SOPHIA

My eyes opened as the first rays of sunlight flooded into my bedroom and I groaned when I looked over at my alarm clock and saw an ungodly early time blinking back at me. I threw my blanket over my head to hide from the light and attempt to go back to sleep but the nerves knotting my stomach were relentless. I was never going to get back to sleep when I already knew what today had in store for me. 

My date with Damon yesterday went really well. I enjoyed it more than I wanted to and that made my feelings for Damon real and final. When he dropped me off last night we decided that today we would tell everyone at school the truth about us. 

It terrified me, but I was willing to do it for Damon. It seemed like I would do a lot for him these days.

How had that happened? How had he become so important to me? Not that I minded, I wouldn't want it any other way if Damon couldn't be in my life.

Eventually after multiple failed attempts to fall back asleep, I got up and ready for the day. I tried to take my time to distract from the nerves but that didn't work well and soon I was downstairs and ready to go. 

I fidgeted with the end of my shirt as I anxiously waited for Damon to pick me up, and decided to look myself over one more time to make sure I looked okay.

I turned to the mirror beside the coat closet and studied my outfit. The oversized baby blue jumper and white tennis skirt was on the girlier side, but I paired it with white sneakers to make it a bit more casual. It was one of my favourite outfits and I made sure to wear it today so less people had a reason to say I wasn't pretty enough for Damon.

I always felt more confident in an outfit like the one I was currently wearing and I needed all the confidence I could muster up today. I knew some people would hate me for being with Damon. They would probably say I wasn't good enough for him, and maybe I wasn't, but I chose to believe I was.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm my nerves, and it worked pretty well until I heard a knock at my front door.

My heart was racing as I opened the door and saw Damon waiting on the other side.

"Hey gorgeous." He greeted as his eyes glided up and down my body.

"Hi." I muttered back, not able to think of a witty comeback with all the nerves clouding my mind.

"Ready to go?" He asked, gesturing towards his car.

I nodded and locked my front door behind us before getting into his car.

On the way to school Damon tried to make small talk but I wasn't really in the mood, so I kept giving him one word answers.

Once Damon parked his car and cut the engine he turned to face me.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerns written all over his face.

"Just nervous I guess." I replied vaguely.

"About telling everyone what's going on between us?" He guessed, and there was a hint of hurt in his voice.

"What if everyone hates me or doesn't think I'm good enough for you?" I explained, finally saying what was on my mind.

"That's not gonna happen, everyone loves you. If anything, I'm not good enough for you." He told me, reaching over to give my hand a reassuring squeeze.

"You're right, I'm way too good for you." I teased, a grin spreading across my face. I was finally feeling more at ease. Why should I care about what everyone else thinks anyway?

"Now let's get this show on the road." He said as he stepped out of the car. He even hurried over to my side to opened the door for me.

"Let's do this." I muttered to myself, taking Damon's outstretched hand.

We were walking through the parking lot to the front entrance of the school, hand in hand, and everyone was staring. Like literally everyone.

I was used to having the school's attention but never have I ever had everyone's eyes on me at the same time. It was terrifying.

Damon noticed how nervous I was becoming again and squeezed my hand, silently telling me that everything would be okay.

Along with the shocked stares we got, everyone was completely silent with either a smirk or scowl on their face. The latter coming mostly from girls.

Two very different expression, from two very different kinds of people. The ones that looked shocked and smug were people that I knew liked me, and the scowls all came from people I'd seen fawn over Damon.

I felt like my life was suddenly some t.v. drama show.

Once we were inside the school everyone parted to either side of the hallway, making room for us.
They were a thing like we were royalty or something. What was wrong with everyone? We were just normal people like everyone else, no better or worse than any of them.

In my attempt to ignore everyone around us I didn't even realize we were at my first class until the door opened and people starting filing into the room.

"Well since they already think we're dating, we might as well make it final." Damon said, then leaned over and kissed me. And it wasn't just a quick peck. It was long and lingering, he was making sure that everyone around us saw.

At least now we didn't have to confirm our relationship status a million times.

"Bye sweetheart." He whispered, smiling down at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Bye Dam Dam." I teased, shooting him a wink.

He scowled at me just as the bell rang, so I playfully blew him a kiss and slid into my classroom.

Everyone was whispering furiously until they noticed me, then it went dead silent.

I huffed out an annoyed sigh and took my seat. Today was going to be a long day.

- - - - - -

Lunch time. That was a whole event on its own in this unusual day.

Damon's table was pushed against mine and now we had this extra large table with a lot of people who'd learnt to hate each other over the years. To say it was awkward would be the understatement of the year.

Damon was sitting next to me, holding my hand under the table which comforted me a little, but I still couldn't handle all the awkwardness.

"So..." I said, trying to break the silence.

The whole cafeteria was silently staring at our table, waiting for something to happen.

"Great weather we're having." Damon said, scratching the back of his neck.

I looked out the big windows on the other said of the cafeteria, the sun from this morning was gone and now it was raining.

"Good one." Candy scoffed.

"Shut up sour patch kid." Damon shot back.

I choked on a laugh and masked it as a cough so Candy didn't get even more angry, but Damon saw right through my coverup and winked at me.

"So you guys are dating?" Alex, Damon's best friend blurted out. That question was bound to come at some point. 

