Healing Sophie

9

Sophie entered her World History class the next day to see a familiar pair of mischievous brown eyes and a sadistic smile to match. He was slouched in a chair with his legs propped up on his desk.

Before she could help herself, her face lit up with excitement. She made my way over to him from behind and gently placed her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?", she asked, failing to contain her giggle.

"Hmmm, Santa?" More giggles escaped her lips.

"Nope."

Theo removed Sophie's hands and turned to her with a giant grin, "Bambi!!" Her face flushed at his excitement, and he gestured towards the seat next to him. "M'lady."

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "M'lord." She plopped down next to him, his scent of citrus and honey filling her nose.

"You want to see how many pencils I can throw into the trash can up front before the teacher notices?", he asked with an evil smile.

She gaped at him. "Theo, no. We're here to learn."

"Buzzkill."

She sent him a glare, but her smile defied her.

"Shush."

The rest of the week zoomed by in a flash. Sophie loved all of her classes. Finn had started his photography courses and they had been playing phone tag all week, but she was at least getting more comfortable talking to the guys and to Jess each day. It made her feel like she could one day be more than just the quiet, anxious girl she had always been.

Sophie now sat at the bar at the little cafe near her work, legs swinging from the stool and her nose deep in a book. In front of her sat a piping hot sugar cookie latte with a sinful amount of whipped cream. She loved dessert poorly disguised as coffee. It warmed the soul on chilly days. She ate all the whipped cream first and then snuck quick sips of the latte when she could, in between the thrilling parts in her book.

"What the hell is that?" Sophie whirled around to find Jess standing there, eyeing her drink in disgust.

Sophie gave her a grin. "It's a sugar cookie latte! You want some?" Jess grabbed it as if it were a bomb about to explode and cover her in fall goodness. Sophie watched in amusement as she slowly brought it to her lips and sipped it.

Her eye twitched slightly and she muttered, "Not bad." She then turned to the waitress at the bar and ordered a black coffee, causing a giggle to slip from Sophie.

"So, whatcha got for your song so far, Soph?", Jess asked sipping her coffee.

Sophie pulled out her phone and played what she had so far that she felt represented Jess. When it finished, Jess stared at her in awe. "Sophie, that was amazing."

Sophie squirmed and began feeling self-conscious. "I-I don't know... I feel like it's not gr-"

Jess cut her off and held her hands up to her shoulders and forced her to face her. "It's amazing." Sophie blushed and looked away. "You've got to have more confidence in that brilliant brain of yours."

She quickly changed the subject, feeling nervous about the attention. "What do you have so far for yours?"

Jess then proceeded to shamelessly belt out a song in the middle of the cafe. It was only a few lines but it made Sophie's heart feel full. Jess sang of a small girl who finds her voice in the midst of all the scary things in the world. The few patrons in the cafe clapped as she finished.