Although Sophie knew she had no business drinking again, she found herself at the pub. Not the usual place though, she needed to divulge a strange night to her oldest friend and didn't need a bunch of familiars to overhear. Sophie's main concern was Sian. She didn't want her to get whispered about by the likes of Norris or Mary, especially if nothing happened. Or especially if she's embarrassed by it.
To Ches B:
"Hey already done for the night. I'll be at TFH waiting. Hurry up would ya? ;)"
From Ches B:
"Alright steady on! Have to listen to Fizz complain about old Sally Webster for a few ticks. Be there soon :)"
Sophie rolled her eyes a bit but couldn't help but chuckle. She was grateful she didn't have a job at the factory to be a part of all that commotion. Soph sat at the bar of The Flying Horse and ordered a pint. The bartender smiled and placed the drink in front of Sophie. She wondered why they didn't come there more often. "No Sian," her inner voice answered, a bit too quickly. Sophie felt a slight tinge of butterflies in her stomach. "Oh, not this again," she chided herself and pulled out her phone again. Sophie began scrolling through her apps. Facebook.. yeah yeah, blah blah. Liking baby pics and anything Leeds Festival related. Instagram.. same baby pics. Some new pics from some artists and actors she enjoyed, then she suddenly stopped on a picture of a pint on S_Powers28's account. It had been posted about 30 mins ago. Sophie clicked on Sian's avatar to see if any other pics had been posted recently but it was just that one. She exited out of the app and texted Sian.
To Sian Powers:
"Wow, are you still drinking haha"
Sophie then took the time to scroll through Sian's Insta account. Not very many pics she noted to herself. Probably about 6 months worth, which coincides with her moving from Southport if she remembered correctly.
From Sian Powers:
"Hell no I'm home finally."
To Sian Powers:
"Damn girl, you got skills!"
From Sian Powers:
"Lol. I'm hammered"
To Sian Powers:
"Hahaha! Keep it going"
Sophie's face was on fire and was smiling so big, when Chesney walked up, he couldn't help but smile too. "Hey Sophie, what's up? What are you grinning at?"
"Oh, just continuation of last night I think?" Sophie shyly answered. Chesney sat down next to Sophie at the bar and ordered a pint. "Alright Ches you first. Who's this girl?" Chesney went on to tell Sophie of this new girl Katy that he met at work but she actually just moved onto the street with her father Owen. Sophie was genuinely happy for Ches, he was gushing and beaming about this girl and she thought he deserved happiness. He was a funny little kid that turned out to be so far a great guy and probably the one person she trusted 100%. Sophie trusted Rosie but felt her older sister and Sally had a stronger connection and Rosie wouldn't waste time in telling their mom a juicy tidbit about her quieter, more pensive younger sister. She was still rebuilding her trust with Kevin, and was sure it would come back fully but for now she didn't share much with him.
"Alright Webster, your turn," Ches grinned at Sophie. Sophie went into the story about Sian and started with how they had always locked eyes and mildly flirted. If she was going to talk about Sian, she was going to tell the whole thing. Sophie was just as confused as ever as she normally is with girls and was hoping for a word of advice from her best mate. When she got to the part about how Ryan was involved, Chesney couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Of course he's involved. How does he get so much play? I mean honestly!"
"Now now Ches, you know Ryan's a mate and that doesn't bother me, it's that I sort of lied to him. You were there, he didn't look too happy with how Sian blew him off."
"Yeah, she blew him off for you," said a smiling Chesney as he held his hand up for a high five. Sophie giggled and reciprocated, but couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty. "Oh don't worry about old Ryan, he'll have moved on soon enough. He's just not used to getting rejected."
"Yeah maybe," said Sophie lost in her thoughts. People moved on from things easily it seemed. Sophie was never good at that. She hung around for Erinn for 3 years and even though last night was a welcome distraction, she knew she wasn't over it that easy. Sian got over Ryan easily it seemed, and while she was all for a good time, she didn't want Sian to be over her that easily.
"So what are you going to do Soph?" asked Ches finishing his pint. Sophie hated this part about bi-curious girls, so many mixed signals. With the ones she just wanted friendship from, she would get unwanted advances and with ones she actually liked, she would risk getting rejection and overall awkwardness afterwards. Even though Sian came onto her first, and seeing that she had just been with Ryan, Sophie decided then to just keep it friends. It was still all new and if they hung out and something happened, then awesome. And if they hung out and nothing happened, just friends, then awesome too.
"Well you know me Ches, I don't have the best luck with this stuff. I think I'm just going to see how it plays out. Just let it happen if it is, and if not then that's okay too."
"That sounds like a good idea, but easier said than done. I can't imagine the self control you showed with her hitting on you like that," said Chesney as he shook his head.
A thought dawned on Sophie. "I know you are into this new girl, but you are alright with this aren't you? I mean you aren't upset that Sian was doing that to me right?" she asked. She didn't even think that just because he was acting cool about it, Ches might actually be bothered by how it didn't work out for them.
"Don't worry about that Sophie. She's out of my league anyway."
"Don't ever say that Chesney formally Battersby Brown! Any girl would be dead lucky to have you, you know that mate," she said giving his shoulder a rub.
"Thanks Sophie, you're a good mate. Now what about Ryan?"
"You know even though I shouldn't, I want to know what happened with Sian," said Sophie as she started going through Sian's Instagram again. She wanted to know if there were any pictures of that week and a half interval when Sophie was in hiding and Sian and Ryan must've had a date or a hang out. The two pictures Sian had up from that time period was of new shoes she bought and a screenshot of her iPhone while she was listening to Oasis's "What's the Story (Morning Glory)". Sophie clicked on the newest picture of the pint posted now about an hour ago, and commented "Like a champ!" Even though she had decided to just be friends for now, she couldn't help but feel a bit shy when it came to Sian. Even just thinking of her and seeing her again made her stomach flip and her ears start to burn. "You are ridiculous." Sophie's inner voice could always bring her back to reality. She sighed. She always seemed to be at war with herself.
"Well obviously it wasn't anything too special aye? Should we get another pint in? My treat," asked a far too convincing Chesney.
"Oh, go on then. One more," Sophie laughed. The bartender set two more pints in front of them. Sophie grabbed hers and held it up in front of her. "Here's to new ladies in our lives. Haha!" Ches clinked his pint to hers and smiled.
"And here's to good luck with them. We deserve a bit of that don't we?"
"Indeed Mr Brown. Indeed." Sophie took a drink and watched as the Manchester United results from earlier today were shown on the TV in the bar, instantly reminding her of Sian. "Indeed," she thought in her head.