"There! Aaaaand... There! Here, too!" Sophie had walked up the stairs to her bedroom when she saw Biana dyeing bits of Fitz's hair. They had taken such a long time upstairs that everyone downstairs was tired of waiting for them and thus sent her up to investigate. It turned out that the reason was that Biana was making her brother into a completely different person.
"Uh, Bi, when are you going to be finished?" Sophie asked, staring at Fitz's hair, which was now streaked with multiple colors, curly, and puffed up in a huge afro.
"Just... One... More... Second!" Biana said, smoothing a bit of Fitz's hair into place. "Done! Finished!" She stood up and steered Fitz to the mirror.
Fitz's eyes popped out of his head. "BIANA!" He shouted. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" He turned around and lunged for his sister, but Biana had already escaped the room, giggling — no, cackling — as she skipped downstairs.
"That Biana." He gritted his teeth, then seemed to realize for the first time that Sophie was there. "Oh. Hey, Sophie," He said, as he awkwardly tried to cover up his hair with his hands.
"No, it looks fine," Sophie reassured him. "I mean, Keefe will make fun of it—"
"Yeah, Keefe," Fitz growled. Then he said something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like, "Of course you would think of Keefe first."
"What did you say?" She asked curiously.
He shook his head, irritated. "It's nothing."
"Okay, um, everyone else sent me up here because they were tired of waiting for you and Biana. Wanna come downstairs now?" Sophie asked, trying to dispel the tension that had come up.
Fitz shrugged. "Sure." Then followed her downstairs.
Downstairs, she was surprised to find the rest of her friends peacefully snacking on the ripplefluffs. She was surprised that there was no chaos. When Keefe saw her, he jumped up.
"Man, Foster, things have been boring since you've been gone. I kinda miss your near-death experiences." He slung a hand over her shoulder, and while Sophie tried to shrug it off, Fitz spoke up.
"Does that mean you wish that she would nearly die and get injured more?" He said, glaring at Keefe.
"What, no! Of course not! I would never wish for Foster to get hurt!" Keefe said at the same time Sophie said, "No, Keefe just lives on excitement. He wouldn't wish for me to get hurt."
Everyone looked in between them as if they were expecting a fight. When Fitz opened his mouth, seemingly to continue the argument, Sophie spoke up herself.
"Enough!" She almost wasn't sure that she was the one to say it, but she continued. "I don't care what your reasons are, but I've had enough! You two keep fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting! Can't you stop bickering, just for a moment?"
Keefe only smirked. "Sure, anything for my girl," He said, casually putting another arm over her shoulder.
"I'm not your girl!" Sophie snapped, pushing him away. When she saw how the rest of her friends were gawking at the three of them, she deflated.
"Okay." She took a few deep breaths. "Sorry about that. Why don't we go up to my room and find something to do?" Without another word, she marched up the stairs.
What were Keefe and Fitz thinking? She thought as she walked up. Can't they be pleasant for once to each other? Where did this sudden rivalry come from anyway? Weren't they best friends?
When she got to the door of her room, she paused and waited for the rest of her friends to arrive.
"How about we play truth or dare?" Biana suggested.
"Nope!" Sophie said, shaking her head.
"Aw come on!" Biana said, grinning at her. "It'll be fun!"
"Uh uh," she said, shaking her head more vigorously. "This is my sleepover, so I make the rules. And I say no truth or dare."
"Well then, let's take a vote," she said triumphantly. "Those in favor of playing, raise their hands." She quickly shot her hand into the air. So did Keefe, Fitz, Linh, and Dex.
"Well well well..." Biana rubbed her hands together like an evil villain. "It turns out that we want to play truth or dare!"
"Nooooooooo!" Sophie said, banging her head on the ground.
Keefe smirked slightly and put his arm around her shoulders. "Relax, Foster. I won't go that hard on you."
"Nope, we are not doing me first. How about... Linh?"
"I..." She started protesting, but Keefe had already agreed with Sophie and began talking.
"So, Linh. Truth or Dare?" Keefe said, tapping his chin expectantly.
"Truth," she said firmly.
"Aw come on! That's no fun!" Keefe whined slightly, then gave one out quickly. "Who here do you have the hots for?"
Linh blushed. "Nope! Not telling!" She said, crossing her arms.
"Well then, you have to take off a piece of clothing," Keefe said.
