The Sun, The Moon and The Ocean

chapter ten

● above is a shot of Sophia's legs while eating breakfast the morning before the road trip. ●

AS COOPER SAT next to me in my passenger seat, I let him scroll through my music on my phone and told him to skip five times and we would rock out to that song. Cooper made my side hurts from laughing, he sang so loud and so off tune, but it was amazing. He was so open and laid back with me, even after what happened once we left.

We had walked out to my Jeep and were helping Sydney get into the back seat when Addison softly whispered in my ear to look up. I did, and Noah was standing on the balcony of his and Cooper's flat. His long hair laid on his shoulders, a very rare sight to see, and his arms crossed over his chest. I offered a small wave and a half smile up to him, but he only looked at Cooper, who didn't notice him obviously.

But I could tell Cooper felt something in the air, maybe the pressure between the three of us. He'd awkwardly asked if I was ready to go, and I nodded. I locked eyes with the stare that Noah was sending down to me and said, "Yep, I am." I felt like I was answering the question that Noah was dying to ask Cooper, are you strong enough for this? And by how tall Cooper stood that morning, I knew he was.

Cooper reached his arm behind his seat, a doggie treat between his fingers, ready to be chomped on by Sydney, who was behaving impressively well in the backseat. We decided to stop for lunch, the wedding was going to be at 5 o'clock, just before the sunset. I pulled into the drive thru at Bucking Bull, ready to order two juicy burgers for ourselves and some kids meal chicken tenders for Sydney.

We laughed at a joke I made before Cooper asked me a question I wasn't prepared to hear. "Sophia," he had began, reaching this hand out in attempt to turn down the volume, I pressed his hand down and turned the knob for him. "Why are you so scared?"

I double taked between him and the paved road in front of me, wondering where he had got that idea from. I was actually being myself sitting with him in the car, an action I never thought I would commit around a boy, especially one I adored. Of course I was anxious to face my family that I basically ran away from three months ago, not to mention I haven't really spoken to. It was going to be similar to an awkward family reunion, like hugging an aunt you only remember when you were two and trying to have a full-fledged conversation with them.

But I still didn't understand why Cooper detected what he did, "What do you mean?"

"I knew you've been scared since I invited you to dinner that one night," he explained, referring to the first night we interacted one on one. The night where I found my new home within these new three people: Cooper, Noah and Addison. "I can hear it in the way you speak, how you stop for two or three seconds before speaking; as if you're making sure if its the right thing to say."

I guess he was right about that, "Well, I mean always think before you speak, right?"

"Yeah," Cooper agreed, his hand digging out the leftover fries at the bottom of the bag. I switched my left blinker on to merge into the next lane. "But its like you stop to make sure what you say is going to be, like, approved by the person you're talking to."

I clenched my jaw. That was because I said what my parents wanted to hear me say. I needed to be certain that I made them satisfied before Penny stepped in and just lit up the room with her words about her wonderful, productive day at her class and how sweet Jonathan was because he had surprised her with flowers. My mother and father would smile brightly and praise her for having a good day. But when it was my turn to share at the dinner table, I told about my medical technology class in a monotone voice and the guy who hit on me after class and then my voice would spark when I had the chance to talk about my paintings. When my art was brought up, my parents would cover it in shade and brush it under their shadow with questions for Penny instead.