A/N:
Sorry it's been longer between chapters! Time just got away from me! It blows me away how many of you like this story and leave such nice reviews! It makes writing this story so much more enjoyable! I know some of you guys don't like Sofia's attitude but she is a teenager and they ooze attitude, hopefully though, I can develop her character a bit through this story! As for Calzona, you may have to hold out a bit longer for them to get together! I hope the wait is worth it though!
CHAPTER 5
Looking down at the chart, Callie was sure she had read this patient note at least three times. Focusing her eyes, she tried to continue reading through the chart but her mind kept taking her to the place with blonde hair and brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. Shaking her head once more, she squinted and forced herself to read word by word, attempting to block out all thoughts of her daughter's principal. That's what she was. Her daughter's principal. Someone a parent should never date, especially when they had only been in town for months and she wasn't ready to date. Was she? 6 months ago the answer was a hard no. Dating was off the cards forever but somehow, since meeting Arizona, dating didn't seem so scary anymore. Maybe if things were different…
"Do you need an interpreter or something," Alex Karev, the Head of Peds, asked her as he stopped next to her at the nurse's station. "You've been reading that chart for like 10 minutes, did they write it in another language?"
"Shut up," Callie scoffed, pushing him away jokingly. "And no I just have a lot on my mind."
"Like a blonde haired, blue eyed goddess," Alex smirked.
"What? How did you know about Arizona?"
"She has a name," Alex joked, "Sofia told me about her when she was here with you the other night. Kept saying something about fireworks."
"I'm going to kill her," Callie groaned.
"Don't tell her I told you. She just wants you to be happy. That kid loves you so much. Kept telling me how all the kids at school were amazed by your presentation and was filling me in on how your research was going."
"So she does listen when I talk," Callie joked.
"Just cut her some slack. She's old enough to have opinions now. You gotta teach her how to handle them properly. That's all I'm saying," Alex said as he walked away.
"Oh," he called out from down the hall. "If you need a babysitter, I'm happy to help!."
Callie scoffed as he walked away, ignoring his last comment. He did have a point though. Sofia was definitely growing up and developing her own opinions. Maybe she should stop sheltering her from the world and start preparing her. Stop avoiding things and finally face them.
Sofia and Arizona were busy fixing up the errors in her chem assignment when the buzzing of Sofia's phone distracted them.
"It's just my mum saying she got off early so she can come pick me up," Sofia told Arizona after checking her phone. "I think I can finish this at home now."
"Great! Have you finished writing up the notes on the last case I gave you?"
"Uh yeah," Sofia smiled as she packed away her things. "I didn't bring it with me though. I can email it to you to check over?"
"No," Arizona answered, shaking her head, "bring it with you next time. Bring your bio assignment as well. I'm happy to read that. I know it's getting towards a stressful part of the semester."
"Thanks but doesn't your husband get sick of you doing school work?"
Arizona eyed Sofia off. Arizona knew she was fishing for information and she also knew Sofia knew a lot more about her than she was letting on.
"I don't have a husband, but you already knew that."
"You got me there. What about a wife or girlfriend?"
"Sofia," Arizona warned just as the girl's phone went off again.
"It's amazing you never have to answer my personal questions because something always seems to happen to help you avoid them," Sofia joked as she stood up with her bag.
"I'm not avoiding them, it's just you're a student and I'm your principal. That's all there is to it," Arizona told her as they started to walk out of her office.
"Okay but you know a lot about me, how is that fair," Sofia challenged.
"It's not fair but I guess that's a benefit to being an adult," Arizona winked as made their way down the hall.
"Okay, so humour me for a moment. What if I wasn't a student. What if I was just the child of a friend?"
"I mean, that's a little bit different, you would probably know more just from being around me."
"Are you friends with my mum?"
"Yes."
"So I guess that means you can tell me a little more then, cause I'm around you a lot," Sofia smiled triumphantly.
"Okay, you got me there," Arizona chuckled, "I fell right into that one didn't I? You are much smarter than you let on."
