strangers.

c h a p t e r | 3

" Uhm...so - uh hey, I was gonna ask, you wanna grab coffee today?" he spoke into the phone, his other hand fidgeting nervously. He didn't know exactly know what he was doing right now. He had rehearsed that single line in his head at least ten times already. All he knew was that he wanted to spend time with someone, and he remembered that walk a week ago. She made a thoughtful sound before answering.

"Hmm...sounds good." she replied. " Where you wanna meet?"

" I don't know. Is there like, a Tim Horton's somewhere near here?"

"A Tim's? Are you Canadian?" She chuckled. The idea just seemed so... random to her. Of course she had noticed that his accent ever so slightly different than the one she was accustomed to. She had always lived here, always would. New York ran through her veins.

"Yeah." His cold breathing could be heard on the other side of the line." So is there?"

"There is, but it's a little further up north. How about we go to a Friendly's instead?"

Apparently Ian had 'no idea' what that was, so after a mock gasp and several compliments about the place, she settled it. He was about to offer to drive her, but then remembered he didn't know where it was. Plus, by then, Sofia had hung up the call.

She quickly changed out of her sweats into a plain grey shirt and black jeans, and paired it with her black converse. On her way out she grabbed her Aeropostale hoodie and keys, heading out. She was a bit surprised that he actually called her, she wasn't expecting that. He stuck around.'Don't think it too much, Sofia.' she internally scolded herself.

Eventually Sofia and Ian made it to their destination, and Ian sat down to reserve a table of two for them, while Sofia locked the car and made her way inside. He waved his hand in the air, showing her where their spot was. It was a nice spot, with a seat on each side, and a glass wall giving them a view of outside. Once they had settled down, a waiter came to give them a menu, and they placed their orders. (A cookies n' cream sundae for Ian and a cotton candy sundae for Sophia.) Sophia didn't even need the menu to order, she came here so often. Another thing not known about her. Usually it wasn't even to eat, but she came because the cafe had this homey feel to it. Sometimes, she just sat in the corner booth, brought along her current book or her laptop, and listened to rain outside.

After all that was done, she looked back at him, resuming from her mini-trace of looking outside.

"So?", she asked. She didn't know why exactly he had arranged to meet with her, but she was fine either way.

"So... nice weather we're having?" he shrugged, not really knowing what to say. He hadn't really thought this through. All of it was entirely spur-of-the-moment. Sofia decided to play along.

"Yeah, it is really nice." She admired the different autumn hues displayed in front of them.

"But why'd you call me? Is everything alright?" She was used to people only calling her when they needed something. It was fine by her.

Ian decided to be completely honest. "I don't know. I just wanted to spend time with someone. And last time we talked, I enjoyed your company. I'm not sure. I didn't really feel like spending time with my other friends, so I just decided to call you." he finished all of this in the span of a single breath.

She smiled at him; it was small but honest. She heard his little story, and his sincerity was acknowledged. She moved on.

"So, we're friends now?" she smirked, turning her head slightly to look back at him. "I didn't know that."

The teenage boy in front of her was not used to acting like this, it was unlike him. It was like playing on someone else's court.He didn't know what was going on, so he decided to play it cool. His response came almost immediately. "Of course. Who wouldn't want to be? I mean, this is me we're talking about here. You should be honoured." He gave his signature smirk.

"Of course. I am honoured," she gave a mock bow with her head. The haughty, egoistic Ian that she had first seen that day at the bar was back. She enjoyed his playfulness but inside she was thinking to herself, 'He wants to be friends? With me?' The simple fact that he had stated them as friends brought her an inkle of joy. It was small, but it was definitely there . She was one of those people that had a few friends, but preferred them close, rather than having many friends who didn't hold much value in her life.

Ian spoke,"Wanna play twenty questions?"

"That's awfully cliche, isn't it?" the girl remarked.

"So?" he countered.

"Go ahead."

Ian's sole purpose of playing was to find out more about her. Of course that why anyone played the game, but he wanted to know her. When she was staring out the window, he noticed how much of a mystery she was . He knew next to nothing about her. On the other hand, Sofia didn't like to talk about herself much. The more she told, the more power the other person had over her, the She may be friends with him, but that didn't mean she trusted him.

"Favorite color?"

"Grey. You?"

"Like, a navy blue. Lucky number?"

"12. Yours?"

"6." He smirked. It took Sofia a full second before realizing that that specific number had something to do with Toronto.

"You're from Toronto?" she inquired. She remembered him mentioning that he was from Canada earlier today on the phone.

The pair continued playing their little game, not asking any questions too deep or personal. They kept it light, but fun. They chatted happily into the evening, a relationship just beginning to form.