She blushed even deeper, but Biana leaned over and whispered something into her ear. Her face lit up as she slid a sock off.
"Okay, done!" She said brightly, grinning at him. Keefe scowled.
She turned to her brother and said, "Tam, Truth or Dare?"
"The shadow always picks the dare," a ghostly whisper came from a corner.
"I dare you to hug everyone and give them a compliment!" Linh said triumphantly.
A sort of strangled scream came from the same corner as Tam slipped into the light. "Fine. But only because the shadow never backs down," he said grumpily.
He headed toward Linh first and embraced her easily. "You are totally very not at all annoying," he said. Linh rolled her eyes.
Next, he headed to Biana. "Your hair-styling is on point," he murmured, glancing at Fitz's hair. Biana blushed prettily.
"Thanks," she mumbled. "Do you think I can style your hair sometime?" Tam immediately pulled away, and everyone laughed.
"I'm just kidding," she told him. "Your bangs are good already."
Tam flushed, then continued to Keefe. "You're... being... l-less... annoying t-tod-day," he said, gritting his teeth as he quickly hugged him.
"What was that?" Keefe asked, putting a hand up to his ear. Tam grunted and stared at him with utter loathing. Sophie tugged on his arm.
"Keefe!" She said. "Do you want to get sliced and diced by Tam?"
"Well if I die, you guys will all know who the most handsome Wanderling is," he said, flipping his hair. Sophie scowled.
Tam came closer to each of them and hugged all of the rest of them together, mumbling gargled phrases, but Linh let it pass.
After his dare was finished, Tam said, "Dex, truth or dare."
"Truth?" He said, looking unsure of his answer. "Tell us who you have the hots for!" Keefe butted in. Tam didn't say anything, only nodding silently.
Dex turned scarlet. "She's not here," he mumbled.
"Who's not?" Keefe asked, grinning from ear to ear. "Which lucky girl do you have a crush on?"
Dex turned away and whispered. "Marella."
"OoOoooOoOOoh," Keefe said, drinking it in. "Our new couple, Marellex!" He frowned. "Actually, how about Dexerella?"
Biana squealed and clapped her hands. "I ship it!" Then she turned to Keefe and asked. "Can I ask Sophie a dare instead of you?"
"Just tell me what it is," he said, leaning closer. Biana whispered something into his ear and a faint blush rose on his cheeks.
"Okay..." He said, still blushing slightly. He cleared his throat. "Okay, Sophie, truth or dare?"
"Dare, I guess, since Biana said that she was going to give me a dare," she said.
"Okay!" Keefe smirked. "I dare you to let Biana give you a makeover."
"Wha — Nooooooo!" Sophie wailed as she realized what the dare was.
Biana clapped her hands excitedly and pushed her up the stairs. "Come on, let's go!"
"Nooooo..." Sophie moaned. Biana pushed her through the door of her own bedroom and went over to Vertina.
"Ooh, you're pretty," the spectral mirror said, studying her features.
"Yeah, but this makeover is for Sophie," she dragged her over there and positioned her in front of the mirror on a stool.
"Hmm..." Vertina studied her, tilting her little head. "For makeup, some subtle red and gold smokey eye, some light peach lipstick... You don't need blush, you blush enough already."
Sophie's cheeks flushed red at that comment.
"See? She's blushing right now!" Vertina pointed out.
"You're right," Biana said, studying Sophie's face. "But what about the hair?"
The spectral mirror considered it for a few seconds, then immediately said, "A crown braid bun."
Biana nodded approvingly and began styling her hair. After that, she practically dove into Sophie's closet, looking for a good dress.
"Red is totally your color," she said, snatching a red mermaid style dress, shaking her head, then throwing it aside.
Finally, after what seemed like two hours of searching, Biana finally found the perfect dress.
"It's AMAZING!" She said, chattering nonstop. It was a beautiful evening dress with long sleeves. The skirt was slightly ruffly, but Sophie found that she didn't mind it much. There was a ruffled collar, and silver stars were sprinkled all over. She carefully slipped it on, and it fit her like a glove.
Biana kept on squealing. "You look absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, Sophie! The boys won't be able to keep their eyes off you!" Sophie blushed as Biana handed her the ruby earrings and necklace.
"I'm gonna call for them to come up here!" Biana squealed, then flounced away.
"Wait no—!" Sophie cried out, then sighed. She took Iggy down from his cage and started petting him.