"Oh don't be giving her too many compliments," Callie added, joining in on the conversation. "What's she doing now?"
"Nothing," both Arizona and Sofia answered together, smiling at each other. Even though they both didn't want Callie to know what they had been talking about, their reasons were very different.
"How are you today Calliope?"
"I'm great and I don't know how many times I have to tell you, please call me Callie."
"I've already told you it's a beautiful name and I refuse to not use it. It suits you," Arizona flirted.
"I'm going to go wait in the car," Sofia chimed in, "I'll see you tomorrow Dr Robbins."
"Bye Sofia," Arizona smiled and waved. "I was kind of expecting you to call at some stage."
"Oh," Callie replied, a bit shocked by Arizona's comment.
"Yeah. I mean, I thought you'd want to have some students come watch the rockstar work or so you called yourself," Arizona joked.
"Oh! Right, yeah. Work has been hectic at the moment. Today was the first day where I haven't had an emergency surgery make me stay late."
"I remember those days. Well if you ever need to vent or if need anything, you have my number."
"Yeah, thanks," Callie said softly before she turned and walked to her car.
"What did you tell Karev," Callie asked her daughter once they were in the car.
"I don't know what you mean," Sofia asked innocently.
"Don't play dumb, he told me everything."
"That snitch," Sofia hissed under her breath.
Callie tried to hide her laugh from her daughter. She loved the relationship her daughter had built with Karev over the last few months. Sofia didn't normally warm up to people Callie brought home but as soon as Sofia found out he had a girlfriend, she had given Alex a chance and they had both become fast friends. Alex had regularly picked Sofia up from school or hung out with her at the hospital while she waited for Callie to finish work or surgery. The part she didn't like was when they two of them teamed up against her.
"I only told him because I was talking school and tutoring. She just naturally came up in conversation."
"Mmhmm. So naturally you talked about me and your plans to arrange our marriage?"
"Only if you both consent," Sofia joked.
"Why are you so insistent on this and why Arizona?"
Callie quickly glanced over when her daughter didn't answer. Her daughter had her eyebrows furrowed down, a look she only wore when she was deep in thought. It was a look Callie loved, Sofia just looked so cute.
"I don't know," Sofia admitted, "there's just something about her."
They both fell into a comfortable silence. Sofia wasn't wrong, there was something about Arizona. The more Callie thought about it, the more she realised her daughter was right. She didn't know what it was about Arizona that had her so intrigued and had her daughter so enamored with the blonde. They hadn't spent much time together, maybe 2 hours altogether, but to Callie they had felt like a lifetime. It felt like she had known Arizona her whole life and part of her wanted to spend even more time with her.
"I think Ma might losing her resolves," Sofia whispered to Naomi as they work on their biology task.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, last night we were talking about how I'd told Karev about Robbins and she didn't seem angry. She seemed more intrigued about my motives," Sofia answered.
"That doesn't mean she's losing her resolve. It could mean she has decided to let you have your little fantasy," Naomi joked as she looked into their microscope.
Sofia thought for a moment. Maybe Naomi was right, maybe Callie was just letting her think she was winning. Shaking her head Sofia smiled to herself. She knew her mama and she knew when she liked someone. All the signs pointed to Sofia being right.
"Nah, she's losing her resolve. Give me another month and they'll be on a date."
Naomi just laughed at her best friend as they continued working.
"How was school munchkin," Callie asked as they walked into the house.
"It was alright. We had a pop quiz for chem, I think I did okay. How was your day? Save lots of limbs today," Sofia asked as she jumped on the kitchen bench. She knew her mother hated it when she sat on the kitchen bench and she hated it even more Sofia asked her about limbs.
"Firstly, get down. Secondly, I'm not biting today. I'm in a great mood," Callie replied.
"Ooooo, what happened for you to be in a good mood," Sofia asked, ignoring Callie and staying on the bench. "Did you call Arizona?"
"She didn't give me her number so I could call her for a date," Callie scoffed. "She gave it to me to discuss possible work experience for seniors or more career talks."
