Everything's Changing Now

Despite their talk earlier that day, and the spontaneous kiss that Sophie was still confused about, her and Stephen’s day had gone normally, and was winding down the same way the previous day had. There was plenty more booze, s’mores, and singing to happen, and by seven o’clock everyone had settled into a seat around the not yet lit fire. In the short time she’d been in Scottsdale, Sophie had become a bit of a heavyweight and could tolerate drinking multiple nights in a row. She still wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing, but she went with it. The night progressed quickly, and soon enough everyone was feeling the effects of the alcohol.

At nine the next morning, the teenagers groggily woke up so they could break down their campsite and be out by ten, or else they’d have to pay for another day. Sophie was still thinking about the previous day and her and Stephen’s exchanges, unsure of what to make of all of it. Since talking to Stephen about how they both felt, she wanted to be with him now more than before. She had to think of a way to make him feel the same, but she had no idea how. She thought that there was at least a small part of Stephen that wanted a relationship, especially after he had kissed her.

“Ready to go?” Stephen asked, startling Sophie.

“Yeah. Sorry, I was spacing out. Happens a lot,” she laughed, hoping he didn’t ask what she had been thinking about.

“Me too, don’t worry. Especially when there are such fun things to think about, like you,” he responded lightly, walking towards the van. Sophie didn’t understand how he could say he didn’t want to date, but go and throw comments like that around. She shook her head and carried the last bag of empty liquor bottles to the van and hopped in. She sat between Taylor and Stephen on the first bench and after Taylor was done trying to make awkward conversation with her, Stephen was told her about an “awesome” show he had found for them to go to.

“If it’s country music…I will kill you,” she threatened, to which Stephen laughed. “You don’t understand how serious I am right now.”

“It’s not country, calm down,” he responded and continued to laugh. “We’re going to see Bright Eyes, and I already bought the tickets so you can’t back out.”

“Huh, I’ve heard of them but I’ve never really listened to them before,” Sophie stated. She was excited to be doing something different with Stephen, besides their usual movies and dinners. “When is it?”

“August 12th, it’s a Sunday. I know you have to work the next morning, but it will be fine. We won’t be home super late,” Stephen assured her. He was excited to take Sophie to see his favorite band, not only in hopes that she’d fall in love with them, but for the possibility that it could give him another reason to want to date her. He honestly did want to have a relationship with her, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit that. He pushed the negative thoughts out of his mind and wrapped his arm around Sophie’s waist, pulling her closer to him.