Everything's Changing Now

Around six that night, Sophie walked around the block to the Gomez house; she wasn’t comfortable hopping the fence just yet. Once she arrived and knocked on the door, she was greeted by a tired looking John.

“Hey, what’s up? I heard you have a hot date with my brother tonight,” John smirked.

“Well, you heard correctly. This “hot date” is going to consist of food and a movie, and who knows what will follow,” Sophie grinned, glad she was able to play off the joke.

“Well, the “who knows” is definitely going to be the hot part,” John continued. “Oh, did your cousin mention anything about me today?”

“Other than the fact that she barely remembered your make out session last night, nope,” Sophie continued grinning as John blushed and let her inside.

“Ah, yeah. Stephen’s downstairs, go ahead down,” John mumbled, walking away. Sophie laughed and followed his directions to get to the basement. Stephen heard her coming down the stairs and greeted her at the bottom.

“So, do you wanna start with the movie then eat, or food first?” Stephen asked.

“Let’s eat first. I’ve been itching to cook all day,” Sophie smiled.

“All right, come back upstairs to the kitchen and I’ll get your supplies out. This French toast better kick some major ass,” Stephen grinned, leading Sophie to the kitchen.

After fifteen minutes of preparing and cooking, the first plate of French toast was done. Sophie handed it to Stephen, telling him to eat as she finished her own food.

“Hm, not bad,” was all Stephen commented.

“Not bad? Not bad?! These are the best pieces of bread cooked in egg ever!” Sophie exclaimed overdramatically, faking hurt.

“If you say so. I still vote that we drive up to the restaurant you were talking about even if I do think this is the best French toast I’ve had,” Stephen stated, continuing to eat.

“Hah! I knew you’d love it!” Sophie responded with a look of triumph on her face. “And hell no I’m not driving up to Flagstaff. I came down here for the summer to escape that place.”

“Escape? You don’t like it there, I take it.”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just I prefer to not go back there sooner than I have to. I didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms with everyone.”

“Ah, so you’re running away from problems. That’s never a good approach,” Stephen reasoned, only to be answered by a glare on Sophie’s part. “Ah, okay. Let’s just go start the movie then, shall we? I got Wedding Crashers, I hope you like it.”

“Actually, I’ve never seen it,” Sophie responded, glad to be off the subject of her hometown.

“You’ve…never seen it? Again, how do you live? This is my single favorite movie of all time,” a much shocked Stephen replied.

“I dunno, I’ve been meaning to watch it but I never got around to it. Hopefully it’s as good as you make it out to be.”

“It is, don’t worry. Leave your plate, I’ll clean it up later,” Stephen said, motioning for Sophie to follow him back downstairs.

As Stephen set up the DVD, Sophie sat near the middle of the couch, then quickly shifted closer to the right side, as to not force any touching between the two. She still wasn’t sure what to consider tonight, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted it to be a date or not.

As Stephen made his way to the couch, he was relieved that Sophie had situated herself nearer to one of the sides. Realizing that the basement was much cooler than the kitchen had been, he went to grab a blanket off a chair, noticing that there was only one.

“Uh, I know it’s kinda cold down here, so I grabbed this?” Stephen stated awkwardly.

Laughing, Sophie reached for the blanket. “Thanks. Do you not have one?” she asked.

“I guess there’s only one down here…I can go grab a hoodie or something though if I get cold,” Stephen, still feeling awkward, replied.

“I don’t mind if you wanna share. It is yours, after all,” said Sophie, surprised at her own boldness, as if sharing a blanket was a huge deal.

“Oh okay. Yeah, that would be uh, nice,” Stephen said, sitting down close to Sophie as she spread the blanket over them. Unsure of whether or not to put his arm around her, Stephen sat with his hands in his lap for a second, suddenly remembering the popcorn and pop he purchased earlier. “Oh! I bought popcorn to eat, I can go make it if you want?”

“Yeah, that’d be good! I love popcorn, especially when I watch movies,” Sophie replied, mentally hitting herself for her last sentence.

“Okay cool, I’ll go make it now then. I’ll just start the movie first,” Stephen, thankful for the quick exit, stated. While he was upstairs making the popcorn, he decided to just go back down and sit naturally next to Sophie. Just because the two were sharing a blanket didn’t mean they were official, it was a blanket for God’s sake. As the microwave went off, Stephen made his way back to the basement and handed the popcorn to Sophie. She smiled and accepted it, and Stephen sat back down, putting his arm on the couch behind her and lightly touched her shoulder. Sophie smiled at his touch and didn’t shake him off, which Stephen took as a good thing and smiled himself, enjoying the rest of the movie and the presence of the girl at his side.