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Speak of the devil, my, oh my
Walkin' with that devilish smile
That's one thing I haven't seen in a while (In a while)
Sophia didn’t intend to go to Megan’s party, she just ended up here.
She had been spending the later part of her semester hermiting away in her apartment (only coming out of her room for food and classes of course). She knows Yoonchae—her roommate—is mildly concerned for the way she lives, but the younger girl doesn’t say anything. The Korean girl does make sure she eats proper meals (that don’t include protein bars and matcha), sleeps at semi-normal times, and makes sure she isn’t dying.
Sophia doesn’t really do anything besides studying anymore—ever since she broke up with her long-term girlfriend, Daniela, five months ago. Call her a loser, but Daniela was the one who made her actually come out of her apartment during weekday nights and weekends.
So it was surprising that she found herself in Megan’s kitchen on a Friday night drinking some mix of juice and alcohol that was handed to her by Lara (who was the one that basically broke into her apartment to drag her here).
Megan had told Lara who had told her that this was a casual party, and that there wouldn’t be that many people.
(Secretly Sophia knew they were lying, but Megan had also been begging her to come for 4 days straight already)
The air around Sophia was stuffy, there was a lingering smell of sweaty bodies and cheap vodka all over the apartment. The Filipina was just about ready to ditch this party and go back to her apartment down the hall—maybe even have a really late movie night with Yoonchae if she’s up for it (if she’s still even awake).
She decides to push herself off the counter she was leaning on—making her way through the living room—to find the exit of the apartment. She almost makes it to the door, when she sees it flung open.
She checks her watch to see that it was already 2am—who else was supposed to show up to Megan’s party?
It wasn’t until she saw those familiar curls and devilish smile. Lo and behold her ex-girlfriend was walking in with confidence like she owned the place. She was accompanied by her best friend, Manon, and had a bottle of cheap wine in her hands.
Sophia hadn’t seen Daniela since they broke up, not even in passing when she was conveniently walking around the part of campus that had the dance department buildings.
As Daniela walked further in, Sophia got a better look at her through the dim living room LED lights. The Latina looked criminally good for 2am. Her curls fell in all the right places, she was wearing a crop top that was showing just the right amount of skin, and she had that sly grin on her face that Sophia grew to love.
She wonders if the break-up affected Daniela as much as it affected her. She wonders if Daniela is still passionate about dumb romcoms and late night dancing. She wonders how Daniela’s been.
A part of Sophia wants to run up to her and talk to her, but the other part of her knows that it's a dangerous idea.
Sophia had met Daniela through Megan (funnily enough), and they hit it off instantly. They walked each other to classes (even if they were on different sides of the campus), snuck away from group hangouts to spend one-on-one time, and went on many coffee date runs together.
Sophia had thought she found her person, Daniela always understood her better than anyone else. From late night talks that mildly revisited old trauma to being able to understand each other without saying a word.
Daniela would always deliver coffee to Sophia when she was buried in her biology textbook at the library. Sophia would always make sure Daniela had a hot meal after a seemingly long dance rehearsal.
They were constantly in each other's orbits, and everyone knew they were perfect for each other.
“Daniela! You made it.” Megan’s yelling over the loud music broke Sophia out of her trace. She didn’t even notice she was staring at Daniela for a little too long.
She watches as the Chinese girl makes her way to Daniela—weaving around the crowd—and gives her a big hug. Megan and Daniela—Meizini is what Megan would call them—had been friends since freshman year. They were in the same dance history class, and the rest is history.
It wasn’t until Sophia spotted Daniela walking with Megan, where after she begged Megan to introduce them.
“Of course I did! Didn’t want to miss baby’s first party.” Daniela’s voice catches her attention. She sees how Daniela is animatedly talking to Megan—hands going up in the air while describing what Sophia can only assume is her day. She was too far to hear what they were talking about (at a normal volume), and she couldn’t make out their lips.
She realized she had been in the same position for about ten minutes when she felt someone creeping up behind her. She turned around and was about to apologize for being in the way until she realized who was behind her.
