ONE CHANCE, kotlc

Chapter 12: Bonding As Keefe Would Call It

Once they had gotten home, Keefe, of course, insisted he stay for a bit longer. Grady and Edaline still weren't home, so Sophie didn't mind. At the moment, her top priority was to find out more about Mr. Forkle, aside from her education and whatnot.

"Wow, so this is your room?" Keefe asked and scratched the back of his neck as he observed his surroundings. Sophie's room wasn't anything special; Books, her modern bed, white sheets, a window, her desk, and all the other colourful knickknacks a room contained.

"Well, yeah. I thought you'd have seen it already," Sophie mumbled as she awkwardly stood a few paces away from him.

"I'm not that big of a stalker."

"That doesn't mean you don't stalk me," She pointed out with raised eyebrows.

"True enough, Foster. True enough." He traced his hand over her dusty shelves and petted Iggy, who happily barked from the attention.

"You don't have any pets?" Sophie asked quietly as Iggy jumped into his arms.

"No. My parents are too . . . 'modern' to have any pets. At least, That's what they say," He mumbled.

"What sports do you play?" Sophie changed the topic as she plopped onto her bed.

"Volleyball, Football, Soccer. . . All of the above! How bout you?" 

"None," She admitted. 

"Um, hobbies?" 

"I read every once in a while. I suppose I like art and singing too." 

Both their stomachs grumbled, filling the silence.

"I haven't eaten. Let's go make something!" Keefe jumped and walked to the kitchen, Sophie slightly behind him. "What should we make?"

"I don't know . . ." 

"It's no worries. We'll find something to eat. We won't starve on my watch." He winked, his ice-blue eyes gleaming.

"No, I mean, I don't know if we can trust you to make the food. For one, you get caught by the police daily, two, you literally just hurled me into some bushes after being stalked, and three. Um, there might not be a three, but still."

"I'm trustworthy, no worries, as Alden would say." 

"You mean there's no reason to worry." 

"Yeah, whatever. Want to make some Kraft dinner? Wow, you have, like, a lot of this stuff! Geez!" Keefe exclaimed.

"We can't have that! It's Grady's backup food, I think. In case of emergencies?" Sophie guessed with a confused shrug.

"All of it?"

"Sure." 

"He won't notice if we take this one and . . ." Keefe positioned the boxes so it looked like there wasn't one out of place. "Voila!"

Sophie shook her head as she plopped down at the kitchen table. She'd warned him. 

It didn't take long—with many clanks along the way—but Keefe had it all cooking within minutes.

The sun had started to set, and she began to worry about Grady and Edaline, even though Keefe promised they'd be okay.

After some time, Keefe had steaming hot bowls of Kraft Dinner set in front of them. 

"Looks good, right?" He winked as he went over to the fridge and took out some mustard. He hurried back and drizzled mustard all over his Kraft Dinner as Sophie tenderly blew on hers.