The Stones On Your Window

Sophia was perched on the end of her bed, looking down at her nails. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She had never stood up for herself like that before. She was used to people walking all over her and talking to her like she was trash, but normally those harsh words came from her family. She couldn't let a stranger, who she had barely said two words to, talk about her like that.

Sure, she understood that he was bitter about the situation he was in, but he had only himself to blame. Had he not crashed into that wall, then he wouldn't be here.

His words still rung in her ears. 'We can all tell you think you're better than us.' That had hurt her. This wasn't true at all. She liked to believe that she was nothing like that. Did she give off that vibe? Her mother and her sister certainly did, but Sophia had done everything she could to make sure that she was the complete opposite of them.

She didn't like going to all those fancy parties. She didn't like being able to get everything she wanted. And she absolutely did not like the fact that she had no income of her own.

The sound of her phone ringing caused her to jump. She glanced down at her phone, not recognizing the number flashing on the screen.

She picked up anyway. "Hello?"

"Hey, Sophia, it's Matthew." She heard his deep voice boom through the speaker. A look of confusion spread across her face.

"Hey, I don't want to sound rude, but how did you get my number?" She questioned, falling back onto the cushions behind her.

"I got it from my mom, who got it from your mom. Why? Is me calling you not okay? Damn it, I knew it would be weird for me to just call you out of the blue..." He trailed off. Sophia giggled at his rambling.

"Of course it's okay, silly. I was just confused, that's all." She chuckled some more. "So, what's up?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out tonight? Maybe grab some dinner and go bowling? Unless you want to do something else..." He added on quickly. Once again, she chuckled at him.

"Bowling and dinner sounds great," she heard him breathe a sigh of relief. "Why are you so nervous?"

"My mom would kill me if I messed this thing between us up. I'm sure your mother would also kill me. I just don't want you to think I'm an idiot and change your mind about me."

"Well don't worry, so far you're doing great." She reassured him.

"Good to know. So I'll pick you up around 6:30?"

"Sounds great, I'll see you then."

"Awesome! See you later." Sophia mumbled her reply before hanging up and tossing her phone across the bed. Maybe a little time away from her family would cheer her up.

She could her the sound of muffled voices coming from the lawn outside her window, reminding her of the task her father had set her. She didn't particularly want to see John right now, but her dad would be angry if he knew she hadn't kept an eye on the two new boys.

Grabbing her book from her nightstand, she pushed herself off of the bed and left the room with a frown sitting on her pretty face.

--

Stupid asshole. This was the only thought that ran through Sophia's head as she glared over her book at John. She watched as he pulled the weeds from the flower bed a few meters away from the bench where she lounged. Occasionally he would steal glances at her, and she would look back at her book, pretending that she didn't even know he was there.

It was when John pulled his white shirt from his skinny body that she got even more annoyed. He was such a hypocrite. The way he was looking at himself in the reflection of the patio doors told Sophia that he thought he was God's gift to Earth. She almost laughed out loud at this, how dare he accuse her of being conceited.

Still, she couldn't tear her eyes away from him. Even though he was extremely skinny, he still had a lot of muscle definition. You could tell that he worked out. His tanned skin glistened with sweat under the summer sun. He looked like a model from a magazine.

But it was the tattoo's that caught Sophia's eye the most. He had a lot of them. She had counted around 9 so far, not that she had been looking long enough to actually count correctly. She had the urge to go up to him and study them, but that might freak him out slightly.

Once again, he peeked over at her. She quickly diverted her eyes to the flowers next to his feet, before sticking her nose high in the air and looking back to her book.

She heard him snicker slightly. Caught.

Her cheeks began to burn up. He had caught her leering at his body. Sophia groaned inwardly, now he would definitely think she was a freak. She wouldn't be able to look him in the eye now without wanting to punch herself in the face.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" She glanced up. He was standing right in front of her now.

"I'm sorry," she looked back at her book, "I only talk to people who I think are eligible to talk to me. I thought you knew that? Apparently you think you know everything else about me." She muttered, not looking away from her book.

She heard him sigh. "Look, I'm sorry about that. It was wrong of me to just automatically assume that about you. I swear I'm not usually judgmental. I guess I was just annoyed about having to work here."

Sophia didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She had prepared herself to argue with him again, but hadn't thought about what she'd say if he apologized.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes, I heard." She rolled her eyes.

"And you don't have anything to say?"

"What could I possibly have to say?"

"I don't know, how about 'I forgive you?'"

Sophia shrugged her shoulders.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" John snapped causing her to roll her eyes.

"What?"

"You really are something else. I just apologized to you and you have nothing to say. I'm starting to wonder if I was really right about you.

"You don't even know me." Sophia scoffed.

"So?" He shrugged, pushing her feet off the bench and sitting next to her. "You seem like an easy person to read."

He was really getting on her nerves now. She wanted to lift her leg back up and kick him in the ribs.

"If I say I forgive you, will you leave me alone?" He cracked a grin at her words.

"Probably not. It's break time and you're the only person here to keep me entertained." Sure enough, the two of them were the only people outside.

"What are you, 8 years old?"

"I'm 23 actually. What about you?"

"That was a sarcastic comment, not an invitation for you to start questioning me. If you must know, I'm 18."

He nodded his head at her answer as he picked at a loose thread on his jeans. He looked around the yard but didn't say anything. Sophia eyed him suspiciously over the top of her book. He still didn't say anything.

"You are so annoying." She grumbled, closing her book and placing it next to her. "Okay, how do you suppose I 'entertain' you?"

John wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her comment with a sly look on his face. She was sure her face was bright red.

"Oh my god!" She groaned. "I didn't mean it like that I swear!"

He laughed at her flustered expression. "I guess talking will suffice."

"Okay... Where are you from?" She decided to start first, quickly changing the subject.

"Arizona. My friends and I decided to rent a beach house here in LA for a few weeks before we go on tour." He explained before she could ask.

"Tour?"

"Yeah, I'm in a band."

"Oh, cool. Are you guys popular?"

John laughed awkwardly. "I guess? I mean, a lot of people come out to our shows, but who knows if they actually like us."

Sophia laughed at this. "I'm sure they like you, why else would they go to the shows?"

"Maybe they're fans of the opening acts."

"Maybe." She shrugged in response, although she was sure this probably wasn't true.

"Crap, I should get back to work." He said as he stood up. "Delia will kick my ass if I haven't pulled these weeds before 2pm."

Sophia picked up her book, opening it at the page she was at. She continued watching him from over the top of her book as he worked. There was something intriguing about this guy.

Maybe he wasn't as bad as she first thought.