Cecily POV

My best and only friend cackled as she easily dodged my swing.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" I complained, placing a hand on my heart. With the amount of scares I'd had today, my heart was bound to give out on me.

"Good morning to you too!" she replied, unrepentant, as she swung her arm around my shoulders. Grumbling, I continued my way toward the desperately needed coffee as my friend casually walked alongside me, her arm keeping her plastered to my side.

Sophie Cohen, my childhood friend, was a force to be reckoned with. I met her in the fourth grade when she sat across from me during lunch and stole a fry from my plate, and we have been close ever since. She was very different from me—a ball of energy and the life of the party where I preferred to keep to myself—but we'd grown up together. She knew me almost as well as I knew myself, and she knew when to push and when to give me my space. And, despite her chaotic energy, she was my anchor in this crazy world.

She was the Dean to my Sam, minus the monsters and demons.

"Let me guess, you're on your way to go get the coffee you love so much," she said, grinning down at me. Sophie was tall, reaching 5'8", and she loved to wear heels—meaning she was taller than most, including me, and was proud of it.

"Yup! I'd feed you to the wolves for a cup of coffee right now," I told her, brushing her blonde hair off my cheek.

"The horror!" Sophie mock cried as she released me and placed a hand to her heart. She held the position for half a second before cracking, the trace of a grin ruining her overdone acting. "Will you forgive me and spare my life if I offer to buy you your coffee?"

I pretended to contemplate for a minute, internally rejoicing at the prospect of free coffee. "Only if it's a large," I told her with a mischievous grin.

"Deal!"

We walked the rest of the way in pleasant silence, the quiet only broken by Sophie's quiet humming.

One large coffee later, I was feeling much more content as we sat at one of the many tables in the food court. Sophie was rambling on about some reality show she was watching when I suddenly raised my hand like I was in class.

Sophie stopped mid-sentence, clearly amused. "Yes, Ms. Rowland?" she said playfully.

"I have two dogs now" I blurted, itching to tell her about yesterday's crazy events.

She froze, the muffin she had purchased dangling from her fingers. "Excuse me!? You have dogs?" she exclaimed, her muffin long forgotten.  "I need an explanation. Like, yesterday."

I quickly recounted yesterday's events, taking a long breath once I reached the end. I had been so caught up in the story, I had apparently forgotten to breathe.

Sophie blinked once before bursting out in laughter, her body doubled over as tears gathered in the corner of her eyes.

"That-That is so bizarre, yet so totally you!" she managed to say between peals of laughter.

Noticing that her rambunctious laughter had gathered the attention of the people sitting around us, I slid lower into my chair and started fidgeting with my braid.

"Glad my nightmare of a day is amusing..." I whined, pointing the end of my braid in her direction.

Sophie wiped her eyes before resuming the attack on her muffin. "You can't tell me that it's not funny. Plus, you got two dogs out of it. The company will do you good."

Concern suddenly flashed through her eyes as she quickly sobered up. "Do you even know how to take care of them, though?"

"I've had a dog before," I told her, conveniently forgetting to mention that it was a long time ago and my parents more or less took care of it.

"You know they need exercise, right?" she added. "You're going to have to expend energy. Way more than you're used to."

I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face. "Those are the parts that I dread. But as long as I don't have to run, I'll do it."

Sophie let out a low whistle. "Damn, I'm almost jealous of these dogs. They're getting you to go out of your comfort zone in one day. It takes me begging to get you to cave."

"Don't worry, you're still my favorite," I said, smiling at her as I got up from my chair. "I've got to run... well, technically walk because I don't run except for emergencies like..." I stopped, realizing I was rambling. Thank goodness I was with Sophie and not a stranger or I'd have to go find a hole to crawl into. 

Sophie just smiled up at me. She knew I was weird and loved me anyway. And I loved her for it.

"Class, right? I need to head to mine too," she said, sparing me from my verbal train wreck. "Keep me updated on the dogs! Send me pictures!" she requested as I got ready to head to class.

Thank goodness it was almost the weekend.