Sophia's Scrolls

“Coffee. I need coffee.” I said, slumping over the old wooden desk in my room. Right next to my head sat a giant stack of books I had to read through for my English class. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love English and all, but definitely not this late in the afternoon.

“Isn’t there a Starbucks or somethin’ like that down the street from here?”
I spun the chair around so that I could face the unicorn on my bed. He had a point, but I was way too lazy to even consider getting up from my chair. “I really don’t feel like trying to shove you into the backseat of my car again, Bob. You know how well that worked out last time.” I said, leaning my head into the palm of my hand.

“I never said that y’all had to drive me around in your car.” Bob said, rising up from the bed. He walked over to my desk, before folding his legs under himself again. “Get on, and I’ll bring y’all over there.” Bob said, turning his head back to look at me. I rolled my eyes, and climbed on as he began to stand up again.

“So tell me, how do you expect to get us out of my room without my parents noticing you?” I asked, while I reclined on his back, as I always did. I never really needed any reins or saddle for Bob, because firstly, he hated them more than anything. Secondly, I’d been able to perfect my balance on his back. The first few times I attempted to do this were not fun.

“Same way I came in, y’all!” Bob said, turning to look toward my window.
“Oh hell no.” I breathed. But of course, Bob didn’t hear what I said. I flipped over so that now, I could actually hold on for dear life. He used his magic to open the window and pop out the screen, so that it wouldn’t be in his way. Leaving the screen neatly propped up next to my window, he took a bit of a running start, and before I could crouch to avoid hitting my head, he was already sailing out the freaking window.

And now I knew why my parents kept asking me about the window screen being popped out all the time. Stupid unicorn.

But who was I kidding? This is what happens when you let a unicorn stay at your house, because he says he’s got nowhere else to go.

“And you think you can just waltz into downtown Chicago like this?” I asked Bob, who was already merrily trotting his way down the sidewalk. “People can still see you, unicorn.” I added. Bob paused just then, and before I could say anything else, his appearance had changed, and now he looked like a normal horse. “Well, that’s a little better.” I said, hoping that I wouldn’t run into anyone I knew down there.

Eventually, we found ourselves in the heart of the Windy City, after we’d narrowly missed being hit by a few cars, because Bob still thinks that he’s invincible. “You could’ve gotten me killed!” I hissed at him, as we crossed another crosswalk. I ignored the stares from the other people who walked past us. “And I could’ve gotten y’all healed up real quickly.” Bob said back, as he turned onto East 55th Street. Starbucks was on the very corner of the street, but before that, we ducked into a small alleyway beside the Chicago Fire Department, and Bob assumed his human form. “’Kay, we can keep goin’ now.” he said, with that cheesy grin of his. I rolled my eyes and laughed, as we finally made our way over there.
“What’s so funny, y’all?” he asked.
“Nothing, nothing.” I said, holding the door open for him as he walked in. Bob scowled at me, but he quickly replaced it with a smile as he looked at the menu. “Do you know what you want?” I asked him. Bob nodded vigorously, as he pointed at the menu.

“A hot chocolate.” he said, showing off his grin again. “What’s the creepy smile for? Have you ever had hot chocolate?” I asked him. He shook his head from side to side. “But if y’all mean melted chocolate that’s hot, then yes. Is that what hot chocolate is?” he asked, frowning. I laughed, reaching up to pat him on the head.
“You’ve got so much to learn, even if you have been living in the human world for the past…two thousand years or so.” I said.

I turned to the barista then, with a friendly smile. “Hi there. Could I get a tall caramel macchiato, please?” I asked, as I pulled out my card from my wallet. “And I’d also like a tall hot chocolate for my friend here.” I said, gesturing to Bob, who had that giant smile of his still plastered across his face. I nudged him with my elbow, in an effort to tell him to tone down his enthusiasm a bit.

For God’s sake, it was just hot chocolate!

“Alright, so that’s one hot chocolate, and one caramel macchiato?” she asked. “Could I have your name, please?” she asked.
“Taylor.” I said, as she wrote my name down on both cups, and handed them off for her partners to make the drinks. “And would you like your receipt?” she asked. “No, thank you.” I said, as I grabbed Bob by the hand, and dragged him over to the nearest table.

“What is up with you and that creepy grin of yours? You usually behave well in public!” I hissed at him. “Can’t help it, y’all.” Bob said, in a low whisper. “There’s another unicorn in here…I can feel it.” he said, twiddling his thumbs. I raised one eyebrow, wondering just how there could be another unicorn at Starbucks.

Surely someone would notice it…unless…well, that made more sense. Of course it made more sense. If Bob were sensing another one of his kind, it would have to be in a human form. That was obvious now.

“One caramel macchiato and one hot chocolate for Taylor!”
Well, that was my cue to go and get the drinks. As I got up, Bob eagerly followed me, as I handed off his drink to him. “That’s him!” Bob whispered, pointing to the barista who had just handed us our drinks. “Alright, alright, just shut up and go back to where we were sitting.” I said, nudging him over to the side. “Thank you.” I said, offering him a smile. “No problem!” he said, glancing at Bob for a moment, before returning to his work.

I took a quick look at the guy as we sat down. He was tall, definitely taller than I was, with curly dark brown hair, and brown eyes, from what I could see without staring too long. He didn’t look like a unicorn, but then again, Bob didn’t look like a normal human being. And this guy did. Maybe some unicorns were better at their disguises than others. I was just curious as to how Bob sensed him so quickly.

