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 Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 9:03 am
It would have been so much easier if she'd simply forgotten the day entirely.
Unfortunately for Sophia Thomas, forgetting special days was simply... well, it wasn't a possibility. Just as she had a knack for remembering phone numbers and street addresses, remembering birthdays came as easily as the alphabet for the young woman.
Which was how she managed to find herself standing on the doorstep of her next door neighbor's house, simple-wrapped package in hand. Well, former neighbor, technically speaking. She hadn't lived at her parents' house for almost two years now, but the Lynches would forever be known as "the neighbors" in her mind.
She shouldn't care this much, she'd told herself. He doesn't care - heck if he even remembered her birthday, probably was out drinking himself silly on the night of, while fireworks blew up overhead across the city. And yet, here she stood, present in hand for the one boy she'd like to forget more than any other.
It took hardly two minutes from the moment she knocked on the door for it to open, the white painted wood giving way to a sweet face that Sophia was happy to see.
"Sophie? Oh my gosh, it's been so long - how have you been, sweetheart?"
Swallowing hard, the college student smiled. Mrs. Lynch had always been kind to her - like a second mother, honestly - even after years of being distant with her son. They still celebrated Christmases and Thanksgiving with the neighboring Thomases, although the presence of their children at these events were spotty at best. Sophie always tried to make it home for the holidays and the joint-celebrated get-togethers but Austin... well, Austin didn't really seem to care when it came to participating, anymore.
Offering up the small package in her hands, she ignored the pleasantries in an attempt to hurry her own exit from the porch steps.
"I've got a present for Austin, if you don't mind giving it to hi---"
"Nonsense, he's going to be so thrilled to see you here when he gets back."
Sophie stammered as she found her words cut off, but she found herself even more bewildered as she was ushered through the front door and into the house she'd grown up in. She knew the layout nearly as well as her own former home, from the kitchen where Mrs. Lynch used to cook for her two favorite kids, to the backyard where they'd spend the night under the stars, playing camp-out.
He's not home, at least, she reminded herself as she swallowed again, exchanging smiles with the older woman as she made a beeline for the basement door. Austin had moved from his bedroom to the basement around the time he'd transitioned into college, but Sophie was well familiar with his new abode from their many tutoring sessions together. I can just drop it and run, no big deal - no big deal. In, out, done.
She paused, waiting for Mrs. Lynch to disappear into one of the other rooms before opening the basement door and descending the staircase. Just drop the present and bolt - shouldn't take more than a minute, right?
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Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 10:48 am
For the most part, his birthday had become certifiably boring after he turned sixteen and his parents had gifted him with the car he still drove. The very same one that he spent a majority of his free time working on and improving, or repairing, or just making sure that it was in as top of a shape as it could be. Most of his birthday gifts, from his parents, were car parts or the money for them as needed.
They'd given him the old, unused, tool shed as his gift when he turned eighteen and, with some sort around the house and yard, they'd paid to have it fixed up and built into what was basically a second garage with some mechanic space.
In fact, he'd been intending to twenty-third birthday giving his baby an oil change then maybe hitting up some of the other car junkies up for dinner and drinks. Maybe he'd go home with a girl and get birthday sex, it didn't really matter to him because in the grand scheme of things, it was just another day.
Which was why he was surprised to find Sophia Thomas in his bedroom, which hadn't happened in years, when he'd gotten home and headed straight for the basement.
"Soph? What are you doing here?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 10:55 pm
Upon arriving into the basement, she'd found herself quickly distracted by two things.
Firstly, the state of the room was a downright mess. Sure, it belonged to a twenty-three year old that still lived in his parents’ basement but it may as well have been a room at one of the college’s fraternity houses. An explosion of clothes littered both furniture and floor, there were papers and old meals left and right….no, it was a total disaster zone and Sophie was honestly surprised that Mrs. Lynch allowed it to go on in her home.
Secondly, upon brushing aside some of his desk’s clutter, she came across a blue ribbon that looked suspiciously like the one they'd won together back in middle school and she had to pause as she turned the weathered blue fabric over for investigation. They'd combined forces to work on a science fair project together and had crushed the competition, but he'd given up on schooling (and her) so why in the world would he have bothered to keep it?
