Blitz
Dinner
Sophie awoke with a start.
Clutching her hand to her chest, she took a few deep breaths.
When she steadied herself, she climbed out of bed and stretched her arms over her head.
Taking a step towards the window, she peeked down towards the Manning’s house and saw Eli, Archie and Peyton tossing around a football in the backyard.
Sophie made her way downstairs and into the kitchen.
Seeing a note on the counter, she picked it up and read, as she put two waffles into the toaster.
‘Honey, sorry we couldn’t stay home today. We’ll be home around five. Please be ready to head over to the Manning’s around six.’
Sophie crumpled the noted and tossed it into the trash.
Reaching for her waffles, Sophie walked outside onto the back porch, basking in the sun.
She threw her head back and pulled her hair into a sloppy ponytail.
Sophie noticed out of the corner of her eye that she was being watched.
Looking to her left, she noticed Peyton standing there, a football clutched between his hands, sweat running down his forehead.
He gave her a sly smile and wriggled his eyebrow at her, before tossing the football to Eli.
Sophie smiled and quickly turned forward, shaking her head.
As she stood on her deck soaking in the sun, there was a knock on the gate that divided the Manning’s and the Hansen’s property.
“Hey Fee, can we go swimming?” Eli called as he walked into her backyard.
“Yeah, as long as you two shower and get the disgusting sweat off your body.”
Eli wriggled his eyebrow at her and stepped into the shower that was on the side of the pool house.
Peyton chuckled, “Are you going to join us?”
Sophie narrowed her eyes, “Nah, I’ll keep you to company though.”
“Oh, hey! I forgot to tell you Sophie, the parents are going out of town this weekend, and we want to throw a killer party.. only problem is..”
“Your parents will be home.” Peyton finished, as Eli ducked out of the shower.
Sophie nodded, “That is a real problem… only if my parents weren’t going with your parents this weekend.”
“Score!”
“Only one condition, though!” Sophie said holding up a finger. “You two are on your own. I’ll help invite people, but I’m not to be lumped in if you get caught.”
Peyton stepped out of the shower, “Deal.”
Eli smiled and high-fived Peyton, “This is going to be awesome!”
The three of them made their way over to the pool.
As Sophie sat down on a deck chair, Eli made his way to the diving board, he stopped to flex his muscles for Sophie and Peyton pushed him into the pool.
When he came to the surface, he spit water from his mouth and glared at Peyton, “You are an ass.”
Peyton laughed and jumped into the pool next to him.
“Sophie, you should really come join us.” Eli said, gliding towards her.
“I’m not in the mood to swim, sorry boys.”
Eli sulked and swam away, and near the deep end.
Peyton floated in the shallow end and stole glances at Sophie.
“Peyt, let’s play Marco polo!”
Peyton groaned, “How about we just relax?”
Eli huffed, “You two are absolutely no fun, whatsoever.”
Sophie smiled, “Sorry dear.”
After lazing about the pool for a good half hour, Peyton and Eli climbed onto deck chairs and air-dried.
“Peyton, Eli! You need to come get ready!” Olivia Manning yelled across the lawn.
The screen door snapped shut and the boys groaned.
“Coming Mom,” Peyton called back.
The boys reluctantly stood and gathered their shirts and wet towels.
“So, we’ll see you around six, right?”
Sophie nodded, “Of course.”
Peyton gave her a small smiled and walked through the gate.
Eli hung back, “So... want to hang out afterwards, maybe a little sleepover?”
He wriggled his eyebrow at her, causing her to roll her eyes, “No sleeping over anywhere, but I will come hang out.”
Eli moved in and lightly kissed her on the cheek, “Sounds good.”
Sophie felt her cheeks turn red, “I’ll see you later.”
Eli opened the gate and before he was through, Sophie turned around and walked up the deck and into her house.
She quickly climbed the steps and entered her room.
Going over to her closet, she quickly riffled through her outfits, and settled on a mid-length red dress.
As she brought the dress to her vanity mirror, she heard her name coming from somewhere outside.
Jogging to the window seat, she saw Peyton leaning out his window.
