|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2018 6:13 pm
It was hard to believe how fast time had flown by; already a year had come and gone since she'd found herself fumbling with a box in her neighbor's basement bedroom, anxious and nervous about being caught wandering around the room by the birthday boy in question.
This year, she was doing things properly, standing on the porch as legs rubbed slowly against one another, fighting off the winter chill as she waited patiently for the door to open. A large box, wrapped with festive paper sat in her hands as Sophie worked to squint at the wreath hanging from the Lynch's front door.
She'd struggled for almost twenty minutes to put contacts in, a very rare instance for the young woman, who much preferred the comfort of her oversized glasses. Her hair had been fought with and brushed repeatedly, the wavy length brushing against her shoulders as she put on a brave smile.
He was probably out partying with his friends, she assumed - a typical move for one Austin Lynch on his celebrated day of birth. But, on the off chance that he was actually home, she wanted to look her very best.
Or at least, the very best that she could manage to get herself to look like.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:27 am
He had woken from a nap, normally messy hair further mussed from sleep when someone was knocking on the door.
His parents were out and he had a separate entrance, but could also just mosey on upstairs whenever he needed to. (Which was semi-often because he was terrible about groceries and his mom hadn't figured out how to stop feeding him even though he was 'living on his own' in their basement apartment.)
Glasses had been shoved onto his face because he didn't have the time to pop his contacts in and he'd tugged on loose basketball shirts and the first shirt he could find and ambled his way up and to the front door.
It was tugged open and green eyes squinted at the girl standing on his parent's porch.
"Sophie?" Austin mumbled, confused by her lack of glasses. "What are you doing? Are you on your way to a date?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 8:27 am
As the door opened, she swallowed hard and prepared herself for the speech she'd been practicing over and over again in the back of her head. The same speech that she'd recited to herself when she was leaving her parents' house, the same speech she'd practically memorized while climbing the porch steps to the Lynch's house.
The same speech that somehow seemed to fly away from her lips as soon as she looked up and saw the familiar, old glasses resting on the older boy's noise.
Sophie felt her stomach bottom out and promptly take her heart with it. He looked like he'd just woken up, hair tousled and eyes sleepy. Although his clothes were definitely... casual, she couldn't stop staring at the handsome face that looked down at her, almost quizzically. He had always been more attractive to her in glasses and with his change over to contacts in high school, she'd assumed he'd done away with glasses altogether.
Oh how wrong she clearly was.
"I... I..."
Words betrayed her as she stammered, hands clutching on tightly to the box before she remembered that she probably needed to hand it over to him instead of standing there like some imbecile. "I wanted to wish you a happy birthday."
The present was pushed forward in offering to him, cheeks lighting up in color as her eyes finally drifted downward to stare over-intently at the bow nestled atop the large box.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:23 am
The quiet from Sophie wasn't exactly knew but the sleep haze had Austin furrowing his brow in confusion. His nose wrinkled, pushing the glasses up his face while he waited for her to say, or do, anything.
"Soph?" He asked, voice scratchy from sleep when he gave her a concerned once over. She looked nice.
Sophie always looked nice, but this was different. She was wearing contacts, her hair was done up and she'd even dressed nicer than normal and Austin couldn't ignore the nagging in the back of his head of curiosity.
The gift was shoved at him and he took it, looking at the bow skeptically. "Thanks Soph, but you know you don't gotta get me anything right?" He said it out of obligation, because his childhood friend was always thoughtful and always brought him a gift.
"You didn't tell me why you got all dolled up."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:46 am
I did it for you was on the tip of her tongue but the words refused to force themselves out of lips colored with lipstick, another unusual oddity for the normally plain-faced young woman.
Handing over the present had clearly been a mistake as newly-freed hands began to fidget with each other, now that she had nothing to hold onto. They disappeared behind her back to begin clinging to one another, Sophie attempting to hide her nervousness from the tall boy as he gazed down at her like she'd sprouted a second head.
He doesn't like it.
The realization dawned on her the longer he stared. He made a comment about getting dolled up, he asked if she was going out on a date but he never made any mention of actually liking the way she looked. And from the way he stared and the way his nose wrinkled, she could just feel the disapproval from the almost two feet of distance between their heights.
