Been Here All Along

3. Nothing Like You

CHAPTER THREE: IT'S BRUTAL OUT HERE
[ he doesn't get your humor like i do. ]

It had to be the way Elina walked through the hallways with her best friend beside her, arms hugging books to her chest, that drew Sophia's attention all the way from her locker. Or maybe it was the way that she shyly avoided all the looks from around her, mainly the ones that were aimed at Gabrielle. All Sophia knew was that it was definitely the way that Elina smiled at something that Gabrielle had said to her as they walked, which made her not want to look away.

That is, until a classmate appeared out of nowhere and stood directly in front of her. Sophia's longing gaze was refocused on the girl in front of her before she realized who it was, "Grace?" The tall redhead furrowed her brows slightly before looking behind her shoulder, trying to figure out who or what had piqued Sophia's interest, especially since she was zoned out and hadn't realized Grace had called for her.

She said hesitantly as she returned her gaze to the blonde, "Hi," She then proceeded once she was certain she had Sophia's full attention, "I must have called your name a few times. Are you okay?" Her question caught the blonde cheerleader off guard, and for a brief moment, she considered the true answer. The truth is, she had no idea. Elina was hardly a stranger to Sophia, especially considering she only lived next door. But now, out of nowhere, it was as though she had just met her. There were feelings that she could feel bubbling through her.

She shook her head, closing her eyes briefly before she sighed and opened them, "I'm fine, just... distracted," She said. It was still unclear to her why, but she decided it didn't matter. She chalked it up to the fact that Elina had driven her to school for the first time despite the reality that they weren't friends, and she had done so selflessly that she even declined Sophia's incessant request to pay for gas. That explanation satisfied her. Sophia cleared her throat when Grace raised her eyebrows with a smirk, and she asked, "What's up?"

"Your boyfriend believes I'm secretly in love with him." Grace started, crossing her arms upon her chest before she leaned back onto the locker beside Sophia to look at her directly, "He said I should stay away because apparently his girlfriend is a control freak and doesn't want me near him?" Sophia immediately frowned in embarrassment. When they were alone, Joe would occasionally name-call her, usually jokingly, yet he would only call her by her name in public. But calling her a control-freak? He'd never done that before.

She whispered quietly, "He said that?"

Grace frowned, knowing how Joe had been with all the girls he had previously dated and definitely seeing how he was with Sophia, "He's a jerk, Sophia," She sighed in pity. Despite everything the two had been through, Grace had to admit that while she saw the good in Joe at times, she saw the bad outweigh the good a lot more, "I just came here to find out why, because you're the only person besides Sam who knows that I'm romantically constricted to my best friend."

"Sam offered me a ride, and Joe's pissed because he thinks Sam has some kind of secret crush on me," Sophia sighed before fiddling with the edge of her notebook absentmindedly. She frowned because she knew Grace would perceive this as a reason to leave Joe. Her and Maddie were adamant that, despite his loyalty to her, she deserved better. But Sophia was always the one who saw the best in him that no one else did. It was the only thing that kept her from finally listening to them.

"Oh, and here I was hoping for a scandal," Grace said as she straightened up, "He doesn't know about Sam?" She furrowed her eyebrows and held her books to her chest in the same way Sophia did. She was well aware that Sam did not regard Sophia as anything more than a close friend. He was so preoccupied with his new identity that he didn't even spend as much time with Sophia as he used to, which only added to Grace's confusion about why Joe thought the boy liked Sophia so much.