Sophie wished for the millionth time that the Black Swan had given her coordination.
Dancing in the opening ceremonies was difficult enough, but being clumsy too?
No thanks.
She also wished that the costumes weren't so ridiculous. The saber tooth tiger costume made her look like a colorblind vampire.
Perfect.
Keefe hadn't complained about not going. He had said he was going to visit the school, but alone, with only Ro, and prank someone for his last night. Although he had told Sophie that if she didn't bring him back a pile of candy, that he would be severely disappointed.
Dex retied his cape, "I can't wait until we graduate," he whispered. They were waiting for their turn to dance onto the stage. Sophie, unfortunately, had to go before him.
Fortunately though, the dance was relatively simple. Spin, jump, land on knees, jump again, and spin off stage.
Appparently, they had taken into account that Sophie was a klutz.
Or maybe Magnate Leto did.
"Yeah, then we don't have to wear these stupid things. " Marella agreed.
"At least we're not the yetis," Lihn slung an arm around Tam. He was sulking. His face was shadowed by the hood of his cape, his silver tips the only thing on his face that was visible.
Sophie wiggled her fangs. That was the worst part. The cloaks were too hot, and the fangs itched against her lips.
The prodigies in front of her begin to shuffle forward, some hissing complaints to each other.
Stina flounced past. "Don't trip over my cape," She said to Sophie.
Sophie rolled her eyes. "There's not an ounce of decency in her, is there?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Also, weren't we getting along for a while?"
Biana shrugged. "Kind of, but that girl is fickle."
"Don't worry, " Dex whispered, "I put an elixir in her bottle of youth earlier. Having a unibrow isn't really a trend right now."
Tam snorted.
"Did she realize?" She asked Dex.
Dex grinned wickedly. "Nope. She's going to have a fun surprise later tonight."
Sophie almost felt bad for her.
***
Sophie searched through the crowd for her parents. She spotted Grady through the knot of prodigies and their families. The Vacker's were standing with them.
Dex nudged her. "Hurry up. My parents are gonna make me watch the triplets if I don't hang with you guys."
Sophie obliged, weaving through the crowd. She was actually glad that the vampire outfit had a hood. No one whispered at her, or distanced themself from her. She was just another prodigy.
Biana had her hood thrown back. Once again, she managed to look amazing, even in the ruby cloak and fangs.
Fitz stood next to her staring at the ground. His face was tight, as if he was angry.
Grady noticed them first. "Hey, Kiddo." He pulled her into a hug. "We miss you at home," he whispered.
Sophie's throat tightened. "I miss you guys too,"
She released him and hugged Edaline.
"Did my packet come?" She asked.
Edaline nodded. "I brought it for you."
"Where's Keefe?" Grady asked.
"We thought it'd be better for him to hang at home for tonight. We didn't want him to get overwhelmed. He did say something about a prank..."
"If he gets detention tomorrow, I'm going to mesmerize him to slap himself in the face." Grady muttered to Edaline.
Biana stepped to her. "Did you get the summons?"
Sophie nodded. "Yeah. Mine came with Keefe's."
Fitz cleared his throat.
Sophie had been trying to ignore him. It wasn't working. She looked at him. He motioned for her to follow him.
"Look, Sophie, I'm sorry about the other night. I didn't have any right to enter your mind. I should've respected your privacy. I am really sorry."
"Why did you do it?"
He looked up at her. "I... I don't know. I guess I was jealous or something."
"Jealous? Of who? Forkle was reading my mind. What could you be jealous of?"
Fitz licked his lips. "I... I don't know."
"Well, when you figure it out, tell me." She made to walk away but Fitz grabbed her arm.
"Look, Sophie, I really am sorry." He sighed. "And I'm trying to make it up to you. I just... I don't know how. What I said to Keefe was uncalled for... I don't know what got into me."
"I get that." Sophie said firmly. "But for now, I just need space a little space, okay?"
Fitz nodded slowly. "Okay."
