CHAPTER 2 by Fathiah Zarafi
Dylan frowned at the t.v screen and leaned forward to study the five people expressing themselves on stage. As if a light bulb suddenly went off inside his head, Dylan whipped his head around towards a bored-looking Sophia and grinned at her.
Sophia noticed his eyes boring holes into her when she pretended not to notice him. Eventually, she gave in and turned towards Dylan. Her skin crawls when she saw him smiling creepily down at her.
"What?" she breathed.
"We should start a band," he blurted out, still grinning from ear to ear. Sophia's brows furrowed.
"A band? Are you kidding me?" she asked skeptically. Dylan shook his head frantically, resulting in brown hair flying everywhere.
"No, I'm serious. You have an amazing voice! I can play the guitar, Hunter practically owns the rhythm guitar, I know this guy called Luke who plays bass well and he has a brother who kills at drumming!" Dylan retorted excitedly.
Sophia's frown deepened, sensing his seriousness and gave her full attention to him. "We're still in high school, Dylan," she replied, "plus, we won't have time to practice anyways."
Dylan rolled his eyes in exasperation; his hands automatically clamped themselves on Sophia's shoulders. "So what if we're still in school? Lots of bands out there started when they were still in junior high," he persuaded, "and we can practice an hour after school at my place. My parents are at work so nobody would mind the noise."
Sophia was really hesitating to agree with his spontaneous suggestion but she made a mistake by looking him in the eyes. Dylan was a master at the puppy dog eyes; she immediately melted upon gazing at his chocolate-brown eyes.
"Ugh, fine," she grunted. Dylan let out a loud whoop and pumped his fists in the air. "but," Sophia interrupted his little victory dance, "if this thing turns out to be another one of your stupid ideas, I'll kill you personally."
Instead of retorting back, Dylan reached over to smother her hair all around. “Aww, is little Sophie going to hurt me?” he cooed mockingly. Sophia raised her hand, ready to hit him but she froze when her mom entered the room. She quickly retracted her arm and blushed profusely under her mother’s amused stare. Dylan too had to hold back his chuckle.
“Mom, you’re—uh, home early.”
Natasha shook her head softly. “My boss had a meeting so I sneaked out,” she answered with a wink. Dylan got up on his feet, dragging his backpack along with him.
“Well, see you tomorrow, Soph. Don’t forget, my place, 3 o’clock,” he reminded her. Sophia nodded in agreement. Just before leaving, Dylan once again ruffled Sophia’s hair. She huffed angrily, only making him laugh harder.
Sophia glared at her laughing mother through the red strands curtaining her face. She pushed her hair away from her face before placing her hands on her hips. “Are done now, mom?” she questioned sarcastically.
Natasha swallowed her last giggle and pinched Sophia’s cheek jokingly. “Aww, you two are so cute together.” Sophia swatted her hand away, a blush already creeping up her face.
“I’m going to have some snacks,” she muttered, scurrying away to the kitchen. Natasha cackled under breath. Her 17 year old daughter was as clear as glass when it comes to love. Dylan was the only one who doesn’t notice it.
************************************************************************
“Soph, hey Sophia! Over here!”
Sophia stood on her tiptoes, trying to find Dylan over the mass crowd at the cafeteria. She saw his waving hand sticking out from the row of heads and made her way towards the table carefully. Her pace was halted to a stop when she saw three other boys occupying the same table. Sophia sighed to herself and sat on the empty spot next to Dylan.
“Hey hey, there’s our girl!” Dylan exclaimed happily, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Her eyebrows rose, eyeing him strangely.
“Your girl?” she repeated. A boy with sandy-blonde hair grinned at her. “So you must be Sophia,” he spoke. Sophia smiled politely back at him.
“I’m Luke,” he introduced himself. “This guy small dude over here,” Luke gestured to a kid probably around 14 years old, “is my brother and that dude with the curly hair is Hunter.”
Sophia’s mouth imitated an ‘o’ as she shook hands with the boys. Hunter gave her a toothy grin with a quick wink. She blushed red, ducking her head as to hide her visible reaction. Dylan, however, noticed their little interaction and his eyes narrowed. All of a sudden he had this strange feeling inside of him that was quite alien to him. Before Dylan could ponder on though, Tabitha appeared.
