as she explained it to me.
"Whatever you say. Everyone else calls them panties at school." I told her with no shame what-so-ever. I'm serious, the guys are always talking about how they can see a girls "panties" at the parties they go to. I only go to them occasionally. Plus, the girls in my gym class are always talking about it. It's almost annoying, but, then again, I'm a guy, so it doesn't bother me to much.
Yet, I was kind of relieved to hear that at least one girl doesn't obsess over that type of thing.
"Well do I look like everyone else?" Sophia's blue eyes looked directly at mine for a second before she tore them away, a triumphant smile forming on her plump pink lips.
"Nope," I pressed my lips into a thin line to keep from laughing again while the two of us hurriedly finished folding the clothes. When we were done, Sophia went to put the piles of clothes where they belonged while Matt came back downstairs.
"Wanna help me make some popcorn?" I asked Matt. He looked at me with a wide grin before nodding his head eagerly. I followed him into the kitchen and waited for him to get the bags of popcorn out of the cabinet beneath the counter. He handed me two of them and i gave him a questioning look.
"One bag is for me and the other is for you and Sissy to share." He instructed me, "You two are really cute together." He added. My eyes went wide at his words, a 7-year-old? At least, I'm pretty sure he was seven. Maybe he wasn't, but he looked like it.
"What? Sophia and I aren't-" I was cut off when Matt cleared his throat.
"I know a cute couple when I see one." He said sophisticated. I stifled a laugh as I continued to help him with the popcorn.
This has turned out to be the weirdest tutoring session ever.
Sophia came back into the kitchen, "Want to help me lay some blankets out, Matt?" She pointed her thumb towards the living room and sent a small smile to me. I didn't take my eyes off her even when her and Matt went to the living room. What Matt said...
Wait, no.
I could never and would never feel that way about Sophia Belle. How could I? What would the guys think? She's only my tutor and that's all she'll ever be. Besides, I haven't know her for that long. Sure, I've been through almost all of high school up to now, our 11th grade year, but I've never talked to her as much as I have now. That's the end of these thoughts now.
That's what you think. The stupid voice in the back of my head spoke up. I shook my head violently and heard a beeping noise that indicated the popcorn was done. I aggressively popped the microwave door open and took the bag out, opening it up and setting it on the counter.
I searched the the few cupboards above the counters to find a bowl and finally found two, one blue and one yellow, and sat them down. After the other bag of popcorn was done popping, I poured both bags into the bowls and sprinkled salt on them both before trotting into the living room.
"Looks like me and you have the whole floor to ourselves. Matt snuggled up ot his favorite ninja turtles pillow and passed out." Sophia giggled as she looked at Matt. He was lightly snoring as his chest moved up and down. I smiled at him and turned my attention to Sophia who was looking at me expectantly.
Oh, I have the popcorn.
I handed her a bowl and sat down beside her on the large unzipped sleeping bag she had laid out on the floor, "Guess we have our own bowl of popcorn." I told her.
I leaned my head back on the couch as the movie began, the two of us instantly became glued to the TV.
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