She turned away, then changed her about something. "Also, don't push at Keefe. He's having enough trouble. And... his life isn't perfect. You should know how he feels."
Fitz nodded again. His teal eyes were sad, not the vibrant color she usually admired. "I do. To an extent."
Sophie ignored the concerned look from Edaline, the deflated look from Alden, and the relieved/slightly amused look from Grady.
"How long can you guys stay?" She asked her dad.
Grady frowned, bundling her up in another hug.
"Sorry, kiddo. We have to leave. I have an early day tomorrow. You do too. But I will see you soon, okay?"
Sophie frowned, but hugged them goodbye. "Love you guys." She said.
"We love you too," Edaline smiled and kissed her head.
Later that night, Sophie left her friends and walked through the crowd, searching for Keefe and Ro. She didn't see them. She made her way into the school, listening for thoughts from a certain Empath.
The pair was crouched outside Lady Galvin's classroom, fiddling with the door.
"Keefe!" Sophie hissed.
He looked up, then motioned for her to come over.
"'Sup, Foster. You here to help?"
"No. I'm leaving. Are you coming?"
Keefe waved a hand vaguely towards her. "Nah. I'll meet you back at Idylwood. I gotta finish this prank. Goodnight, in case I get back late."
Sophie looked at Ro. "Make sure he gets back at a decent time. We have school tomorrow. Also make sure he doesn't ditch."
Ro snorted. "Don't worry, Blondie. I have ways to blackmail."
Keefe glance back and forth at them. "Keefe wants to know if you can address him instead of talking about him like he isn't here."
The females considered.
"No." Sophie and Ro answered in a chorus.
He rolled his eyes but smiled all the same. "Goodnight, Foster. Go get your beauty rest."
***
Two hours later, they finally came back.
Sophie still hadn't fallen asleep. She was pouring over her schedule, staring at a few particular sessions.
One, telepathy. With. Fitz.
Oh, goody.
So much for space.
It was going be awkward.
That was all she could say.
Two, enhancing. With. Keefe.
That was going to be great.
She could feel the pep talks coming.
But that wasn't what she was dreading.
It was the fact that Oralie was in that class with them.
Fun.
Three, lingu—
Sophie sat up. She could hear muffled whispering.
Someone (Keefe) shushed another person (Ro), and the other person (Ro) made a noise that could only be described as a shriek getting married with a squeal, and the noises having a baby, which was... that.
Along with coming from the mouth of an ogre.
Then a door slammed. She layed back down with a sigh, not caring that the lights were on.
Sophie sat up again. She heard muffled yell.
"What the—?"
Her door flew open, and in came Keefe, shirtless, and his bronze torso very uncovered.
That wasn't distracting.
Nope.
Not.
At.
All.
"Foster, look at my schedule and please tell me I read it wrong."
Sophie took the schedule, hoping he was distracted enough to not notice her nuclear face.
"Elvin histories II*, Empathy, the Universe III*, Lunch Hour*, Physical Education*, Enhancing, Linguistics, Unknown. So?"
"Okay, first, Enhancing. What's with that?"
"Uh, I don't know. Probably to work on the breeze thing."
"Yeah, sure, Linguistics. Read the page on that." He handed it to her.
Sophie scanned the page.
"First name: Keefe, middle name:" Keefe dove for the paper, but Sophie held it above his head. "Nuh uh, I'm reading this."
Keefe groaned, burying his face in one of her pillows. His back was now on display.
Why she was noticing this stuff, she wasn't sure.
Focus, Sophie.
She looked at the page.
"Keefe Cassius Sencen..." she winced through her teeth. "Okay, that is officially the cruelest thing I have ever seen."
"Yeah, it is. But focus, Foster. Keep reading."
"We're coming back to that, by the way. Okay, seventeen years old—you're seventeen?"
Keefe shrugged. "Almost."
"Huh." Sophie continued reading, "Prodigy Level 7, Elite Levels—wow. You're in the Elite Levels. Dang."