“Yes, can I help you?”
“Which one do you like better?” He nodded, and held up a pair of button down shirts and complementing ties.
Sophie placed a hand on her chin, “Slowly alternate them.”
Pointing to the one on his right, she smiled, “That one.”
He smiled, “That’s the one I wanted. Oh, you know me so well! Thanks Fee!”
She watched as he waved and closed the curtains.
Sophie sat on the window seat for a few minutes in a daze.
A knock on her door made her door made her jump and her Mom poked her head into the room. “Hi honey.”
Sophie smiled, “Hello.”
“Is this the dress you picked?” Deborah asked, examining the silky material.
“What, do you want me to pick a different one?”
Deborah chuckled, “Of course not!”
Sophie smiled.
Smiling in return, Deborah looked around her room, “I see you need to start getting ready, so I will leave you to it.”
Deborah slipped out of the room and Sophie shuffled to her Vanity mirror.
Applying foundation, eyeliner and mascara, she pulled her hair into a loose bun and quickly stripped down to her underwear.
She pulled the dress off the hanger and slipped into it with ease.
Making sure everything was in order; Sophie exited her room and was stopped by her father.
“Wow pumpkin, you look gorgeous. Which Manning boy are you trying to impress exactly?”
Sophie narrowed her eyebrows in thought.
Mark wriggled his eyebrow, “You look good. I approve.”
He kissed her on the cheek and jogged down the stairs.
Sophie looked over her shoulder towards the Manning’s house and descended the stairs, brushing past her father and huffed, “I am not trying to impress anyone!”
“That’s my girl!” He shouted after her, as they stepped out the front door.
She quietly walked behind her parents and breathed in the warm summer air.
They stepped onto the Manning’s porch, and Deborah rang the doorbell.
A shadow appeared on the other side of the curtain and the door swung open, revealing Cooper, dressed in a dark red shirt, black tie and black slacks.
“Cooper! It’s good to see you again!” Deborah exclaimed, giving him a gentle hug.
Mark offered his hand and gave him a firm handshake, “It’s good to see you, kid.”
Cooper smiled, “Ha ha, well it’s good to see you all too!”
He stepped aside to let them into the house.
Sophie stopped and stared at him, “Coop, I just want to hug you.”
He rolled his eyes, “Well you can, just not too hard.”
Sophie stood on her tippy toes and gently placed her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“It’s really nice to see you, Coop.”
He chuckled, “It’s good to see you too, Sophie.”
They exited the foyer and made their way into the kitchen.
“Oh, there you are! Wow, honey, you look stunning!” Olivia said, winking at Sophie.
Peyton and Eli’s heads shot up at their mom’s comment and they nearly dropped their jaws.
Archie placed a hand on his son’s shoulders, and loudly whispered, “Yes boys, that is what a pretty young lady looks like in a dress.”
Sophie instantly turned towards the boys and her cheeks went red.
Peyton and Eli did the same.
Olivia giggled, “Alright, everyone. Dinner’s ready.”
The eight made their way into the dining room and all the Manning boys fought over chairs.
In the end, Peyton sat on Sophie left and Cooper was on her right.
Eli was forced to sit across from them.
All through dinner, Sophie caught him making faces at his brothers and he stopped shortly when she caught him.
When dinner ended the adults and Eli, Peyton, and Sophie went down to the den.
“So how do you plan a party when your eldest brother is home for two weeks?” Sophie asked, sitting on the edge of the couch.
“Well, um..” Eli stuttered, looking at Peyton, “I never thought about Cooper being home.”
“I guess we’ll have to see what happens.” Eli finished, shrugging.
“Anyone want to watch a movie?”
Peyton and Sophie nodded, and Eli dug around the extensive movie collection, “How about Monty Python?”
Peyton shook his head, “Batman.”
Eli smiled, “Alright. The George Clooney version?”
Sophie smiled, “Is there another one!? Of course Clooney!”
She folded her legs under herself and relaxed in the corner of the couch.
Halfway through the movie, and six denied attempts of Eli trying to put his arm around her, Mark called down to them.
