16 | 𝒢𝑒𝓃𝒾𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝐵❀𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒

Sophia's POV

I came out of the bathroom with a towel around me, skimming through the clothes in my closet. When I saw my grey jogging and crop top, I knew it was perfect for today. A Sunday, no party and no seeing people we knew. Hopefully not, at least. I bought this when I went shopping with Liv a few months ago, when I hadn't moved here yet. She told me to buy it because it looked 'hot' on me, but also comfortable. I only went with it because of the latter, plus I really liked the simple and basic vibe it gave off. Perfect for the weekend, I thought, looking myself over, pretty satisfied.

"Hey, I recognise that! It's the outfit we bought together," she remarked, observing my clothes. I bobbed my head excitedly. She remembers!

I sat down on my bed next to her. She had already, in the time that I picked out my clothes and brushed my teeth, taken a shower.

"It's so sad, you're already leaving today," I sighed gloomily when I looked over at Liv. She nodded her head in agreement.

"I know. But at least we still have a few hours before I go, so let's make the best of it, yeah?" she said, nudging me softly with a grin on her face. Liv has packed all her clothes and stuff into her bag again, so that when it was time, she was all ready to leave.

"Okay, where do you want to go?" she asked me. I shook my head, interrupting her.

"No, no, no. This is your last day here, you get to choose," I told her sincerely. I wanted her to enjoy her last few hours here, and I didn't mind going anywhere she wanted to go. "For today, I will be your genie in a bottle. What is your first wish?" I joked. She chuckled and thought about my question.

"Is there a cafe around here? Because I'd love to see more of the town and wouldn't mind a cup of coffee." I smiled at her request, remembering a cute, little cafe I saw once while taking a walk outside.

"Your wish is my command," I opened the front door for her and she walked through it.

"Such a gentleman," spoke Liv, smirking playfully at me. "Just like Grayson seemed last night," she added in a barely audible tone under her breath, but I caught up.

"Hey! I heard that," I said, giggling.

"Well, it's true, isn't it? All those things he told you while you were dancing," she commented. I know she's right! But I was too stubborn to comply.

"Plus, he was the one that searched me up and told me to bring you home. He even offered you a ride, for if I was still having fun, but I told him it was okay, since I only had one drink and was still sober," Liv remarked.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that? He saw that I was getting tired and suggested he'd bring us back, but Liv convinced him that she was still able to drive.

Instead of responding, I kept quiet. I didn't want to remind myself of that night. He probably regretted it all, maybe he didn't even see that it was me who he was talking to. I stepped inside the car, sitting shotgun since I don't have my driving's license yet. I gave her the directions while she drove.

The music was loud and our windows were rolled down, letting the sun rays hit my face when I put my head out of the window. It felt like a dream, like it was still vacation. The wind blowing through my hair and the sound of Liv shouting the lyrics to a song.

"I wish this moment would last forever," I whispered to myself. I was going to miss Liv so bad when she leaves. Who's going to give me advice on what to do or say when I see Grayson? Who will bake brownies with me? Who will I watch sad, romantic movies with?

I hadn't noticed that we've already arrived, only when she cut off the engine and muted the radio. We both climbed out and she locked it safely. I suddenly felt self-conscious about my tummy sticking out of my crop, but thought back on Liv's words.

"You are beautiful. Everything about you is beautiful, and the only people who will stare you off or give you looks are 100% envious of you. I mean, look at you, you're so sweet and caring, and you look like some sort of Goddess! It's all jealousy, because there is nothing else to gossip about." Those were the words she always repeated to me when I felt insecure about my body.

She always knew how to make me feel better about myself, I was very thankful for that. But it couldn't be that people envied me the same way I envied and respected other women. Although I could only alleviate the feeling, I forced my hands from covering up my belly to my sides and held my head up higher, straightening my back.

The cafe we went to looked exactly the same as I remembered it, and I knew that Liv was going to love it. It had this vintage look and the interior was decorated with antiques and photographs on the walls and counters. There was a classic instrumental music playing in the background, which made everything seem so undisturbed and peaceful.

A female waiter pointed us towards a clean table and gave us our menus. Liv chose a Frappé.

"A small strawberry milkshake please," I said kindly. She smiled and wrote it down in a little notebook that matched the cafe's theme.

While we waited patiently for our orders, we chatted and laughed happily. I really wasn't going to forget this moment, I thought. This is gonna be stored with the rest of my millions of favourite memories with Liv.

When nobody was looking, we quickly took two adorable pictures with her Polaroid camera. One for me and the other for her. At home, in my old town, I kept all the hundreds of pictures me and Liv and my other friends had taken together in a box under my bed, but when we moved here, I pasted all of them on my wall. So that every night when I went to sleep and every morning I woke up, I could see and think of all those memories back again.

