Chapter 5
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Sophie’s POV
“Hey,” Keefe said, wrapping an arm around her. They were at school after the exhausting weekend and Sophie was relieved that almost everything was coming into place. The only thing they needed to do was tell everyone else about their relationship. She turned to Keefe hugging him closer.
“We haven’t decided how to tell everyone else about us, you know. We haven’t even decided when we should do it”
Keefe smirked as Sophie looked up at him, breaking apart their hug a little bit as she inquired. “What's so funny?” Sophie asked.
“Oh I just like to hear you say us.”
Sophie rolled her eyes at him, then smiled. “I like it too”
She reached up, gently combing her fingers through his hair and quickly pecked him on the cheek
“You know you could ditch with me today,” Keefe offered “No school, no worries just you and me”
Sophie thought about it, fighting off the temptation. He made it seem like a really good deal but …
“Nope, I have a class to attend, and speaking of that I should head out cause I definitely don’t want to be late”. Sophie looked once more into the ice blue eyes she couldn’t get enough of and broke apart their hug. “Bye!” She said,
“Bye, Foster” Keefe smirked as Sophie walked away. When she looked back once more he was still there watching her until she disappeared out of sight.
During lunch they snuck away from their normal table so they could decide how to tell their friends about them. Keefe dragged her down the hallway towards her locker and they sat down next to it.
“Sooo what do you want to do? We could make out” Keefe asked with a smirk
Sophie playfully slapped him. “You know exactly why we're here,” she said, smiling. Everytime she got alone time with Keefe, she couldn’t help but smile no matter how hard she tried to be serious. In fact it was happening so often lately her muscles around her mouth were sore from laughing and joking.
“Ah, you're no fun Foster” he said, twirling her hair and bringing her ever so closer to him. “Maybe we should tell them one by one” Sophie said, trying to focus back on the topic and not on his breath on her cheek, or his arms around her waist. “We could meet with them after school and tell them individually. Ooh or we can break off and cover more people so I could tell Dex and you could tell Linh!” She exclaimed, laughing a little at her proposal. “This is a mess, Keefe! What do you want to do?”
When she looked up at his perfect surfer face, he brought his hand to her chin making her blush. All in one moment without thinking of what might happen if they were caught, and before Sophie could respond, Keefe smashed their lips together. The kiss was faster and fuller than Sophie could remember from before and made her face heat up. So this is what happens when you try to be serious with Keefe, she thought. But at that moment she didn’t really care so she just stayed there kissing him back. They sat like that for a while just kissing and enjoying each other’s company.
“What?!” Someone screamed from down the hall
Sophie hadn’t realized it but the bell must have rung. She and Keefe pulled apart but Keefe kept staring into her eyes, his eyes shining brighter than ever.
“What was that?!?” Dex came running up with the rest of their crew behind him. Even Fitz. Sophie tried to hide behind her hair hoping she wasn’t as red as she felt.
“Oh you know just Foster and I kissing ” Keefe said relaxing against the locker, and wrapping an arm around Sophie, clearly enjoying everyone else’s surprise
“Eeeeeeeeeeek!” someone squealed from further down the hall and came pushing past everyone. “Are you two dating!?! Ahhhh omg I love this!”
Linh was being super hyper, almost like an active puppy.
“Romance!” she said looking up dreamily. “When did it start? Or did you just figure it out?” Linh reached down, pulling both of them into a group hug and never letting them answer her questions.
“Sokeefe is the best ship name ever!!!” Linh bounced them up a bit before Tam came over and pulled her off.
“Sorry, you know sisters” he said, smirking a bit himself
Well this was one way of telling everyone Sophie thought so much for the plan. Now that she got a better look, it looked like the whole school was crowded behind her friends. She heard millions of whispers and mumbles surrounding her.
“Is that Keefe Sencen? With SOPHIE FOSTER?”
“OMG are they dating?!”
“Did you see them kissing?!”
Sophie felt herself blush harder, embarrassed about being caught. Well, at least it was an easy way to tell everyone, cause at the very least being caught kissing in a hallway normally meant that people were a couple.
She desperately searched the crowd for a pair of teal eyes. Fitz was behind most people sort of in a corner of the room. He was looking down at his feet trying to go unnoticed. Sophie felt a pinch of relaxation flow down her body. He might not have been happy, but he wasn’t throwing anything and looked to be in better condition then when she left him. He also didn't seem mad at Sophie for inflicting on him. If that was inflicting, she wasn’t sure what she had done to Fitz, she only knew that it hadn’t been good. She would have to make time to apologize again later, but for now she turned her attention back on the siblings and Keefe.
“Jealous Bangs Boy?” Keefe asked, wrapping an arm around Sophie again and bringing her closer. Sophie smiled, not able to help herself.
