Chapter 2
Sophie's POV
Keefe walked Sophie up to the Healing Center, and said goodbye. When she entered she was in such a daze that she walked straight into Elwin.
“Hey Sophie, what’d you do this time?” Elwin said with his classic smile. Today he was wearing a bright yellow button up shirt that was covered in bright green gulons. The gulons instantly made her think of a certain blonde haired, blue eyed boy she loved.
“Oh umm…” Sophie said, completely forgetting her reason to come here in the first place. Elwin nodded at her hand “ Maybe that's the reason?”
When Sophie looked down at the wound, it all came back to her. “Oh Ya, I broke a bottle in elementalism” or at least that's what she tried to say, but all that came out was: “Broc labottle ben en elomentisosa”
“Are you alright Sophie? Elwin said looking worried, as he shined purple light on her face. “You didn’t hurt your head too right?”
“No sorry, I umm, well lots of things have happened to me recently”. All Sophie could think about was Keefe. Sophie could remember that kiss as if it was still happening, the warm sparks that flew everywhere, his strong arms wrapped around her. She wondered if Keefe was having the same flashbacks. Speaking of Keefe, he really loved her, or at least that's what he said. What would happen now? Was he officially her boyfriend? Sophie would have to inquire later, but for now she shoved her thoughts to the side.
After Elwin bandaged up her hand, she layed back on the healing center bed with a dreamy smile on her face.
“So I spoke to your mom, Sophie, and after I told her what happened we both agreed it's best if you just head home for today”, Elwin gave her a thumbs up and helped her out of bed. “Hopefully by tomorrow everything will be better”.
Sophie sighed, if only he really knew why she was acting like this. Nevertheless she went to her locker, grabbed her stuff, and light leaped back to Havenfield.
As soon as Sophie glittered on to the Havenfield pastures, Edaline came running up to her squealing like a 6 year old. She just kept on getting younger.
“Soooooo… What happened!?! I'm asking about your hand, but also the other thing. Did you confess”?
As soon as the questions came Sophie was reminded of a squeaking hamster on one of those little hamster wheels. She walked into her home, threw her stuff on the first seat she saw and sat on the one next to it. Edaline, trying not to be too nosy, went to the kitchen, occasionally peeking her head back to check on Sophie. Sophie just sat there smiling until she realized a major problem with the whole situation. She felt her smile falter as she remembered something really important. Keefe was amazing and everything she had ever asked for, but she was dating Fitz! In fact she had a date with him this weekend! Oh no! What had she gotten herself into?!
Pacing in her room she thought of the best way to tell Fitz. She listed different ideas but none of them seemed right. Maybe with a romantic dinner? No, that would look like things were just getting more serious. Telling him at school? Definitely not, she thought. That would just make the whole scenario embarrassing. Sending him a message on her hailer? No, that’s just rude. No matter how hard she thought Sophie was lost. How to tell the person you’ve been dating for a while that you actually love his best friend? You don’t is the only thing Sophie could come up with. Luckily at that moment Edaline came in disrupting her mental argument. “Sophie”? She asked in a surprisingly gentle tone.
“Ya?” Sophie said, patting the extra space of her bed and inviting Edaline to sit down.
“I’ve been trying to give you your space but I can’t wait anymore! Plus I can hear you pacing from downstairs, so why don’t you tell me what's wrong”?
Sophie looked up at Edalines perfect features knowing very well that she wouldn’t be allowed to leave the room until Edaline got an explanation.
“I told him,” Sophie said, looking down at her bed, and fidgeting with the covers, not wanting to see her expression until she was done. “Turns out he likes me back”.
Now she couldn’t wait and when she brought her head up Edaline had one of those goofy parents “I told you so” smiles plastered all over her face.
“Eeeee! That's so amazing! Are you guys gonna go on a date?!”
“That's the problem!” Sophie said, sounding a bit more frustrated than she wanted to. “I haven’t broken up with Fitz yet, and I don’t have the slightest idea how to do it. What should I do?”
For some reason Edalines' smile widened when she said that. “You know Jolie had a problem similar to that one” Her eyes glinted over as soon as she mentioned Jolie's name. “There was a boy at school that she had been dating forever, and I remember he was the sort of boy Grady completely approved of. Which meant that he was completely boring.”
Sophie felt like this would somehow lead her to her answer, so she put her head down on her pillow to listen intently.
“The boy was in a gazillion ways perfect, but just not right for Jolie. He thought Jolie was perfect for him and together they looked like celebrities. Unfortunately Jolie liked another boy” Edaline smiled sadly remembering that story. “So she searched for different ways to break up with him. Her funniest attempt was a giant banner that wrapped around his house explaining why she was breaking up with him, and I don’t know how it would have worked because in the end Jolie wimped out every single time. Now, eventually she did break up with him and it was because of one thing. Her love for another man.” She paused to let that sink in. “So if you think Keefe’s the one then I promise you’ll know what to do” Edaline winked, got up and left the room.