Manon.
Daniela’s childhood friend.
Sophia is so fucked.
The last thing Sophia wanted to do was to make awkward small talk with her ex-girlfriend’s best friend.
“Surprising to see you here.” Manon spoke first, lifting up her red solo cup as a greeting—and to offer some sort of sign that she wasn’t going to bite.
“Not by choice, Lara dragged me here.” Sophia could feel her heart hammering in her head out of nervousness. She hadn’t spoken to Manon since the last time they hung out, and she’s scared the older girl will pull out a protective best friend punch.
Manon hummed and took a sip of her drink.
“How’ve you been?” She knows Manon is trying to be nice, but she can’t help but notice the slight shift in tone. It’s like Manon is trying to stall her or something.
“I’ve been fine. You?” Sophia feels like she’s tip-toeing on a ledge, waiting for Manon to break character.
“I’ve been good, just busy studying. I was wondering—” Before Manon could finish her sentence, Sophia sees Lara from the corner of her eyes and starts signaling for her to come over.
Lara arrives just in time to stop whatever the older girl was going to ask Sophia.
“Manon! Long time no see, how have you been babes?” Lara snakes her arm around Manon’s waist and leads them to the kitchen to talk. Sophia lets out a sigh of relief and gives Lara a “thank-you” look.
Sophia could feel herself sweating from that conversation, her hair slightly sticking to her face. Just as she starts making her way slowly to the door again, another heart attack comes at her.
Megan is standing there (with her arms on her hips) as a barrier between Sophia and the hallway leading to the door.
“You weren’t just going to leave without saying anything, right?” She could see the little pout forming on Megan’s face—a pout that she would find semi-endearing if it was under different circumstances.
“Well…I was going to text you.” Sophia shrugged her shoulders and gave Megan a crooked smile.
“Come on, please stay for like five more minutes? All you’ve been doing is standing in the corner of my kitchen, wallowing in self-pity.”
“I…have not.” Sophia knows Megan had been secretly keeping an eye on her ever since she arrived. Megan knows that Sophia isn’t one for parties, so she was making sure the older girl was okay.
(Sophia should’ve brought Yoonchae with her to distract Megan).
Megan gives Sophia a knowing look and places a hand on her shoulder. “Just stay a little while longer, please?” Sophia sighs and nods. She can’t really say no to Megan, especially when she’s pleading with her to stay.
She lets Megan take her hand and lead her to the dance floor. She decides the night is still young and starts dancing with Megan. She’s not one to want to be the center of attention, but her friends secretly know that she loves the dance floor.
She closes her eyes for a minute to feel everything around her. The vibrations on the floor from the loud music, the chatter she can’t make out, and the feeling of other people pressing up against her. She opens her eyes again as she feels a short but firm tap on her shoulder.
She turns around to see Daniela standing there just staring at her.
Sophia feels her heart stop for a moment. The party around her is suddenly silent and all she can hear is hers and Daniela’s breaths. She isn’t sure what to say—if she should say anything—Daniela was the one who tapped on her. She waits for a beat to see if the Latina will say anything.
“Hi, Soph.” Daniela says it in a soft tone. The same tone Sophia would hear from after long days. If they weren’t so close to each other, Sophia wouldn’t have caught it.
She stands there stunned, she wasn’t really expecting her ex-girlfriend to talk to her today—let alone be at this party.
“Hi.” Sophia says too quickly, her voice in a higher pitch. Still she tries to give Daniela a warm smile and a small wave.
She feels Daniela grab her arm—like it was instinct—and drag her towards the hallway entrance. Sophia could feel the heat coming on her face (sue her for not being over her ex), Daniela has always been bold.
When the Latina finally notices that her hand was around Sophia’s arm, she quickly pulls away. Sophia almost mourns the loss of touch.
They stand there facing each other awkwardly for a second until Daniela speaks up again.
“Fancy seeing you here, how have you been?” She gives Sophia a small smile.
"I've been fine, just busy studying always. Lara and Megan dragged me here. What about you?” Sophia gives her a little shrug, not really knowing what to say. They haven’t had a real conversation since they’ve broken up.
