An Unexpected Friendship

Chapter 31

Author's note: hi everyone! I'm excited to finally be back and writing again. I spent the last week writing and thinking about how this story was going to end. I hope you enjoy this chapter and expect the next one to be out on Friday!
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

*Alex's POV*
"So explain to me again why we're here at five in the morning," Sophia yawns as we walk towards the entrance of Exploria Stadium. "Since it's the season opener, I wanted to get a workout in before everyone starts showing up. Pick up the pace," I order noticing her lagging behind. "God do you ever chill. You're like the fricken energizer bunny. Also, I'm still in a boot," she whines loudly. I laugh and sling my arm around her as we continue to walk.

I change into my training gear once in the locker room. "Hm, I'll just wait to put my cleats on," I tell myself while I retie my shoe. "I thought you were gonna practice?" she asks with confusion. "I am, but I thought we could do something fun first," I answer her. The confused look on her face doesn't change as I motion for her to follow me.

We walk side by side around the stadium until we reach half field. "Just gotta walk up the stairs," I say pointing to the nearby set of stairs. "Stairs, too? Again, I'm still in a boot," she groans. I tell her to hop onto my back, which she gladly does. We make it to the upper level and walk up to the last row of seats. "Sit," I tell her patting the seat next to me.

"Finally. What're we doing up here?" she asks curiously. I look over and smile at her as she gazes around the stadium. "I thought we could watch the sunrise together," I shrug. "I've never watched a sunrise before," she says. "Not even from home?" I ask. "No. I always wanted to watch it from somewhere cool, like this, but I don't have my license so I couldn't," she explains.

"That's reminds me. It's about time we teach you how to drive. How about we do some driving after the game today," I tell her. "Wait really?" she asks surprised. "Yeah. I mean unless you don't want to," I shrug. "No no no let's do it," she answers excitedly.

We spend the rest of the hour watching the sky fill with colors of orange and yellow before turning bright blue. "Alright I'm gonna go practice," I say leaving her sitting there. "Hey! Are you seriously just going to leave me here to struggle trying to get down?" she calls out in shock.

"I'm just messing around," I laugh and jog back up to her. "Come on," I tell her, squatting down so she can get on my back.

...

"So do you think a lot of people are going to show up today?" Sophia asks as we lay in the middle of the field. "I hope so. I've been looking forward to this day for a while. This season is gonna be a good one. I can feel it," I assert. "It will be," she smiles at me.

"I should probably hit the shower. They're gonna start opening up the stadium soon," I say pushing myself up to my feet. I extend my hands out to Sophia and slowly pull her up off of the ground.

The two of us take our time walking off of the field. "Can we get some breakfast after you finish showering? I didn't get a chance to eat before you dragged us out of the house," Sophia asks. "Yeah. I know of a place down the road that we can breakfast from," I tell her. "Thank god," she sighs.

...

"You know when I asked if we could get breakfast, I meant at an actual diner or restaurant," she points out as I continue to stare at the small menu in front of me. "You don't need any greasy diner food. I'll show you a good breakfast. Go find us some seats while I order," I tell her. She shakes her head and walks away as I step up to order our food.