Everything's Changing Now

At eight the next morning, Sophie’s phone alarm sounded very loudly right next to her ear. Confused at why she wasn’t awake yet, she sat up and instantly fell back down onto the bed that was not her own. She looked around, recognizing Stephen’s room, and the body next to her as the room’s owner. The previous night’s activities quickly rushed into her head as she sat back up and tried to slip out of the room.

“Leaving so soon?” Stephen mumbled, smiling.

“Ah yeah, I have to work in less than an hour!” Sophie giggled. “I’ll be back over tonight though, promise.”

“You better, and remember, last night was our little secret,” Stephen said, winking. Sophie rolled her eyes and threw a random object off the ground at him. She tried to sneak out of the house, but ran into the rest of the Gomez family sitting in the living room, right next to the front door.

“FINALLY!” John yelled as Sophie blushed and continued out the door. She made a mental note to slap him twice as hard as Stephen would the next time she saw him.

Sophie ran back to the Cleary’s house, cursing herself for not taking the quicker route through the two backyards. As she punched the garage code onto the button pad, she ran into Mrs. Cleary, who was giving her a stern look.

“And where were you last night?” Mrs. Cleary asked, putting her best “angry mom” face on.

“Uh…I fell asleep at Stephen’s. Sorry…” Sophie mumbled, trying not to make eye contact.

“It’s okay sweetie, just call and let me know next time that happens. I trust both of you kids, even though I know there’s something more than a friendship there,” Mrs. Cleary laughed as Sophie continued into the house, rolling her eyes.

“I’ll be sure to call next time, if there is a next time.” Sophie hurried into the house. She took the fastest shower she had ever taken before throwing on a pair of jeans and a pink tee shirt, along with a pair of sneakers. She grabbed a granola bar to eat on the way to the shelter, and made it into her car with two minutes to spare. She selected a random song on her iPod to play, smiling when she heard the opening notes to Grand Theft Autumn. She sang along as she drove to work. Once she got to the shelter, Sophie sat in her car and ate her granola bar before being interrupted by the ever-perky Stephanie.

“Wow, you look tired! What did you do last night!” Stephanie eagerly asked, hoping to hear a story about Stephen.

“My cousin and I went to see a movie, didn’t get home until one,” Sophie lied, smiling as Stephanie’s mouth drew into a fine line.

“Fine, don’t tell me the juicy details of your life, but I can tell when someone got kissed, and you definitely have that look on your face!” Stephanie exclaimed, not waiting for Sophie to exit her car to walk into the building. Sophie quickly followed suit, catching up to Stephanie.

“If you must know, I was with Stephen last night, but nothing happened,” Sophie whispered, giving Stephanie the satisfaction of being half right.

The day passed slowly as Sophie thought about going to see Stephen after work. She didn’t know if he’d bring up, or even remembered, their kiss from the previous night, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to say anything about it. He seemed happy enough to have woken up with Sophie this morning, but she didn’t want to push her limits further.

After work, she decided to stop by Blockbuster to pick up a movie for the two of them to watch, sick of the Gomez family’s movie collection. As she wandered the racks, she smiled as she stopped on one of her favorite movies. As she grabbed it, she sent Stephen a text saying that she’d pick up dinner and a movie for them for the night. Sophie paid for the movie, then drove through Dairy Queen. She bought two pints of ice cream, figuring it would be a sufficient dinner.
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“You got The Notebook?” Stephen asked, giving the smiling Sophie a look of disgust. “I hate chick movies like this.”

“Well I’m a chick and I love movies like this, so you’re gonna have to deal. I also only got ice cream for us to eat, is that okay for you, Mr. Gomez?” Sophie asked, laughing.

“Are you serious? I’m a man, I need more than a little ice cream to eat!” Stephen yelled, throwing his hands up. “You’re never picking out what we watch or eat again. Ever. This is going to be the worst night.”

“Stop being so dramatic, it’s one movie,” Sophie scoffed. She set up the DVD player since Stephen made no move to do so. She rolled her eyes as he continued to pout on the couch, refusing to sit close to her. “Fine. I’ll eat all this ice cream by myself. You know I can.” At this, Stephen moved the slightest bit so he could grab one of the tubs then retreated to his side of the couch. Sophie, realizing he wouldn’t move any closer to her, took the initiative and scooted next to him.

“I don’t wanna sit by you, you bad movie and food getter,” Stephen whined.

“Too bad, cause I do wanna sit next to you,” Sophie retorted, moving closer to him. Halfway through the movie, Stephen gave in and wrapped his free hand around Sophie’s shoulder. She smiled as she snuggled closer to him, making herself comfortable. Stephen smiled at this gesture, and gave Sophie a quick peck on the cheek.

“You can’t keep doing that if you say we aren’t dating, ya know,” Sophie laughed.

“As I recall, you were the one who kissed me last night, so the same goes to you,” Stephen said, exaggerating his words.

“It’s not like you didn’t want it,” Sophie said, continuing to laugh.

“Well…maybe that’s true. But whatever,” Stephen concluded. Sophie grinned at his answer, vowing to make her new goal of the summer to make Stephen her boyfriend.