𝓪𝓶𝓲

manon twists her head towards daniela a few seconds after the joke has pretty much passed, face contorting into a look of amusement as she finally gets the joke. "no way yoonchae, of all people, sent that?"

the curly-haired girl shrugs. "you're the one who saw it first, check again."

she does just that.

and there it is, the last text sent in the group chat and the one with the most reactions manon thinks she's ever seen in the thread.

sophia tunes out their antics, not particularly fond of the conversation topic being football right now. yoonchae was right about having bigger things to worry about besides some egotistical football player, because this brand deal with levi's? it's by far the biggest thing that's happened to her since she got her first payment from the podcast.

she's never been money-hungry, never been the type of girl who'd do anything for it. no, if she was going to make money, she was going to make it doing something she loved. and apparently talking down about football players is something that comes to her like first nature, something she enjoys.

so when her podcast really took off, it meant more to her than words could express. then she started showing up as a big name in the media, praised for being so in-touch with the reality of football... and then it took a left turn, swerved onto the street of endless hatred and dick-riding fans calling her out on her alleged "bullshit."

everything stopped after the second year, the second season she'd launched for sideline sessions.

one in the music industry might've called it sophomore slump, but it was so much deeper to her than just some stupid title the media had made up and slapped onto the very first thing she ever truly enjoyed.

nothing really came of her podcast after that. of course the people who listened to the podcast frequently were still there supporting her and backing her up after every episode launched, but the hate drowned out those small appreciative voices. in short, her life was flipped upside down.

but then the chargers started really sucking at what they do and suddenly her podcast was slowly rising to the top.

that was two years ago.

now sideline sessions has been named one of the biggest football podcasts in california, and levi's is the first brand that has reached out to her offering a deal in three years, completely aid in full. the entry of course, the outfit, the plus-one, the food and drink expenses, it's all paid. she just has to go to the party, have a good time, maybe catch a ride to an after party, go home and rest happy knowing she's getting paid.

things are finally starting to look up for her and the only thing that's holding her back from basking in her victory is a football player she never even wanted to see her podcast or pay it any attention at all.

albeit recently, you have been making that really hard for her.

which is why she wants to hear about anything other than football while she's preparing for a launch party that may lead to her career's biggest comeback.

"oh, oh she sent another one, look at this," daniela exclaims this time, crawling over the bed to show manon. "kicking in three to hopefully get on sophia's good—"

"can you two st—not?"

the two girls go quiet, exchanging a knowing glance and slowly slipping back into their earlier spots.

manon whistles quietly, unlocking her phone and opening the group chat.

manon soph is mad... beware 🙁🙁

lara how did u guys piss her off this time???

daniela just

daniela no football talk when u come in

sophia sighs.

there's no way these girls are seriously talking about her in a group chat that she created.

"you do know that i can see your messages, right guys?" sophia calls quietly, not looking away from the mirror as she carefully shaves down her brow.

manon jumps.

daniela winces, cheeks blooming pink in embarrassment.

the older girl clears her throat. "oh yeah, no, we totally knew... yeah, we knew that."

sophia just shakes her head, scoffing quietly and setting down the little razor. a small laugh bubbles up in the back of her throat, lips threatening to curl upwards in the faintest hint of a smile that she knows the girls will crack if they see.

unfortunately for her, manon's already vibrating with barely contained laughter of her own, the entire bed practically shaking.

daniela's reaction is no better, because as soon as she hears manon squeal quietly, she's already gripping the edge of the bench and cackling like a hyena.

their contagious laughs almost break sophia out into one of her own, but—

ding.

ding, ding, ding.

knock-knock-knock-knock, knock-knock.

all three of the girls in the bedroom perk up, a different sense of amusement buzzing through their veins at the sound.

sophia simply rolls her eyes at the endless pressing of her doorbell and even continuous code-knock they came up with. almost as if she's in sync with her friends, she slides off her chair and follows their running footsteps into the main room.

before sophia can even make it to the door, the door slams open and megan bursts through the frame.

"wait, i miscalculated—!"

thud.

megan hits the floor with an oof as she hits the hardwood, sliding on the floor until the carpet in the living room eventually slows her to a complete stop.

she lay there for a minute, face in the floor, limbs spread like a body at a crime scene, and tries evening out her breath. a second later, lara and yoonchae step in, walking aside to let sophia shut the door.

lara crosses her arms over her chest, sporting a smug smirk. "wildly."

"yeah," the younger girl mumbles, voice muffled in the carpet before she rolls onto her side and flops onto her back. "yeah, i think i wildly miscalculated how long they'd take to open the front door."

yoonchae giggles.

manon and daniela hesitantly walk over and help her up, grabbing each hand and hauling her onto her feet.

megan pats their shoulders gratefully, smiling softly as she glances at the two of them.

