Everything's Changing Now

On her last day working at the shelter, Sophie felt a strange sadness. The summer was coming to a close, but she was about to start the next chapter in her life. There was only a week left before she returned to Flagstaff, and only two until she started classes. Stephen hadn’t brought up what was going to happen after the summer ended, and Sophie kept herself busy at all moments as to not think about it either. John and Delaney were still convinced that their plan would work, and everyone still laughed at them. Sophie thought it was cute that her cousin had finally found someone that kept her occupied for more than a few months, and she was rooting for them to stay together after they left.

Stephanie greeted Sophie with a hug and watery eyes as she entered the shelter. Sophie hugged back, and knew she’d miss Stephanie even though she was often bothered by her. The two worked their regular shift before being let go three hours early as there was nothing left to do. Sophie hugged all of her coworkers, even the ones she barely spoke to, and promised Stephanie to keep in touch. She exited the shelter for the last time, a feeling of finality settling in. She drove the now familiar route back to the Cleary’s, not Stephen’s for once, as she and Delaney were going to have a girl’s night, just the two of them. Sophie had no idea what to expect from the night, but was excited for it.

Since she had gotten home so early, Sophie decided to take a few hours to catch up on the reading she had fallen terribly behind on. She had expected to finish the twelve books she brought with her, but had barely gotten through two. For five hours, she did not move from her bed and she finished a book and a half. At six o’clock when Mrs. Cleary knocked on her door for dinner, she was surprised at how much time had passed. She joined the family and her cousin at the table, one of the few times since the beginning of summer that they all ate together. For the next three hours, stories of the past were shared; Delaney and Sophie were told stories about their parents in high school, stories from when they were kids, and they talked about the last two months and all that had happened.

Delaney brought up hw she wanted to stay and finish high school in Scottsdale so she could stay close to John, then attend ASU until he graduated the following year. The Cleary’s eagerly informed her that they would love to have her at their house for the next year, if her parents would give consent. Sophie was in as much disbelief as Delaney, who hurried off to call John to tell him half the battle was already won. Sophie didn’t know how easily her parents would be convinced, but she knew that Delaney wouldn’t give up until she got the answer she wanted.

This got Sophie thinking, yet again, about how she and Stephen would handle being away from each other. The thought of transferring schools hadn’t crossed her mind until now, but she didn’t know if that somewhat extreme decision was the best to make at this point, especially because she hadn’t consulted Stephen yet. She knew she wanted to be with him for a long time, but after the rash decision she almost made for her last boyfriend she didn’t want to jump into anything this soon. She quickly changed her train of thought to something else before she looked too far into the subject again. The next time she saw Stephen, she decided that she would bring it up.