ALWAYS, kotlc

the secret mentors room

"Foster," Keefe whispered.           

Sophie felt somebody throw a wad of balled up paper at the back of her head. She stole a quick glance at their Mentor to make sure he was facing the other direction, before whipping around and giving Keefe a questioning glance.

He pointed to himself, then to Sophie, then to the open window.  He made the universal "Shh!" sign, before giving Tam a pointed glare from the seat beside him.

Tam just sighed, gave a "you-owe-me-one" look, and then snapped his fingers. The room went dark, and Sophie could feel Keefe sliding out of his chair, slipping his hand into hers, and guiding her over to the window as their Mentor demanded who had turned out the lights. And then they jumped.

Sophie levitated them both to safety as they landed softly on the grass. She spotted the lights come back on in the classroom as a wad of paper fell from the window.

You owe me one.

Have fun with Sophie. :p

Tam

"Since when did Tam learn how to make a smiley face?"  Sophie wondered, and then shook her head at the randomness of the question as Keefe chucked the paper into a nearby bush.

"Come here," Keefe told her. "I've made it my life's goal to show you a different place I've discovered every single day."

"Did you?" Sophie said, amused but also very touched that he'd thought of her. "Okay. Where are we going?"

"Look." He pointed to the bush where he'd just thrown the piece of paper into.  "I was ditching the other day, and I saw this. Doesn't it look a little fishy?"

Sophie squinted at it. "Nope. It... looks like every single bush here."

Keefe just grinned.  "Here."

He grabbed her hand and stepped right into the leaves.  Sophie followed through, expecting to find herself in the midst of a bunch of spiky leaves.

But instead, it was..

"Look," Keefe said.  "There's a hole in the wall. It leads inside my new favorite ditching spot in Foxfire."

"Ha ha," Sophie whispered, and then ducked through the hole.

It was a light, spacious room with jars of candy filled on the shelves and cushioned sofas lining the walls.  It almost looked like the Mentor's room, but surely...

"It's an abandoned Mentor's room," Keefe said proudly.  "Must've forgot about it or something. I've been ditching every chance I could, and I decided to bring you along."

"Huh. Want one?" Sophie held out a custard burst for him.

"Ugh- I've been snacking all day. I'm gonna barf- don't worry, I won't," Keefe promised, seeing her disgusted expression.

"I like this new goal," Sophie decided, reaching for another ripplepuff. 

"I do too," Keefe told her, and then kissed her.

Sophie practically melted into him.

"You're the best," she mumbled as Keefe led her over to the sofa and they flopped onto the cushions.

Keefe smiled and snatched a ripplepuff from the jar.  "Don't worry Foster. I'm well aware."