Time seems to have a tendency of either dragging its feet or flying past faster than the speed of light, and when Sophia blinked again the school had already closed for the week of Easter holidays.
Although for Sophia, it would have normally been like any other holiday, which was like any other day; except for the fact that it's a slightly different Sunday sermon and with another one of the Friday.
There was never really any celebration in her household. When she was little her father used to leave one little Easter egg on her bedside table before he went to work. But that last happened when she was eight years old.
However, this year was different in the fact that she would not be spending this holiday alone. This time she had the Woods.
"Hey, Soph, are you going to help me hide the eggs?" Luke called to Sophia as he walked into the kitchen cradling a basket filled with an assortment of multi-coloured eggs, bunnies and chickens.
Sophia paused and bit the inside of her cheek before hesitantly nodding.
"You two better be quick though, your father can only hold the twins off for so long," Mrs Woods warned Luke.
"Yes, yes!" he said exasperated and grabbed Sophia's hand once she was in reach and basically dragged her to the back yard.
Sophia felt the usual sparks flow through her arm and her brows furrowed.
"Here we go," Luke smiled as he offered her the basket.
Sophia looked down to see that Luke had not relinquished his firm, but gentle grip on her hand. Realising his mistake, Luke let go of her as though her skin was poison. He gave a nervous chuckle then cleared his throat.
"You can take these so long," he instructed and handed her a half a dozen large eggs.
Sophia looked down at them blankly before staring at Luke's deep blue eyes. "And what do I do with them?"
Luke almost doubled over in shock. "You don't know how to hide Easter eggs?" he exclaimed. Sophia gave one very slow shake of her head. "Why not...?" he trailed off when she gave him a hard look before sighing in defeat.
For once he wished that Sophia would open up to him. He has known her just shy of three months now and the amount of things he knows about her could be counted on one hand.
Luke was not stupid. Although some of his actions at school did speak otherwise, he knew that Sophia was hesitant to open up to people. That new group of hers that was formed two weeks ago was the closest that he's ever seen her getting close to making friends. And even then he noticed how she kept her conversations vague and distant. The thought was gradually eating away at him. He wanted, almost needed, to know more about her, but she wasn't letting him in no matter how hard he tried. Why?
"Never mind," Luke shook his head and plastered a smile on his face. "Come on, I'll show you how a pro does it."
He was about to reach for her hand again when he paused and felt heat creep up the back of his neck. He quickly grabbed the basket and marched off, Sophia giving him a confused look before following.
-
"Careful, Olivia. You're going too high!" Mrs Woods called to the young girl as she swung higher on the homemade swing.
"Don't worry, Mom!" Olivia replied as she cheered in delight.
Sophia leaned back against one of the deck chairs as she sat next to Luke. He had been unusually quiet today. Her brows furrowed. Why was she suddenly concerned by his behaviour? She knew she felt for him, but to what extent she did not know. And no matter how hard she fought those feelings, they kept trying to claw their way deeper into her heart.
She shook the thoughts aside. No, she could not allow herself to grow attached to him, to anyone. She has been here three months – meaning that, more than likely, in less than a month's time she will be gone. She could not afford attachments. Yet, no matter how much she tried to deny it, Luke had managed to find a millimetre of a fraction to settle in her heart. All the Woods have.
A sudden scream broke Sophia out of her thoughts and her eyes snapped to Olivia's form, which lay on the ground. In an instant, Luke was on his feet and rushing to his sobbing sister's side. Sophia ran up to her as well, along with the rest of the family. Olivia's light brown hair was in tangles and her hazel eyes grew red from tears as she clutched at her arm.
"Sh, Liv, it's okay," Luke said as he gathered his sister in his arms when Mrs Woods instructed that they go to the hospital immediately.
All six of them piled into the car and Sophia looked at her hands enfolded on her lap as she listened to Olivia's sobbing and Luke's soothing words.
For a moment her thoughts wondered. What would it be like to have an older sibling? One that comforted you when you were injured and played dolls with you even though they would get picked on by their friends for it.