Suddenly, she heard several intakes of breath and looked up. Just as Biana had predicted, all of the boys were staring at her. Except for Tam, who quickly looked away as soon as Sophie glanced his way. Dex smiled at her, motioning to Fitz and Keefe with his eyes. They were unabashedly staring at her.
"Umm... Is something wrong?" She nervously inquired, setting Iggy aside and twirling a strand of hair.
"No, nothing's wrong, Foster. It's just that... you look amazing," Keefe breathed out, walking over to sit with Sophie on her bed.
"Yeah," Fitz agreed, following Keefe and giving him a quick glare before turning to Sophie. "You look great."
"Thanks," she said quietly and blushed, directing her gaze toward the ground.
Suddenly, Edaline knocked on the door. "Hey guys," she called. "It's 11 o'clock. Time to slee—" Her eyes widened when she saw Sophie. "Oh..." she said softly, putting a hand to her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes. She dabbed at them with a handkerchief that she conjured up. "My little girl's growing up so fast..."
"Mom!" Sophie groaned slightly. Parents, she thought as Edaline gave her a smile and swept out of the room.
"She's right, you know." Keefe shifted closer to her until their legs are touching. "You're beautiful."
"Mmhmm," she murmured distractedly, not listening. She had transmitted a message to Edaline, asking her if they could have one more pillow fight. Her mother agreed, and she snapped back to reality.
"What?" She asked. Everyone was staring at her again.
"Any secret telepathic conversations we should know about, Foster?" Keefe asked slyly, raising an eyebrow. "Perhaps with Captain Cognate over there?" He said.
"What? No! I was talking to Edaline." She said, not sure why she seemed so embarrassed. "And for the record, I asked her if we could stay up longer and she agreed." She added defensively, then realized why she'd wanted the extra time in the beginning. "So we could have a pillow fight!" She said, taking a pillow then bringing it on Biana. Soon, everyone was smacking pillows at each other.
They soon split into two groups. Sophie, Keefe, and Dex in one group, and Fitz, Biana, Tam, and Linh in the other.
"How are you doing Foster?" Keefe muttered out of the corner of his mouth as the two of them went back to back, smacking the pillows at other people who dared come near them.
"Good." She said back, using her pillow to block an attack from Linh, then swiping it at her and missing. Man, she's good at this. Sophie thought, dodging her pillow again.
Before long, everyone was collapsed either on the ground or on Sophie's bed, panting and trying to catch their breath.
"And now, I think it's time to get into your sleeping bags," Edaline said from the doorway. No one had noticed her secretly watching their pillow fight. She had secretly aided both teams. When pillows came flying off course towards her, she conjured them into the void, then pulled them back, plopping them into the arms of those who didn't have a weapon.
This time, no one disagreed, the boys going into another room to change and sleep. As the girls arranged their sleeping bags into a three-pronged star, the lights went out, and even Iggy's snore filled the room.
Soon, everyone was asleep. Except for Sophie. For some reason, she couldn't fall asleep. She tried all different positions, tried to think of different things, but none of it worked. She considered telepathically talking with Fitz, but things were so... strange between them after their breakup that she doubted that he would make her sleep better.
So she decided to transmit into Keefe's mind.
Keefe? She asked. You there?
Couldn't sleep? He asked her, a slightly sleepy tone in his voice.
Did I wake you up?
No. He said. He must have felt Sophie's doubt, so he added, But I was only just drifting off.
I'm sorry. She said, trying to make her telepath voice as earnest as possible.
She could almost hear Keefe's soft laugh as he thought, No worries, Foster.
Sophie suddenly had an idea in her head. A crazy idea, sure, but one that just might make her feel better.
What are you thinking? Keefe thought. Even in the other room, I can feel a few of your emotions. And the mix of the sense of risk and excitement floating through the air means that you're thinking about doing something.
Keefe? She asked, ignoring his questions.
Yeah?
Do you trust me?
Keefe's voice seemed softer. More than you know.
Sophie's body tensed up with excitement and nerves. Then meet me out by Calla's Panakes tree as fast as you can. She transmitted, then severed the connection before he could reply.
She carefully creeped out of her sleeping back, trying not to wake up Biana or Linh. She cringed when Biana murmured "Silver Bangs" in her dreams and turned over. She found a pair of worn but beloved sweatpants that she had brought back from the Forbidden Cities, and finally, she went outside.