Sophia feels a tinge of guilt as she makes eye-contact with Daniela. She doesn’t really remember why they had broken up. It was a series of small things adding up, and both of them never took the time to talk it out.
Sophia remembers storming out of Daniela’s apartment while saying “See you never!”, and she remembers Daniela responding back with “Whatever!”. Sophia cringes at the memory, she realizes that maybe it wasn’t the most mature way to break up.
“Just been doing a lot of freelance dancing for different gigs. Makes sense the chaotic duo dragged you here.” Daniela giggled. Sophia swore she could’ve folded right then and there. It was taking a lot of self-restraint to not start apologizing and begging Daniela to take her back.
She sees Daniela’s eyes travel up and down at her figure.
Sophia did decide to dress up today—mainly because Lara started digging through her closet and throwing clothes at her. She was wearing a simple black short bodycon dress, with short black heels. It was simple, but Lara said she looked hot (and she believes it).
Please don’t tell me you like my dress
“Your outfit is nice.” Sophia could just pretend they never broke up and start kissing Daniela right there. Maybe it’s the alcohol in her system, but she knows she’s still in love with her. She makes eye contact with Daniela again and sees that the younger girl is having a sort of inner turmoil.
After all these years, Sophia still knows how to read her.
She could feel the blush creeping up her face. The world around her was slow, while her heartbeat was fast. She wasn’t sure what to say back. Would it be appropriate to compliment her back?
“Thanks. Lara chose it for me. You look good yourself.” Sophia says in the most casual tone she could muster up. She could feel her thumb picking at the skin around her fingers out of nervousness.
“Did you like—maybe want to get out of here? Go to Jack-in-the-box or whatever?” Sophia could hear Daniela’s voice shaking a little bit. Sophia pretends to think about it for a second—really she didn’t need to think at all—before answering.
“Sure, why not?” Tonight Sophia is ready to hit reverse on everything and pretend that they never broke up. It’s selfish of her—really—since she was the one to initiate it.
She quickly follows Daniela out of the apartment, she can feel the breeze of the October air. She spots Daniela’s iconic red Mustang in the visitors parking, and makes her way to it.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t drink tonight.” Daniela says as she unlocks the car doors, and sits in the passenger seat. Sophia believes her—oftentimes she’s the designated driver for Manon and their friends.
Maybe Sophia was still a bit drunk, because she could’ve sworn the last few songs that have been playing are from an old playlist her and Daniela shared.
They don’t talk much on the drive there. When they were still together, Sophia remembers that they would often go to Jack-in-the-box on late study nights (due to the drive through being open 24/7). She fights the urge to place her hand on the console where Daniela’s hand was resting.
As they pulled up to the drive through, Sophia was about to remind Daniela of her usual order. However, Daniela beat her to the punch—already listing it out for the employee on the intercom. Sophia should’ve assumed Daniela remembered, the younger girl had always been observant of her.
(And it hasn’t been that long since they’ve broken up).
Quickly, as Daniela drives to the window to pay, Sophia takes out her card. Daniela is about to decline, until she sees a pleading look on Sophia’s face. “I insist, let me pay. You’ve already driven us here.” Daniela gives her a smile and a quiet “thank you”.
When Daniela receives the bag of food, she passes it onto Sophia for her to hold. “Is it fine if we go back to your place to eat? No pressure to say yes, we can just stay in this parking lot.” Sophia looks around the area they’re in. Admittedly she’s a bit scared of eating in the car at nearly 3am.
“Yeah, that’s fine. This place is giving me a bit of the creeps anyway.” Daniela nods and puts Sophia's address on her GPS. Sophia notices it’s still called “Soapy’s place ♥️”, and she feels a small tug on her heart. Even after months, Daniela still hadn’t changed it.
When they arrive at the apartment complex, Sophia leads the way. She makes sure to carefully unlock the door—not wanting to make too much noise—in case Yoonchae was asleep. She walks in to see that only the dining table light was left on, and a little sticky note on the table that said: Went to bed, drink lots of water - Chip. Sophia smiled at the note, even if Yoonchae was younger than her, she still took care of her.
