Everything's Changing Now

After a long weekend, Monday had finally come, the girl’s last night in Scottsdale. At some point overnight, John and Sophie had switched houses without anyone else knowing, so at nine Monday morning, Sophie was softly awakened by Stephen.

“We should go before my mom knows you’re here,” he whispered, getting out of the bed to put jeans on. “We’ll go out to eat for breakfast.” Sophie smiled at the suggestion, also getting out of bed. She had no clothes to change into, so she took one of Stephen’s smaller shirts and changed into it. Quietly, the two snuck out of the house and returned to the diner where they first met.

“It’s gonna be weird not having you two here. John’s gonna be weird too, not chasing girls around like he usually does,” Stephen teased, trying to keep the mood light.

“We’ll see if this whole Delaney moving here thing works out or not. Our parents are coming tomorrow, you know,” Sophie informed him. Stephen nearly spit out his water, earning a laugh from Sophie.

“I did not know that, actually. I have to meet your parents?” he asked, obviously taken aback.

“C’mon now, I met your parents the second day I knew you,” Sophie continued to giggle.

“Yeah, but that was before we were dating. I’m pretty bad with meeting parents. I get all, awkward,” he confessed, to which Sophie burst out laughing even more.

“Like you weren’t awkward at all when we first started hanging out? I got over it pretty quickly. Besides, my parents are cool, promise. They won’t judge you if you’re anymore awkward than usual,” Sophie stated, trying to be serious. “What you should be worried about is if you’re going to have a new sister-in-law or not. I can’t wait to see how Delaney’s convincing skills will work on her parents.”

“I’m pretty excited for that, too. I’m also excited for the super-awesome party we’re having tonight. I know you hate parties now, but you gotta have fun at this one,” Stephen grinned.

“I’ll pretend to have fun, just for you,” Sophie laughed. The two finished their breakfast then made their way back to the Cleary’s so Sophie could pack. Stephen sat on her bed as she meticulously folded every shirt and pair of pants and stacked them neatly into her suitcase.

“Damn, I should’ve had you clean my room at some point. That place would’ve been spotless,” Stephen laughed. Sophie rolled her eyes and continued packing.

“There’s no way in hell I’d touch your room. That place is nasty, and it gets worse everyday.” It was Stephen’s turn to roll his eyes. He then gave a mischievous look towards the suitcase that was sitting on the other side of the bed. As Sophie turned around to put the next article of clothing away, Stephen took a handful of the already folded clothes and threw them on the ground.

“Now you gotta stay, you can’t leave if your clothes aren’t packed!” Stephen grinned, trying to keep a straight face. Sophie tried to act annoyed but couldn’t, instead jumping onto Stephen and knocking him on his back.

“You know I don’t wanna leave yet. I wish the summer could last forever,” Sophie whispered, getting serious.

“I know, I wish the same thing. But it’s back to school for both of us, not like I wanna go but oh well,” Stephen responded, stroking Sophie’s hair. “We’ll see each other all the time, though. I’ll come visit you and we’ll find you new friends in your town that are actually cool and can compete with you in drinking contests now that you’re fully trained.” Sophie laughed at his last remark and snuggled closer to him. They laid that way until six, when both their phones rang, informing them that the party was about to start.
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The party went the same way as the rest had, but this time only Sophie and Delaney’s friends had been invited. There were about twenty kids sitting in the Dale’s backyard, all of whom were sad to see the two girls leave the next day. There were many hugs and kisses goodbye, more of the latter as the night went on and coherency turned off. Somewhere after midnight, a few guitars were brought out and everyone had their hand at playing and singing songs. The alcohol had long since run out, so the few who had chosen to remain slightly sober were regaining themselves and one by one they started to leave as they felt ready to drive home. By two, only Stephen, John, Sophie, Delaney, Brian, Josh, and Jess remained.

“We should have a big sleepover out here tonight, it’s beautiful,” Josh suggested. The rest gave a drunken nod of agreement and Brian and Jess went into the house to collect blankets and pillows.

“Tomorrow’s gonna suck,” John stated bluntly. “I hope we can convince you parents to let you stay here, babe.”

“Me too. You know what would be cool? If Sophie stayed here! Then I’d definitely be able to stay. Well, maybe. I don’t even know what I’m saying,” Delaney slurred.

“No, I already decided to stay in Flagstaff for at least first semester. We’re gonna take it slow and see what happens, make the decisions as they come,” Sophie responded. “Right now I just wanna sleep. Our parents are gonna be here early.” Once Jess and Brian returned. Sophie grabbed a blanket for herself and Stephen. She spread it on the cement by the fire and they fell asleep quickly.