strangers.

c h a p t e r | 5

Ian was in the middle of a Saturday with his friends. Currently, the four boys were seated in a small circle, the bodies sprawled out on the various pieces of furniture. First, sitting on the beanbag, there was Theo: warm brown eyes, blonde hair that was longer on the top of his head, and a defined jawline. The group of them agreed that he looked much like Romeo Beckham, but Theo would always deny it. His personality was laid back, taking it upon himself to make the others burst out laughing.

Next, sitting on one side of the couch, there was Chris. He was the tallest of the three, and had pale skin with black hair in a fringe that would sometimes cover some of his right eye. Although he never said it himself, he was an extremely talented guitarist.

Hanging upside down, on Chris' right, was Leo. He had a tan, his italian descent showing in his features. He had chocolate brown eyes and, quote, 'the finest hair in all the land.' His charismatic personality was definitely something else, but don't ever give him Red Bull. Ever.

Back to the original scene, the four boys were lounging about, currently in the midst of a game of UNO. They were just laughing about Leo accidently dropping his hand of cards on his face. It was then, in the middle of the laughter, when Ian received a text, a quiet 'ping' coming from his phone. Pulling it out of the pocket of his jeans, Ian tapped his notification, opening up his messages. There was a single message from Sofia, reading 'hey'.

He was just clicking his phone off when he registered the unusual silence in the background. He looked up to see the boys all looking at him intently.

"What?", he asked, breaking their silence.

One by one each of them set their cards aside, serious expressions on their faces. The entire situation was scaring Ian a bit, if he was being honest.

"It's about time we talked about this." Leo started.

Continuing, Chris said, "Who's the lucky girl?", now wiggling his eyebrows ridiculously, the boys' previous solemn expressions now gone.

"Seriously though, who is it?" Theo questioned.

"Who- What are you guys talking about?" Ian stuttered out, completely oblivious to whatever his friends were trying to hint at.

"Oh, come on. " Leo complained in the background," You've got to be kidding me."

"Well it definitely wasn't a picture of a bloody cat that got you smiling like that, mate. Hell, if you smiled any wider, you could've really hurt yourself." Theo replied sarcastically. At this point, Chris was smiling, shaking his head softly at his friends situation.

"Oh- Uh, that was just Sofia saying hey, nothing else." he responded, hoping to put is friends suspicions at ease.

"Uh-huh. So tell us, who is this, Sofia ?" Chris asked, an ever-so-innocent expression on his face.

'Shit', Ian thought to himself. He shouldn't have given them the name. Knowing his friends, after that, there was no way they were going to let this whole situation go. So he started his explanation of his new friend, starting from from when they met, trying his best to keep it brief and vague at the same time. He didn't want to tell his friends everything, because, for some reason, it felt like telling every detail would violate a personal code.  As if sharing it with them would no longer make those moments theirs.

He had a small smile on his face the entire duration of his story, not to go unnoticed by his friends.