Sokeefe - Until She Was Ready For More

Chapter 27

Alright, who's a jerk? I am! I thought it would be kinda maybe funny to joke about not finishing my story and then actually finish it, but now I realize that was a total jerk thing to do. I'm sorry. Y'all's comments were super sweet and I guess I didn't think that would happen. So that was a mistake and I apologize for that. But I will be continuing my story, if that wasn't clear. I've found a lot of my motivation since starting to write chapter 26 and can finally see a clear ending, which I'm super excited to write! And although I was being honest when I said book 9 does make this fanfic kinda pointless, I still enjoy writing it and hope y'all still enjoy reading it :)

Sophie's eyes widened. The first page was a picture of her. Why would Keefe have drawn her? Sophie continued to flip through the pages, expecting to find some of their other friends, but finding only herself. Her on Silveny. Her laughing. Her smiling. Her taking charge. Her with the gold mascara on. Her crying. Her. Her. Her. Her. 

Sophie flipped the book closed and brought her hands up to her head as it started to spin. I don't understand, she thought to herself. Why is it just me? Could he... like me? Wait, no, that's crazy. That doesn't even make sense.

Sophie's eyes squeezed shut and she rubbed her temple. None of this made any sense. Like, at all. Sophie reopened her eyes and her gaze found the second notebook. It was red and wasn't from the set of four Keefe had been using when he was younger. Maybe it could explain things. How, she wasn't sure. But she was willing to give it a try. 

She pulled the notebook towards her a took a deep breath before opening it. This time, she was faced with writing. Lots and lots of writing. There didn't seem to be a single picture in it, which Sophie felt slightly relieved about. But writing could sometimes be more intimate than drawing. Should she really read this? Again, Sophie pushed away her reservations and began to read. 

So... Foster thinks I might learn more from my memories if I try writing stuff about them after I finish the drawings. Not totally sure why. She gave me a big speech about the power of words and different ways of processing information.

At this, Sophie paused to laugh because she remembered this exact conversation and her suggestion to write about the memories.

But I was only half listening because she gets this cute little crinkle between her eyebro-

Cute? He thought her eyebrow crinkle was cute?

-ws when she's trying to be serious, and it makes me want to reach up and smooth her forehead with my fingertip-

Sophie's eyes widened and her heart started to race. Maybe she had been right before. 

- and I'm betting she'd think I was super weird if I did that, since it's not like she's my...

Did he mean...

You know what? I don't know why I'm talking about this! Or writing about it - or thinking about it - or whatever I'm doing right now. Pretty sure I'm just stalling, because this feels kiiiiiiiiiiiinda pointless. But. Foster's way smarter than I am.

Does Keefe really think that?, she thought to herself. Sophie knew he was super smart, even if he didn't have as many abilities as she did.

And nothing else I've tried has helped me remember anything new. So, I guess that means it's time to write about my messed-up life - oh boy!

Sophie winced. She hated that Keefe had to deal with a home life like that. 

And in case I forget why I did this later, I'm writing about the memories here, instead of in the notebooks where I've been sketching them, because Lord Nosypants is alwa-

So thats why Sophie had never seen this notebook with the other four before.

-ys going through my stuff. (HEAR THAT, DADDIO? I'M ONTO YOU! AND I DARE YOU TO KEEP READING - I'M SURE I'LL HAVE LOTS TO SAY ABOUT YOUR AWESOME PARENTING SKILLS!)

Poor Keefe, Sophie thought.

Plus, I have the world's most annoying orge constantly looking over my shoulder. (YEAH, I SEE YOU OVER THERE, PRINCESS! YOU'RE NOT AS SMOOTH AS YOU THINK YOU ARE!) So, basically, I'm separating the lock from the key. (GOOD LUCK FINDING ALL THE NOTEBOOKS, GUYS!) Okay... let's do this!

Sophie flipped to the next page of the red notebook and saw the headline: Memory #1. Sophie skimmed the entry, looking for any indictation of what memory Keefe had drawn. Her eyes stopped on one of the lines.

Anyways. I'm sure I'll be digging into my mess of mommy issues soon enough. For now, let's get back to the day Daddy Dearest met the Mysterious Miss F, shall we?

The memory was the day Sophie met Keefe's dad. What were the chances that the memory drawn in the golden notebook?, Sophie wondered.

Not very good, it seemed, since Sophie spent 5 minutes looking through the notebook and couldn't find a single drawing with Keefe's dad in it. Sophie went back to reading the red notebook before she drew in a sharp breath and read the sentences again.

She just felt sad - and a little bit indignant. And if I hadn't already known I liked her, I would've-

Did he mean that he liked her as a friend or something more?  Sophie shook her head, not wanting to get confused again, and continued to read. Soon, the entry ended and Sophie went to the next memory.

Awwwwww, my first flight with Glitter Butt!

Sophie started looking for the memory through the gold notebook, positive she had seen it earlier, and, sure enough, she found the memory. Wow, Keefe drew this so well, she thought, which made her even more curious to read about what he was thinking during that particular memory. She continued reading and soon she was near the end.

In fact... if I'm keeping it real... I'm pretty sure that blush is the reason I drew this memory. I mean, I could've picked any moment from that flight, but I drew this one. Because that wasn't an "I'm so embarassed right now" blush. Or a "Keefe is driving me crazy" blush. It started out that way. But then it got warmer. Almost like... Ugh, I'm just going to go ahead and say it, since it's not like anyone's ever going to read this (and Ro and Lord Bossypants already hassle me about it anyway - AND IT'S NOT LIKE I CARE). That was the first time it felt like... maybe I had a tiny shot at making this brave, beautiful, blushing girl like me. Hasn't worked out that way yet. And I have no idea if it ever will. But there's a teeny, tiny chance. And that's enough. For now. 

Sophie heart started to race enough that she thought she might have a heart attack and her palms started to sweat. Her cheeks were on fire. Because Keefe Sencen liked her. Romantically. Even though she logically knew it due to them being married in the future, it still shocked her to her core. Because knowing that Keefe liked her now? It made her realize that she liked Keefe, too. Maybe even loved him.