Find me in the Ocean

Chapter 4

It's been a few weeks since Sophia started at our school and she's been hanging out with Jamie, Cal and I a lot more lately. It's actually really nice. Jamie stopped staring at Sophia  and I think Cal's slowly opening up to her. Turns out she and her mom moved here to live with her new stepdad, but I think she's liking it so far. From the looks of it, she seems to fit in well with everyone and people are very eager to get to know her. I mean, to be fair, she is very nice... and also very pretty.

It's actually really nice to have her around here. She's already become part of the group and she's even started hanging out with us outside of school. She's started hanging out playing games with us and she's amazing at it! When we're not playing video games, we usually spend our time eating at Rose Diner after school. It's kind of our little hideout from the world. We go there to forget ourselves and it's almost a second home for me.

...

"It was fascinating to watch!" I hear Jamie exclaim from the table as I walk towards them with our drinks.
"What did I miss?" I ask curiously. I sit next to Sophia, who seems very invested in the story.
"Did you hear about the school fight today! It was so weird and I really didn't expect Thomas to be able to do something like that! He basically..."

I feel how my own thoughts take over everything around me. Ever since school started, everything has been feeling strange. I don't know what's going on in my head anymore, but what I do know is that everytime I see Aidan, my heart skips a beat... Wait... Do I like him? Am I gay?

No... I mean I don't think I am at least... I think I just had too much to drink at the party, that's it. I mean, if there's one person that I should like, it's Sophia. I mean, she's funny, really sweet and also very attractive.

I feel how my head turns towards Sophia and without even realizing, I was sitting next to her, looking at her. She really is pretty. I think anyone who looks at her can see that.

We all pay for our own meals and then chat outside for a bit before Cal drives Jamie home. I look at my phone. 6:52 PM. I should probably head home soon so that my parents don't start to wonder where I am when they get home. I turn around and slowly start walking in my direction.

"Hey, Eth..?" I hear from behind me. I turn around and see Sophia still standing just outside the doors. "Everything ok?"

I smile at her.
"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well... you seemed pretty distracted earlier. Something on your mind?" She starts walking towards me.

"Oh did I?"

My brain's been filled with Aidan recently, so I guess I was just lost in thought. But there's no way I can tell her that... I mean, just because I think of him doesn't mean I like him or anything... Does it?
"Hey?" she says. She's now standing very close to me.
"Sorry. I guess I've been a bit tired recently... and my head is just all over the place right now." I say as I turn away my gaze from her.

She stayed quiet for a moment.

I almost thought she would just continue asking what I was thinking about and why I haven't been sleeping well, but... She didn't? Instead I feel a warm hand on my cheek and I feel my heart skip a beat. I look up at her again and there she was. Smiling. With her hand on my cheek. I smile back at her.

This is nice.

"I'm always here for you, you know." She finally said before letting go of my face.

It was still warm from where she had touched me and I can feel how my whole face turns red. My eyes follow her as she walks to her car and when she's in, I wave at her, and she waves back. What is going on?

...

I walk my usual route home, but for some reason, my head is filled with even more thoughts than it was before. I don't even know what's going on anymore. Why did my heart skip when Sophia touched me? I've never really looked at her in that way before, so why all of a sudden? I feel strange... And my whole body's warm. Am I losing my mind?

I start fumbling with the keys as I close in on my house and before I even realized, I was in front of my house. I put in the key and walk through the door.
"I'm back!" I yell, almost out of instinct.

"Welcome back!" I hear from the living room.

I take off my jacket and shoes before heading into the living room where both Xander and Naomi are sitting watching a movie. I sneak up behind them and close in on them before saying anything.

"What are you watching?" I finally say. They jolt up and turn around.

"That's not funny!" Naomi yells.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to surprise you guys!" I say as I go in to pick Naomi up. But before I could do anything, she was already hanging around my neck and I spinned her around a couple of times before putting her back down.
"There's some left overs in the fridge if you want anything." I hear Xander say.

"Thanks bud, but I've already eaten" I wink at him, but he doesn't even look up from his phone. "Ok, I'm heading to my room!"

I grab my backpack from the hallway and start to walk up the stairs and into my room. As soon as I close the door, I sigh heavily before placing my bag on the desk and then falling face first onto my bed. What a day...

Am I in love with Sophia? Or do I maybe even like Aidan? I'm so confused.

I reach for my computer.