Sweet Sofie (10 page)

She smiled. “Why not? No one can see what I’m doing.”

He should’ve known when she parked in the most isolated corner what she had in mind. A second later, he dropped his head back in sheer delight, forgetting about everything.

***

Months after becoming an official couple, Sofia was still trying to conjure up the nerve to talk to her mom about getting on the pill. So the night her mom knocked on her bedroom door had come as a huge surprise.

“Are you busy?”

Sofia pulled both earphones out of her ears. It was how she always did her homework. She sat on her bed, legs crossed, with her binder over her legs. She moved the book next to her and patted it for her mom to sit.

Her mom sat down and took a deep breath. She glanced around the room. She didn’t come in her room often. Sofia had a collage on her wall of her and Eric. Pictures of them even from when they were kids. She didn’t like how chubby she looked in some, but the memories were so heartwarming, she couldn’t bear not putting them up. Her mom smiled. “You two were so young, but I think that boy was in love with you even back then.”

Sofia smiled and nodded. “That’s what he says.”

Her mom touched her hand. “And you were with him, as well?”

For some reason that made her blush. Was it that obvious? “Yeah, I think so.”

Her mom stared at the collage for a while longer before speaking. Without looking at Sofia, she said, “I know things are getting serious between you two… and I know as much as your brothers think they can keep you two from…”

Sofia cringed. Her mom had
the
talk with her years ago, but not in direct correlation with anyone specific. “Mom—”

“Let me finish, Sofia.” She squeezed Sofia’s hand. She seemed as nervous about this as Sofia. Though that still didn’t help. “You’re father and I—”

“Daddy?” Sofia sat up. This was so much worse now.

“Your father and I,” her mother continued, disregarding Sofia’s mortification, “we really didn’t think we’d have to deal with this so soon. You see, with your brothers being the way they are, we honestly thought it’d be years before anyone dare come around,” she chuckled. “Little did they know, he’d been around all along.”

Her mother held Sofia’s hand in both of hers now. “We may be old school, Sofie, but we’re not naïve. We know your brothers have been active for years. As much as we would like you to wait… we don’t want you taking any chances. You have your entire life ahead of you.”

Excitement began to replace the mortification. Was her mom really saying what she thought she was?

“We want you to get on the birth control—”

“Okay!” She placed her hand over her mouth, realizing her mom hadn’t expected her to agree so quickly.

Her mom cleared her throat. “You do understand becoming sexually active changes everything, don’t you?” Sofia nodded. “Everything is turned up a notch—a major notch. And once you go there you can never go back. I mean,” she paused, “you decide how much or how often, but if there is ever anyone else—”

“There won’t be.” Her mom was less obvious than her brothers with the ‘you’re being naïve’ look but Sofia could spot it a mile away. She sat up straighter and reiterated, “There won’t be.”

Her mom finally conceded with a smile. “Okay.” She leaned over and kissed Sofia on the forehead, then stood up. “I’ll make an appointment for you this week.”

Sofia jumped up from the bed and hugged her mother. “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mija.” She raised an eyebrow. “Now, we both know this is your business and no one else’s, but I’m sure your brothers will see it otherwise. Be discreet, Sofia. I don’t have to tell you what might happen if they ever walk in on—”

“Oh God, I know. Don’t worry.”

As soon as her mother left her room, Sofia grabbed her phone and texted Eric.

Guess what?

His response was immediate.

?

She was so excited she couldn’t text fast enough.

I’m getting on the pill this week. My mom’s taking me
.

A second later, her phone rang.

“What happened?”

Sofia gushed as she told him about the entire conversation. When she was done, he was silent for a moment. His only response, “So your dad knows?”

Sofia couldn’t help laughing.

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Change is good

Adapting to Eric no longer being in school with her wasn’t easy. He was also going to college and working now, so that made it harder for them to be together as often as Sofia would have liked.

Sofia was a senior now. School was far more demanding and she was still on the track team. She was not about to give her parents a reason to take back her permission to have a boyfriend, not that at this point anything could keep her and Eric apart, but she liked not having to sneak around. So she spent a lot of time studying.

One of the biggest changes now that Angel and Eric were no longer in school with her was boys were really opening up to Sofia. It was new and exciting, but Eric’s senior ring hung on the chain around her neck, faithfully. Still, that didn’t mean she never flirted. With her brothers gone, she discovered just how big a flirt she could be, and she relished it.

As the year went by, she and Eric fell into a routine. During the week, they saw so much less of each other than they had the year before and that past summer, but it worked out. She was just glad Eric hadn’t gone away to school. She would’ve never lived through that. Even now, she saw less of him during the week, but she saw him at least twice and they spoke every day, not to mention texted all the time, and of course, they made love frantically, every chance they got.

Late her senior year, while Eric was busy cramming for finals, she finally decided to show up and surprise him at his job. He worked in a big home electronics store at the mall. She’d stopped by at his job before, but he was always so busy he hardly had time to visit with her. So she hadn’t dropped in on him in a while. This was the longest they’d gone in a while without seeing each other. He’d been busy cramming for finals all week. She could tell he was a little worried about his grades, so she stayed away and let him study.

It was a Friday night and the place was busy. It only took her a moment to spot him. He was helping a customer, and she decided to go around the aisle and come up from behind him, to surprise him. She strolled up and waited for him to finish with the customer.

The girl he helped looked older than Sofia. Sofia hadn’t paid attention to the conversation until the girl laughed a little too loud. Then Eric laughed with her.

“Eric, you know I’m a tech idiot,” the girl teased, “that software you installed for me on Tuesday is still sitting there on my computer, untouched. You’re gonna hav kresede to come over and install this one for me.”