Damon looked at me and nodded. He wanted me to tell everyone.

"Yes, we're dating." I said loudly and confidently, surprising myself.

I looked at Damon and he had a big goofy grin on his face. My heart warmed at his expression, he looked like a little boy who just got exactly what he wanted for Christmas.

Candy abruptly shot up from her chair and stomped out of the cafeteria.

"What's her problem?" I asked to no one in particular.

"She's obsessed with Damon." Alex replied.

Damon just rolled his eyes and squeezed my hand.

"So she's jealous?" I asked rhetorically.

"Yeah, pretty much." Garrett said, speaking up for the first time since lunch started.

"I feel like there will be a lot of that going around for a while." I said quietly so only Damon could hear.

"Don't worry about it." He told me.

I nodded and a few minutes later the bell rang.

I walked to my next class with Damon and Alex, and to my surprise Alex was in the class.

I sat down at the back with him, keeping my head down so I couldn't see everyone staring, but I could still feel eyes on me. 

Usually I liked sitting in the middle of the room but the back was now my safe haven. It prevented people from throwing things at me and talking about me, literally, behind my back. I know I was being dramatic but I was scared Damon's little fan club would do something to make my life a living hell, so I was being extra careful.

Half of me was regretting telling everyone about my relationship, but the other half didn't regret a thing because it made him so happy. And it was nice to not lie and keep secrets from everyone. 

"So how long have you and Damon been dating?" Alex asked once our teacher started drowning on about today's lesson. 

"Not long, we've only been on two dates." I answered as I pulled out some paper to doodle on.

"It's so weird seeing you two together and happy with each other." He muttered.

I nodded in agreement, "It was really strange at first but once we got over our differences we really enjoyed each others company." I told him as I scribbled tornados on my paper.

Alex nodded in understandings, "I think it's really cool that he's finally found a girl that he cares about. We all started to think he was into guys."

I choked back a surprised laugh. "Why would you think that?" 

"He never had girlfriends, he never took girls on a dates, he never had one night stands." Alex explained.

His words stunned me. Damon might actually really like me if what Alex said was true.

"Anyway, we should hang out. You, me, Damon, Garrett. So we can get along more, you know?" Alex suggested, changing the subject.

I guess that makes sense, Damon's group and my group were enemies just like Damon and I were, so the four of us hanging out and bonding was a good idea. 

"That's a great idea. You talk to Damon and I'll talk to Garrett and we'll set a time and place." I replied.

"Sounds like a plan." Alex said and then we both actually payed attention for the rest of class.

After that the day passed mercifully fast. The stares and glares were already dying down a little, or I was just getting used to them, but either way the day was getting easier as time went on. 

I was standing at my locker, stuffing all the things I didn't need to bring home inside it, when I suddenly felt someone behind me. Just as I was about to turn around to see who it was they put their hands over my eyes.

"Guess who?" An all too familiar voice said.

"Channing Tatum?" I guessed hopefully, even though I knew exactly who it was.

"Um, no." He muttered, sounding the slightest bit offended.

"Well in that case, I don't want to know who you are." I teased and lifted his hands away from my eyes.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and spun me around to face him.

"You wound me greatly." Damon said in a dramatically hurt voice.

"I try." I said with a proud shrug.

"You must be punished for your behaviour." He told me, his eyes darkening ever so slightly.

"I look forward to it." I whispered back, pecking him on the lips before sliding out of his grip and closing my locker.

"You're such a tease." He groaned, taking my hand as we made our way out of the school.

"So I got a text from Alex." He said one we were in his car and on our way home.

"Did you now?" I replied, knowing exactly where this was going.

"He said you guys were talking about all of us hanging out." He told me what I already knew.

"Yeah, Alex wants you, me, Garrett, and him to hang out since we're all one group now and we should all try get along."

Damon nodded, "It's a good idea."

"Now all I have to do is call Garrett and see if he's on board with this." I muttered, hoping I would actually remember to call him. 

"Sounds good." He said, reaching over to rest his hand on my thigh.

I smiled at the simple gesture that felt so natural. It was crazy to think that I once hated Damon with a fiery passion and would've been absolutely disgusted by his touch. Everything was so different now.

Before I could think too much about our complicated past we were home and Damon was walking me to my front door.

"So when do I get my third date with you?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes as I unlocked the door, "When did I agree to a third date?"

"You know you want to go out with me again." He stated cockily.

"Well maybe if you asked me out properly." I teased.

Damon sighed,  got down on one knee, and looked deeply into my eyes,  "Will you, Sophia Mackenzie, do me the honour of going out on a third date with me?" He asked, taking my hand in his.

"No." I said bluntly, and his eyes widened in disbelief, almost looking like a cartoon character.

"What!" He exclaimed rising from his knelt position.

I laughed, "I'm kidding. I'd love to go on a third date with you."

"You're lucky you're cute or else I would've taken back my third date proposal for pulling a prank like that on me." He teased. 

I rolled my eyes, confident that he wouldn't take back his third date proposal for any reason. But as an apology I raised to my tippy toes and gave him a lingering kiss. 

After that we went our separate ways, and once I closed the door behind me I realized what I'd just agreed to. I was going on a third date with Damon. I'd never been on a third date with anyone before.