Rystelle

shadows.

Sophia was totally drawn into the movie. She had never seen Jim Carrey in a serious role before, but it was absolutely amazing. She was saddened that the two had tried to split up, but was glad when they began to rekindle their feelings and realized why they had fallen in love in the first place. But it also made Sophia hope that if she did ever start dating someone again and they fell in love, that they would never fall out of love. It seemed like a heartbreaking scenario, one she wasn't sure she could handle. Still, the movie was nice to watch, and at some point Sophia had switched into a different position where she was laying on her half of the couch, head propped up on her hand, her head being in the spot where she had originally been sitting. Once the movie was over she finally sat back up. "That was good," she said as she paused the movie at the credits. "Jim Carrey can do a serious role incredibly well. Is there anything else you want to watch, Tim?"

shadows.

Sophia shook her head a little sadly. She didn't have too many drama films. She just didn't really care for them. But then suddenly Sophia perked up and said, "I don't have it on DVD, but I can find it online. Be right back!" With that Sophia dashed into her bedroom. She came out a few minutes later, carrying her laptop and wireless mouse. "Alright," she mused as she settled down on the couch. Sophia opened her laptop and powered it on. Once it was one she started a search for the movie and found a website where they could watch it online. "Bingo!" She exclaimed excitedly. Then she was who was in it and added, "Ooh, Jim Carrey! I love his comedic stuff, but I don't think I've ever watched one of his more serious films. This should be intriguing." Having found the movie Sophia took her laptop over to the entertainment center. She took a cord, plugged it into the laptop, and set the TV as the main monitor. Now they could watch the movie in full screen. "There we go," she said, giving Tim a grin. "All ready for the lights to go off?" Tim agreed and Sophia went over to the front door and flicked the switch, cutting the lights. She came and settled back down on the couch near but not too close to Tim. She clicked play, grabbed her plate of dessert, and settled back to watch the movie.

shadows.

Sophia thought for a bit, then decided, "Let's watch a movie. I have plenty to choose from on DVD, but I've also got some on my laptop too." For a moment Sophia paused, then smiled and added, "I promise not to fall asleep on you this time. Anyway. How about I put up dinner and grab us some pie?" "That sounds good," Tim agreed. Sophia took their plates and brought them into the kitchen where she put their leftovers in Tupperware containers. Everything else went into containers as well and all of it went into the fridge. She opened up the pie containers and cut them up, placing a small slice of each one onto two clean plates. She closed them back up and brought the plates into the living room. "Here we go," Sophia said setting down the plates. "Thought you might like to try a bit of each. My mom made these for us. She makes the best pies. Plenty more if you want more after. Anyway, let's decide on a genre of movie. There's action, adventure, comedy, horror." Personally Sophia was kind of feeling something with comedy. Or maybe horror. She didn't like movies with a lot of gore in them, but she did enjoy movies about ghosts and demons. But because she scared really easily she never watched them alone.

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Sophia felt Tim's hand on her knee and was a little surprised. It wasn't often he was the first one out of the two of them to try to make physical contact in any situation. It was a small gesture, but nonetheless it made her feel better. Tim might have been awkward, but he was sweet. Genuine. Unlike a few others she could name. Wiping away her tears on her shirt sleeve, Sophia sniffled and then lowered her arm. His words helped boost her spirit a bit, though she still felt a little bitter as she thought of David and the others. It was hard but Sophia tried to push them from her mind. She gave Tim a weak, half-hearted smile. "Thanks," she said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve once more. Sophia's knee was warm beneath Tim's hand. It felt nice, comforting. Just Tim being there was a comfort. She enjoyed his company and was glad that she was here with him rather than with her family. Sophia recalled everything from the past week and reaffirmed that she liked Tim. And, yes, she was developing a crush on him. But she was sure nothing would come of it. Even if Tim wasn't as withdrawn from people as he was, Sophia herself was still too scared to try dating again. Trying not to let her internal conflict show, Sophia pulled herself together inquired, "Shall we keep asking questions or do something else now?"

shadows.