"Nah, she totally likes you. She checked you out as you picked me up from tutoring yesterday," Sofia confessed to her mother.
Sofia watched as her mother blushed. She could tell Callie was trying to hide it, trying to stop the smile that so wanted to form on her face. Callie had fallen hard with previous partners but Sofia had never seen her like this. It was clear that Callie had fallen for the blonde and was trying hard to ignore it. Sofia wondered if this was because Callie had promised to put her first, promised to focus on her daughter. Knowing how stubborn her mother was, Sofia promised herself that she wouldn't stop until her mother at least went on a date with Robbins.
Sofia skipped down the hallway heading towards her locker. After the most recent conversations with her mother, she had woken up feeling particularly hopeful. After an especially detailed dream, Sofia had woken up with a grand plan that she couldn't wait to put into motion. It could possibly be risky but if all went to plan, they payout would be amazing. She had to work out if she was willing to take the risk. Smiling, Sofia stopped at her locker where Harry, Naomi and Georgia were all at their lockers, getting ready for first period. Naomi was still getting her books out of the locker to next to Sofia while Harry and Georgia waited for her.
"Ew. Why are you perky," Naomi asked as she closed her locker.
Sofia smiled as she opened hers and got out her books. "I'm just happy," Sofia answered, "is that okay?"
"You've been spending far too much time with Robbins," Georgia joked.
"Shut up. Is it a crime to be happy?"
"Yes," all three of friends said in unison.
"You guys are just jealous that my life is finally going well and you guys are all sad sacks," Sofia joked.
"Did Torres and Robbins finally hook up," Harry smirked.
"Not yet but if I have my way it won't be long," she smiled before skipping off.
"If I know Sofia, and I do," Naomi said to Harry and Georgia, "whatever is about to happen is not going to be good."
Sitting in class, Sofia was finding it incredibly hard to concentrate to the algebraic equations her math teacher was talking them through. Looking up she saw that the rest of the class was copying off the board. She quickly wrote down the notes and worked out she had already learnt this from Alex when he helped her with her homework. Her mind had been working overtime to plan out the finer details of how she was finally going to get Arizona and Callie together. A thought popped into her head. She looked around and saw that everyone was too busy solving the equations on the board to notice her before she started writing down notes so she didn't forget any of the ideas to help set her plan in motion.
Naomi watched Sofia suspiciously as they walked out of class. She had noted how distracted her best friend had been all day. During their first break, she had barely said two words to the group. Sofia had just eaten her lunch and stared off into space. Naomi had no idea what was going but she knew Sofia was up to something. Even though she had been distracted all day, she had worn this goofy smile on face the whole time.
"Okay," Naomi finally said, breaking Sofia from her thoughts. "Are you going to tell me what's going on because I know you weren't taking notes during math."
"Promise me you won't go telling my mum what I tell you?"
"Duh. Why would I go tell your mum?"
"Because all day I've been coming up with a plan to get ma with Robbins," Sofia admitted.
Naomi wasn't as shocked as she thought she would be. Sofia had been obsessed with trying to pair her mother up with their principal since Career's Week. She listened as Sofia explained in detail everything she had come up with over the course of the day so far.
"So that's your grand plan" Naomi asked Sofia as they sat down at the table.
"Yeah, what do you think?"
"Think of what," Abbi asked as the girls joined their friends.
"Sofia's grand plan to get Robbins with her mother," Naomi answered, "and it's dumb."
"So that's why you were all smiley and happy this morning," Georgia commented.
"It's not dumb. It's guaranteed to get them in the same room," Sofia answered as she sipped from her drink.
"What's the grand plan then," Harry asked as all their friends stared at her, waiting for her answer.
"Okay so my plan is do things that get me sent to Robbins office and obviously she'll have to call my Ma and then they'll be stuck in a small room together with their chemistry and before you know it they'll be kissing," Sofia answered without looking at her friends.
"So you're like going to cure cancer or something? You have to do something pretty amazing to get sent to Robbins' office," Bristol reminded her.
"Oh. Well I was thinking of like pretending to cheat on a quiz or like being late to class."