The door to the basement creaked open and Sophie knew she was in trouble. The ribbon fell from her hand, twin tails fluttering onto the desk as she took a step back, wide eyes focused on the staircase. There was even a brief moment where she debated finding a place to hide - he wouldn't linger long in his room, would he? - but his feet were quicker than her train of thought and soon enough, she'd been spotted.
“H-Hi, your mom let me in.” Feet shuffled, shifting her weight as she focused on the bridge of his nose and not the startled look on his face. Give him the present and go, her brain demanded, spurning the girl a few steps forward, drawing closer to the tall boy.
“I just wanted to come by and wish you a happy birthday.” The box rattled in her hand as she remembered its existence, the young woman forcing it towards him in offering as she stumbled over her words, “So, um. H-Happy birthday!”
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:42 pm
Seeing Sophie in his bedroom brought about a lot of latent feelings that he didn't know if he was comfortable with or not. It had been years since the girl had been over to the house to see him, let alone to come inside and find herself in his room.
It wasn't the room that she'd remember, that room was up two flights of stairs and was directly across from her old bedroom in her parents house.
Typically girls were only in Austin's room for one reason and Sophie had been very clear, on numerous occasions, that she'd never be in his room for them. Which left him so caught off-guard that he just kept staring at her even after she talked and explained why she was here.
Sophia Thomas had come by to wish him a happy birthday and to give him a gift.
Reconciling that with the state of their friendship was difficult and he looked at her with skepticism. "I didn't think you'd care to remember." He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Realistically he knew that she left him a present every year, usually with his parents, while he continued to not give her anything for hers because they weren't like that anymore.
Large hands wrapped around the small present and he looked at it to her and back again. "You didn't have to get me anything Soph."
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 2:52 am
She couldn't help but look a little crestfallen.
“Do you not want it?”
Granted, she hadn't been kept in the figurative loop as far as his passions and hobbies went but that was also because she hadn't checked up on him….ever. It was easy to guess he'd still be into running and cars...well, and girls, but she didn't particularly care to think about that point of interest. It shouldn't have been surprising, for him to question her authenticity.
The small box was handed over, the emerald bow slightly crumpled from how tightly she'd been squeezing it. The shade of green had been picked with the color of his eyes in mind, not that she'd ever admit that to the older boy. While she'd have preferred something a little more sentimental in nature, settling on a gift card to the local auto supply store had seemed the most sensible answer for a guy like Austin.
While she'd been there, however, she’d spotted a small keychain with a car figure attached that had looked almost spot on with the hunk of junk he'd labored to turn into his beautiful baby. There hadn't been any hesitation - she'd snatched it up and paid for it along with the card - but the longer she lingered, fingers rubbing anxiously against her arm, she was starting to worry it was a dinky, dumb present after all.
“Why wouldn't I want to give you something? We're still friends after all, right?”
Sort of? Maybe?
Perhaps this had been a mistake, going to his house.
“S-Sorry, I didn't mean to make things awkward for your special day.” Biting her bottom lip, her shoulders shrugged. “I should probably go. Don't want to keep you from your plans.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:44 pm
Austin couldn't get over the fact that Sophie looked startling out of place in his bedroom. She was a picture of presentation, carefully put together in a responsible manner where everything around her was in a state of disarray including the boy across from her. His hair was wild and tousled from having the windows down on the drive home, his shirt was askew, and his pants were hanging too low because he couldn't find his belt this morning when he had rolled out of bed and hadn't cared to dig through the ever growing pile of laundry by his bed.
Sophie was too pristine to be in the chaotic mess that was Austin's world and the realization hit him square in the chest.
He took longer to respond than he meant to and his dark brows had furrowed while he tried to understand why she looked so hurt by his surprise. "That's not--" Austin sighed, pushing his hand through tangled, curly locks before he held out his hand for the box. "I'm just surprised, chill Soph."
She was jumping to the worst conclusions so quickly and it nearly made him chuckle, some things hadn't changed after all and there was something nice about that.
