Palpable | Latent 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sophronia

Dustin and I didn't have any classes together before lunch, so we always met up at our normal table in the cafeteria. It was honestly the worst one since it was right beside the trash can and a lot of people decided to try throwing their garbage in there, but on the bright side, it meant nobody would steal it.

If that was a bright side.

I was always the first one to get to the table since my class was right beside the cafeteria. Dustin never took too long getting there, so he was soon sitting beside me. "You know what I hate?" he asked as he started taking his lunch out of his bag. "When people don't take no for an answer."

"I'm guessing Brooke is bothering you," I said.

Dustin sighed. "You have no idea. She kept trying to convince me to give her another chance just because we were together for six months."

"But... she was also dating Asher for half of that," I pointed out.

"Exactly," Dustin said. "She knew what she was doing when she was cheating on me. And it wasn't like she just kissed someone. She was dating someone else for three months. If she thinks I can overlook that, then she's crazy. Besides, I have a much better girlfriend who wants me to be nothing but happy."

I smiled at him. "That is what I was from you. You are a great guy, Dustin. You didn't deserve what Brooke did to you."

"Thank you," Dustin said, placing his arm around my shoulder. "And you are a great girl. The best." He smiled at me before placing a soft kiss on my lips. When he pulled away, he raised an eyebrow. "Was that lemon?"

I nodded. "Lemon lip balm."

"Did you just so happen to put it on because you know my favourite sorbet flavour is lemon?" he asked.

"Maybe," I said.

"I just might have to kiss you more."

"Well, you might have to, but not right now because I'm hungry and I want to eat," I said.

"Fair enough," he said. "So, my mom wants me to start looking for a job. Want to help? We can walk around town after school to see if there's available jobs."

"Sure," I said. "I should start looking for one too, especially if I want to go to university. My parents said they'll pay half of my tuition if I pay the other half."

"That's lucky," Dustin said. "I'm probably going to have to get a student loan if I can't get a scholarship."

"You definitely will get a scholarship for art," I said. "You are, like, the most talented artist I have ever seen."

Dustin smiled. "Thank you. But you may be a bit biased because you're my girlfriend."

I shook my head. "No, I'm serious, and you know it. You get the highest marks in the art class, and you're constantly winning art shows. I'm pretty sure that means you are very much eligible to get a scholarship for art, especially if that's what you're choosing to pursue in art."

"I am," Dustin said. "Do you know what you're going to do in university yet?"

I shook my head. I was decided between two very different majors; veterinary and psychology. My family was huge animal lovers and I wanted to help out animals so much, but I also wanted to help people who went through a traumatic experience like I did.

I was surprised I was able to move on so quickly.

Probably because I had Dustin there with me. He was able to help me move on from when my family was kidnapped by my very own aunt and uncle.

"You know, if you really can't decide, you can major in one and minor in the other," Dustin said.

"I would, but that would be a lot more work," I said. "I'll decide soon. I'm kind of leaning towards psychology anyway, because I can still help out animals. I just won't be a vet."

"Well, whatever you decide, you're going to do amazing with that career," Dustin said.

"Thank you," I said. "And you are going to be amazing with your art degree."

Dustin chuckled. "Thank you."

After school, I texted my mom to tell her Dustin and I were going to walk around town to see if we could find a job and I promised I would be home by dinner.

Unless Dustin and I decided to go out for dinner, in which I would text her if we would. She and Dad always got a bit too worried when I showed up late after school. I understood why and I definitely didn't blame them.

There weren't any places hiring a job we were interested. A fast food place was hiring, but both Dustin and I would rather not go into the fast food industry. It was a great job and it paid good enough, but there would be a lot of training and we were both too lazy to bother.

After quite a bit of walking, we decided to take a break and head to the cafe. However, right before we walked in, I noticed a sign on the window. "Hey, look," I said, pointing to it.

Looking For Performers. Thursday, Friday, and Weekend Nights.

"That sounds perfect," Dustin said. "Getting paid doing something we love. What do you say?"

"Heck yeah," I said, so we headed into the cafe and went straight to the counter. Dustin told them we saw the sign, so the worker went to get the manager.

The manager came out and led us to a table nearby. "So, this will be an easy process," the manager said. "Would you two be performing together or separately."

"Together," I said.

"Can any of play an instrument?" he asked. "It would be better playing an instrument and singing acoustic than getting a backing track."

"I can play the guitar," Dustin said. "And we would rather perform acoustic than with a backing track. It would take a lot more work setting that up."

The manager nodded. "Alright, so here's how it will work. Saturday night, at six, you'll have a trial night. If you get positive reviews, you'll get the full job. You can sing any song, a cover or your own. For the trial, you'll sing three songs and if you do get the job, you'll sing six with a break between three songs. I'll give you more precise details if you do get it. Think you can handle it."

Both Dustin and I nodded. "Definitely," Dustin said.

"Then I'll see you Saturday," he said. "Be here not a second after six."

*************

I was finally able to update after so many months! I just find it to hard to sit down and concentrate, unless it's during Camp NaNoWriMo, which I'm currently doing now to finish this book. Sorry for the long wait!

I won't be updating a chapter every day. It depends how long each chapter is since I'll only be writing about 1300 words per day, but the book should be finished by the end of April, maybe even a week after depending on how many chapters I write.

I honestly find it a bit awkward to write this since Dustin and Sophronia was casted as Ryan McCartan and Dove Cameron, but they broke up lol. I can't change it though because I got so used to it.