"thanks girls," she hums. "i always knew i could count on you two."

"...right," sophia murmurs.

lara hides her smile behind her hand, scrubbing a face over her cheek lightly before patting her thigh and catching everyone's attention.

"bedroom now?"

"i'm about ready," yoonchae agrees.

"please," megan mumbles.

"let's gooo!" manon whoops, and daniela quickly follows her lead and cheers along with her on their way to sophia's room.

"yes everyone," sophia laughs, "all aboard the lunatic train. first stop, loose screw land."

the girls follow behind daniela and manon at sophia's direction, piling into her bedroom without much struggle.

they've all been here time and time before, and her room is the easiest place in this house to find.

sophia claps once, looking around at the five girls currently occupying every available surface in her bedroom.

"okay," she announces. "ground rules."

lara raises her brows, eyes drifting off to the floor, muttering, "already don't like where this is going..."

a sharp glance is shot her way.

the indian girl quickly gives her all of her remaining attention.

"nobody," she pauses, pointing accusingly all around the room, "is allowed to talk about anything other than what we're supposed to be focusing on, which is the event."

silence envelopes the six girls.

megan is the first to raise her hand, teasing.

"what if we're talking about—"

"please don't."

the younger girl furrows her brows in offense. "i wasn't even going to—"

sophia holds up a finger. "you absolutely were."

"i actually wasn't!" megan protests.

"yeah you were," daniela murmurs behind her, immediately looking away once she notices megan turn around and stare at her with an expression filled with betrayal.

"hey, i wasn't!" megan gasps, jabbing a finger in the air towards daniela.

lara laughs beside the pair, tapping manon's shoulder lightly. instantly she catches on, not missing out on the opportunity to contribute in the banter—and the teasing entirely directed at megan.

smoothly, the ghanaian girl steps in their direction. unfortunately for her, she almost trips over yoonchae's shoe.

so much for smooth.

"you kinda looked like you were going to," she says anyway, ignoring her stumble.

megan's eyes widen.

she quickly jumps to her own defense. "how do i look like i'm about to say yn?!" following her words, she throws her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"you have that look on your face," daniela adds.

sophia huffs, feigning annoyance as she pads over to the edge of her bed.

she sits down, watching in silence as yoonchae sneaks off into the walk-in closet and the four other girls continue frying megan. she's fighting a losing battle, like she always is, but that's what sophia finds funny about the girl. sophia loves the determination she has, even in silly situations like this.

daniela and manon love setting her off, as does lara but not as much. lara likes sitting back and watching the fun with sophia most of the time, but she's also never passing the chance to poke fun at megan whenever it's offered.

a few minutes pass of the chaotic noise, and somewhere between daniela calling herself a mind-reader and megan arguing back with a comment that has no direct correlation, yoonchae pops back out from the walk-in closet holding two pairs of heels. they're both nearly identical to one another, the only noticeable difference is the little scuff near the toes of the left pair.

"soph?" yoonchae chirps.

sophia hums in response, fixed on clasping the same bracelet that she was trying to fasten before they got here.

the korean girl shifts her weight, waiting for sophia to look up before stepping closer. "which shoes do you like better?"

she doesn't look up.

instead, she simply replies with, "whichever ones don't make me look like it's my first ever day on earth."

yoonchae huffs loudly, and yet it's still not enough to catch sophia's full attention. even megan is interested in what yoonchae has to say, and she has the attention span of a Holden retriever puppy!

...given she's always paying attention when it comes to yoonchae, but that's still a little concerning.

"so... that doesn't answer my question," she sighs, taking one step closer.

"it answers enough of it."

"it literally doesn't."

a laugh escapes lara as she plops down on the bed next to sophia, watching yoonchae stand half-inside and half-outside of the closet with the two identical pairs of heels.

they're both balances carefully in each hand, and lara mentally applauds her for having such amazing balance.

she lifts the left pair, a black pair with a few dark scuffs.

then she lifts the right pair, the same color—the only noticeable difference is there's no scuffs to be seen on the surface.

"these?" she announces. "or these?"

silence envelopes the room once more.

five pairs of eyes scan back and forth between the shoes. within seconds, lara lifts a hand and points confidently toward the pair in yoonchae's right hand.

"those," she nods.

almost as if on cue, daniela shakes her head.

she steps closer. "nope."

lara quirks a brow. "what do you mean 'nope?'"

"i mean no, absolutely not."

