New Girl

Is that a good idea?

Y/N's POV:

Sophia has been gently reminding me of her presence in the last few weeks. She rarely tries to talk to me, which I haven't really appreciated any of the times she did, but I'll see her now and then. In the hallway, on my way home, while walking to school, at night through the windows in her house, and even while grocery shopping. I know it's intentional. She could easily avoid being seen by me, just like she did in the very beginning when she still actively bullied me. But no, she chooses to let me see her and makes sure she offers me a friendly smile that's just a tad regretful every time.

I hate to admit that it's been working. She's obviously trying to get me to let her back into my life, and I've been thinking about giving her another chance or at least hearing her out for quite a while now. But that still doesn't mean that I'm prepared when I spontaneously decide to answer her rather broad smile with a tentative one of my own. Sophia doesn't seem to be prepared either. She probably gave up hope long ago. But she takes the hint and stops whatever she's been doing with her bike in her front yard to come over to me.

I nod in greeting. "Say what you wanna say."

Sophia doesn't waste a second before she lets the words spill out of her mouth: "I realized that I've never even apologized. I mean, I said that I wanted you to come back to school and that I still wanted to talk to you. So here it is: I'm sorry! I am so, so sorry that I treated you like this! I never should've bullied you or told my friends to do it. I just wanted to get rid of you and thought that was the most effective way ... well, combined with a friend telling you to leave."

"But why though? Why did you want me to leave so bad?"

Sophia bites her lip and looks down. "I guess you deserve to know. But I just ... I'm not ready to tell you yet. I'm really sorry. But I will, as soon as I think I can. I promise!"

Now, that's interesting. What could possibly be so bad? "To be honest, I'm not ready for another bombshell to be dropped on me."

Sophia nods vigorously. "I get that, I really do! I promise it's not going to affect you in any way, it's just that it's hard for me to talk about."

"Well, okay then. I respect that."

Sophia's lips curl upwards into a small smile. Silence lingers between the two of us, but then I remember that I've left something unanswered.

"I accept your apology. I wouldn't have if you hadn't seemed truly sorry. But it looks like you really want to learn from your mistakes."

Again she nods so hard her hair flies off in all directions. It looks kinda cute. "Yes, I do!" Then she stumbles forward and hugs me tightly. Only after a few moments does she take a few steps back and looks at me sheepishly, like she only just realized that maybe she crossed a line. But I guess I'm in a benevolent mood today because I just smile and make a gesture to reassure her that it's fine.

This seems to give Sophia enough confidence to ask: "How do you feel about a new deal?"

I'm a bit startled by the suggestion. "A new deal? Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Yeah, I think so!", she confirms. I motion for her to go on. "Okay, what about me driving you to and from school in exchange for a shot at friendship?"

I frown a bit. A shot at friendship?

Sophia notices my lack of enthusiasm, so she quickly adds: "You're not required to be my friend or anything like that. Just let me talk to you during the car rides, and if you find that you really don't want to have anything to do with me, that's fine. But I really want to try at least. Only the car rides, you don't have to see me anywhere else!"

That sounds ... reasonable. I can give her that. I mean, I can admit that I liked talking to her back when our first deal was still running. Hell, I was the one who started it! So yeah, I can give her that.

"Okay."

Sophia's red lips break into a broad smile as soon as the word has left my mouth. And upon seeing her smile like this, something in my chest eases. I definitely can give her that.