Naomi rolled her eyes. "See. Stupid. No college is going to take you if they see you have a tonne write ups in your file."
"Robbins totally won't write me up though. She'll call Callie and discuss how to get me back on the straight and narrow."
"And what if she just writes you up," Abbi asked.
"Trust me, she won't," Sofia smiled. "The plan starts today so who wants to help?"
Over the next week, Sofia purposely tried to get herself in trouble. She had very obviously tried to cheat on multiple quizzes off people getting grades lower than hers. Her teachers were not easily fooled. It wasn't until the following Tuesday that Sofia finally thought she was making some progress with her plan.
"Sofia my office after school please," a sweet voice called out as Sofia was putting things in her locker.
"Reckon the teachers have told her about what you've been doing," Naomi asked as they both looked at the blonde principal.
"One can hope," Sofia smiled, hoping her mother would meet her in the principal's office after school.
"Well you only have one more class to sit through before you find out."
"Okay, what's going on," Arizona asked as soon as the young brunette sat down in front of her desk.
"I don't know. What do you mean," Sofia asked innocently.
"Don't play dumb with me Sofia. All your teachers have reported out of character behavior over the last week. Why on Earth would you willingly cheat off people who you know are answering the questions incorrectly? We spend so much time after school tutoring and working on this stuff, am I wasting my time," Arizona spoke angrily. She couldn't believe what Sofia had been doing.
"You're not going to call my mama are you," Sofia asked, pretending to be upset.
"No I'm not because I have a feeling that's what you want me to do," Arizona said sternly.
The two stared at each other for what felt like hours. Neither relenting in this battle of wills.
"Ugh fine," Sofia groaned, finally breaking their eye contact.
"So, you going to tell me what your master plan was then," Arizona smiled, knowing she had won.
Sofia avoided looking at her principal, instead she crossed her arms and slunk back in her chair.
"Fine you won't tell me, well then our tutoring sessions are cancelled until further notice. Apparently you don't really need them."
"What?! No, you can't do that," Sofia replied angrily.
"Yes, I can and until you tell me what's going on with you, we won't be continuing them."
"Fine," Sofia groaned, "I thought that if I did enough bad things you would have to call mum and she would come in and then you guys would spend more time together and see that you need to go on a date and then you would fall in love and then. You're better than the last one and I actually want you to be together and that never happens."
Sofia stopped suddenly, realising that she had rambled and said way too much. Slowly, she lifted her head to finally make eye contact with the blonde in front of her.
"You risked possibly getting written up and ruining your chances of getting into a good college to set me up with your mother," Arizona finally clarified after what felt like the longest silence in Sofia's life.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Sofia," Arizona said softly, tilting her head as she stared at Sofia, amazed that the young girl would risk so much for this.
"I know. Naomi told me it was stupid but I saw how you looked at each other," Sofia admitted to Arizona.
"I just want you both to be happy," Sofia said quietly, averting her gaze once again. "She deserves to be happy."
"I'm going to have to call your mother and tell her what you've been doing but I'm not going to write you up. This time," Arizona told her student.
"Are you going to tell her what I said," Sofia asked.
"I don't know yet. We'll see how she takes it. I doubt she's going to be very happy."
"She won't be happy," Sofia agreed. "Is tutoring still cancelled?"
"No," Arizona shook her head, "I think you'll be punished enough by Callie."
"Are you going to keep me here while you call her?"
"No," Arizona said, shaking her head, "how about we do our tutoring session and then I'll call her?"
"Yeah, that would be good," Sofia nodded, "are we okay?"
"Yes Sofia, we're okay," Arizona sighed.
"Dr Robbins," Sofia said. She had started walking out of the office but she stopped herself. After taking a deep breath she turned to face the woman who had spend so much time with her. Who had dedicated many afternoons to help her learn and grow.
"Yes, Sofia?"
"I'm really sorry. Not only for cheating and disappointing you but you know."
"I know sweetheart. Thank you," Arizona smiled softly before watching Sofia turn and leave her office.
