3.
~~Two Years Later~~
Avoiding Cedric for the next two years before he graduated was surprisingly easy. On the few occasions she saw him in the hall, they would both look away. The rumors died quickly after that, and moved on to other things.
Sofia did well in all of her classes, though some required more work on her part than she liked. Suddenly she was Junior and facing college decisions, career paths, and her first Prom. Sofia was looking forward to it, and she was currently dress shopping with Amber, who was beaming.
"I'm thinking something bright and cheery, like yellow." Amber said, and Sofia wasn't surprised. Amber loved the way she looked in yellow. "I imagine you'll go with purple," she accused, knowing Sofia's favorite color.
"I dunno, I could pick something else." Sofia bit her lip as they walked into her sister's favorite dress shop. It was one that guaranteed that if you bought a dress, they wouldn't sell that style and color to another girl at your school. It was a huge shop, so there were plenty of options.
"Blue, it'll bring out your eyes," Amber said matter-of-factly.
"Look Amber," Sofia pointed out a lovely yellow gown.
"Oooh, yes." She draped it carefully over her arm. "I'm definitely trying that one on."
Sofia walked down an aisle to check what they had there. She touched a pretty blue one, the fabric felt like satin. She overheard some voices in the aisle next to her.
"When are you going to tell her? She still thinks she's going to the dance with you." A girl said.
"Tonight, for sure." A boy said. The blood drained from Sofia's face. She knew that voice. She dropped the dress and looked for Amber, who was still where she had left her.
"Amber," she said, blinking away a few tears. "I want to leave. Now."
Amber's eyebrows shot up, but she put the dress back and walked out with her sister. Once they were out of the store she asked Sofia what was wrong.
"I was looking at a dress and I overheard Hugo."
"He was there?" Amber asked.
"He isn't planning to take me to the dance." Sofia said, lip quivering. The two sisters ducked into a bookshop, and sat on a bench in a quieter part. She wasn't sure why she was so upset, it's not like was her boyfriend.
"Did he say that to you?" Amber asked, placing her hand on Sofia's shoulder.
"No, but he was with a girl. She asked him when he was planning on telling me that we weren't going together." Sofia said weakly. She sniffled, and then took a deep breath. He wasn't worth the tears, and it wasn't that big of a deal anyway, she told herself.
"Oh that," Amber growled a bit instead of cursing. She didn't like to swear. "Creep," she said finally. "I bet it was that girl who moved here a year ago."
"I didn't see them, and I didn't recognize her voice."
"Oh, Sofia. Forget about him, he wasn't good enough for you anyway."
"I suppose." Sofia kicked her legs in the air. "Guess I won't be going to Prom this year."
"Don't say that," Amber said slowly. "There is still time, Prom is two weeks away. We can find you someone else to go with."
"Maybe, can we look for a dress later?" she asked.
"Of course! We'll come back tomorrow, but you wait here. I'm going to go have a word with Hugo." She stood up, and marched out of the bookstore before Sofia could stop her.
She sighed and looked at her hands, she should chase after her and stop her, but she also didn't want to. Sofia finally got up to leave, she didn't want to face Hugo or the girl he had been talking to, but she'd have to stop Amber. Who knew what her sister would do, especially in defense of Sofia. As she walked out of the store she didn't notice that someone had just worked up the nerve to approach her. The words died on his lips as she left, before he could.
#
Despite Amber's efforts, Sofia still had no date one week later. It was Monday, and the Prom was Saturday night. She told her sister it was alright, she could just go alone, or maybe with her friend Lucinda. She didn't go to the school, but Sofia had met her at a movie theater a few years ago.
After another long school day Sofia was happy to hear the final bell. She walked out into the hallway, crowded by everyone, and realized she had forgotten her bag back at the classroom. She went back for it, grateful that it was still where she left it. When she went back into the hallways, it was considerably less busy. There were a few students left, walking to extracurricular activities. Sofia began digging through her bag, trying to make sure she had all the things she would need for her homework tonight, when she ran into something hard and fell.
The contents of her bag spilled out, and she looked up to see what she had hit. She was so shocked to see him standing there, that she forgot to be angry.
"Are you ok?" Cedric asked. He leaned down to pick up the spilled contents of her bag.
"Why are you here?" she asked, he had graduated last year.
He winced, "Uh, I still tutor sometimes." He offered her a hand to help her up. She took it, feeling a bit more nervous when they touched. She had thought he was cute before, and he still looked cute now. Even if he was a jerk, she reminded herself.
"Right," she said. She started to walk past him.
"Oh, uh, wait." He said, making her stop in her tracks. He never wanted to talk to her before.
"Yeah?" she said. There were butterflies in her stomach, she ignored them. She reminded herself that this was the same guy who told her off and then avoided her for two years. She looked over her shoulder, waiting for him to speak.
"Never mind," his voice cracked and he walked away. Sofia watched him for a moment, before leaving.
#
She didn't think she'd see him again, but the next day as she was walked outside to go home he was sitting on a car in the parking lot. Another book in his hand. She was going to keep walking, but she paused. He had wanted to say something to her the other day, and it had really started to bug her.
"Cedric," she said walking up to him. He startled, dropped the book and slid off the car.
"Sofia," he said in response. He stood up, and straightened his shirt, leaving his book on the ground.
"Are you here to tutor, again?" she asked stiffly.
"Yeah," he seemed to remember his book, and scooped it up.
"Did you have something you wanted to tell me?" She asked, holding her chin up. "You started to say something yesterday, and here you are again." She was really starting to wonder if he was actually here to tutor after all. The thought gave her a small thrill, which she told herself to ignore. He was a jerk, she reminded herself, again.
"Oh, no. I mean, well…" he shrugged his shoulders, "I heard you and your sister the other day. In the bookstore." He forced the words out. Sofia blushed, realizing there had been an audience that day.
"Oh," she said quietly. "So, what? You wanted to make fun of me for it?"
"No! Nothing like that." He held his hands up.
"Well then? What?" she laughed despite her irritation, "Did you want to take me to the dance instead of him?" She wasn't sure what made her say the words, she had meant it to sound absurd, but he didn't say anything.
After a few silent moments, he finally said, "Well, I could. If you want?"
"What?" she asked, it had to sink in after he said it.
"Do you want to go to Prom with me?" he was blushing, she couldn't believe it.
"But, you hate me, don't you?" She asked, confused.
"Why would you say that? I've never hated you." He said frowning.
"oh," the butterflies were back. "I just thought,"
"Do you want to go with me or not?" he asked. He crossed his arms and looked away, "I never went to either of mine."
"You didn't?" she asked, suddenly distracted.
He shrugged, "Doesn't matter. So do you want me to take you?"
"Sure," she retrieved a pen from her bag, and grabbed his hand. "Here's my number, text me."
Sofia skipped away, trying to fight the giddiness that was bubbling inside of her. She wasn't excited, no, she just felt bad that he hadn't been to his own Prom.