Page 22 of Perfect Enough

Wiping the tears in the corners of my eyes, I drew a deep breath. There was something about Sophia that was so refreshing. Maybe it was because she didn’t expect anything from me, and I didn’t expect anything from her.

Sophia: I have a confession to make.

Me: I’m listening.

Sophia: I googled you today. *Runs and covers my head with my pillow, embarrassed*

Me: Why in the world did you google me? And what in the world came up?

Sophia: You can’t hear my deep sigh, but I gave one. My mother and Chloe asked what you looked like, and I had no idea. So, I told them I had to answer an emergency email and out of desperation… I googled you.

Me: That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Soph.

Sophia: You’re very handsome, Josh. And it looks like you do a lot of charity work. I think that’s wonderful.

I stared at her last text. I felt like there was something on the tip of my tongue, dying to come out, but I wasn’t sure what it was. The fact that she’d googled my name really didn’t bother me. But I suddenly had a thought.

Me: If I google you, what will happen?

The bubble appeared, disappeared, and then showed up again.

Sophia: I just googled myself. There’s a rather old picture of me from when I won a dance competition, and the image of me from our dance studio website pulls up.

Me: *Runs to google Sophia Montgomery*

Sophia: LOL!

I grabbed my laptop from the coffee table and typed in her name—and froze. The first item that came up wasn’t about her dance competitionorthe dance studio. It was an article about her father’s death. I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.

“Fuck,” I whispered as I clicked on the article. It was heartbreaking, and I suddenly wanted to hold Sophia in my arms.

Sophia: ?? I thought I liked the picture of me on our website, but now you’ve got me second-guessing it.

Quickly looking at the images, I felt the air leave my lungs. There was my Sophia, with a big, beautiful smile that would melt any heart, and large, soulful brown eyes that seemed to sparkle, yet also held a hint of sadness. They seemed to look right into me. Her hair was a shiny darker brown, and she had it pulled up into a sleek bun.

“She’s beautiful.”

Sophia: Umm…Josh?

Me: Soph…you’re gorgeous. And from what I can tell in that picture, you have hauntingly beautiful eyes.

Sophia: Your silence worried me.

Me: I’m sorry, I was totally caught off guard by your photo and had to stare at it for a bit.

She sent me a GIF that said, “Oh, shut up!”

Sophia: Who won at Putt-Putt today?

Me: My cousin Nathan. I’m sure it’ll be a while before he lets me live it down.

Sophia: Goodness, you take your Putt-Putt very seriously.

Me: You have no idea how seriously this family takes games.

Sophia: I better let you go. I need to catch up on the invoices we send to the parents each month. Thank you again for letting me use you as a fake boyfriend.

Me: You’re welcome. Enjoy the rest of your evening.