"they're prettier, and they have no imperfections that are noticeable at first sight," lara argues, sitting up a little straighter now.

daniela rolls her eyes. "it's a style choice. not everything is perfect, you know."

lara doesn't back down.

"they would ruin the entire outfit."

"you haven't even seen it, lara!" megan finally adds, standing behind daniela despite her earlier teasing.

the indian girl goes silent after that.

as do the rest of the girls, save for yoonchae murmuring quietly and listing off the pros and cons of each shoe choice. they both look pretty sturdy, stable as ever, and they're definitely good enough quality for sophia to have kept them for such a long period of time. in her right hand is the scuffed-up pair, which means it's the most reliable. in her left, there's little to no marks on either shoe of the pair, which means she hasn't worn them much—not compared to the other pair, at least.

yoonchae finds it funny that they can hardly ever agree on things, especially when it comes to clothing. she just didn't think what they'd be arguing about this evening would be a pair of heels, let alone shoes at all. more so, she thought they'd be arguing about a certain someone that sophis mentioned quite a bit in the groupchat yesterday.

speaking—well thinking, really—of that certain someone, the korean girl is still unsure why sophia's so wound up. all the guy did was respond a bit funny, and she immediately took offense to it.

maybe manon and lara's teasing has gotten under her skin and she's really getting tired of hearing his name every where she goes and seeing his face every time she opens her social media. it's a lot to handle, trust her, she knows it's a lot to handle. they're both celebrities—sort of—and yoonchae would definitely lose her mind if she got caught up with some person who tried leeching off her success and high-rising fame.

...all shade intended.

yoonchae doesn't care at all about them though, which is most likely the reason she's not too ticked off by this yn ln guy.

"that one has thinner straps," daniela comments suddenly, pointing at the pair of heels in yoonchae's left hand. "and it looks basically brand new. those are the only real, noticeable differences."

sophia finally looks up, analyzing the two pairs of shoes and trying to spot the difference. and much to lara's dismay, sophia nods in confirmation. she's not too surprised that daniela was the one to catch it, she's always been quite involved in the fashion world. and she's a dancer, always paying the utmost attention to detail.

"they're less stable anyway," sophia hums. "i'm gonna wear the other pair, good ol' reliable."

"and they look way better," megan adds.

not missing a beat, daniela shoots lara a knowing glance. however, before she can raise her hand to smack the girl playfully, the latina steps back and runs to hide behind yoonchae, knowing she won't risk hitting her.

sophia rolls her eyes, waving her hand in the air and silently signaling yoonchae to step out of the crossfire.

when she does, lara immediately lets all hell break loose on daniela. she's already slapping her playfully, grabbing at her arms and trying to bring her down onto the fluffy carpet like they're actively competing in a wrestling tournament right now. sophia and megan laugh, watching in amusement as the two actually come crashing down onto the floor and pretending to really hit each other.

manon smiles wickedly, tip-toeing her way over to the scene before grabbing lara's waist from behind and hauling her up off daniela.

lara shrieks, feet rising from off the floor as manon lifts her up. catching her drift, daniela rises to her feet and starts ticking the girl currently suspended in her best friend's arms, nails digging into her stomach accidentally and only further making the torture worse. yoonchae just stands there, hands still holding the heels that are now hanging loosely at her sides.

"okay, okay, okay!" lara manages through a fit of giggles, kicking her feet and trying to get daniela away. "truce—wait, please!"

daniela glares playfully. "say i'm right."

the ghanaian girl playfully wiggles her fingers around lara's waist, a playful warning.

lara quickly nods. "okay, you're right," she admits, defeated. "fine. you're right, dani, your choice is the right one."

megan nods in agreement, meanwhile sophia and yoonchae exchange a glance that says a lot more than words ever could.

manon finally releases lara, letting her feet touch the floor once again.

daniela nods triumphantly. "thank you."

the room falls silent after that, only the faint buzz of sophia's air conditioning unit and the quiet ring in her ears that never really seems to go away completely. yoonchae eventually tosses the crossed off pair of heels back into the closet before setting down the golden pick. manon leans against the dresser, feet crossed, meanwhile daniela lets herself fall back onto the edge of the bed.

lara finds herself crawling onto the bench at the foot of the bed, legs crossed as she hums quietly to fill the comfortable silence although it doesn't need to be filled. either way, the soft melody seems to make everything feel more... chill, if that was even possible.

and suddenly sophia can't even remember what made her so angry before they all arrived and pushed aside her thoughts. before they came, she might as well have been on track to burn your house down tomorrow morning, but now... now she's relaxed. she just wishes it was like this all the time.

quiet and comfortable in a way only her girls could make it.

everything might just be alright for once.

back ◞ main ◞ next