Chapter Twenty-Six
Elijah
I got out of practice, panting and sweating. After getting scolded by the coach, I joined the other guys in the locker room, and they cursed me out too for not playing well. I couldn’t tell them that there was no way I could be calm and collected after knowing I was going to be a father in my early twenties. In front of Sophia, I had to be put together because I wanted her to trust me, but I was nervous.
“Get off the guy’s case,” Logan said defensively. “He’s been out for a few days, do you think he went off to get some beauty sleep or something?”
I looked at him, arching an eyebrow, wondering why he was helping me. Usually, Logan would be the first one to complain when I didn’t pay enough attention to the field and messed up the team’s plays. He did laugh when he saw me getting shoved to the ground, which happened a little too many times.
Still, the other backed off, and I was relieved. I had enough on my plate without adding them to the mix.
I headed to the showers for a quick wash, then toweled dry and got changed. As I left the locker room with Logan, I thought the others were looking at me funny. They had their cells out, looking at something and laughing, and they kept glancing at me.
“What’s their problem?” I asked Logan, frowning.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they’re reliving all of your wipe outs during practice?”
I frowned at him, but he looked unapologetic.
Logan’s cell buzzed, and I watched as he pulled it out of his pocket to see what he got. His eyebrows shot up, then his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. Then, he laughed.
“What is it?” I asked, curious. Was it the same thing the other guys were all laughing about?
My cell buzzed and I took it from my pocket, wondering if it was whatever the others got. But instead, it was a message from Sophia, and it made my heart thump.
I’ll be in my dorm room, come over. Dana is over at your place.
“Sophia wants me to come over,” I said, looking at Logan. “And I hear Dana is waiting for you.”
“I thought she might be,” he said, still chuckling. “Anyway, I’ll see you later, man.”
He practically took off running, and I watched him go. From experience with Logan, I knew he was up to something, but I wasn’t in the mood to stop him.
The text Sophia had sent was simple, but I didn’t know how to take it. There was no indication that she was no longer angry, and she was willing to give us a chance. I would help with the baby regardless, but the week I spent looking for her while she was gone, even before I knew about the pregnancy, I’d been thinking about my future with Sophia in it. In my head, I was already making plans, but I was scared that she wouldn’t want to go along with them.
If she decided to break up with me, could I argue? Sophia was argumentative, and I wasn’t good with arguments in general. She was better with words than me, I was sure I would fail if it got to that point.
I started the walk over to Sophia’s dorm. As I walked, a few people met me on the way. Some of them laughed when they saw me, and others didn’t. I had no idea what was going on, but I had to put it out of my mind.
Until I got to Sophia’s building and noticed the poster put up outside. My eyes were ready to pass over it, but then I did a double take. I remembered the picture. It was something incredibly embarrassing, and I didn’t even remember it. But I did know it was a picture both my parents loved, so I had a copy buried in my computer’s memory.
Sophia.
This poster, the message… it must have been her. I couldn’t even be angry, though, because it wasn’t a picture I hated. People would laugh over it and get over it, but it was a picture I cherished because my mom had taken it.
I walked through the common room, and there were more posters inside as well. I wondered how far around campus they’d gotten with this. I walked up to her room, then knocked on the door and waited calmly. A moment later, Sophia opened the door for me, looking guard.
She stood aside to let me inside, then closed the door behind her. Our eyes met and held over a long silence.
“If you were going to be this nervous, you could have just not done it in the first place.”
She looked surprised. “You aren’t even going to act like you’re mad?”
I shrugged. “Over something like this? No. if it were me in your position, back then, I would have done something like this. I haven’t done anything because my plans changed, but I have to know if we’re even with this. No more getting mad at me for hacking you.”
She pursed her lips, but I could tell that she was relieved. She tilted her chin up a little.
“We’re even,” she declared. Then added in warning, “But you better not try any more tricks.”
I sighed, a helpless smile on my lips. “Whatever you say. Now come here. You didn’t give me a lesson last time, so I’ll take this as it.”
I opened my arms, and she walked into them without hesitation. Her chest pressed to mine, and when I paid close attention, I could feel her fast heartbeat. We stood there a few minutes, just holding each other, then she pulled back. A smile was playing on her lips, relieved and playful.
“I do have one question, though,” she said.
“What is it?”
She grinned. “Do you not like X-Men? Because I’m not sure if I’m ready to forgive that.”
I chuckled and rested my forehead on hers. “Honestly? It’s starting to grow on me. I ended up looking deeply into it, watching some of the movies and cartoons online and reading up on it after the scare I got that you might find out. Not nearly as much as you, though.”
With that, I closed the space between our lips and gave her a soft kiss. I wasn’t worried about having a baby at such a young age, because Sophia was the girl for me. And I knew with no doubt that I was her man and we had the support that we needed from our parents. What could possibly go wrong?
Nothing!