11

"Alright Llewellyn, I'm all ears," Sophie said when they got comfortable with coffee mugs and croissants on her couch.

"I don't really want to speak about it," he said slowly, not wanting to offend her in any way. But he also couldn't bring himself to tell her that he feared they were people on different axi and that he was to blame for how far they had drifted apart.

"I have a hunch," she said after a moment's silence. He looked at her as he waited for her to continue. "You were thinking of how awesome I am and how much you wanna get me Studio Monitors since my birthday is coming up."

He gave a throaty laugh at that, nodding his head as if to promise her that he will get them for her. "That's exactly what I was thinking of."

"You liar. What's bothering you?" she nudged his shoulder slightly, careful not to make him spill his coffee.

He sighed, turning his body to face her. She did the same. "Do you really want to know?" She nodded. "I was thinking of how close we were as we were growing up. You, me and Emily. Then how because of me, we all became distant. I started focusing all my time on keeping my scores high, you moved onto theater and Emily became obsessed with becoming President of the SRC."

"Yeah, I also thought about that. But hey, you chose what's best for you and stuck to it. You cannot want to change it now."

"I miss you. Both of you guys," he said in a low tone, surprising himself and her. She placed her mug down carefully before moving closer to him and placing her hand on his knee. She froze when she felt a chill run up her arm. He held her tiny hands in his.

"Listen, we need to finish this project. Then you go ahead and get into the college you've dreamed of since you were a fetus," she teased, trying to lighten the mood. "Emily will always be Emily. And I will always be me. Nothing has changed about us."

"Alright, let's get started," he said, giving her his signature smirk. She playfully rolled her eyes before getting up. She came back with her rolling whiteboard, a few markers in hand and a lot of cut-outs for their project.

"Oh, and by the way, Emily would throw a fit when she hears that you miss her," she said and they both laughed.

***

"This looks good," she said as she stood up and stood back so that she could look at their drafted poster. He also stood back and judged their work.

"This looks great, Soph," he said, looking into her eyes. She couldn't explain what got over her but she couldn't look away. His eyes always seemed to draw her in and paralyse her. "Soph?" he nudged her shoulder, snapping her out of it.

"Oh," she cleared her throat. "It looks great. Thank you for partnering up with me. I'm gonna shower, you may go to Em's so long."

"I can wait for you to get ready then we leave together. Go shower, I'll clean up in the meantime."

She disappeared behind her built-in shower closet. Shortly after, he heard the shower turn on. He first picked up the small pieces of paper and threw them all in the bin next to her study table.

Then he closed her binders and thought of putting them on the book shelf where he saw other study material. He pulled a textbook out to lay the binders down and then put the book on top when all of a sudden, pictures fell out.

He didn't think much of it as he knelt down and picked them up. When he turned them over, he realized they were polaroids of him, Emily and Sophie. He felt as if someone had knocked the air out of his gut as he flipped through the images, happy memories flooding into his brain.

Just then, he heard the shower go off. He quickly pulled out his phone and snapped pictures before placing them all back in the textbook. He then arranged the books and continued to tidy up.

"I'm ready," she said as she walked out, tying her hair into a high bun. He gulped. He couldn't take his eyes off her body. It had been so long since he saw her the he was genuinely caught by surprised. However, he forced himself to look away so that he didn't come off as a creep.

"You look beautiful, Soph," he said as they locked eyes in the mirror on her bedside table that she was using to fix her hair. Their eyes had a moment, where no words were exchanged and yet their heads were racing with thoughts they shouldn't be having.

"Thank you, Lle," she said softly, blinking and looking down to break their moment. Why wasn't it her? It would be so much easier. He cleared his throat and said he would wait downstairs for her. She collapsed on the bed as soon as he walked out the door.

"What is wrong with you?" she scolded herself, lightly slapping her cheeks to calm herself. She then looked in the mirror and lectured herself. "Focus. He's just a friend, okay? He doesn't see you that way. You always do this when it comes to him, Soph," she facepalmed.

Meanwhile, downstairs, he was busy scrolling on his phone when an incoming call disturbed his peace. What surprised him more was who it was.

"Hello?"

"I'm gonna start without you."

"And then restart once I get there? Cool."

"What type of president is late for a meeting he forced down our throats?"

"Don't start, Em. I'm not in the mood," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"'I'm not in the mood,'" she mimicked, also feeling annoyed with him.

"Don't you have anyone else to bother?" he asked suddenly.

"Fuck off," she said and cut the call.

"Damn you," he said through gritted teeth. He hated the fact that he cared so much about her that it was easy for her to say one bad word and his entire mood was ruined.

"You're talking to yourself?" Sophie asked as she came down the stairs. He chuckled, hoping she hadn't heard that conversation.

"I think Consuela went to her quarters," he said as he pointed to the locked kitchen doors.

"Alright, let's go then," she said, grabbing the house keys and locking the entrance behind her. They left in his car since he insisted on driving. When they pulled up at Emily's house, there were a handful of other cars. He found a parking spot near the back and they got out.

They walked to the door hand in hand. Emily opened the door a few seconds after the doorbell rang. As soon as she saw them standing in front of her side by side, her eyes fell down to their intertwined hands. She looked up as quickly as she had looked down, not wanting them to know that she saw.

"It's about time," she said, her signature poker face on as she stepped aside for them to come in.

"Thanks, Em," Sophie said when they stepped in and immediately felt the tension between the two. He was still holding her hand when they approached the rest of the group members.

Emily stood in place, the smile from her face gone as she watched them exchange greetings with the others that arrived before them. She gritted her teeth, her eyes stuck on their intertwined hands until Lle sat down and Soph sat next to him on the couch.

In that moment, she felt betrayed by both of them. It was no shock that she had always been the odd one out, but the fact that they would shove it in her face that they hang out without her really stung. They didn't even bother inviting her or seeing if she's free to hang out.

They arrived together, for goodness sake.

She decided she wouldn't let the hurt get to her. She was better than that. Plus, she didn't need them to feel appreciated or wanted. It's not like they were her childhood best friends who have decided to abandon her or anything.