“Babe, you promised to have lunch with me today remember?” she pouted. Four sets of eyes stared curiously at him. Dylan rubbed his neck in embarrassment.
“Uh, right. Sorry guys, I’ll meet you after school,” he mumbled, picking up his tray of food and allowed himself to be lead by Tabitha. Sophia’s eyes lingered on him as she watched the bodacious blonde clung to his arm and chatted away giddily.
“Okay there, Soph?” Hunter’s gruff voice snapped back her attention. Sophia giggled nervously and averted her eyes to her food.
“Uh, yeah, of course I am, why shouldn’t I” she babbled. Hunter slung an arm on her shoulder unexpectedly, causing Sophia to flush scarlet yet again.
“It’s okay, Red. I’m here for you,” he smiled gently. The entire table roared with laughter and cat-calls, which drew glares from Dylan at the other side of the cafeteria.
**************************************************************************************
Sophia fidgeted with the wire of the microphone, waiting for the rest of the boys to finish tuning their instruments. Her mind was a nervous mess seeing this would be the first time she had ever sung in front of strangers.
“You ready, Soph?” Dylan asked as soon as the guys finished preparing. Sophia nodded faintly, her heart thundering against her ribcage. Dylan, however, knew her too well and he could tell her agitation. He grasp her shoulder gently in a comforting manner.
“You’re going to do great, okay,” he reassured. “Don’t fret about it.” Sophia felt her confidence boost instantly. With a small smile, Dylan gave a signal to Zach to begin.
“One, two, one, two, three, four!”
Music blasted from Dylan’s garage. They were in perfect unison together, playing as if they had done this countless times before. Sophia completed them with her powerful voice, trickling around them like a stream of water. She closed her eyes and sang along with the music.
A few other songs later, the five teenagers finally stopped and collapsed on the old couch in the garage. It was uncomfortably packed—four teenage boys and a petite girl on a three-seater couch—but neither of them complained. Luke wiped his forehead with his neon-green wristband.
“Dude, that was intense,” he sighed dreamily. The other four grunted in agreement. Sophia’s head unconsciously lolled to Dylan’s shoulder as she regained her composure. Dylan took take as a chance to rest his head on top of hers.
“FYI Hunter, you were a bit off-key at the end of the song,” Zach stated.
“I was not!” Hunter scoffed. He reached out and pushed his shoulder playfully. Zach, in return, bumped Hunter’s shoulder hard with his own, causing him to accidentally shove Sophia to the side which resulted in her head banging on Dylan’s cheek. They both groaned in unison.
Sophia bounced back, throwing herself on Hunter’s back, who was busy gripping Zach in a headlock. Hunter lurched forward and released Zach in surprised.
“You made me bump heads with Dylan, you pay!” Sophia shrieked humorously. She ruffled Hunter’s curly hair and gave him a hard noogie. The garage was soon filled with noises again, but laughter this time.
A few more frolicking around, the guys finally decided it was time to go home after their stomachs growled in hunger. Dylan was helping Sophia gathering her stuffs when Tabitha stopped by. He looked up in surprised as Tabitha glared at Sophia’s back.
“Hey, Tabitha, what’re you doing here?”
She rolled her eyes at him, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulders. “Is it a crime for a girl to visit her boyfriend now?”
Sophia slung her backpack over her shoulder and glanced at Dylan uncomfortably. She could feel the weight of Tabitha’s gaze on her so it comprehended on her that she was unwelcomed her, at least for Tabitha.
“Um, I’ll see you tomorrow, Dylan,” Sophia muttered, nearly running to the exit. However, Hunter blocked her way with a big grin on his face.
“Um, what’s up?” she asked suspiciously. Hunter snaked an arm around her waist despite the fact that they had just known each other for a day.
“Come on, I’ll walk you home,” he offered, leading Sophia out of the garage. She felt a little uncomfortable with Hunter’s obvious affections but she allowed him to walk with her nonetheless.
Dylan watched the duo with strange feelings rising in his chest. He didn’t know what it was or why it was there but he was eager to forget about it.
“Let’s go, Tabitha.”
Labels: It's Just You and Me Honey