"That's not what I meant and you know it." He huffed at her, carefully plucking the top off the box to examine contents inside. They were thoughtful, or as thoughtful as they could be considering he and Sophie barely talked outside of tutoring sessions his dad made him go to and those had been strained in the wake of his stupid decision to try and carve a space for the girl next door who hadn't changed and didn't quite fit into his go, go, go lifestyle.
Plucking the keychain out he lifted it, squinting so he could examine it better. How she had found one that was almost a replica of the car he was continually improving. "Where'd you get this Soph?" He sounded surprised, but also touched.
"I..." He had half plans that he didn't actually care about and was suddenly wanting to ditch. "Don't have any plans. We should go get milkshakes, like we used to."
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Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 10:01 am
Her nose wrinkled at the chill, Soph, which surprisingly didn't seem to bother her as much as she figured it should have. How many times had he talked her down from the figurative ledge during their former years, whether she'd worked herself up over a test or a project? His calmness had met her anxiety and subdued the choppy waves that her mind had created and having that moment of nostalgia was enough to bring a small smile back to her face.
The carefree nature of his comments were relaxing as well, tension slowly easing itself from the way she held her shoulders and the way her eyebrows rose. Her breath found itself being held as she watched him pull the keychain from the box and it was a bold assumption to make but she was pretty sure he liked it.
Maybe.
"I stumbled across it. Kind of looks like your car, right??" There was hope in her voice as she moved forward to lift her hand, holding the tiny vehicle steady for inspection. "I'm sure you already have perfectly good keychains for your stuff, I just... I dunno, I couldn't resist."
There was a moment's pause as she waited for the inevitable ushering out of the basement, that a fun loving guy like Austin probably had a gaggle of friends to celebrate with that were waiting for him... so when the offer of milkshakes between the two of them was presented, Sophie almost looked startled.
How long had they tried to uphold that silly tradition? And how long had it been since they'd stopped?
Still, she couldn't help the way her heat thumped away in her chest at the idea of revisiting old, cherished times, especially with the now less-nerdy, more studly Austin Lynch...
Her head was first to nod, then the words quietly followed after.
"I'd be down for that...if you let me pay. Birthday boys shouldn't have to pay for their own treats, you know."
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:33 am
"It's perfect Soph," Austin replied, tugging out his simple key ring and adding the car to it. His thumb ran over the top of the fake car and he shifted from foot to foot, because he didn't know what else to do.
Everything with Sophie was difficult and complicated because they had history and things used to be easy, but it wasn't like that anymore.
Austin couldn't decide if it bothered him or not, remembering and accepting that. So he shrugged and tried to focus on what was happening in the moment instead of thinking too much about the old days and what had made the fissure between them appear. "If that's really what you wanna do, but I can pay y'know." Sure he wasn't the best at keeping a regular job, but he knew how to make money when he needed to and he'd been better about showing up to his minimum wage job even if he hated it.
A job was a job and that was one of his parent's requirements if he was going to not pay rent in the basement. (They wouldn't accept his race money and said it didn't count as a job.)
He turned to head back up the stairs and paused, hand on the railing to look back at the short girl. "You gonna be okay in my car?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 2:54 pm
"Please - goodness knows your father's only paying me to make sure you do your assignments. This way he's sort of treating us both to a drink, right?"
As he ascended the staircase, she caught herself staring after him and how he'd filled out over the last few years from when she used to hang out with him, back in the heyday of their youth. Scrawny and tall had turned into broad and tall, looking nearly as strong on top of now towering over her instead of just looking down at her. No wonder he'd attracted all of the cheerleaders by freshman year, how could she have been so silly to think that he might have...
Austin glanced back at her and she quickly diverted her gaze towards her shoes, following behind as she took to the stairs.
At his question, she had the sense enough to blush. As much as she'd love to bury the recent memory of the disaster that had come about taking a ride in Austin Lynch's car, it was still fresh on her mind... which meant it had to still be fresh on his mind. The fact he was checking on her though, instead of just shoving her into the passenger seat and making her deal with it... well.
It was really kind of sweet.
"I'll be okay," she answered quietly, trying to sound as confident as possible. One hand rose up and she offered a smile, three fingers pressing together. "Girl's Scout honor. You won't hear a squeak outta me, Lynch."
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 2:25 pm
Shrugging, Austin stuff his hands into his pockets with his thumbs sticking out to rub along the stitching before he made his way towards the stairs again.
