Secondhand - Sophia Smith

Chapter 6

Morgan left pretty quickly after that, and then Sophia came into my room. 

"Hey beautiful." She said, standing at my door frame. "Mind if I come in?"

"Come on in." I moved to make a little more room for her, because I didn't want the same thing to happen with her as Morgan. 

"How you doing?" She asked, tucking some loose strands of hair behind my ear. 

"I'm okay." 

I'm actually great. 

"I'm sure she told you the same things I'm about to tell you. You deserve better You deserve someone who comes to all of your games, who supports you no matter what. Dylan....he's not that guy." 

"I should have left him a while ago." I sighed. 

"Yeah. You should have. But you live and you learn, right?" 

"I guess." 

"Listen, it's going to be fine. Just relax and try to get some sleep. You had a big night tonight." 

"But did my dad call me?" I asked. 

"You can answer him later." 

"No. I need-"

"You don't need anything except rest." Sophia said, pushing me back down. 

"But-" 

"Shhh." She said, putting her arm around me, pulling me in closer, and she stroked my hair lightly. 

Before I knew it, I was asleep. 

---------

The next day we had off practice, so we were allowed to do whatever. 

"I've got some errands to run. I'll be back in like 2 hours." Soph said, picking up her keys. "I'll see you later." 

"See ya." I said, and she gave me a kiss on the cheek and left. 

I was already going to Morgan's, so it worked out. 

I had returned the phone call from  my dad before I headed to Morgan's. I didn't tell him anything about Dylan. It just didn't feel right yet. 

When I finally got to her apartment, she greeted me at the front door with a kiss. I have to say it was a lot nicer than when Dylan did it. 

"Hey." She said, stepping aside so I could get in. 

"Hi." 

"Did you hear anything about Bella yet?" She asked, referring to the injury our starting goalkeeper had sustained in the game last night. 

"I texted her this morning, but she didn't reply. I assume she either doesn't know, or isn't really allowed to say." 

"Makes sense." Morgan said. "So what do you want to do? Do you want to go out to eat? Go to TopGolf? Go bowling? We could also just hang here if you want. Watch a movie." 

"Any of it sounds good to me. Where's Marissa?" 

"No idea. She was gone before I woke up." 

"Weird." 

We decided on walking around Portland, and we'd decide later where we wanted to go get dinner. 

We went shopping (as if I could afford it), went in a museum (again, as if I could afford it) and we just kind of walked around the city together. I really had such a good time. 

We kept the PDA on the down low, because Morgan was a pretty popular soccer player, and while I was on her team, not a lot of people know who I am. I'm cool with that though. 

I couldn't help but think that this was more of a best friend thing, like I can't think of her as more than a super close friend. 

I guess she read that on my face, because she stopped me in the middle of a park. 

"What's wrong?" She sighed. "Something isn't right with you." 

"What? Everything's fine." 

"You think this is weird, don't you." 

"What? Why would I think that?" 

"Because to my knowledge, you didn't actually break up with Dylan yet. I get it." 

"How did you know? How did you guess that's what's wrong?" I lied. I just couldn't tell her yet.  I had to see where this would go. 

"Well I'll tell you what we are going to do when we get back to my house. You are going to call him, and you are going to straight up dump him over the phone. That's what he deserves." 

"Are you serious?" 

"No, the real question is are YOU serious. Are you going to dump his ass or let him control you forever?" 

"I...I don't...." 

"I'll give you your answer right now." 

I fully expected her to start telling me how I was going to dump him, but instead, she gave me my answer a different way. She straight up just kissed me in that park, for a pretty long time too. 

I felt eyes burning into us as she stepped away. 

"What's your answer now?" She smirked. 

"I'm gonna dump his ass." I laughed, and she joined in. 

I slipped my hand into hers and we kept walking. 

Eventually a girl, who loomed to be about 17, ran up to us. 

"No way." She said. "You're Morgan Weaver, and you're Taylor Riel, the shortest goalie in the whole NWSL." 

"That's us." Morgan said, and she let go of my hand. 

"Look." The girl unzipped her sweatshirt to reveal a Portland Thorns shirt, and I smiled at her. 

"I love it." I said. 

"I have the same one!" Said Morgan. 

"Do you think maybe I could get a picture with you guys?" 

"Of course!" Morgan said. 

We took a picture with the girl, and she showered us with questions for like 10 minutes. 

My personal favorite was: "Taylor, you're a goalie. Why are you shorter than Morgan?" 

I laughed at that one, and I just answered by saying that my parents aren't as tall as hers. 

After that, we went back to Morgan's so that I could dump Dylan.