Chapter 9: Let's (Ice) Dance

It was Friday night. Sophia always had the house to herself on Friday nights. That's usually when she brought her boyfriends home to have sex. Well, she sighed to herself, that hasn't happened yet with Warren. But he was here, with her, watching a movie.

"Had a history quiz today," Sophia said.

"Yeah?"

"I actually studied for it last night."

"Wow."

"And I think I did pretty good."

"Double wow."

"Warren Kelleher, what the fuck have you done to me? Studying. No parties. Sitting in an empty house on a Friday night watching a movie. I'm becoming boring!"

"Not even a little bit are you boring. Don't ever worry about that. You pack more living into one day than most people do in a year. Besides which, I didn't do this to you. You did it to yourself."

"I know, I know. It's just weird. I like Shakespeare, for chrissakes! I'm not supposed to like Shakespeare, I'm supposed to like beer!"

"Which do you truly like better?"

"Shakespeare." Sophia sighed. " I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Before I turned into Wild Woman, I loved to read. I still do, but I never do it as much as I used to. Reading Romeo and Juliet-and I started Taming of the Shrew after I studied last night-reminded me how much I used to like reading. It all came back to me. It was actually pretty cool."

"I want you to know something, Sophia. I think I need to say this. I love you, whatever you do. If you didn't like Shakespeare, I'd still love you. If you told me you didn't want to be together tonight because you were going to a beer and bong bash, I'd still love you. I'd worry more, but I'd still love you."

Sophia laughed. "I think I knew that. But it was nice to hear, anyway. I really do like reading more than partying. I suppose I always did; I just forgot. But I worry about my image, more than I should. Reading Shakespeare and getting good grades just is not done in my crowd."

"Actually, Soph, you do other things that I'd bet aren't done much in your crowd. And that's not even including having a preppie boyfriend."

"OK, what else?" Sophia chuckled.

"I'd bet not many of your friends are Beatlemaniacs. And then there's that whole thing where you know more about baseball than most guys I know."

"True. Those things are, however, easier to hide than good grades."

Warren thought for a minute. "What else did you like to do before you became Party Woman Extraordinaire?"

"This, actually. I loved movies. I like that we watch movies, I've missed it. I actually-you're not going to believe this-played chess. "

"We'll have to play sometime, if you remember. I'm pretty good."

"A preppie? Good at chess? I'm soooooooo surprised."

"You just keep quiet, you."

"I'll have to brush up, so I can kick your butt. What else? I spent more time on the computer than I do now. Oh, and figure skating, of course."

"Figure skating?"

"I never mentioned that? Oh, yeah. Made it to Sectionals as a novice, what, three years ago? Yeah, three years ago."

"What happened?"

"My partner quit, and I never found another one, and then I started the downward slide into the depraved Wild Woman you see before you today." Warren stuck his tongue out at her. "If you're gonna stick that thing out, come over here and put it to good use. Anyway, I was a pretty good skater."

"You said partner. Pairs?"

"Dance."

"Ah. I competed in singles as a novice two years ago. Didn't make it out of regionals, though."