The next day Will and Sophie rode to school together, and of course Jerry was in the car. That day at school the two of them were inseparable. They would walk with each other to their classes, and they would talk to each other before and after school. It was like the summer before her freshman year all over again. Everyone in the school thought they were dating, but if anyone ever asked them they would say, "No, we're just really good friends." Their close friends knew it was a lie, but it wasn't they were really just friends. Sophie wanted to be more, but didn't know how Will felt.
Sophie was walking to class one day and heard, "Hey Soph! Wait up!"
She stopped and told him, "Hey, what's up?"
Will said, "Oh not much. Guess who I got a date with?"
Sophie saw the excitement in his eyes. She tried to stay peppy while she said, "Oh a date huh? Good for you. I have no idea who with. Tell me"
Will whispered to her excitedly, "Dana Brower."
Dana Brower was a senior. She was popular in her grade. Her and Will were friends but by the looks of it she wanted to be more. Sophie replied, "Wow Will. She is a good lookin' girl." She giggled a bit.
Will said, "Yeah I know! I'm so excited! What do you think we should do?"
Sophie knew this time that Will considered her as a friend. This really made her sad, but she needed to stay positive. She said, "Hmm, I'm not sure. I'll let you know if I have anything."
Will pleaded, "Soph! It's tonight, and I have no idea what to do. Call me okay. I'll meet you at the pond tonight after it. Okay?"
Sophie replied, "I'll let you know, but I can't meet you tonight. I'm um, doing something." Really Sophie had no idea what she was doing, but she couldn't see him after his big date.
Will asked, "Whatcha doin'?"
Sophie said, "Just hanging out with some friends, I think."
Will looked sad and said, "Oh okay, I understand."
Sophie replied, "Well I'll talk to you later then. Bye."
Will said, "Yeah okay, bye."
Sophie didn't know why he was disappointed. It should actually be the other way around, but she thought that she had to get over it.
That night she couldn't find anyone to hang out. They all had plans, so she just sat in her room. At about ten at night she saw headlights shine at the Turrets house. She could see Will's figure getting out of the car. She saw him walk over to the pond and sit down on the dock. She thought she'd take a risk. She grabbed her jacket and headed out the door. She startled Will as she sat down.
Will said, "Hey, I didn't know you were going to be here. Weren't you out with friends?"
Sophie replied, "Well Will aren't you my friend?" She laughed not wanting to admit all she did that night was sit in her room.
Will chuckled a little and said, "Well yeah I guess."
Sophie asked, "How was the date?"
Will replied, "It was okay. We didn't really click though, you know?"
Sophie said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. When I was dating Caleb it didn't feel right. We didn't click."
Will said, "Soph? Thanks for coming."
Sophie said, "Will, where else would I be? You're my best friend."
Will said, "When I was on my date Dana asked about us."
"She did?" Sophie said, "What did she ask?"
"She asked if we were more than friends or not," Will said, "and honestly I didn't know what to say. Are we more than friends Soph, or not?"
Sophie didn't know what to say. It all took her by surprise. Sophie finally said, "I don't know. One thing you should know though Will, is that I liked you ever since we met that first day."
Will replied, "Really? I had a crush on you too, but I thought you hated me when I was mean to you the first day of school. Wait, so you still liked me even though you were dating Caleb?"
Sophie was ashamed and said, "Yeah, I guess, but I never hated you. Maybe I thought it was um, low of you, but never ever would I hate you."
Will said, "Wow, I can't believe this. All this time, all those years we wasted. You know I liked you all through high school. I was just to proud to say it, and I thought you had something for Caleb, because that one day when you rode past me with him on the horse."
Sophie felt a connection between them, and supposedly Will did too. At that moment Will put his arm around her. Sophie looked into his eyes and said, "So what does this all mean?"
Will said, "Well I guess I should ask you. Would you like to go on a date next Friday?"
Sophie smiled and said, "Of course, I'd love to."
Will pulled her close, and they just sat there in the dark by the pond.
Chapter 12
The whole school knew by that Monday of school. People would come up to her and ask if they were dating now. Sophie would just say, "We're just going on a date."
Will spotted Sophie in the halls, and said, "Hey Soph, man people are talking about us a lot aren't they?"
Sophie said, "Yeah I know. It's like everywhere I go I hear my name."
Will said, "Well what do you think we should do Friday?"
Sophie said, "Hmm, it's really up to you."
"Soph!" he said, "You know how bad I am with deciding."
Sophie said, "How about bowling?"
"Awesome!" he said.
That Friday night he picked her up in his old pickup truck to head out for bowling. Sophie knew she didn't have to try and impress him with what she wore, so she wore her jeans and a t-shirt.
Will turned to her and asked, "How was school today?"
"Um, it was okay I guess. Same as usual long and boring." She said.
Will replied, "Yeah, same here. I have only a certain amount of time before I have to turn in applications for colleges. It's a little scary to think about. Leaving all my friends here. It's going to be tough."
"Yeah, I know. I don't even want to think about my senior year," She said. "It's going to be weird when you seniors leave."
They pulled into the bowling alley's parking lot. Sophie looked up at the sign, "Big Al's Bowling Alley," it read. She chuckled a bit under her breath. They walked through the door and there was an aroma of smoke that hit her like a brick wall. She coughed. They got their shoes and lane number, and started over to the lane.
When they sat down Sophie looked across to the lane next to her and saw Dana Brower and some of her friends. She saw Dana whisper something to a girl next to her. They both were looking at Sophie while they were talking. Sophie looked at Will for reassurance. Will just looked at her and nodded because it was her turn to bowl. Sophie wasn't the best bowler. Sara always mocked her when she would see her ending score. She wanted to impress Will. Sophie lined up her ball with the arrow on the lane. She put her right foot forward, swung straight back and released with full force toward the pins. Sophie felt so good after that ball left her hands. Then she watched her ball roll, and roll, straight into the gutter. She looked down imagining everyone behind laughing at her. She turned around and saw Will walking to her.
"Want me to help you?" He asked.
"Yeah." She laughed, "I'm not very good. I guess I didn't tell you."
Will laughed and grabbed a new ball. He stood behind her. He told her to put her fingers in the hole and put the ball by her side. He grabbed her left arm with one hand, and her right arm with the other. He pulled her right arm back with the ball, and then released it straight toward the pins. They looked hopefully, and sure enough the ball hit dead center and knocked all the pins down.
"We did it!" She said. Will hugged her.
"Congratulations." He laughed.
Sophie would look over toward Dana every so often and see her staring at Will. Will never even looked back at her.
After they finished their game, they were walking out of the bowling alley. Dana and her "boyfriend" walked up to Will and Sophie.
Dana said, "To bad you can't find someone in our grade that will go out with you. You had to settle for a poor little junior."
Dana and her boyfriend just walked away. Sophie had a chuckle just a bit, because whatever that girl said or did would never change how she felt for Will.
Will and Sophie just looked at each other and smiled. They then got into the car and drove home.
Will said, "Last spot on the date is--"
Sophie finished his sentence, "Our spot."
They silently walked to the dock hand in hand.
"You know, we sure do click," Will said.
"I know what you mean. So where are you going for college?" Sophie asked.
Will replied, "I think I'm going to UNC."
Sophie said, "Wow, really? That's really-- cool "
"But, I've had to rethink things."