Everything's Changing Now

Stephen had briefly seen the girl a few tables in front of him looking his direction. She seemed familiar but he couldn’t grasp how. Whoever she was, Stephen was instantly pulled in by her looks. The girl had long, dark brown hair and light, almost hazel, eyes. She couldn’t be more than 5’5, seemed to dress well in a simple green tank top and jeans, and was eating the same food Stephen had on his own plate.

“Does that girl seem familiar to you at all?” Stephen asked his brother. John, ever subtle, quickly whipped his head around to see her.

“Yeah! I think she’s the girl that goes to the Cleary’s house sometimes. I’ve definitely seen her there before.” That was it. Stephen had seen the girl numerous times in the six years the Gomez family had lived behind the Cleary’s.

“She looks lonely. We should invite her to the bonfire tonight,” Stephen suggested to his brother.

“Haha! Man, you just wanna bone her. I know that look in your eyes-hey! Don’t hit me! I was just joking…” John mocked hurt as his brother glared at him. “Dude, calm down. I was kidding. Invite her if you want, she seems like your type anyways.”

As much as John hated Leigh, he hated seeing his brother hurt even more. In the five days since the breakup, this was the first time Stephen had left the house besides the party that night. He had sent his brother out multiple times to buy him food, rent him movies, or run other odd jobs, but this morning John dragged Stephen out of bed and forced him to go to breakfast. John wanted his brother to meet a girl and he had no problem with scheming if he had to.

“My type? I’ve never really considered myself to have a type before. Enlighten me on what you consider my type to be,” Stephen asked, amused.
“Oh you know, basically any girl with dark hair that dresses all hipster-like like you do,” John smirked, bracing himself for another hit.

Stephen glared at him. He didn’t enjoy being labeled the “hipster” of the group, though someone had to have the title and he was the closest thing they had to one.

“Just because I listen to less popular music and wear vests and v-necks a lot doesn’t mean I’m a hipster,” Stephen retorted.

“Haha okay, keep telling yourself that, bro. Now come on, are you gonna ask her over or do I have to?” John smirked, already scheming. He knew he could enlist the help of the others with this if he had to. No one liked being around a bummed out Stephen and the fastest and easiest way to boost his spirits was to find him another girl.

“You’re not speaking to her. If I decide I want her to come, I’ll ask.”

“Well you better hurry up, looks like she’s leaving.”

Stephen quickly jumped out of the booth, nearly tripping over himself, and straightened his shirt before walking over to the girl. He shot John a look, telling him not to move.

“Hey! Uh, this might seem weird to ask, but are you visiting the Clearys?” Stephen asked the girl.

“Yeah, I am. Do you know them?” Sophie asked, smiling.

“Uh huh, my family, that’s my brother over there, live behind them. We thought you looked familiar, and we realized we’d seen you around before. I’m Stephen, by the way,” he responded, smiling back.

“Oh, okay! Yeah, I thought I’d seen you before, too. We’ve probably been at the same barbeque or something at some point. I’m Sophie, nice to officially meet you.”

Stephen couldn’t think of what to say next, so he sort of stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. Sophie looked more beautiful now that he was standing next to her, and he could quickly feel himself blushing. Before he could say something stupid, he heard his brother clear his throat, and he remembered his reason for the trip to Sophie’s table.

“Oh right! Uh, we’re having some people over tonight, for a bonfire, and we, my brother, John and I, were wondering if you wanted to come hang out for a bit? Our neighborhood can be pretty lonely without friends, especially in the summer,” Stephen felt proud of himself for the little bit at the end. He was almost never witty, and this was as close as he was going to get right now.

“I’d love to. My cousin is staying with us too, is it okay if she comes?” Sophie asked, excited to potentially be finding her new friends less than 24 hours of being in Scottsdale.
“For sure! She’s not like, a kid or anything is she, right? We sometimes have some not so kid friendly activities going on at these parties.”

“Oh no, she’s going to be a senior next year, I just graduated, by the way, and we’re staying here until the second week of August.

Surprised at the duration of Sophie’s stay, Stephen was also glad. It would be nice to hang out with new people, and Sophie definitely seemed like good company.

“It’s settled then! You and your cousin better be in our backyard by eight tonight, or else,” Stephen winked as he said this, immediately feeling like an idiot for using one of his brother’s moves.

“We will definitely be there, don’t you worry,” Sophie replied, trying to suppress a laugh. Stephen was a character and someone she wouldn’t mind getting to know better. “Well, I just paid so I better be off. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Yeah, definitely. It’ll be a fun time,” Stephen waved as he walked back to his booth, awaited by an eager looking John.

“What did she say?” John said, excitedly.

“She’s coming, and she’s bringing her cousin that’s a year older than you,” Stephen relayed the information to his brother.

“I hope this cousin is a girl, and a good looking one too. I’m sick of only hanging out with Jess.”

“We will see, brother, we will see. For the girl’s sake, I hope she’s not good looking,” Stephen laughed, welcoming a hit upside the head.