“Taylor?”
The sound of Bob’s voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I turned to him, as he was happily sipping away at his drink.
“What is it?” I asked him.
He smiled again, as he set the cup down. “This hot chocolate…this hot chocolate is the best thing ever invented!” Bob exclaimed, his eyes getting wide. “I thought it’d be that nasty melted hot chocolate, but no! This is even better, y’all!” he said. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. In so many ways, Bob was still a young guy. I guess I couldn’t blame him.

We spent a good ten minutes or so just chatting about normal things, like history and all, and we ended up finishing our drinks once we were done talking. Bob frowned a bit when he finished his hot chocolate, mumbling to himself about bottomless cups or something. “Come on, buddy. We can always get another one later.” I said, standing up. I grabbed him by the hand again, and hauled him off along with me, and out the door. “Steps, Bob. Don’t trip down them.” I warned, as he started walking by himself again.

But as soon as we reached the bottom of the steps, that barista came out the door after us. “Hey!” he called, waving a hand. I turned, with a confused expression. “Hey?” I said, lifting my hand for a weak hello. “I know this might seem really crazy, but I noticed something about your friend here,” he said, gesturing to Bob.

“Okay…what is it?” I said, as my hand hovered over the dagger at my side…just in case this guy wanted to try something. “Is he…a unicorn?” the barista asked.
“Yes!” Bob exclaimed, as he grabbed the other’s hand to shake it. “It’s so nice to meet y’all! I knew I was right about y’all when I first saw you!” Bob said, grinning widely.

Well, that reaction was unexpected. My hand drifted away from the dagger, as I realized that if Bob trusted this guy immediately, he probably wasn’t an immediate danger to us.
“So you came out here just to ask us that?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Well, that, and to introduce myself. It’s not everyday that I see other unicorns around Chicago.” he said, looking around for a brief moment.

“Name’s Bryce. And you two are?”
“I’m Taylor, and this one over here is Bob.” I said, looking to my pink-haired companion. Bob waved, and it was then that I noticed his expression. I had to resist a facepalm, because I knew exactly what he was going to do next.

“So Bryce, are y’all seein’ someone? Or are y’all single?” Bob asked, striking a small pose in the hopes that the latter was true. Before Bryce could answer, however, I gave Bob a punch in the arm. “Ow! What was that for?!” Bob yelped, looking to me. “You do this every time, Bob! You can’t go around flirting with every single male unicorn you see! For God’s sake, you already have three boyfriends! Isn’t that enough?” I asked.
“Three? That’s never enough!” Bob said.
“I’m sorry to break it to you, but I really don’t go that way.” Bryce said, speaking up while he still could.
“See?” I said to Bob. He nodded, and frowned again. “I’m sorry that he asked that…he does this to pretty much every unicorn we’ve come across.” I said, with a laugh.

“I don’t blame him. I mean, I am pretty good-looking if I do say so myself.” Bryce said, with a smile.
“Oh great. Another self-absorbed unicorn. Please tell me that Sophia isn’t the only one who doesn’t act like you two.” I said, looking from Bryce to Bob.

“Sophia probably is the only one, y’all.” Bob said, with a laugh. “Well, at least Sophia knows how to be humble.” I said, turning to Bryce. “Sophia’s his sister.” I explained.

“Either way, it was still nice to see another unicorn around here. At least Bob will have someone he knows.” I said, offering up a half-smile. Bob nodded in agreement with me, as he reached out to shake Bryce’s hand. “Sorry ‘bout earlier, y’all. I just get super excited when meetin’ other unicorns.” he said.

“Hey, it’s cool. I understand. To be honest, that’s why I followed you out here, for the same reason.” Bryce said, with a laugh. I nodded, before turning to Bob.

“Well, I guess we should get going then. We’ve got a lot of…running around to do.” I said, not really up to elaborating just what we were running from. But Bryce seemed to easily catch on to my ruse(no pun intended…because it is my last name too).

“I think I know where you’re getting at, Taylor. And I’d like to offer my help in your mission.” he said. I paused in my steps, and looked to Bryce for a moment. “Well…” I began, looking back to Bob. “Well…Bob, what do you think?” I asked.

“Do you think he’d be up for the task?”
Bob tilted his head a bit while looking at the other, before making his final decision. “I don’t see why not, y’all. The more help we can get, the better!” he said, before wrapping Bryce into a tight hug. “Welcome to our little group, y’all!” Bob said, releasing the poor guy from his grip. Bryce looked a little confused by Bob’s sudden hug, but he shrugged it off, and smiled at us.

“And hey,” he began, “My help also comes with free coffee. I’m sure you’d appreciate that.” I couldn’t help but smile at that. “I’m always going to need coffee, so that’s a good thing. Thank you.” I said. “We’ll let you get back to your job, Bryce, and hopefully, we’ll see you around a little more, yeah?” I asked. He nodded, turning back to head into the store. “Definitely.” he said, before stepping back inside Starbucks. I turned back to my pink-haired friend, with a raised eyebrow.

“So?” I asked.
“I’d still try to date him.” Bob said, looking wistfully at the door. “You’re such a manwhore.” I said, lightly punching him in the arm.

“Come on, let’s go home.”