“How hard is it to put the disc in and follow the prompts?”

The girl laughed again, making the hair on Sofia’s arm stand up.

“I could probably drop by on my way home if you want. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

“And then you’ll show me how to use it?”

Eric’s laugh was like none Sofia had ever heard. It made her stomach turn. “It’s not that hard, Nicky. But yeah, I can walk you through it.”

“Yay, you’re a doll. I’ll make you fish tacos, and I already have Coronas chilling in the fridge.”

Sofia held her breath.
Say you can’t—you won’t
.

“Fish tacos and a cold beer, sounds good.”

Sofia walked away and out of the store, choking in anger. He’d been to this bitch’s house this week to install software, but he hadn’t had time for her all week? He hadn’t called her all day to mention anything about getting together tonight, so she’d assumed he was busy
studying
again.

She hit the speed dial on her phone and called him. When he didn’t answer, she called right back. Never once this entire time had she questioned Eric’s faithfulness. Sure, she’d worried a little when he started college about all the college girls he’d be meeting, but once he started, and nothing changed between them, she felt certain she could trust him. He’d loved her since they were kids. He told her this all the time. The jealousy burned her up. She called until he answered, pacing outside the store.

“What is it, Sof? I’m working. I’m not supposed to answer my phone.”

“Am I gonna see you tonight?”

He paused. “That’s what you’re calling about?” He paused again for a moment. “I don’t know, babe. I still gotta cram.”

Her stomach bottomed out. Without thinking, the words flew out, “Fuck you, Eric! I hope you enjoy Nicky’s tacos, because I’m never cooking for you again!”

She hung up and wiped her tears. The heartache she felt was suffocating. It took her a while before she realized she was walking in the wrong direction. She spun around and stalked to her car.

***

Sofie’s words were like a bat to Eric’s groin. It took him a moment to recover. When he did, he realized she must’ve been in the store, close enough to hear his conversation.

He tried calling her back several times, but each time it went to voicemail. After working for another half hour, his phone rang again. It was Angel.

“Shit.”

The number one rule when Alex and Angel had laid down the law about him and Sofia was,
do not
break her heart. Alex had harped on that more than anything ktha0"> . He’d never even brought up sex. He hurried to the break room to answer it.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“You better hope my sister stops crying before Alex gets home. What the fuck did you do, Eric?”

She was crying?
This was worse than he thought. It was only fish tacos!

“Nothing!”

He explained about his friend Nicky, told Angel Sofia must’ve been there and overheard. “But I swear to God, I was just being polite. I would never do anything to hurt Sofia.”

He told him about Sofie’s call, leaving out exactly what’d she’d said, just said she was harsh. “I really do need to cram, Angel. I just think she’s completely misunderstanding all this.”

Angel’s tone didn’t ease up, even after his explanation. “Well, you better fix this, because I’ve never seen her this upset. I don’t like it.”

“I’m on my way.”

Eric told his manager he had an emergency and had to take off early. His dad would kill him if he knew what he was doing. He’d already warned him he had too much going on. School was his first priority, then work, and last was his social life. The reason why he’d cut down on his time with Sofia. But he had to fix this, and he had to do it now.

The more he thought about on his way to her house, the more he realized why she’d been so upset. He turned it around in his head. If it had been him, he’d be incensed. Truthfully, he had been a little flattered with Nicky’s continual flirting, and now he was feeling rotten about it. He took a deep breath before getting out of his car at Sofia’s house.

Angel met him at the door. “I already told her you’re here, but she refuses to come down. Sarah’s in there with her now.”

Eric had no idea what to do. “Can I go up there?”

Angels face soured. “Hell, no. I’ll go tell her you’re here again and remind her Alex will be home soon.”

Eric stood at the bottom of the staircase, waiting. He looked up when he heard her door open. Angel came out first, followed by Sofia. Even Angel flinched when Sofia yelled, “You’re a liar! You were at her house this week, and you were going there again tonight! But you told me you had to cram!”

Her parents rushed in from the kitchen.

“Sofia, what’s the matter? You’re crying?” Her mom looked up the staircase.

Sofia ignored her mom. “Is that who you were
cramming
all week, Eric?”

Angel had started down the stairs, but stopped at her outburst. “Sofie, calm down. Let him explain.”

“No! Go get your fish tacos, Eric. Tell
Nicky
you like lots of cabbage!”

“Sof, I can explain. It’s not what you’re thinking. I swear to you.”

Her parents stared at him. As if his heart could take anymore, Alex walked in.

“What’s with all the yelling?” He took one look at Sofia’s face and his expression immediately we kmme"0">

Mr. Moreno put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Calmado.”

“Nothing,” Sofia said before Eric could respond. She rushed past Angel down the stairs. “It was just a misunderstanding.”

Alex still glared at Eric, but Sofia grabbed Eric’s hand and pulled him toward the front door. “We’ll be outside.”

As soon as they were outside, Sofia let go of his hand. “You’re lucky I didn’t want my brother to blow up.”

“Sof, I swear to you. It’s not what you’re thinking.” His heart was still pummeling against his chest. He knew Sofia could be feisty, but to make such a scene in front of her family? “The software I installed for her on Tuesday was in the store. She brought in her computer. I was only going to stop and install the new one tonight then go straight home. I wasn’t going to hang out with her. You have to believe that, Sof.” He reached his hand out to her, but she backed away. “I love you. I would never do something like that.”

She paced back and forth hugging herself. Alex stuck his head out the front door. “You okay, Sofie?”