“Dude,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not, and I know you love my bangs Keefe”
“Whatever” Keefe rolled his eyes, shoving Tam to the side. “Next!” Keefe declared and Sophie got the feeling he was loving this a lot more than her.
Lots of people from Foxfire came up to congratulate them, and most of them were people Sophie didn’t even know which made her think … How many people knew they liked each other before they knew? No, that was a ridiculous thought. Of course no one else knew, that was impossible.
“Hey” a pixie-like, blonde haired girl came running up interrupting her thoughts. Marella had always been a little bit distant from Sophie but they were still good friends. Sophie noticed her clothes today were also less wrinkly then they normally were so Sophie took that as a good sign. Marella had a complicated relationship with her family and had always been a loner, so her clothes were not always at the best standards. Nevertheless almost everyone loved her.
“It’s pretty cool, you know that you guys finally figured it out. You will definitely be the hot new gossip for the week!” She smiled one of those parent smiles like they knew everything that was going to happen. It made Sophie blush more and at that point she considered running to the bathroom to hide her cherry red face. “Sooo I was hoping cause we’re like besties, maybe I could get all the details!?” Marella asked, wanting all the little secrets. Keefe answered for her,
“So you want me to describe how it felt to kiss Sophie?” He asked, with a smirk, making everyone jump in and say no.
“Fine, keep your secrets” Marella said, flipping the braids in her hair and walking away.
Lots more people came up and Sophie was shocked at how many people loved them as a couple. One of the last people to come was Dex who seemed a little hurt about everything.
“Are you okay?” Sophie asked him “Does it bother you that I’m dating Keefe?” She said quietly avoiding eye contact.
“Of course not!” Dex said “It’s just I’m your best friend. You could have told me instead of letting me find out wit the rest of the school”
“Ok first of all that wasn’t the plan. But I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I know I can trust you I was just trying to avoid an awkward conversation”
“It’s ok. Although I don’t think there’s anything more awkward than being caught making out in the school hallway” Dex said, smirking and lifting an eyebrow.
Sophie blushed then smiled remembering the feeling of kissing Keefe. Dex laughed.
“What?” Sophie asked
“Oh nothing. You just got a dreamy smile all over your face and your eyes are sparking. Thinking of your boyfriend?” Dex teased wiggling his eyebrows
“No…” Sophie lied blushing and looking away
Dex just shook his head and walked over to their friend group laughing
Sophie followed him and went over to Keefe who was done talking to people and was just hanging out with their friends.
“Well that was...Interesting” She said
Keefe just smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, standing behind her and letting her lean on him
“Told you it would work out” He whispered into her ear
Sophie smiled up at him and just stayed there for a minute staring into his beautiful eyes. Dex cleared his throat loudly, reminding them they weren’t alone.
“OMG you guys are so cute together!!!” Lynh squealed
Sophie blushed
“You’re going to have to stop being surprised at people saying that because you are going to be hearing it a lot. You are like the cutest couple that this school has ever had! OMG you are like the cutest couple ever!!! I mean look at you!!!” Lynh squealed pushing them even closer together
Sophie laughed then stopped herself when she saw Fitz roll his eyes and walk away
“Oops I forgot you two dated…” Lynh said quietly
“Don’t worry” Biana told her “he’s been acting really weird lately. Besides, no one can blame you for shipping Sokeefe” She said smiling brightly. “I’ll go talk to him” She said as she saw the worried look in Sophie's eyes. “It’ll be ok”
I hope so… Sophie thought
Fitz’s POV
After the bell rang Fitz was walking glumly with their friend group, hating everyone and everything in that moment. Sophie and Keefe hadn’t been at lunch which probably meant they were avoiding him. Oh well. That was better for them. He probably wouldn’t be able to control his anger if he saw them acting all mushy in front of his face. After what he saw in Sophie's head and what happened in the Healing Center he would never be able to face Keefe again. He just had to get Sophie back somehow…
“Hey Fitz are you ok?” Dex asked
“Yeah you’ve been acting weird all morning” Tam said
“I’m fine” Fitz mumbled trying to think of an excuse “I just….” He trailed off and stopped dead in his tracks as he looked ahead. Sophie was sitting with Keefe next to her locker kissing him passionately. Clearly they had no idea the bell had just rung and were too busy making out to notice everyone else. He was about to run up and interrupt them but Dex beat him to it.
“What?!” He yelled running up to them as the rest of them quickly followed, Fitz trailing in the back.
Sophie and Keefe broke their kiss but they stayed looking dreamily into each other's eyes. Ugg I think I’m going to be sick Fitz thought
“What was that?!?” Dex said shocked
Sophie looked down, blushing and hiding her face in her hair.
