I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

“Grumpy baby.”
“Saaamm,” Neo drags out the syllables in my name, his eyes wide,
begging for an answer to his earlier question.
“Neo, this is Sony,” I say, prideful like I’ve found a delightful pet and
brought it home. “She gives me chocolate.”
Neo raises his lip, annoyed. “What are you, a dog? You can’t just
follow people around because they give you things.”
“That’s what I did with you,” I mutter, turning my chin away.
“Ooh, pretty,” Sony sounds, hands behind her back as she ogles the
papers on Neo’s lap. “Can I read it?”
“No! One weirdo is enough. Shoo.”
“This is the next chapter,” I say, bending to Sony’s level and trying to
catch whatever I can through the gaps.
Neo groans. “I need to start locking my door.”
But he never does. Neo spends the whole day with Sony and me.
First, we stake out the cafeteria, waiting for the perfect opening to
steal some apples.
Neo calls Sony a klepto for stealing a lollipop from the bin. Our spoils
of thievery taste even sweeter in the garden, where we take to a
bench near the middle. Overhead, the cool autumn breeze spreads
clouds against the blue.
“Neo, let’s play a game,” Sony says.
“No.”
“Okay, so, you have to pick a cloud and figure out what shape it is.
You go first. What does that one look like to you?” Sony points
straight up, her finger