“Sophie hun, it’s getting late.”
The three groaned and stretched, before walking up the stairs.
Sophie and her parents met at the front door.
“Thanks for having us over for dinner tonight, Olivia. It was fantastic.”
Olivia smiled, and Archie shook Mark’s hand, “Next time your house?”
Deborah smiled, “Of course! All right, well we need to head to bed. I have an important showing tomorrow.”
Eli gave Sophie a quick hug and quickly kissed her cheek.
As he backed away, Peyton gave her a quick hug and whispered, “You look absolutely stunning.”
When he let go, he gave her a small wink and color rose to Sophie’s cheeks.
Cooper rolled his eyes, and put an arm around her shoulder and walked her to the gate, “Be careful with those two.”
Sophie rolled her eyes, “Oh, come on Coop.”
He laughed, “Go home Hansen, geesh!”
They quickly hugged and he pushed her through the walkway.
She waved goodnight, and skipped to her house.
When she closed the door behind her, Mark stepped out of the family room.
“Have fun tonight?”
Sophie smiled, “Of course.”
She started up the stairs and he continued.
“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say Peyton may have a thing for you.”
“Come on, Dad!” Sophie cried, blowing off the statement.
He chuckled, “Just saying.”
She climbed the rest of the stairs and went into her room.
Not wanting to attract attention to her room, she quickly stripped down to a tank top and shorts in the dark, and sat on the window seat, staring at the moon.
The light came on in Peyton’s room as he walked in, followed by Eli.
“What’s going on between you and Sophie?!”
She could tell that Peyton rolled his eyes,”Nothing is going on between us and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t scream at me.”
“You are such a scumbag!” Eli yelled, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him,
Sophie rolled her eyes and got up from the seat.
Quickly stretching, she made for the window by her bed and made sure it was closed.
She crawled under her covers, pulling them up to her chin and grabbed her stuffed animal.
As her eyes started to droop, Sophie was having difficulty getting Eli’s jealous statements, her father’s intuition and Peyton’s comment out of her head.
Clutching her hand to her chest, she took a few deep breaths.
When she steadied herself, she climbed out of bed and stretched her arms over her head.
Taking a step towards the window, she peeked down towards the Manning’s house and saw Eli, Archie and Peyton tossing around a football in the backyard.
Sophie made her way downstairs and into the kitchen.
Seeing a note on the counter, she picked it up and read, as she put two waffles into the toaster.
‘Honey, sorry we couldn’t stay home today. We’ll be home around five. Please be ready to head over to the Manning’s around six.’
Sophie crumpled the noted and tossed it into the trash.
Reaching for her waffles, Sophie walked outside onto the back porch, basking in the sun.
She threw her head back and pulled her hair into a sloppy ponytail.
Sophie noticed out of the corner of her eye that she was being watched.
Looking to her left, she noticed Peyton standing there, a football clutched between his hands, sweat running down his forehead.
He gave her a sly smile and wriggled his eyebrow at her, before tossing the football to Eli.
Sophie smiled and quickly turned forward, shaking her head.
As she stood on her deck soaking in the sun, there was a knock on the gate that divided the Manning’s and the Hansen’s property.
“Hey Fee, can we go swimming?” Eli called as he walked into her backyard.
“Yeah, as long as you two shower and get the disgusting sweat off your body.”
Eli wriggled his eyebrow at her and stepped into the shower that was on the side of the pool house.
Peyton chuckled, “Are you going to join us?”
Sophie narrowed her eyes, “Nah, I’ll keep you to company though.”
“Oh, hey! I forgot to tell you Sophie, the parents are going out of town this weekend, and we want to throw a killer party.. only problem is..”
“Your parents will be home.” Peyton finished, as Eli ducked out of the shower.
Sophie nodded, “That is a real problem… only if my parents weren’t going with your parents this weekend.”
“Score!”
“Only one condition, though!” Sophie said holding up a finger. “You two are on your own. I’ll help invite people, but I’m not to be lumped in if you get caught.”