She looked at Olivia who had her head buried in her brother's chest while he stroked her hair. Did Olivia even know how lucky she was? How lucky any of them were to have a loving family?
-
Luke sighed as he slowly dropped into one of the chairs in the living-room. Olivia was in her room resting. She had broken her arm and the trauma had taken its toll on her little body, but she refused to fall asleep until he had read her a story. She was unique like that: twelve years old and still needing a story. Mary had gone out with their mom to the store while Mr Woods went to go and start preparing for the beginning of school.
The joys of a teacher.
"How is she?"
Luke slowly looked up at Sophia who sat across from him. Her legs were tucked beneath her and she was leaning against the armrest of the couch. She was a difficult girl to understand. A paradox, some might say.
Right now, her position and calm gaze showed someone of welcoming nature, but he knew that if she was dressed in her usual non-Sunday clothes, her gaze would instantly look hard and emotionless. Not only that, but there was the fact that she constantly pushed people away and yet it caused even more to seek her friendship. A very tricky person indeed.
He could only assume that she must have been a very good mixture of her parents as he obviously didn't know a thing about her mother, but he knew that the aloofness and hardness was something she inherited from her father. He was a mystery himself.
But when Olivia was in the hospital he had noticed a shift in Sophia's expression. Slight but still there. Worry. It was something he had never seen from her before and how she almost moved to hug Olivia when she came back with her arm in a cast really made him start to wonder about her. Her father never struck him as a comforter, so that had to be from her mom. But she caught herself before she did, more than likely her dad's trait.
"She's asleep now. Only after I had read 'The Little Red Hen' to her though," Luke said with a smile.
He saw Sophia's eyes soften slightly. "You love your family, don't you?"
Luke didn't hesitate as he nodded his head; although Sophia's sudden interest baffled him. She was always so detached, except for that almost moment in the hospital.
"I love my family more than anything," he said and he saw something flash across Sophia's eyes and his brows furrowed. "Don't you?"
Sophia sighed. "It's ... complicated."
"What is?" he asked and leaned forward in his seat desperately searching for any clue as to her feelings.
He wasn't surprised when he didn't find anything. She was far too good at hiding her feelings. He always felt like an open book compared to her.
"Nothing," Sophia muttered.
She could not allow herself to open up to him - opening up leads to attachment. She cannot get attached. She had been fortunate enough to rein her emotions in back at the hospital. She didn't know what came over her to suddenly hug the girl. Fortunately no-one saw it. Although the thought reminded her of the conversation that Alice and Blair had a little while ago. A thought that had been bothering her for a while now.
"Why don't you have a girlfriend?" she asked.
Luke was shocked by the sudden topic change. He was not expecting her to ask something like that. "Uh," he thought for a moment before shrugging. "I don't really know."
"You won't have any trouble getting a girl though."
Luke looked at Sophia, but her eyes betrayed nothing.
Why was she asking this?
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not interested in those girls who flaunt their bodies for attention. They will hardly make good mothers or wives and if I do date someone I want to be able to see a more permanent future with her. That's the whole point of dating: to see if you are compatible and can spend the rest of your lives together. Someone who you can talk to about anything and not have any fear of being judged."
He looked to see Sophia gazing at him with a thoughtful expression. "So ... what kind of girl are you interested in?"
Luke looked down at his hands as he felt heat crawl up his neck. "There ... is one girl I'm interested in," he muttered, "but I know she doesn't feel the same way."
"How can you be so sure?"
Luke felt the heat spread to his cheeks. How could she be so calm about all of this?
"Because ... she refuses to open up to me no matter how hard I try," he answered and looked straight into her beautiful brown eyes which swirled with mystery.
Sophia frowned ever so slightly. What was he implying with that look? That intense look that almost made her squirm? She eventually averted her eyes.
"Well, whoever this girl is ..." she slowly looked back at Luke. "She would be a fool to decline someone like you."