"Now we'll never forget this beautiful moment," she said, satisfied. I giggled, voicing her thoughts in my own mind.

When our drinks were finally being served, it wasn't the same woman who brought it to us, it wasn't even a female at all. A man with blonde hair came forward and placed the drinks in front of us. "Here you go," he said, then repeated the orders to make sure he gave us the correct ones.

"Yes, thank you," me and Liv said in unison. He let out a breathy laugh and grinned at us.

"I just want to say that you both are absolutely stunning," he complimented politely, appearing a bit more nervous than before.

"Thank you, that's very generous," I told him, trying to calm his nerves. I succeeded when he smiled back, puffing his chest out a little. I was surprised by the out of the blue comment, but appreciated it dearly. It certainly does make me feel better.

Liv gave him a quick cheeky grin, possibly giving him a hint that she wasn't interested - she was kind of in a 'relationship' already. I think he took the hint, because after he asked us if that would be all, he gave me the receipt, but not before scribbling something on it.

I paid for our drinks before Liv could, because I knew she wasn't going to let me, even if I insisted. He took the money and was going to stick his hand into his pocket but I stopped him. "Keep the change," I said. "The milkshake is absolutely delicious, way better than at home." I referred to my old town, and it's true. I took a taste of my milkshake and they were much more flavoursome here. Plus, they were home-made.

"Thank you," he said. "I'll tell the manager that." And he turned around, leaving us alone again. He looked over his shoulder one last time and gave me a not-so-discreet wink, then turned around the corner and was out of sight.

We decided on purchasing take-away drinks as we still wanted to explore the rest of the town, even I hadn't done a lot of exploring while being here, only the parts close to school and the house.

"He was so flirting you," Liv teased as we walked out of the double doors.

I shook my head, taking another sip. "No," I laughed again.

"He literally winked at you!" she almost shouted. We talking rather loudly and didn't witness the little crowd that was listening to our chit-chat.

I hummed in descent. "Nope. You just need glasses, I think your starting to see things." I wasn't giving in.

"He gave you the receipt with his number on it!" she giggled in disbelief of my persistence. "Why won't you just accept it?" she asked me.

"Because it's not true, okay? Why would he give me his number?" I raised my brows at her, the ghost of a grin still on my face.

"Am I seriously going to have to give you a pep-talk again on how-"

"Okay, okay, yeah. He may have given it to me," I mumbled, shoving her lightly. She chuckled when she realised she won this round.

"But where do you wish to go now?" I knee-bowed in front of her jokingly.

"To the beach!" she said excitedly. I bobbed my head up and down, pleased with her reply.

"Can I drive?" I asked her shyly. She scanned my face, trying to find any clue of non-seriousness, but found none.

"Are you insane? If you'll drive us I might as well jump off a cliff right now!" she yelled at me, throwing her arms up and laughing loudly. I gasped in mock pain.

"My driving skills are not that bad!" I came back.

"Sure, Sophia, sure..." That's when I stole the car keys out of her grip and ran away with them.

"Sophia, you will get us killed if you drive!" She hasn't stopped giggling as she sprinted right after me. I jumped into the car's window she forgot open and struggled through it. It wasn't entirely rolled down, so I was almost stuck, but eventually got in. Just in time, actually, as Liv came racing to the car, just a second too late.

A few strings of hair had fallen out of my messy bun when we were running and my face was a little red from all the laughing as well. She shook her head but with a grin on her face. I switched places while she was standing outside, I definitely wasn't going to drive. She wasn't kidding when she told me I'd probably get us both killed.

She got in the driver's side when I unlocked the door from inside and gave her back the keys. Only then had I noticed the four boys leaning against a car in the parking lot. More specifically, the four boys; Anderson, Jacob, Kyle and Grayson.

My mouth fell open and my eyes were wide. Liv hasn't seen them yet as she was busy struggling with her seat belt. Oh no...did they witness all that? Yup, they surely did. I could tell by the slight hint of entertainment in Anderson's face. I've never seen him without a cold expression on his face before. Damn, we must have been hilarious to watch. Especially me jumping through the car window!

Kyle and Jacob both had smug looks on their faces, clearly finding this amusing. But Grayson, I don't know, there was something off about him. He was wearing his signature smirk, but it slowly cleared off of him when we made eye contact. He looked almost pissed off, but why?

"You ready?" Liv asked me, interjecting with my thoughts. I glanced over at her and nodded my head. She evidently still hasn't noticed the boys' presence, and I wasn't going to tell her, she might get out of the car and go talk to them.

She reversed out the parking we were in and made a U-turn. I looked over out of the back-window, seeing all of them facing our direction. I brusquely turned around and put on the radio again, hoping to think of something else quickly.

Don't worry, Sophia. They'll forget about it in a minute, I told myself. But a part of me knew that wasn't true.

I might just have to brainwash them all...