It was true that the Lynches employed Sophie because she actually made sure that he did the work and got it turned in for him since he spottily showed up for class. The work was all his own, mostly, because he was bright but didn't give two shits about higher education and was only going to placate his parents while he focused on more interesting things. But, it took a lot to make Austin Lynch care about something enough actively participate with it.
Right now there were very few things in that category.
He offered her a crooked grin, cast over his shoulder while one foot stepped up on the first stair, and nodded. "Alright Soph, whatever you say." With that he turned to finish climbing the steps and lead her to his car, which he even opened the passenger door for her.
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Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2017 2:40 am
The sight of his grin made her gaze dart down, a soft blush covering her cheekbones as she quietly followed after him up the stairs and then out of the house. His mother was nowhere to be seen, but Sophie had a sneaky suspicion she was somehow aware that both she and Austin were leaving the house together.
Sophie’s cheeks burned even more red.
As the door was opened for her, she offered a playful half curtsy before climbing in. “Quite the gentleman, thank you.”
Once inside, she hastily snapped her seatbelt on and soon had her fingers tugging down the length of her skirt. “I would have worn something a little more appropriate for an outing if I'd known I was going anywhere,” she mused softly, smiling shyly.
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Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:35 am
Nostalgia hit him hard when Soph curtsied before getting into the vehicle and his grip on the metal tightened when he swayed before making sure to shut it quickly behind her. It took him longer to get into the car, with him pausing outside the driver's door to collect himself before long limbs climbed into the small car he shouldn't fit so comfortably in but somehow did.
He caught the tail-end of Sophie's comments and when he looked over, he looked puzzled.
"What are you talking about? You look nice Soph. You always look nice." Sophie always cared about looking presentable where Austin didn't care and often wore sweats and tanks if he could get away with it.
Not long after the key was slid into the ignition and the car rumbled to life. After that, they were on the road.
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Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 2:34 pm
She watched the key slide into the ignition, noting the new keychain that dangled from the set. A small sense of pride blossomed up inside of her that he'd liked it enough to put it on immediately - she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this satisfied at her choice of presents, even if she couldn't put her finger on exactly why she cared that Austin approved of it so much.
Keeping her eyes trained on him seemed to be the best course of action to avoid staring out at his driving or the speed in which he was taking the car. His profile looked serious, eyes intently studying the road ahead of him. His comment was sweet and she found one hand raising up to anxiously brush several strands of loose hair back behind her ear.
Safer subject, safer subject.... oh!
"So what have you been up to, today? Done anything fun or memorable?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:29 am
His gaze was primarily focused on the road, more attention than usual required because he knew, from the last disastrous time, that Sophie didn't care for his speed racer driving. It was his birthday, he didn't want to deal with another fight.
Still, whenever they hit a light or stop sign he couldn't keep his gaze from flicking over to watch her as she looked uncomfortable but just right in the passenger seat of his car.
"Went out for a run," he answered with a shrug, tongue sliding over his lips as he tried not to think about how the way she flushed was endearing and how he wanted---
Focus.
A shift of gears and he was pulling into the parking lot. "Just car maintenance otherwise." Austin lived a rather plain life when he wasn't racing or at parties or chasing tail. "It's just another day, Soph."
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Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 9:12 pm
Eyebrows furrowed and she offered him a dissatisfied look.
"Another day? Maybe to everyone else - but it's your day. It shouldn't be just another boring day, if you can help it, I mean..."
Teeth felt the surface of her tongue and she caught herself mid-sentence. What was she saying? Why would he even care how she felt about how he spent his birthdays? They'd grown up, they'd fallen apart. She hadn't been around in the past several years to make sure "his day" hadn't been wasted on meaningless events like car maintenance and running.
"Growing up takes away the magic, I guess."
Fingers drew down to toy with the edge of the seat, Sophie feeling like she'd caught herself in an awkward position. It made sense that he didn't care about it - heck, he probably didn't even remember hers, even though they used to spend each one lighting up fireworks and camping out in his backyard.
Eyes drifted towards the window and she let out a small sigh. "Sometimes I wish things were more simple. Y'know, like they used to be?"
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