Peyton stepped out of the shower, “Deal.”
Eli smiled and high-fived Peyton, “This is going to be awesome!”
The three of them made their way over to the pool.
As Sophie sat down on a deck chair, Eli made his way to the diving board, he stopped to flex his muscles for Sophie and Peyton pushed him into the pool.
When he came to the surface, he spit water from his mouth and glared at Peyton, “You are an ass.”
Peyton laughed and jumped into the pool next to him.
“Sophie, you should really come join us.” Eli said, gliding towards her.
“I’m not in the mood to swim, sorry boys.”
Eli sulked and swam away, and near the deep end.
Peyton floated in the shallow end and stole glances at Sophie.
“Peyt, let’s play Marco polo!”
Peyton groaned, “How about we just relax?”
Eli huffed, “You two are absolutely no fun, whatsoever.”
Sophie smiled, “Sorry dear.”
After lazing about the pool for a good half hour, Peyton and Eli climbed onto deck chairs and air-dried.
“Peyton, Eli! You need to come get ready!” Olivia Manning yelled across the lawn.
The screen door snapped shut and the boys groaned.
“Coming Mom,” Peyton called back.
The boys reluctantly stood and gathered their shirts and wet towels.
“So, we’ll see you around six, right?”
Sophie nodded, “Of course.”
Peyton gave her a small smiled and walked through the gate.
Eli hung back, “So... want to hang out afterwards, maybe a little sleepover?”
He wriggled his eyebrow at her, causing her to roll her eyes, “No sleeping over anywhere, but I will come hang out.”
Eli moved in and lightly kissed her on the cheek, “Sounds good.”
Sophie felt her cheeks turn red, “I’ll see you later.”
Eli opened the gate and before he was through, Sophie turned around and walked up the deck and into her house.
She quickly climbed the steps and entered her room.
Going over to her closet, she quickly riffled through her outfits, and settled on a mid-length red dress.
As she brought the dress to her vanity mirror, she heard her name coming from somewhere outside.
Jogging to the window seat, she saw Peyton leaning out his window.
“Yes, can I help you?”
“Which one do you like better?” He nodded, and held up a pair of button down shirts and complementing ties.
Sophie placed a hand on her chin, “Slowly alternate them.”
Pointing to the one on his right, she smiled, “That one.”
He smiled, “That’s the one I wanted. Oh, you know me so well! Thanks Fee!”
She watched as he waved and closed the curtains.
Sophie sat on the window seat for a few minutes in a daze.
A knock on her door made her door made her jump and her Mom poked her head into the room. “Hi honey.”
Sophie smiled, “Hello.”
“Is this the dress you picked?” Deborah asked, examining the silky material.
“What, do you want me to pick a different one?”
Deborah chuckled, “Of course not!”
Sophie smiled.
Smiling in return, Deborah looked around her room, “I see you need to start getting ready, so I will leave you to it.”
Deborah slipped out of the room and Sophie shuffled to her Vanity mirror.
Applying foundation, eyeliner and mascara, she pulled her hair into a loose bun and quickly stripped down to her underwear.
She pulled the dress off the hanger and slipped into it with ease.
Making sure everything was in order; Sophie exited her room and was stopped by her father.
“Wow pumpkin, you look gorgeous. Which Manning boy are you trying to impress exactly?”
Sophie narrowed her eyebrows in thought.
Mark wriggled his eyebrow, “You look good. I approve.”
He kissed her on the cheek and jogged down the stairs.
Sophie looked over her shoulder towards the Manning’s house and descended the stairs, brushing past her father and huffed, “I am not trying to impress anyone!”
“That’s my girl!” He shouted after her, as they stepped out the front door.
She quietly walked behind her parents and breathed in the warm summer air.
They stepped onto the Manning’s porch, and Deborah rang the doorbell.
A shadow appeared on the other side of the curtain and the door swung open, revealing Cooper, dressed in a dark red shirt, black tie and black slacks.
“Cooper! It’s good to see you again!” Deborah exclaimed, giving him a gentle hug.
Mark offered his hand and gave him a firm handshake, “It’s good to see you, kid.”
