Supernova---A KOTLC fanfiction

Chapter 7

Sophie

Sophie waited anxiously for Keefe at the restaurant in Atlantis that he'd messaged her to meet at. She checked the time again. Why am I so nervous? It's just Keefe. Just Keefe, she thought. But, of course, it was a date with Keefe. Which made it all the more nerve wracking.

Sophie tugged another eyelash out, and checked the time again. Suddenly, she heard a voice from behind her. "Hey," Keefe said.

Sophie whipped around. Keefe was holding a package wrapped in crinkly ice-blue paper and tied with a silky gold ribbon in the shape of a bow. "Hi," she said, butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"You look... wow," Keefe said, looking at Sophie. "You look beautiful."

Sophie blushed. "Thanks," she replied, "Biana helped."

Keefe laughed. "Your dress does have the Biana touch, doesn't it?"

Sophie smiled. "Yeah. She had to force me to wear this thing and to put on all this makeup."

Sophie was wearing an ice-blue dress that was dotted with pale, glittering aquamarines and diamonds. It had a train, and as the dress went on, it grew lighter, finally ending with silk that was pure white. Sophie's hair was intricately braided, and more gemstones were woven into her braid. Her eyes were dusted with shimmery gold eyeshadow, and Biana had lined Sophie's eyes with black eyeliner, making them look bolder. In total, Sophie was stunning.

"Do you want to sit down?" Keefe asked, motioning to the table next to them.

"Sure."

Keefe handed the package to Sophie once they both sat down. "What's this?" Sophie asked, turning the present around in her hands.

"It's for you. Open it."

Sophie carefully unwrapped the present. Beneath all the layers of paper, there was a pearly-white box. Sophie opened it and gasped. "Keefe...," she said, "this is amazing. Thank you."

Inside the box was a gold locket in the shape of a heart. Letters were etched onto the shiny metal—Sophie Elizabeth Foster. Inside, there were carefully drawn hand-painted pictures of different moments of Sophie's life. There was her with Silveny, her with Grady and Edaline, her with her human family, and so many others. It was as if Keefe had kept track of every single bit of her life. And maybe he had.

"Do you like it?" Keefe asked shyly.

"I love it." Sophie turned another mini-page, revealing yet another intricate painting. This painting was of the first time that Keefe and Sophie met, in Keefe's favorite ditching spot. Underneath their faces were the words "You must be lost" in gold calligraphy. Sophie's breath caught in her throat. "This is the first time we met, right?" She asked Keefe, looking up from the locket/album to his face.

Keefe grinned, embarrassed but also happy. He ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I just remembered it, and put it there. Um, but if you don't like it, it's okay—"

Sophie, her heart fluttering, acted on an impulse and grabbed Keefe's hand over the table, squeezing it as she said, "No. It's fine. It's amazing, really. All of these things from my life... it's like you've been keeping track." She paused. "Have you?"

Keefe turned pinkish and gripped her hand just as tightly as she was holding his. "...Maybe? Ugh, who am I kidding? Yes. Yes, I have been keeping track."

"Why though?" Sophie asked. "What's so interesting about me? What was it that made you decide to pay attention to me? Why wasn't it—I don't know—Biana or someone else?"

Keefe smirked. "You really don't know, do you, Foster?"

"Don't know what?" Sophie asked, confused.

"Well, we certainly don't call you 'Little Miss Oblivious' for nothing, do we?"

"What..." Then it hit her. "Wait. How long have you had a crush on me, Keefe?"

Keefe turned red. "Ummm... Forever, I guess. Ever since I saw you in that hallway."

Sophie's mouth quirked up. "Forever?"

"Yes, Foster, forever. Is that so hard to believe?" Keefe leaned forward a bit, his expression suddenly serious.

Sophie's breath got sucked out of her as she gazed into the vortex of Keefe's ice-blue eyes. "No, Keefe, it isn't," she breathed.

And then Sophie, too, leaned in, closing the gap between them. Her lips touched Keefe, and the world turned electric. And she knew that everything would be fine, as long as Keefe was at her side. At that moment, she knew that Keefe was—and always had been, although she had been too foolish and blinded to see it before—the one for her.