She sets the bag of food on the table and starts unwrapping everything for her and Daniela. She doesn’t realize how close Daniela is behind her until she feels a breath tickle her neck.
“Oh my gosh! Are you trying to scare me?” Sophia physically jumps back into the table while Daniela is trying to stop herself from laughing.
“I was about to ask you if you needed help.” Sophia can see the cheeky grin on Daniela's face. “I’m just about done, just sit down please.” Sophia brings her hand up to her temple and rubs it like she’s stressed.
They eat in comfortable silence, both not reeling knowing what to say—but enjoying each other’s company. It's weird to Sophia, in the hour and a half they’ve been around each other, Daniela hasn’t mentioned the break up once. Maybe she just doesn’t want to make it awkward again between them. However, Sophia can’t help but feel an itch to ask about it.
“Why haven’t you mentioned it yet?” Daniela was half-way biting into her burger as Sophia asked.
“What do you mean?” Daniela tilts her head in confusion, not really knowing what Sophia wants from her.
“The break up—me storming out, and going no contact.” Sophia says quietly, she doesn’t want to scare Daniela off. She feels like her head is about to explode at any minute.
“I didn’t know if you wanted to talk about it or not.” She can hear Daniela’s vulnerability in her voice. She already wants to reach over and give Daniela a hug.
“I didn’t know if you wanted to talk about it.” Sophia puts an emphasis on “you”, she wants to leave the ball in Daniela’s court.
“I’ve forgiven you, if that’s what you want to hear. I actually never really stayed mad at you.” Daniela takes a pause and looks down at her burger. “Since you’ve left, I’ve been almost miserable. I’m sad all the time. I…miss you, Sophia.”
Sophia sees Daniela look back up and make eye contact with her. She sees how Daniela’s lips are trembling, and how she has so much emotion in her eyes.
“We were young and stupid. We never took the time to actually talk it out. I regret that—not fighting more. But I was waiting for you, for a sign, for anything.” Sophia feels guilty. She never thought Daniela was waiting to hear from her again. She just assumed that the younger girl would contact her whenever she was ready.
She can see Daniela’s eyes glistening under the dining room light. She feels her heart break even more at the sight. She reaches out and places her hand on top of Daniela’s.
“I was scared you didn’t want me anymore.” Sophia said sincerely. Daniela flinches at the contact at first, but slowly intertwines their hands after a beat.
“I’ve always wanted you, and still do.” Daniela admits, she even gives Sophia a small—wet—chuckle. They sit there for a moment in silence—Sophia soaking in what Daniela just said.
“Did—Did you want to stay the night?” Sophia stutters a bit, she’s not sure if that’s taking it too far.
“I’d like that.” For the first time in the night, Daniela gives her a real smile. The one that always lights up the room around her. The one that makes Sophia’s heart flutter when she sees it.
They quickly finish up eating, and clean up around them (not wanting Yoonchae to scold them in the morning). Sophia hands Daniela more comfortable clothes for her to change into.
(Ironically it’s Daniela’s old clothes that she never got back
(She doesn’t say anything about it though.))
Sophia makes sure to get changed too, and brushes her teeth after Daniela finishes. As she walks back into her room, she smiles at the sight in front of her; Daniela getting very comfortable under her sheets.
Sophia makes her way to the other side of the bed and lays down beside the younger girl. Daniela is quick to bring her body closer to Sophia—laying her head on her chest, and bringing her arms to wrap around her torso. The Filipina responds by wrapping her arms around her waist, and giving her a light kiss on the head.
Their bodies still remember being held by each other—morphing together comfortably like they’ve been doing it for years.
“Good night, Dani. Sweet dreams.” Sophia murmured into Daniela’s hair, already feeling the wave of sleepiness hit her.
“Night, Soph. You too.” Daniela holds her tighter as she drifts off into sleep.
Been a year since we finished
Baby, me and you, we vintage
But tonight you make me miss it