“Oh you know just Foster and I kissing” Keefe put his arm around Sophie and grinned
I’m going to punch that smug look off his face Fitz thought
Lynh squealed, interrupting Fitz’s thought
“Are you two dating!?! Ahhhh omg I love this! Romance!” she said dreamily bouncing up and down “When did it start? Or did you just figure it out?”
Fitz looked away not wanting to know the answers to any of her questions
“Sokeefe is the best ship name ever!!!”
That hit Fitz hard and he started backing away, since everyone was too obsessed with the couple to notice. Ugg couple that’s disturbing. Whatever. They won't be a couple for long.
Tam said something to them but by then Fitz was too far away to hear
Slowly more people came and soon everyone was murmuring about Sophie and Keefe. The crowd grew and he took the opportunity to make his way to a corner in the back. He looked down not wanting to see any more of Sokeefe, counting the seconds until this whole thing was over. It took forever since everyone wanted to talk to the “happy couple”. The more people he saw the more Fitz fought the urge to scream at the top of his lungs. No one was this happy when he was dating Sophie. After a while the crowd thinned and Fitz saw Sophie talking to Dex. At least she’s not being all lovey dovey with Keefe right now... He was going to continue his mental rant, when Biana came over to him.
“I know you’re upset but stop moping around. Let’s go with our friends” She said dragging him over to the group
They got there just as Sophie and Dex finished talking and came over to everyone else
“Well that was...Interesting” Sophie said
Keefe smiled at her and put his arms around her in a way that made them look like they belonged in a romance magazine cover. Keefe whispered something to Sophie and she smiled up at him with a dreamy sparkle in her eyes. They stood there staring at each other in a way that made Fitz’s blood boil. They brought their faces closer together, clearly forgetting everyone else was with them. Thankfully Dex cleared his throat, interrupting their “moment”.
“OMG you guys are so cute together!!!” Linh said, making Sophie blush, and annoying Fitz even more.
“You’re going to have to stop being surprised at people saying that because you are going to be hearing it a lot. You are like the cutest couple that this school has ever had!”
That comment felt like a punch to Fitz’s gut. He and Sophie had been dating a few weeks ago and Linh had been nowhere near that excited.
OMG you are like the cutest couple ever!!! I mean look at you!!!” Linh squealed pushing them
So they were standing even closer together than they were before. Sophie laughed, a huge smile plastered all over her face.
That was the last straw. Fitz rolled his eyes dramatically and stomped away before he saw anymore stupid Sokeefe moments or heard any more Sokeefe comments. He was done. He had to get Sophie back. And fast.
The next day when Fitz got home he was mentally wiped. It was the day after everyone found out about Sokeefe. Ugh even thinking about it made him sick. Sophie and Keefe had turned into a celebrity couple being loved by literally everyone in the school. Fitz was sick to the gut with all the comments and Biana had tried to comfort him but he wouldn’t accept it. What to do? That was all he could think about. Sure they looked cute together but all was fair in love and war. Fitz still had a chance and he would use it well. During classes at school that day he had had time to think, and think he did. Fitz thought about the upcoming ball. With it getting closer the school was in an emotional state; lots of people had started asking others in big ways. One of his old friends Abner got a giant sled with unicorns pulling it to ask out Piper. Fitz figured that Keefe would ask Sophie but if Fitz did it first things might work out. That was plan A but he wanted a plan B because what if Sophie turned him down? No she wouldn’t, she couldn’t. Still he wanted a plan B, something to really make him look better than Keefe.
When Fitz got upstairs to his room he sat down in his favorite chair. It was the chair that Sophie had always transmitted to him on. He sighed remembering the time Sophie had really liked him. He needed someone in his life and Sophie always felt good, sure he could move on but Fitz didn’t want to give up. It was like a defense mechanism he had inherited when his Father got sick. That and really bad anger issues. I don’t have time for this, he thought to himself, no more dawdling in the past. He got up and moved the chair to his desk. But a constant nagging reminded him everyone had faults…. Ugh, how was he ever going to make a backup plan with that little voice. If Fitzphie would be reconstructed he needed to act now.
After a long time of ignoring his homework for the day and thinking about the past, he had a plan, well two plans. And they were perfectly set up. Soon Fitz would be back with Sophie and everything would hopefully go back to normal …
Keefe’s POV
Keefe was feeling really stressed. How could his life be so perfect?!? It was impossible. Nothing had ever worked out for him, yet in the last couple of days he had been in heaven. He had started doing better in his classes, and now everyone around school didn’t think of him as the handsome, popular guy who always caused trouble; he was the extremely popular, cool guy in the celebrity couple. He could tell the same from Sophie. She went from being the weird brown eyed girl smart girl, to a loveable celebrity. As weird as things were, Keefe loved watching her skip around school with nothing but a smile on her face. It was such a nice change from the worried look she used to have all the time. Things were so amazing! It was a bit too weird though, and Keefe was starting to get a little paranoid. Was his mom watching? Was he dead? Ok now I’m just talking insanity. Keefe took a deep breath and smiled, and for the first time in a long time he actually felt like he belonged, and Keefe knew it was true.