"I know. It seems like yesterday I was in Level Four watching a girl stagger down the halls of Foxfire, begging for help." He flashed her a grin. "And of course, falling in love with me in the process."
"Whatever," she mumbled, though she knew Keefe could see right through her. It was a bit of an exaggeration, but she didn't think she would have survived that first day without several more meltdowns if Keefe hadn't found her.
Or maybe she found Keefe.
All she knew was that she was extremely grateful that the universe or Whoever was out there had led her to him.
Gave her Keefe as one of her friends.
"You okay, Foster?" Keefe asked softly. A small smile curved his lips upwards.
She cleared her throat, blinking away the tears in the edge of her vision. "I'm fine. Just... thanks."
He knew what she meant. She knew he did.
"Anytime," he whispered, fervor pressed into every syllable.
She looked back down at the paper, clearing her throat again.
"Okay. Uh, Empath, Polyglot, Unknown. Recently manifested as a Polyglot. Recently manifested a third Unknown ability. Will recieve training under Councillor Alina, Councillor Oralie, and Lord Ruewen for Unknown ability. Will recieve training under Master Cadence for linguistics."
Then she realized. "Oh, I'm so sorry."
Keefe dropped his head inro the pillow again, groaning. "I honestly hoped I was going insane."
"Yeah, that's a recipe for disaster." Sophie commented.
Keefe cracked an eye open and glared at her.
With one eye.
Sophie cracked up.
"Oh, this is amazing!"
Keefe frowned. "Foster! The woman is going to kill me! Take a look. This will be the last time you see it," He motioned to his body, falling dramatically onto his back again.
Yep.
Abs were still there.
He grinned without opening his eyes. "My abs are pretty great, huh?"
Sophie blushed.
"I wasn't looking at..." She mumbled.
"Sure, Foster. Just keep denying it. We all know that you love my hair, my abs, and me. We all know that you are deeeeeply on love with me."
Sophie tried not to look at the stomach area. It was hard not to look at the tan chest, the unfairly well-defined muscles, the broad shoulders, the—stop it, Sophie! She shook her head.
"I can feel your inner swoonliness from here, you know."
"Can you put on a shirt?"
Keefe sat up, considering this. "Hmm. Nope. I like how distracted and flustered you get. It's adorable."
"Why are we talking about this?" Sophie wondered.
Keefe shrugged. "Okay, Miss F. How do we convince Cadence not to kill me?"
Sophie smiled. "Uh, maybe if you didn't joke around so much."
Keefe looked shocked. "But Foster! I can't do that! It's my coping mechanism!"
She would have laughed, except it was all too true.
"Fine. You can keep the jokes but no more ditching sessions."
"Oh, please, Foster! Let me ditch! I won't fall behind, I promise!" He poked his lower lip out and gave her puppy eyes.
It was adorable.
Wait.
Um.
Anyways.
Her mind was going weird places today.
"No ditching." She said firmly. "Or I'll have Ro tell me your deep dark secret."
Keefe groaned. "Fiiiiine. I won't ditch. Too often." He mumbled. Then he grinned. "Guess who's in the class with me?"
She shrugged, closing her eyes. "I don't know, but whoever it is, sucks to be them."
After a moment of silence, she cracked an eye open, to see Keefe standing just above her, a devilish grin on his face.
"What?" Sophie asked.
"Oh nothing." He said innocently. "What day is your linguistics session?"
"I don't know, if Cadence is with you, then—" she froze. "Please, Lord, no."
"Oh yes." Keefe smirked. "You were saying about 'whoever sucks?'"
"Shut up." Sophie shook her head. "We both need to get some sleep, so out!"
Keefe stood up. "'Night, Foster." He grinned and gave her a wink.
"Good night, Keefe." Sophie rolled her eyes.
He walked out muttering about death and how his wanderling has better be as cool as him.
The he giggled about Linguistics.
A/N: okay, short, my updates might turn to once a week... I have six different projects this semester that are due very soon, along with two presentations I have to memorize, so yeah. Hope y'all enjoy this update!
Updated: January 11, 2021