( A.N this chapter is really long because I had so many ideas that I really couldn't break apart so enjoy)
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Sophia made her way through the lunch line, grabbing something that looked like a fruit salad, some sort of pastry that was shaped like a square with powdered sugar sprinkled on top, and a purple fruit that looked like a pear before making her way to her friend's table and sitting next to Biana.
Biana stopped inspecting her makeup in a compact mirror as Sophie came up to the table." Sophia, you are still coming to the Auranflame right." Biana asked
" Wouldn't miss it" Sophia smiled at her friend. She still remembered the first time she went to one, it was one of her favorite memories. Plus talking about something like Auren flame kept them off the topic of the neverseen something that usually came up frequently. Something Sophie would rather forget.
Marella was the next person to join the table sitting across from Sophie, then came Tam and Linh. Linh's tray was piled high with pastries and desserts. And While that was normal something seemed off, and that's when she looked at Tam. She quickly looked down trying to suppress her laugh, Biana seemed to be doing the same. While Marella simply sat there open-mouthed at Tam, food almost falling off her fork.
"Hey g- what's wrong with you?" Dex came up asking, clearly confused as to why Sophie and Biana were trying and failing to suppress their laughter, while Marella still looked frozen, but now holding in a laugh of her own. That's when Dex's eyes landed on Tam, and he broke out laughing.
" What's wrong with De-" Fitz started to say as he came over with Keefe but froze on sight, nearly dropping his tray in shock.
Keefe meanwhile was laughing so hard he ran out of air, " Bangs Boy," he wheezed, " you look fabulous." Tam glared at him. "No no, I mean it the hot pink bow brings out your eyes." That's when everyone lost it and started laughing at poor Tams expense.
Linh was smiling proudly, " he lost a bet, so now he has to wear that all week." At that moment the room seemed to darken slightly, but no one could take Tam seriously with the small ponytail the bow was holding up.
" Aww Bangs Boy don't get all angsty on us now." Keefe might have been enjoying this more than Linh Sophie noted.
" Shut up," Tam said glaring at him.
Keefe just shrugged, taking a seat next to Sophie, while Fitz sat across from him. It seemed Fitz and Keefe had finally repared their friendship after Keefe came back.
" Anyways what are we doing at the Aurenflame tonight," Linh asked
" Well, I convinced Fitz to take me to the forbidden cities to get some human board games," Biana replied and Fitz nodded while stuffing his mouth with the orange goop. Keefe was doing the same and they seemed to be competing on who could finish first.
" Oooh, what games did you get," Sophie asked, choosing to ignore the two boys.
" Umm I'm not sure, I think it said Moonaplee, but I'm not that good at English, so I'm probably saying it wrong," Biana tapped her finger to her chin as if lost in thought.
" You got Monopoly!" Sophie exclaimed, she hadn't played that game, since she moved to the lost cities. But it had always been one of her favorites, and she and her human dad always got freakishly competitive.
"Oh I think I remember seeing that game in a human movie," Dex stated.
" That sounds fun," said Linh.
" Yeah it is," Sophie said, " I used to play it all the time when I lived with humans
" That means you'll have an unfair advantage," Marella said from her place at the table. Sophie laughed in response, " I am pretty good at the game, so at least I'll have fun," Sophie said with a smirk.
"I wouldn't place bets on it, Foster," Keefe said smugly, "I'll have you know I am excellent at everything I do." Fitz snorted at the statement.
" Shut up Fitz, you got stuck in a chandelier," Keefe reminded him.
" Biana! you told people about that," Fitz said a blush rising to his cheeks. Biana was laughing too hard to answer. Sophie was holding back her laughter.
" Keefe please tell me you made a drawing of that, please," Dex said like it was a matter between life and death.
" Oh I have, trust me," Keefe said smirking.
" You guys are ridiculous," Marella said, before taking a drink of her lushberry juice. Keefe and Dex immediately looked at each other, before nodding
" No, y-" they started to say before Sophie interrupted them.
" No, we are not starting that," Sophie interrupted before they could do a reenactment of this morning.