After that long, but nice chat with her mom Sophie knew what she had to do and she was ready to do it. She was going to do it…
Keefe’s POV - after Sophie goes home
“Wow”. That's all Keefe could say for the rest of the day. When people joked, and teased him waiting for his attention he had absolutely no comebacks. Foster knew exactly how to make a guy speechless. In his classes he didn’t even have the energy to get up and ditch. He just sat there like a dumb guy, staring blankly at people, day dreaming of Foster. She was all he could think about. Right now he was at a mandatory assembly, sitting next to Fitz reliving the best moment of his entire life.
“Hello...Earth to Keefe?” Fitz said, waving a hand in front of his face. Fitz was acting pretty normal, but he could definitely tell that something was wrong with Keefe. “Dude I haven’t seen you daydreaming like that since... well, ever really”. Fitz commented, trying to get something out of Keefe. It worked but not in the way Fitz hoped
“Have you seen Foster anywhere?” Keefe asked, looking around and gazing over every single person's eyes in the room but none of them were the beautiful brown ones he was looking for.
“Nope but I can’t wait for our date this weekend! I have something super special planned” Fitz exclaimed.
That's right Keefe thought. Sophie was dating Fitz and obviously hadn’t told him about them yet. Wait! Was there a them yet? Sure she had looked into his eyes and said “I love you” and then kissed him, but now that he thought about it, what if that whole thing was just him dreaming? After all that's pretty much all he ever dreamed about. And the whole thing seemed way too good to be true. No he rethought, that was real,
“My dreams are never that good '' he accidentally murmured.
“Keefe!” Fitz said with a bit of anger and annoyance in his tone. “Either tell me what’s wrong or at least stop zoning out”!
Keefe lifted his head to look into Fitz's teal eyes and could immediately tell something was up with him as well.
“Why is the golden boy so freaked out”? Keefe said with a bit of his old smirk back.
“Ugh, finally a normal response. Everytime I try to talk to someone this week they keep ignoring me. Am I really that boring?”
Fitz's emotions were all over the place, so he must have been seriously concerned about this. Keefe was about to reply when a voice overhead switched on.
“Welcome students, to a surprise assembly that we planned for you!” Magnate Leto cheered. Unfortunately for him no one liked assemblies so when he paused for claps he got dead silence.
“Hmm well maybe this will get a bigger response out of you. This year we will be hosting a ball!” Hearing this most people finally clapped.
“We haven’t sorted out all the details but it will most likely happen next Friday! I would like to thank Ms. Vacker for the wonderful idea. So get your best outfits and get excited! And now that that's said we will dismiss you so you can head back to your classes.”
“Wow, I can’t wait! I can ask Sophie!” Fitz practically screamed over everyone else's voices. His eyes sparked in a way that Keefe could see meant he still had deep feelings for her.
Oh nuts, what was Keefe going to do now? Ask her and hope she ditched the mega popular Wonderboy for him? Well whatever he did, he would have to figure it out fast.
Sophie’s POV - The next day
“Sophie!” Biana yelled from across the cafeteria “Over here!” Biana said, waving Sophie over. Biana had on one of the nicest outfits Sophie had seen on her, and that was saying something because she was Biana Vacker. “I wonder who she's trying to impress?”Sophie said under her breath. She made her way to her friend's table, and sat down next to Biana.
“Hey Sophie,” Fitz said, giving her his trademark movie star smile from across the table. Sophie's heart noticeably didn’t flutter.
“Hey Fitz.” She replied, trying to avoid his shining teal eyes, but when she did look up, his eyes looked less superstar and more daunting as if they were trying to remind her of what she had to do. She shook her head, I need to focus.
“Hey Foster,” Keefe said, smiling at her and sitting down next to her. At that Sophie's heart fluttered intensely and she looked down hoping no one saw the way she was blushing.
Biana must have noticed something because she looked at both of them suspiciously, but didn’t ask any questions.
“So anyways,” Dex said, continuing what he must have been saying before her arrival. “The triplets were…” But by then Sophie had already tuned him out. Was she going to chicken out when she had to break things off with Fitz? Maybe she could get Biana to do it for her! That was foolproof! Even if she chickened out, it would still get done. She would tell Biana, Biana would hopefully understand, and she would avoid a horrible conversation! She could walk with her to class, tell her then and make her break up with Fitz for her! Well, it would mean to break up with someone through someone else…Especially if that someone is their sister. Sophie thought. Maybe Biana can cancel the date, and I’ll break up with him later, when I find a better way to explain it.
After lunch Sophie got up quickly, trying to avoid Fitz and Keefe and walked over to Biana.
“Hey! Wanna walk with me to class?” Sophie asked
“Sure! Finally you’re acting like yourself again. Are you okay? You’ve been acting kind of strange lately and you didn’t even sit with us at lunch lately”
“I know… And I’m sorry,” Sophie said “But I need a huge favor from you”
“Sure. Anything” Biana said with a smile.
“I...Need you to cancel my date with your brother this weekend”
“Oh yeah he told me that he’s so excited… Wait, did you say cancel?”
