Crushed by Leen Elle

control.
     
    An amused grin spread across Sophie's face. "You should tell him, obviously!"
     
    Gwyn grabbed her arm, and clenched tightly. "No, absolutely not. He'll never talk to me again. I'm too young for him too. I just turned fourteen."
     
    "Age is just a number." Sophie was bad at giving advice, but she was eager to try for Gwyn. After all, what was the point of being older if you couldn't impart any kind of wisdom.
     
    "Not to him. He thinks of me as a little sister." Gwyn scowled and crossed her arms. "We're not even siblings."
     
    Seeing the normally serious girl so candid made Sophie laugh for the first time in a long while.
     
    "I'm sure he doesn't think of you as a sister. He's a sixteen year old boy, after all."
     
    "What does that have to do with anything?" Gwyn asked, looking dejected.
     
    "You'd be surprised." Sophie muttered.
     
    Just as she spoke, they were interrupted by someone opening the door.
     
    "R..Rylan!" Gwyn nearly shouted, turning red again. "How long have you been there?"
     
    "Just now." Rylan looked surprised at the question.
     
    Typical boy. Sophie thought, hiding her grin.
     
    "Can I talk to you?" He asked Gwyn carefully, looking desperate.
     
    When she didn't reply, Sophie nudged her forward.
     
    "Sure." She answered, beginning to return to normal.
     
    As Gwyn walked out of the room, Sophie stopped Rylan before he could follow.
     
    "Are you blushing?" She asked jokingly, watching him carefully.
     
    "No!" Rylan covered up his face with his hands, as if he could brush away the red color. "Why?"
     
    "Never mind. I was just testing a theory of mine."
     
    Sophie watched him leave with a wide grin.
     
    It was amusing to see two kids so obviously in love pretend that they weren't.
     
    "Hey, what was that about?" Robert stuck his head in the door, motioning to where Gwyn and Rylan had just been standing.
     
    "You wouldn't know." Sophie replied, sighing. Typical male. She thought, feeling the urge to laugh. "So, I guess you solved everything?"
     
    "I don't know what you're talking about." Robert answered with a serious frown. "Anyway, are you free tonight."
     
    "Sure." Sophie felt wariness creep into her chest.
     
    "After such an interesting morning I was wondering if you would like to join me on a mission this evening."
     
    "A mission?"
     
    "I have a job to do, and you wanted to be trained. The best lessons are learned through experience." Again there was a flicker of challenge in his eyes. "Unless you don't think you're ready."
     
    Sophie scowled, hating the cocky look on his face. "I know I'm not ready, but if you're willing to have me, I'll come."
     
    "Great." He answered, looking even more amused.
     
    "Great." She repeated, closing her door in his face.
     
    "Be ready at five." He called out, laughing.
     
    Sophie stuck out her tongue at the door, before she caught was she was doing.
     
    Shaking off her embarrassment, she turned towards the pile of new "boy" clothes that Cleo had delivered.
     
    As she sorted through the pile she couldn't help but wonder how old Robert was.
     
    *  *  *
     
    "It's nice that you don't hate me anymore." Sophie mused as she stared out of the window of Robert's car.
     
    "Who said I hated you?" He asked in surprise.
     
    They'd been driving for only ten minutes, but Sophie felt the need to break the tense silence. Now that Robert was willing to speak to her, she wanted to keep examining him for as long as she could. His personality was volatile, and she had no way of knowing when he'd push her away again.
     
    "I inferred it from the way you treated me." She answered coldly.
     
    "Oh, well I didn't hate you. I just think you're an idiot."
     
    "I didn't realize thinking I'm an idiot and hating me were two different things." Sophie sensed another argument coming on.
     
    "Well, of course they aren't the same." He flashed her a sly smile.
     
    "Sometimes I wonder if working with you is worth it." She complained.
     
    "Come on, we'll be