Fuck, was the first word Sophia thought of. So someone had noticed. Tim had noticed. Noticed that she shrunk away from couples, even if she didn't mean to. It wasn't anything against them. It was just that ever since the break-up with David... He was her first and last boyfriend. She thought he had been nice. Thought Evelyn and Greg and Paul had been nice. But it was all a lie. She had been led on, used, and then utterly humiliated. Sophia had joined their gaming club in high school thinking that it would be something fun to do in her spare time, that she would make friends. The small club consisted of herself, David, Evelyn, Greg, and Paul. They played card games, video games, table top RPGs with figurines. Whenever someone got a new set of gaming figures Sophia had quickly offered to help paint them. She wanted to help out, wanted to do anything she could. Sophia was also willing to help the others level up in online games, or give away any cards she collected as she herself didn't really play card games. At some point she and David had started dating, the relationship facilitated by Evelyn. Of course Sophia tried to do more for David than anyone else. She had never had a boyfriend before and she was excited. She wanted to be a good girlfriend, a sweet one who helped out and was always there. But slowly the entire workload of the club fell onto Sophia's shoulders. Planning tournaments, painting figurines, leveling characters, building decks, and even helping with homework. Sure, it was things that she enjoyed doing, but it was becoming too much for her and Sophia began to realize that she was the only one in the club doing anything any more. And David didn't even seem to care. In fact, he hardly paid Sophia any mind at all. Then came the fateful day when she truly realized that she was being used and led on, the day Sophia found David and Evelyn making out in his room when she had entered unannounced. The couple who had been dating all along--long before Sophia had ever joined the club--revealed that they had been using her, stringing her along like a puppet. And she had danced so easily to their tune. Sophia had run from the house, heartbroken and hating herself for ever dating David, for ever joining the club in the first place. After that school just seemed like hell to Sophia as Evelyn was quick to spread rumors that Sophia had tried to steal David away from her. She was scorned, looked down upon by those who didn't actually know her. It was too much for Sophia to handle. After that she gave up on dating. She turned down any and all advances from guys who confessed their feelings to her, refused to go to any school dances, did not join any clubs. For the most part Sophia stopped socializing with anyone other than her family and a few friends. It wasn't until she started college that Sophia started to build herself up again. But since that time she still hadn't dated anyone else. And even though she tried not to, often times Sophia felt jealous of the couples that came into Rose Cafe. She wondered how things might have been if she hadn't dated David, or if David hadn't turned out to be a lying, manipulative asshole. Seeing the happy couples reminded her of what she should have had, what she could have, but didn't believe anymore. So she shrank away from them, into herself, and tried to pretend it didn't hurt, that she didn't feel lonely. Sophia thought that no one had noticed it. But Tim had. Sophia stared down at the couch cushions with a pained look on her face, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and a lump in her throat as she gritted her teeth tightly, wrapped her arms around her stomach and dug her nails into her side hard. She took a deep breath and let it out as a heavy sigh. She didn't want to cry in front of Tim. Not again. But she could not stop the tears that started to stream down her face. Raising one arm, Sophia buried her face in the crook of her elbow to try to hide her tears. She bit her lip for a moment and then finally choked out, "It's because of that asshole David, and his asshole girlfriend and their stupid asshole friends." Sophia didn't mean to curse so much, but she was beyond caring at the moment and it helped her to vent her sore feelings.

shadows.

"Really?" Sophia asked, her interest piqued. "Cool! I guess I'll have to give them a listen then. I've never been to a concert before." Truthfully, Sophia had never wanted to go to a concert. She didn't like large, close crowds or loud noise. Sophia was good at socializing within a small group, but she was bad with large groups of strangers. That's why she never went to parties that weren't for a friend or family. "I guess you could say my tastes are more mainstream," she said. "Mostly I like rock and metal with a bit of pop. But I do have some off the chart tastes you could say. I like classical music like Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. But I also like folk music, folk metal, and Gregorian chants." Sophia blushed a bit, realizing that her taste in music probably was a bit odd. Still, it was what she liked and that wasn't going to change. "Alright. Next question. Your turn to ask one."

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Sophia wanted to argue, but instead decided to let the subject drop. She didn't pick up her plate either. Not because she wasn't hungry, but because it felt a little awkward to be the only one eating. Ah, well, she thought to herself. I can finish it later. Settling back on the couch again Sophia shrugged and said, "Alright. Shall we continue where we left off then? What type of music do you like?"

shadows.

When Tim started to move Sophia was worried he might push her away. Instead she felt his arms at her sides, kind of in a halfway hug. She knew it was as close at they were going to get to a real hug right now, but just the fact that Tim was trying was enough for Sophia. While she had mostly done this for Tim's sake in what was probably a pathetic attempt to reassure him that people could be kind, if she was honest with herself Sophia also enjoyed the hug. His figure was slim but he was warm and his presence reassuring. Sophia liked feeling his arms at her sides and wondered what a full hug would be like. Perhaps one day she would know. But finally Sophia was starting to become self conscious. She broke away from the hug and sat back up. "Sorry," she apologized again. Sophia cast around for something else to say and could only suggest, "Shall we finish eating? Don't want to let the food get too cold. And we can talk more afterwards if you want. But about music or movies or something like that."

shadows.

The question had meant to be an innocent one. Sophia had been genuinely curious at to what holiday Tim liked best. For a while she had forgotten Tim's past. She was sure that he didn't want to be treated with kid gloves, even if she was still careful around him when it came to physical affection or having him open up to her. But no doubt all holidays were hell for Tim. Surely his mother made them so. Sophia realized what she said too late. A horrified look crossed her face as she saw the change in Tim's expression. Instantly Sophia closed the gap between them and wound her arms around his middle. "I'm sorry!" She apologized frantically as she hugged Tim tightly. "I didn't think about what I was asking. I'm sorry, Tim! I didn't mean to upset you!" Sophia bit her lip and looked up at Tim, a look of worry on her face. She could only imagine the horrible memories she had dredged up with her question. Would he push her away now? Would he leave? Would he never speak to her again? Sophia couldn't stand the thought of any of those happening and she hugged Tim again as she waited for him to respond in some way.

shadows.

"Cool!" Sophia exclaimed happily. So they both liked to read. That was nice to know. She had plenty of books in her room, mostly fiction, some classics and some newer. "I love to read too. I have plenty of books in my room if you'd ever like to take a look and borrow them." Sophia herself was a very avid reader, and while she hated reading material for class, she loved reading on her own time. When the mood struck her Sophia would start reading and would not put the book down until she finished it. Sometimes she would get through at least three thick novels in one week. Since Sophia had already inadvertently answered the question of if she liked to read, she tried to think of something else to ask Tim about. Favorite type of music? Favorite subjects like history or art? Favorite movies or TV shows? There was so much she could ask, and yet Sophia hardly seemed able to think of anything. Instead she decided to ask, "Is there any holiday you like best?"