"I was j-just trying it out. It's stupid, I know. I-I'm sorry, I need to go, I've got..."
Her words fumbled as they spilled out of her mouth, shoes backtracking across the porch as she felt her heart sink even lower, now full of regret and sadness. She should have left the present on the doorstep, she shouldn't have bothered knocking. This was all a big mistake.
Her comment failed to finish as she stumbled on the top step, thankfully catching herself on the wooden banister instead of falling over completely. Now beet-red, she turned around and scurried her way down the rest of the way, offering a half-hearted wave behind her as she disappeared onto her parents' lawn, refusing to stop until she made it into the sanctuary and safety of their house's foyer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 1:10 pm
Things went from fine to...not fine in a matter of seconds. Austin barely had time to react when Sophie sputtered words at him and then basically darted off of the front porch to get away from him.
If anything, it only confused the tall boy further and he managed to have enough forethought to set her gift down gently before he was sprinting across the lawn. Luckily, his legs were longer than hers and his history with track gave him an advantage and he caught up with her right before she could yank her parent's door open.
"Sophie," he said. His voice was soft and he was obviously concerned, with his gentle reaching for her arm and catching her by the crook of her elbow.
"Hey, hey," he said more insistently. "What's going on? Why are you running off?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:47 am
Her hand wrapped around the knob of the front door but relief was stolen from her as long, firm fingers found their way around her arm and pulled back to prevent her from opening the door and slinking away inside. The voice that called to her wasn't yelling, it was gentle and concerned, making her feel all the more foolish for running off like some sort of dummy.
Teeth chewed on her bottom lip, fighting the urge to cry. Would probably mess up her contacts, the stupid things felt weird anyways and she was dreading having to touch her eyeballs to pull them out later.
"I just wanted to feel nice for a change, okay?"
The words blurted themselves out before she could censor herself and come up with some lame, plausible alternative. Eyes remained closed as she faced the front door she was being stopped from hiding behind - god, she was making a fool out of herself and putting a damper on his birthday. But her emotions were being laid out - a few, at least - while others remained buried deep, deep within, fear keeping her from letting them leave her tongue.
"I'm tired of always feeling like some lame nerd. That's all anyone ever sees me as and I'm sick of it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 9:56 am
Sophie's outburst startled him and Austin looked at her with a crinkled brow and a frown. "Hey," he said in a softer voice than he would have used with anyone else. Most of the time he didn't give a rat's a** about other people's feelings, because most of them were all temporary, but this was Sophie and he'd known her his entire life.
"You always look nice Soph," he said. He let her go, took a step back to give her some space. "You just looked-- extra nice, didn't mean to make you feel weird about it, just wanted to know if there was a special reason or anything."
He looked uncomfortable because giving a s**t about other people wasn't exactly his sort of thing. "You're not a lame nerd, no one thinks that Soph."
Austin wet his lips and gently nudged her shoulder to get her to look at him. "You look really hot, for what it's worth."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 2:40 am
Her voice wasn't quivering or stuttering for once but she could feel the tears at risk for welling up in her eyes. She didn't know if she should be mad or upset or what - right now all she felt was confused and vulnerable and it was a horrible, horrible feeling to be experiencing.
It didn't help that Austin was playing the typical nice card about it, telling her how nice she looked. She almost believed him, her heart wanted to believe him but when he denied her being a nerd.... that no one ever thought that... no. He was being nice and he was being a terrible liar about it.
"That's easy for you to say." Arms rose to cross her chest, more out of comfort to hang on to her sides than an attempt at a power stance move. Her head turned and she finally looked up at him but it was with an accusing look as her chin wobbled slightly. "Some of us didn't grow out of our nerdiness when we got into high school."
Once upon a time, they were cut from the same cloth. Two awkward friends who depended on each other, who made time for each other. A safe space that disappeared along with glasses he had no business putting back on, the handsome jerk.
The last comment stung more than she wanted it to. Sophia Thomas was a lot of things. She was smart, she was kind, she was shy and she was relatively generous when the mood suited her. Sometimes she was even nice looking, if maybe a little old fashioned in her conservative clothing. But one thing that Sophie wasn't was hot.