"Do we want to know what that's about," Tam inquired.
Sophie shook her head, " Probably not."
"Oh Sophie, I've been meaning to ask," Marella started as Maruca sat down next to her, " Do you know what they're planning to do about the neverseen members that we captured?"
There was the question that Sophie was trying to avoid, still after everything they did to help defeat them, they deserved to know what was going on.
" They've rounded up a lot of them but there are still some out there, and the council still doesn't know how they should handle the tribunals," Sophie told them as much as she could, but even she didn't know the whole truth, Mr Forkle wouldn't tell her, and she couldn't reach either of her contacts on the council for updates.
"Really? They don't know if they should put wanted criminals in jail or not." Everyone could hear the annoyance in Fitz's voice.
" I mean, they haven't always made the brightest decisions," Maruca added.
Dex snorted," You're not wrong."
No one seemed to know what to say after that. Marellas question had brought back too many bad memories for everyone. They all just ate in silence, even Keefe didn't make a joke. It continued like that until the bell rang. With an awkward wave goodbye, Sophie went to her next session.
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Sophie made her way to the leapmaster, so she could go home and change before heading to the vackers for Aurenflame. The prodigies around her were running around and laughing without a care in the world. How she envied them
"Hey Foster! wait up." Keefe quickly caught up to her, matching her stride. " Hey um.. can... can I talk to you?" His beautiful ice-blue eyes met hers, and suddenly she didn't feel very confident in speaking without embarrassing herself.
" umm.. yeah, what do you need," Sophie said as the last line of his note came to mind.
" Well- umm..." Sophie stood waiting for his answer, Keefe didn't usally act this nervous, but maybe he was still afraid of his ability.
" umm.. just um... See you at the Vackers," and with that, he left. She felt deflated in a way. But why, what was she expecting him to say? Hoping he would say. She shook the thoughts away and leaped to Havenfield field.
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When she got back she could see Grady busy with Verdi, who was currently spitting out the gnomish plant she had been forced to eat.
She headed into the house saying a quick hello to Edaline before going up to her room. She quickly changed into a muted yellow tunic, and leggings. Vertina insisted she put on some gold eyeliner, and she might as well. Especially since h- no she can't let her thoughts go down rabbit holes, plus was going to be late. She quickly applied the eyeliner, after a second thought, and rushed to the leapmaster.
She arrived at Everglen and thankfully it was Biana who let her in and not Fitz. Things were still awkward between them, even though they had broken up months ago. And now that she thought about it, what would Alden and Della say?
She'd never thought about how they would react. But she should have. I mean they were his parents, it made sense for them to be a little mad at their son's ex. Why didn't she think of this before agreeing to come? She resisted the urge to pull out an eyelash. She worked too hard to break that habit, but she wouldn't miss one, right?
Biana seemed to have guessed what she was thinking because she grabbed her arm and dragged her inside. " Don't even think about making a run for it Sophie, you have no reason to worry okay? What happened between you and Fitz is in the past, and if he says anything I'll punch him," Biana pulled her long, and Sophie couldn't help but be reminded of all the time Alden had told her not to worry. Which made her feel more anxious.
However, when they made it to the house, Sophie was relieved when Della greeted her warmly and gave her a tight hug.
" Told you," Biana said, elbowing Sophie lightly in the ribs. Sophie rolled her eyes at the brunette.
Biana had obviously dressed up
for the event and was wearing a velvety purple gown. It was simpler than her other gowns, but she also had an amethyst hairpin holding some of her hair back, and matching earrings.
"Are the others here yet," Sophie asked, trying to change the subject
" Yeah you're the last one hear actually," Biana said. Whether she had caught on or not she didn't say. And for that Sophie was grateful.
They walked to the Vacker's living room, where the group had assembled. As Sophie stepped into the room she could see they were circled around a Monopoly board.
" Okay now that Sophie's here we can finally start"
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Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. Also, do you prefer longer or shorter chapters?
And since this is my first fanfic feel free to leave constructive criticism.
Happy reading,
Klmbookworm📚