Summer Love

First Visit

He put his phone away and suddenly heard knocking coming from the front door of his house. His eyes shot up and a feeling of dread came over him. Max was not used to being visited, let alone without his parents. A million thoughts raced through his head about who could be at the door, but one thought remained, "Is it Sophie? How does she even know where I live?"

He gulped in an attempt to swallow his fears and mustered the courage to answer the door. Much to his surprise, it was Sophie, but not the Sophie he was expecting. He eyed her from top to bottom, taking note of her appearance. While her face was recognizable, she was sporting a different outfit altogether; a long yellow blouse with a white ribbon tied into a bow around her neck, a dark navy-blue skirt that reached her ankles and black flats. A light pink sling bag was at her left waist with the strap running across her body and over her right shoulder. Max had only seen Sophie in the school uniform, so he was very dumbfounded. Still, Max could not help but smile when his eyes eventually met with hers.

"What are you smiling at?" Sophie teased.

Max snapped back to his senses, and he shook his head, "O-Oh, um, nothing. You look...nice.".

"Oh, why, thank you!" Sophie exclaimed before continuing, "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Oh, gee, thanks." Max shrugged.

They both stood there in awkward silence before Sophie decided to break the silence, "So, can I come in?"

Max's eyes widened. "Oh! Of course, of course." He nodded his head in quick succession before stepping aside to let Sophie in while holding the door for her.

Sophie curtsied, and Max bowed his head in return. As she began to walk by him, Max suddenly realized she was still wearing her flats. "Wait, you need to take off your shoes before entering," he explained, holding a hand up to gently halt her.

She gasped while covering her mouth. She quickly slipped off her flats and arranged them neatly on the nearby shoe rack. Max gave her a silent thumb-up, and she let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"So, can I come in now?" Sophie asked once more, standing barefoot just outside the door.

Max frantically nodded. He returned his arm to his side, allowing Sophie to enter. As soon as she was inside, Max also stepped in and closed the door behind him. Once they were both inside, they stood in awkward silence, gazing into each other's eyes.

"So, your family takes off their shoes before entering, huh?" She asked in an attempt to alleviate the silence.

Max gave a small, deliberate nod, "Yeah, doesn't yours?"

She sighed as she strolled over to a nearby couch. "No, but I have to admit that this is a cleaner option. I think I'll suggest it to my parents," she commented with a smile. "So, uh, can I sit here?" She asked as she patted on the couch.

"O-Oh, please make yourself at home," he said rather reluctantly.

She eased herself onto the couch, resting comfortably on its sinking surface. "Ooh, this is a nice couch."

Max nodded in agreement. "I'm glad you like it. Would you like some refreshments?" he asked, trying not to think about the couch.

Sophie politely declined his offer by shaking her head, "No, thanks, I already had breakfast at home. What about you? Have you had breakfast yet?"

Max nodded his head, "Yes, I've had breakfast." He made his way to the sofa and plopped down on the seat furthest from her. "So, what now?" Max asked, easing into his seat and returning his hands to his knees.

Sophie reached into her bag and pulled out several items; a pencil case, a rolled-up piece of paper and a notebook. She laid them all out on the coffee table in front of them. Out of curiosity, Max reached for the rolled-up paper, but his hand was met with a sudden smack from Sophie. "Don't touch that." Sophie warned, staring Max dead in his eyes.

He retracted his hand to his chest and caressed the smacked part. "O-Okay, what is all this?" he asked as he continued to caress his hand.

Sophie held up the rolled-up paper. "This is the map to the places we are going to do charity work at," she explained, putting the paper down. She gave the cover of the notebook a few gentle taps. "This is to log the charity work that we will be doing, and all that..." She explained, removing her hand from the notebook before resuming, "... I suggest you get a new one just for this." Lastly, she pointed a finger at the pencil case. "This is to hold my pencils and stuff. I'm sure you have one of your own," she commented with a grin.

Max simply nodded his head to her explanation. "Uh, this is certainly a lot more than I bargained for. Luckily for you, and for me, I already have all that I need."

He snickered upon seeing what she had brought. He grabbed his bag that he had prepared beside the sofa and set it down on the table. “Luckily for you, I also already have all the stuff that I need.”

"Oh, that's cool. What stuff exactly?" She asked, rather curious about Max's belongings. He held up a finger and began taking several items out of the bag, arranging them on the table one by one.

To Sophie's surprise, they were the same things she had brought; a pencil case, a rolled-up piece of paper and a notebook. "Wha...? Max, these are the same as mine, except the pencil case. Is this also a map?" She asked, pointing at the rolled-up paper.

Max nodded. He held down one end of the paper and unrolled it. "Yeah, I actually keep a map of our town because I plan on exploring the whole town one day. I've been waiting for an appropriate time, and perhaps this charity work thing might just be it." He grinned at Sophie.

Upon viewing the map herself, she saw that Max had circled and highlighted a few spots with different colored markers. "Are these all places you want to go to?" She inquired, placing a finger on one of the many circles.

"Oh yeah, definitely." He nodded, taking hold of her hand. Using her finger, he dragged her hand across the various circles and highlights of the map while explaining what each of them meant. "So, I've categorized them depending on the severity of my desire to go. The colors in ascending order are: blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Red means I want to go there the most and blue means a place that I still want to go to, but not as much."

He let go of her hand after he was done. She rested her hands on her lap, lightly rubbing the one that had been dragged. "You know, I've pretty much been to all of these places. If you'd like, I could show you around during or after the charity work."

Max's eyes lit up and he leaned forward towards her. "R-Really?"

"Of course. Consider it my charity in exchange for yours."

Suddenly, Sophie found herself enveloped in Max's arms. She could not help but smile, returning his embrace. They hugged each other for a while until Max eventually released her. Upon realization, he promptly scooted a little further from her, feeling warmth in his chest. "Oh, um, right. Uh, thank you. I would appreciate that." He chuckled nervously, fiddling with his fingers.

"You're welcome." She nodded, returning to her own seat. "Well, we should get started."

"Right, right. So, what are we doing first?" Max asked, looking around.