Later it was Tuesday afternoon, or the day after everyone found out about Sokeefe. There had been tons of stares and happy gossip about them as a couple. He decided to light leap to Havenfield and check out how Sophie was doing. As soon as the small mansion appeared within his view he felt a certain joy spread throughout his body. Whenever he came to Havenfield it always felt more like he was coming home. By now he knew every inch of the exterior and he loved it too. He walked up to the door, and was about to open it when Sophie came out, running straight into him. She tripped and would have fallen right on her face if he hadn’t caught her right on time.
“Foster! Just can’t get enough of me can you?” Keefe grinned “I mean all, you do is fall for me” he smirked, making Sophie blush.
These days it was almost too easy to make her blush or smile, yet he still loved embarrassing her and seeing the cute look on her face when he did.
“Hey Keefe” she said a bit too timidly for his taste.“Whatcha doing here?”
“I have to have an excuse to see my girlfriend now? Man you're too much work” he said, still joking and hoping for a laugh from her, but it did nothing.
“You ok?” Keefe asked examining every part of Sophie looking for any wounds or anything that was wrong.
Sophie looked down, sort of hiding her face behind her hair. Gently Keefe tilted her head up so he could look at her. The more he looked into her lush golden brown eyes the more he felt an overwhelming amount of emotions hit him. Sophie was filled with joy, happiness and the fluttery feelings that he felt a lot from her in the last couple of days but the one emotion that seemed to take over was not as positive. Sophie was really nervous. That's when the realization hit him. This was new to her at least. New.
“Yeah I’m fine Keefe” Sophie said trying her very best to smile.
The words brought Keefe back to her attention.
“Come on, let's do something fun!” He said, deciding that the best way to make her feel better was to distract her from all the craziness in her life.
“I don’t know Keefe, I have lots of homework” she teased, finally showing some of her normal self. He grinned wrapping his arm in hers, and they walked like they were striding on to a red carpet. Or at least they tried to. As they were walking up her beautiful wooden stairs, Sophie’s clumsiness shone and she tripped way too many times to count. Although to him her clumsiness just made her look more like the cutest person on earth, and he was sure he was really smiling now.
“I have an idea!” Sophie declared when they sat down in her room. “I know it's a bit more human than elfish but I have been dying to share it with someone for a looong time”
Her eyes sparkled with excitement and she smiled, making Keefe want to do whatever she said. The way she looked at him made him want to do anything for her, no matter how crazy it was. If she said to jump off a cliff he would probably do it, heck he had already done that before.
“Ok. Well what’s your idea?” Keefe asked smiling
“We should watch a movie!” Sophie said practically bouncing with excitement.
“What’s a movie?” Keefe asked
“It’s a human thing. There’s images or people who act out a story and you watch it on a screen. Trust me it’s really fun” Sophie said, her eyes shining and her smile bright.
Seeing her like that it was impossible for Keefe not to share her excitement. She looked so adorable and happy and Keefe loved this side of her. Plus he really was interested by the idea of a movie, and it was distracting her just the way he hoped.
“Ok let’s do it” Keefe said, laughing when Sophie ran up and hugged him.
Sophie stepped back with a mischievous look in her eyes. She grinned “I know exactly what we’re going to watch” She said laughing “Come on!”
“Should I be worried about this, Foster?” Keefe asked teasingly
Sophie just grinned in response grabbing his hand and leading him over to her bed so they could sit and watch. Keefe looked down in wonder as the images moved in the intro. Suddenly the title flashed across the screen. High School Musical. Keefe looked at Sophie smiling.
“What’s this about?” He asked
“You’ll see” She grinned
5 minutes into the movie Sophie was already laughing at Keefe’s reaction.
“Wait, why do they just burst out singing about their feelings? And how come everyone knows how to dance in perfect sync? And why is everyone good at singing? What is this?” Keefe asked.
Sophie laughed and shook her head. “I don’t know. Humans find it entertaining, and I know you love it…” She smiled, turning to look at him.
Keefe smirked “Ok fine I’ll admit it’s pretty fun”
Sophie smiled and settled in next to him, each of them commenting and laughing at the different scenes in the movie.
Sophie rested her head on Keefe’s shoulder looking calm and really happy. A few minutes later she was fast asleep with a peaceful smile on her face. Keefe smiled. He loved seeing Sophie forget about her worries and just relax for a while. He ran a hand through her hair and slowly his eyelids closed as he slept feeling happier and more at ease than he had ever felt before