Sophie nodded, with a guilty look on her face.
“Why?” “I thought things were going great with you guys?”
Sophie looked around making sure no one was listening. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course” “I promise”
Sophie hesitated “I’m...In love with Keefe...And turns out he likes me back?” She said, making it sound more like a question than a statement.
Biana’s jaw dropped. Then she smiled. “Sophie, that's so great for you. I’m glad you guys figured that out. And it explains why you were both acting so weird today. Though I have to say you’re pretty much the only person who didn’t know Keefe liked you. Well you and my brother”
“So can you cancel the date with Fitz?” Sophie asked “You don’t have to tell him why, I'm planning on telling everyone soon I just need to find the right moment. Until then could you maybe keep this between us?
“Of course. And I’ll sort things out with Fitz, at least until you figure out when to tell him about Sokeefe” Biana smiled, clearly obsessed with the ship name.
Sophie wasn’t sure who loved these things more, Biana or Edaline. She gave Biana a hug, thanked her and walked to class.
Oh well. At least everything is finally working out.
The rest of the day went by pretty quickly and Sophie felt relieved now that things were starting to work out in her favor. At the end of the day Sophie went to her locker to drop off her stuff and head home when she found Keefe waiting for her.
“Hey Foster,” Keefe said timidly. Why was Keefe nervous? She had never seen him like this and it made him look even more handsome. Sophie liked seeing him look so genuine and it made her heart flutter.
“Uhh what are you doing this weekend?” Keefe asked running a hand through his hair, messing up his perfectly styled look and somehow making him look even cuter. For a second Sophie thought she misheard him. Was Keefe trying to ask her out?!?
“Umm.nothing really” Why do you ask?” Sophie answered.
“What about your...Umm..Date with Fitz?” Keefe asked quietly, looking kind of sad.
Sophie smiled at him. “Don’t worry. That’s all taken care of, which leaves me with pretty much nothing to do”
“Oh” Keefe said looking relieved. “Well in that case...Would you like to go out with me tomorrow?”
He looked so nervous as he looked hopefully into her eyes and it made Sophies heart want to burst out of her chest. Sophie couldn’t believe what was happening. OMG! Is Keefe Sencen asking me out on a date?! She felt completely speechless.
Sophie looked up and as soon as she looked into his sparkling ice blue eyes she immediately found her voice.
“I’d love to” She whispered
Keefe smiled brightly, a real smile and not a smirk. Sophie had never seen him look so happy and it made her heart swell. He took a step closer to her.
“Ok then. See you tomorrow Foster”
“Wait. Where are we going”
“That’s a surprise. But make sure to wear human clothes”
“Ok…”
Keefe turned to leave then turned around again, gave Sophie a quick kiss on the cheek and leaped away before she could respond. Sophie just stood there grinning like an idiot, happier than she had felt in a long time. When she came back to her senses she leaped back to Havenfield, practically skipped inside and layed down on her bed with a dreamy smile. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow! Finally everything was working out! She fell asleep dreaming of sparkling gorgeous eyes and feeling excited about the events the next day would bring.
Fitz's POV - Later that day, after school
‘Black or teal?’ Fitz thought, trying on different outfits for his date with Sophie. He was super excited because he hadn’t been able to go on a date with her for a while. The last time he did was so long ago. ‘White’ he finally decided. His outfit was custom made to make him look handsome and strong. It had a tight fitting white t-shirt that showed off his muscles and a loose fitting tie that wrapped around his neck, complementing his eyes. The pants were flawless and black, and when he looked in the mirror all he could think was You look gooood. Fitz put the stuff away in a special drawer and headed downstairs where he could hear Biana getting home from a friend's house.
Biana had her finest outfit on from school and he couldn’t help but think she must be trying to impress Dex. He could totally see them hitting it off and hoped it worked out. As soon as Biana saw him walking down the stairs she made eye contact, secretly telling him they needed to talk. They developed a sort of secret signal before Fitz got his telepathy and never used it unless they had something serious to say. So when Biana went to their third living room Fitz decided to follow.
“Ehhh, I have some important news to share” Biana said almost nervously as if she wasn’t sure how to approach the subject.
“Sure, what's wrong”? Fitz asked.
“Umm...Sophie asked me to tell you that she can’t go to your date on Sunday”
“What, Why?” Fitz asked confused
“I don’t know...She didn’t say why” “Don’t take it personally I’m sure she’s just super busy”
Yeah...I guess you’re right...Maybe we could reschedule it”
“Ummm...Sure” Biana said sounding a little nervous and avoiding eye contact
“Ok well I have to go” Fitz said
Ok...Bye” Biana said “I’ll be in my room if you need me”
Fitz nodded and walked away. Why would Sophie ask Biana to tell me? Why not just tell me herself?
As he sat on his bed he tried convincing himself that Biana was right and Sophie was just busy. But he could feel something was off. He knew something wasn’t right, and he had to find out what it was.