Dancing in the Rain | ✓

Chapter 7: Late Night Discoveries

Eli yawned, struggling to keep himself awake. He looked over at Sophia and noticed a vibrant smile on her face as she typed something on her cell phone. "Are you sure that shorting our already quite small dosage of sleep is a good idea?" He asked, wanting to keep himself occupied with something in order not to fall asleep. People around them were chatting and the train was quite loud but nowhere near loud enough.

Sophia turned her bright green eyes towards him and shook her head in amusement. "Oh, we are young. We don't need that much sleep." She said confidently. "And besides it's Friday. You'll be able to sleep all you want tomorrow."

"Yeah, right." Eli mumbled remembering all the homework he had to complete and the singing exercises he had to do to in order to make his voice at least bearable. Getting enough sleep was now nothing more than mindless dreaming.

"Oh, come on." Sophia put her cell phone into her pocket focusing all of her attention on her best friend. "We haven't gone out together in...like forever." She said resting her hand on top of Eli's knee. She gave it a light squeeze smiling brightly. "You need a break from learning all of that stupid stuff and these intense practices are seriously taking a toll on you. I can see it."

Eli rolled his eyes. "We've been working on the performance for two weeks. It's been hardly any work at all. Mostly just talking." He explained honestly. "Besides, you really don't have a reason to dislike Avery. You should-"

Sophia held up her hand effectively silencing Eli. "And this is where the conversation gets uncomfortable. I don't want our conversations to be awkward."

Eli sighed. "Sure."

The train finally stopped and they exited the vehicle entering the stuffy underground station. "Let's just get drunk tonight and do something fun." Sophia said wrapping her hand around Eli's wrist and pulling him through the crowd of people wanting to get on the train.

Eli furrowed his eyebrows. "Since when do you drink alcohol?" He questioned.

"Since a friend of mine got me a fake id." Sophia said but when she saw Eli's judgmental stare she groaned. "You need to stop being so stuck up and so do I. And besides, a drop of vine never killed anyone. It just loosens you up and lets you enjoy yourself."

"I can do that without alcohol." Eli said, a bit uncertain of the girl holding his hand. "What happened to I will never drink alcohol?"

They walked up the stairs and stepped into the sidewalk feeling the wind blow into their faces. Sophia stopped walking letting go of Eli's hand. She turned around to face him and Eli noticed that she didn't look that confident either. The girl sighed looking down at her sneakers. "I know that I said that, Eli. I remember that conversation very well but ever since we've come to New York I discovered that there is a great difference between drinking and getting wasted."

Eli looked at his best friend, at her beautiful long hair and tight red dress. He knew a lot of guys would kill to even touch a girl like her. "I just don't want to imagine some shady guys taking advantage of you, Sophie."

The corners of Sophia's mouth turned up slightly. "You're really sweet, Eli. I'm glad to know that someone cares about me so deeply." Eli smiled back but he still was worried about Sophia. "With that said though I will be fine. I really know how to take care of myself."

Eli sighed. "Okay." He said despite still wanting to protect Sophia from all evil, including alcohol.

Sophia smiled softly. "Are we fine?"

Eli playfully ruffed her hair gaining a groan from his best friend. "We'll always be fine."

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