Sophia sat down and dabbed the last blood from James' face. "Sorry you have to face that, Daniel can be such a bully," Sophia said softly. James was getting awkward around Sophia, so the only reaction he could muster was to smile.
"What did Daniel mean when he said that this should not sever your friendship with him?" James asked curiously. Sophia dropped her smile and appeared uninterested. "Nope, he's not my friend at all, at least that was what he thought. My father once helped his father to build a company when he went bankrupt, so his father became forever grateful for him.
, and so he urges his children to befriend each other, hoping this would continue the "relationship" of the two families.
James was astounded by the information. He stared at Sophia and raised his brows "No wonder he respects you a lot." Sophia smiled and dropped the bloody handkerchief to the nearby bin.
"So tell me about your family," Sophia said, grabbing her chair closer to James. "Are you going to eat here for the rest of the break?" James wondered. "Yup, why not? It's still a table anyway, besides, what is better than sitting with the most intelligent person I know?" Sophia said.
James shivered at the compliment, making Sophia laugh the more. This was the thing he wanted to avoid telling others, he does not like telling anyone that his parents had died, so he stared at Sophia and hesitated.
Sophia noticed this and her face fell in disappointment. "If you did not want to say anything, never mind okay?" Sophia said and prepared to leave. "No Sophia, that's not what I meant. I—I urgh my parent died a few months ago, that's why", James finally said.
Sophia's eyes widened and she covered her mouth. "Oh, him so so sorry for that. I did not know that-I I'm sorry that— ". Sophia was still talking when James touched her shoulders. "Don't be sorry Sophia, I've gotten used to it anyway."
Sophia then became awkward. She didn't know what to tell James anymore, but thankfully, James continued the conversation. "I lived in England all my life, it was after the tragic incident, that I finally moved to Boston to stay with my mom's sister…."
Sophia and James continued chatting till the bell rang, ending the break. James then sat up with Sophia and packed his plate. "Well James, I genuinely enjoyed my time with you, I hope we do this next time," Sophia said and smiled at James, before exiting the cafeteria for the next class.
That girl does smile a lot.
James might not admit it, but he also enjoyed talking to Sophia. He has not talked to this length with his classmate in forever, and now he had a taste of it, he wanted more of it, so he looked forward to next time.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Throughout the rest of the class, James could not stop thinking about Sophia, and more than ten times, he glanced at her over her seat, thinking about the conversations they had. He hoped they could talk again, but unfortunately, the time did not come.
After the bell rang indicating closing time, James attempted to approach Sophia, but Sophia was on her smartphone calling someone that appeared to be her dad. Then she quickly placed her books in her backpack before scurrying out of the class.
James wondered why she was in a rush, so he gently placed the tablet in his bag and zipped it close. Just as he was about to exit his class, someone bumped into him, nearly causing him to fall, so he looked back at who it was, and it was none other than Daniel.
"Oh, I'm sorry for bumping you James, are you hurt? Did you break your shoulder?" he asked mockingly while making sure Sophia was not around them, before changing his demeanour.
"Let me get this straight to your stupid head. Just because Sophia talked to you doesn't make you friends at all. Sophia has a lot in her book, and that involved going to luxurious occasions and attending charity events. So, don't think she would have time to befriend a loser like you" Daniel said, showing his teeth, before leaving.
James stared at Daniel leave the class before leaving himself. He then exited the school's premises and headed to the parking lot.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
For the third time, James glanced at the road, but he did not see any sign of Martha's Jeep, so he decided to wait a little longer, so he found a place to sit and waited for her to come to pick him up, meanwhile, he wanted to kill time by challenging his mind by solving a lot of maths with his tablet.
Two hours passed, and Martha's Jeep is yet to be seen. James began to worry, he checked the time on his tablet, which read 5:15 pm. 'What is keeping Aunt Martha' he wondered. He looked back at the school's building, it was as empty as a graveyard. The gate was already closed about an hour ago.
James did not have money to take a cab, and the distance to the estate was very wide. James decided to wait a little longer, hoping that Martha picks him up before it got dark.
Thirty minutes trickled by, and still no sign of Martha, and James was already tired of seating, so he decided to bite the bullet and trek home. "Why did Martha refuse to pick me up, did something happen to aunty?" James asked confused. He genuinely hoped they were fine.
It became dark, and the streetlights automatically turned on, and James was yet to see the estate. It was starting to get silent and creepy. He looked around and realized he was alone in the road, except for some scarcely passing cars. He was already getting exhausted, so he sipped the last water from the water bottle he had on his backpack.
His legs were unable to carry him anymore, and he was already getting drowsy. "Aunt Martha, where are you?" James groaned softly, before collapsing to the ground. He laid there on the floor for a few minutes, till a bright light that was approaching him temporarily woke him up. He got up shakily and glanced at the truck passing by.
The truck driver, upon seeing James' exhausted state, could not help but stop the truck. "Hey there young lad, what are you doing by this time of the night? Do you wanna get yourself killed? Come on, hop in". James moved his exhausted body and climbed the truck, before slumping onto the chair.
"Thank you, sir, I appreciate," James said with all his strength, before closing his eyes and snoring away almost instantly.