"Aus, c'mon."
Her voice lowered, barely over a whisper as the stupid tears finally began to appear. Her head turned back because she wasn't about to let him see her cry, especially not on the giant dummy's birthday, of all days. "Don't say those kinds of things. It's hard enough as it is trying to fit into your world without being teased about it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:24 pm
Sophie didn't look like she was going to cry any more but her mood wasn't any better and Austin didn't know what to say that wouldn't, apparently, be a foot in his mouth. Sophie lacked the confidence that most of his bedmates had, or the ******** buddies he had acquired didn't over think things like she tended to.
Even on her worst days Cee calmed down whenever Austin told her to stop thinking so much.
Sophie was a different story.
"What Soph?" He said, some irritation lining his voice. "You look hot, I'm not teasing." If he'd had his way, he'd seduce her like he'd done with the others. But Sophie never gave in and as much as he wanted it, he always stopped pushing after a certain amount of teasing.
"Wait. Why are you trying to 'fit in'? I thought you didn't care about the s**t I do."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 9:41 pm
"I don't care. I mean..."
Her heart was doing all sorts of flips and twists, joining her stomach in the parade of butterflies taking flight inside of her. Austin Lynch thought she was hot. She - Sophia Thomas - hot????
"I did this for you."
It came out as a sudden blurt, her tongue betraying her thoughts before they had time to take back control and stop her from doing something utterly stupid (like admit her feelings for a certain very handsome, very tall, very manslutty next door neighbor). Eyes widened as she realized what she'd done, the words spoken into existence and unable to be swallowed back.
Matching his irritated tone, she added, fists balled at her sides,
"For being such a brilliant man without even trying, you sure are a dunce sometimes!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 9:43 pm
Green eyes blinked several times in response, the smile having slipped from Austin's face.
"For me?"
Austin didn't exactly get time to process what she'd said to him because she was continuing on, spouting nonsense about him being a...dunce. ********, he hadn't heard that word since he'd been in junior high.
He should have been nicer, but his teeth were sliding together in irritation. "For such a know-it-all you're a bit stuck-up Soph," Austin shot back, surprised by his own words. "I give you a compliment and you yell at me. Christ Sophie. What the ******** do you want?" Fingers tapped against his when he shook his head at her. "You 'did this for me', why? You've been pretty content to stick me in the friendzone since you ditched me in high school."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 9:44 pm
Sophie should have stopped when she saw his expression change but she'd been on a roll and as a result, was rewarded with a nasty response of her own.
"What the ******** do you want?"
She couldn't help but flinch at the aggressive tone and the harsh language he'd never used on her before.
Her bark was clearly getting drowned out by his and her bite was nonexistent.
"I didn't ditch you." Her voice had lost any semblance of power that it might have held, choosing to begin wobbling again, her stutter on the horizon of no doubt inconveniently showing up when she needed it least. "You were the one who was too busy with all your new friends and girls and stupid cars and...a-and..."
Her hand found the knob to her parents' front door and she twisted it, shoving the heavy door open before her small body slipped through the entrance. "...And j-just forget it!"
SLAM.
He didn't care that she had a crush - he'd pretty much just explained how he felt about her altogether and it wasn't anywhere close to what she'd secretly been hoping it would be. The words stung as they replayed themselves over and over again in her mind, the tears falling freely now that she'd found herself inside of her parents' empty home, the young woman sliding down against the door as she let out a soft sob, the neckline of her blouse quickly becoming an impromptu tissue for her tears and smeared mascara.
For being such a know-it-all, she really wished she knew how to stop crying over a boy who didn't give two hoots about her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 9:44 pm
"You wouldn't even talk to me once we started--" Austin tried to protest, but Sophie cut him off and he had a hard time not scowling as a result. "That's not-- Sophie!"
She'd slammed the door in his face before he could finish talking.
Hands balled into fists and he took several steps back, just in case his irritation at the whole affair got the better of him.
"Consider it forgotten," he mumbled, bitterly, before turning on his heel and crossing the yard that connect his parent's house to hers.
He did not, however, slam the door behind him when he disappeared inside.
Happy ******** birthday. Yeah right.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
