Blind Love Ch 02 2

Two weeks had passed since that fateful day at the movies, and the situation between Daniel and Sophie had not improved; in fact, it had gotten worse. Their usually easy-going friendship had become awkward, and though he couldn't be certain, Daniel got the distinct impression that Sophie was avoiding him. Daniel didn't want to scare her off, but he didn't want to miss this opportunity either, so he resolved to take matters into his own hands.

He knew that Friday afternoons were the one day of the week that Sophie didn't have some activity to run off to immediately, so he figured this would be as good a time as any to bring it up. If she wouldn't talk about it, he would. Today, after the last bell, he would broach the subject and try his damndest to make Sophie admit that she had also felt the wonderfully startling electricity that had passed between them.

Of course, with such an important mission at hand, the day crawled by at a painfully slow pace. Daniel could barely focus on the drone of his calculus teacher's voice, preoccupied as he was with the far more important task of rehearsing exactly what he would say to Sophie in his head. He envisioned the scene over again and again - they would talk, she would admit her true feelings, and then he would lean in and kiss her, a slow, tender kiss that would gradually grow more and more passionate as their mutual attraction exploded...the long-awaited bell rang, jolting him back to reality.

Daniel practically leapt out of his seat, making a beeline for his locker, and, taking as long as he possibly could to get his books out, waited to catch Sophie's voice. Finally, he heard it: the sweet voice with its slightly musical lilt reached his ears, causing his stomach to do flip-flops. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. C'mon. You can do this. She's beautiful, but you'll never know if she'll be yours until you ask her. Taking one last breath, he shut his locker door resolutely, and made his way down the hall, counting the fifteen lockers that separated his from Sophie's.

She didn't say anything, so he assumed she hadn't noticed his presence. He tapped her locker door lightly.

"Soph?"

"Daniel! What's up?" Her voice sounded slightly strained.

"Not much. I was wondering if we could talk, if you're not busy?"

"Sure, I've got twenty minutes before choir practice. What's on your mind?"

Ok, she seemed warmer now, more receptive to hearing him out. That could only be a good thing, right? He took another deep breath, trying desperately to muster up all the confidence he possessed.

"Well, remember that day when we were all at the movies together?"

"Yeah. What about it?" The happiness had gone from her voice, replaced by a brusque, almost harsh tone.

Daniel felt his heart sink. Still, he had to persevere, so he forced himself to go on. "Well, I just wanted to say..."

He was cut off by the sound of footsteps approaching behind him, and Sophie calling out cheerfully, "Mike!" He could hear the happiness in her voice, and it tore at him that Mike was worthy enough to make her happy and he wasn't. It tore at Sophie too; she felt like an absolute bitch, but she had to nip this fantasy of Daniel's in the bud. Ok, so if she was completely honest with herself, it was her fantasy too - the memory of how it had felt when she had grabbed his arm made her flush with heat from head to toe, causing a delicious ache between her thighs each time she remembered it - but that didn't matter. You didn't trade on a solid friendship for a few mind-blowing orgasms.

Mike came to a stop in front of Sophie and Daniel.

"Hey Sophie," he said, flashing her his trademark dimpled grin.

Sophie smiled back, her expression the perfect mix of coy and flirtatious, flipping her long, chocolate brown hair over her shoulder for added effect.

"What's up?" she asked.

"My parents are out of town this weekend, so I'm throwing a party at my place tonight. You want to come?"

"Sure!" she exclaimed, momentarily forgetting how awful she felt about Daniel.

"You can come too man," Mike added, directing the comment at Daniel.

"What? Oh. Thanks," he said, half-heartedly. He had been lost in thought, berating himself for even daring to hope that he stood a chance with Sophie.

"Anyways, I've gotta go set up, but I'll see you tonight," said Mike, giving Sophie a grin and a wink, making her heart skip a beat as he walked off.

As soon as he was out of earshot, she started squealing with excitement.

"Ohmigod! I cannot believe it! I've had like, the hugest crush on him forever, and he just asked me to his party. Ohmigod. Daniel, aren't you happy for me?" she asked, affecting an injured tone.

"Oh yeah Soph, thrilled," he replied dryly, but she was too busy celebrating her good luck to notice his complete lack of enthusiasm.

Once she had calmed down, she turned back to Daniel.

"So, you wanted to talk to me about something?" she asked, as casually as possible.

"Oh. It's not important, forget about it."

With that, he turned and walked away, wanting to get away from Sophie before he completely broke down and made himself look even more pathetic. Sophie watched him leave, her heart heavy in her chest. She wanted so badly to call out to him, to tell him to come back so that they could sit down and talk, even if it went against all the rationalizing she'd been doing to make herself feel better all week. If she was doing the right thing for both of them, why did it make her feel like scum? This line of thinking seemed dangerous, so she quickly squashed all feelings of guilt, focusing instead on her date tonight with Mike.

Packing up her bag quickly, she made the impulsive decision to skip choir practice. Even though it was highly out of character for her to even consider skipping an extra-curricular activity, she justified it by telling herself that she needed all the time she could spare to get ready. Tonight, she wanted to look hot enough to blow Mike's mind.