Page 19 of Eight Weeks
“Miles needs a helping hand with Brooklyn. Sofia agreed on watching her with you whenever we’ve got practice.” To be fair, Sofia wasn’t needed for this at all. But for some selfish reasons, I figured if Sofia was around during practice, I could at least catch a glimpse of her every now and then.
Despite what I’ve been telling myself all these years, my heart has always been stuck with her. It’s why Winter and I could have never happened even if I wanted us to work out. I made a promise to Sofia so many years ago, and for some reasons, I’m still holding on to it.
It won’t happen, I just know it won’t, but I also hate breaking promises. Sure, it was a promise made when I was eight, but a promise is a promise either way.
Sofia and I are two different people now than we were back at the age of eight. She’s lived her whole life without me, I’ve lived mine without her. I know absolutely nothing about her anymore, same way that she has no clue who I am.
As much as I’d love to continue where we left our friendship off, it’s impossible.
“It’s one half of a heart, I have the other one. Promise you won’t ever take it off.”Not even I held on to that promise. But at least I still own that wisteria Lego necklace, so that’s one good thing, isn’t it? Or pathetic.
Let’s be honest here, if I just randomly started telling Sofia how much I’ve missed her and how glad I am that she’s back, it would scare her off more than it would do us any good. Plus, it’s just embarrassing for me.
But maybe… If we slowly start to get in touch again through my sister and her having to be around me, perhaps there is a chance that we can get to know each other all over again. And who knows? Maybe we can light an old flame.
“You’re not still having a crush on her, do you?” my sister asks, causing me to swallow the wrong way and end up coughing like a maniac.
“Aaron having a crush?” I hear Colin laugh, seeing as he leans his chin on Lily’s shoulder. “I’d like to see that.”
“It wassoobvious they’ve liked each other.”
“We wereeight,” I veto. “I found her annoying and nothing but that.”
Lily never liked the thought of Sofia and I evenstandingeach other, which is why I made sure to be mean to my sister’s best friend. Unfortunately, Sofia took my rudeness as something completely different. And as it seemed, I liked her more than I wanted to admit.
Up until I found out she had to move away. That’s when I ignored my sister’s wishes and made promises I knew I couldn’t keep.
And yet here I am, still holding on to them.
“Sure. And you alsoneedher to watch Brooklyn with me becauseIwant Sofia around, not you.”
13
Sofia
“don’t want to say it but I really think that I miss him”—chaotic by Tate McRae
“Please can we cut the‘let’s get to know each other’-bullshit? I’ve had enough of that the past weeks,” Lily says the second she steps out of her boyfriend’s car and walks up to me.
“Gladly.” Approximately half a heartbeat later, Lily wraps her arms around me so tightly, I think my lungs stopped working for a whole minute.
I’ve been waiting in front of the hockey arena for half an hour, worrying about what to say and how not to make this awkward only for Lily to shriek in excitement and hug the devil out of me.
Lily is nothing like I imagined. She’s always been the loud one, laughing and full of joy. We’ve just met two minutes ago, and something tells me the fire that was always burning within her is no longer alive.
She seems awfully quiet, though still excited. If we’d been in touch for far longer than the two minutes, I’d ask her what the dark cloud above her head is about, but I don’t feel comfortable enough to ask yet.
Aaron gets out of his car just when Lily and I pull away from our hug.
“You are so pretty,” she says, taking my hands in hers like she can’t believe I’m actually standing in front of her. Truthfully, I can’t believe she is standing in front of me either.
I’ve been imagining what it would be like to reconnect with my childhood best friend, what it would be like when we meet again. None of the scenarios that went through my mind came close to this.
Even though we haven’t had the chance to really reconnect yet, it still feels like we’ve never spent time apart.
“Oh my god, Sofia”—Lily looks at Colin then back at me—“This is Colin, my boyfriend.”
He nods his head at me once, giving me a small smile before he wraps his arms around Lily from behind.
