Hear Me

Chapter Seven

The clock couldn’t be ticking any slower. Their parents would be coming over for dinner and she wanted everything to be immaculate but school came first. Why couldn’t she have five of her or be like the Flash Gordon? She already couldn’t talk, why couldn’t that come with some super power? She could write very well, her handwriting very curvy and pretty but that wouldn’t be a very good deterrent to crime. It’s like, ‘Stop with that TV or I’ll write on you!’ Not effective at all. She wanted to be able to make time go faster, unable to sit still in her chair as her knees moved about underneath her. Her legs were twitchy, her fingers too.

Patrick had a hangover and looked like he was ready to beat her with his book if she didn’t sit still. He had been out drinking with Sam, and that wasn’t really her fault, but she still looked at him sympathetically. Luke was amused because he could tell there was a silent dialogue between the two and it ended in Patrick going crazy. Either way, he had to hide his amusement underneath his class. He was beginning to grow tired of teaching college students about a bunch of writers who got to do what he wanted. He wanted to travel, to see the world, to maybe fall in love and write about every single moment.

The bell rang, signaling they could leave. Sophie sprang up and was almost out of there but Luke stopped her. She bounced impatiently in her spot as she looked at him like, ‘hurry up, I’ve got somewhere to be.’ It’s like she was the white rabbit and he was Alice, chasing her. When was he going to fall, though? After exchange of grades and assignment work, she flew out of the room like a rocket. Patrick slowly followed her, giving Luke a small smile. He spoke, stopping in the doorway.

“When are you going to stop being afraid? You can’t let fear dictate your life and right now an intelligent, beautiful, funny, big hearted girl is standing in front of you but you aren’t reaching out. You’ve lightly touched her and then disappeared and that isn’t good for Sophie. Don’t hurt her…she doesn’t need more pain in her life. If you’re going to do something, do it but if you aren’t, then don’t do anything. Don’t look at her the way you do, don’t steal glances during class, don’t even show up at the diner when she asks you to show because that’s making her think there is something to fight for when in reality, there probably isn’t. You’re her teacher, she’s your student. Are you going to teach her that you care about her or teach her about a broken heart?”

And with that, Patrick left Luke with a lot of things to think about.

~ ~ ~

Sophie gave Sam a look like ‘I can cook, move over.’ She began to fry the shrimp when there was a knock on the door. Sam was a nervous mess but he managed to wear a nice button up with one of his striped ties. He managed to comb his hair and smell nice. He answered the door with a smile, greeting them warmly into his home. Sophie stayed in the kitchen, cooking. An arm wrapped around her shoulder and her eyes lit up.

“Sophie, I haven’t seen you since the last time I saw you.”

It was her cousin, Amaya. Her aunt and uncle from Maine had adopted her when she was only six from a place in the Kansai region of Japan. The two of them had been inseparable ever since. She pulled away from the shrimp to hug her cousin before continuing to cook.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

Sophie smiled and shook her head before turning the rice off. She turned the peas and the shrimp off as well, grabbing some sauce that they had previously made. Sophie wrote on the white board that sat against the wall.

(How have you been? Anything new happening?)

“I’ve been great, you? I started going to college back in May and I’m currently engaged, actually. How about you?”