Cooper smiled, “Ha ha, well it’s good to see you all too!”
He stepped aside to let them into the house.
Sophie stopped and stared at him, “Coop, I just want to hug you.”
He rolled his eyes, “Well you can, just not too hard.”
Sophie stood on her tippy toes and gently placed her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“It’s really nice to see you, Coop.”
He chuckled, “It’s good to see you too, Sophie.”
They exited the foyer and made their way into the kitchen.
“Oh, there you are! Wow, honey, you look stunning!” Olivia said, winking at Sophie.
Peyton and Eli’s heads shot up at their mom’s comment and they nearly dropped their jaws.
Archie placed a hand on his son’s shoulders, and loudly whispered, “Yes boys, that is what a pretty young lady looks like in a dress.”
Sophie instantly turned towards the boys and her cheeks went red.
Peyton and Eli did the same.
Olivia giggled, “Alright, everyone. Dinner’s ready.”
The eight made their way into the dining room and all the Manning boys fought over chairs.
In the end, Peyton sat on Sophie left and Cooper was on her right.
Eli was forced to sit across from them.
All through dinner, Sophie caught him making faces at his brothers and he stopped shortly when she caught him.
When dinner ended the adults and Eli, Peyton, and Sophie went down to the den.
“So how do you plan a party when your eldest brother is home for two weeks?” Sophie asked, sitting on the edge of the couch.
“Well, um..” Eli stuttered, looking at Peyton, “I never thought about Cooper being home.”
“I guess we’ll have to see what happens.” Eli finished, shrugging.
“Anyone want to watch a movie?”
Peyton and Sophie nodded, and Eli dug around the extensive movie collection, “How about Monty Python?”
Peyton shook his head, “Batman.”
Eli smiled, “Alright. The George Clooney version?”
Sophie smiled, “Is there another one!? Of course Clooney!”
She folded her legs under herself and relaxed in the corner of the couch.
Halfway through the movie, and six denied attempts of Eli trying to put his arm around her, Mark called down to them.
“Sophie hun, it’s getting late.”
The three groaned and stretched, before walking up the stairs.
Sophie and her parents met at the front door.
“Thanks for having us over for dinner tonight, Olivia. It was fantastic.”
Olivia smiled, and Archie shook Mark’s hand, “Next time your house?”
Deborah smiled, “Of course! All right, well we need to head to bed. I have an important showing tomorrow.”
Eli gave Sophie a quick hug and quickly kissed her cheek.
As he backed away, Peyton gave her a quick hug and whispered, “You look absolutely stunning.”
When he let go, he gave her a small wink and color rose to Sophie’s cheeks.
Cooper rolled his eyes, and put an arm around her shoulder and walked her to the gate, “Be careful with those two.”
Sophie rolled her eyes, “Oh, come on Coop.”
He laughed, “Go home Hansen, geesh!”
They quickly hugged and he pushed her through the walkway.
She waved goodnight, and skipped to her house.
When she closed the door behind her, Mark stepped out of the family room.
“Have fun tonight?”
Sophie smiled, “Of course.”
She started up the stairs and he continued.
“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say Peyton may have a thing for you.”
“Come on, Dad!” Sophie cried, blowing off the statement.
He chuckled, “Just saying.”
She climbed the rest of the stairs and went into her room.
Not wanting to attract attention to her room, she quickly stripped down to a tank top and shorts in the dark, and sat on the window seat, staring at the moon.
The light came on in Peyton’s room as he walked in, followed by Eli.
“What’s going on between you and Sophie?!”
She could tell that Peyton rolled his eyes,”Nothing is going on between us and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t scream at me.”
“You are such a scumbag!” Eli yelled, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him,
Sophie rolled her eyes and got up from the seat.
Quickly stretching, she made for the window by her bed and made sure it was closed.
She crawled under her covers, pulling them up to her chin and grabbed her stuffed animal.
As her eyes started to droop, Sophie was having difficulty getting Eli’s jealous statements, her father’s intuition and Peyton’s comment out of her head.