Toothbrush—check!
Toothpaste—check!
Pajamas—check!
Extra clothes—check!
Ella—Sophie forgot to bring her. Maybe that's why she had trouble sleeping.
Sophie had everything she had packed for the sleepover packed in her bag, ready to go home.
Sophie kept finding herself randomly smiling whenever she thought about her time alone with Fitz during their last game of Basequest. She still had trouble believing that he even thought of her as more than a sister.
"It sucks that you two have to leave already," Biana said to Linh and Sophie, pulling them into a group hug.
"I know. This weekend went by fast," Linh responded. "And who knows, maybe if it lasted longer something . . . more would have happened between Sophie and Fitz," she teased.
Sophie rolled her eyes playfully as she pulled out of the hug. "Yeah, maybe," she said innocently. She still hadn't told them about earlier. She decided to change the subject. "But we should definitely should do this more often."
"Wait a second," Biana said, catching Sophie's tone. "Something did happen, didn't it?"
"What?" Sophie asked, playing dumb. She knew that she shouldn't keep secrets, especially ones involving Fitz, from Biana. And when, quite literally, nothing eventful had happened; but, for some reason, Sophie felt that she shouldn't involve more people into it—even though Biana is his sister—until she knew what Fitz and her really were. "Nothing happened."
Biana narrowed her eyes at Sophie, not believing her. "Uh-huh, right."
"Do you know when we'll get our Matchmaking Scrolls?" Linh asked, and Sophie was grateful for the slight change in subject.
Biana shrugged, deciding to drop interrogating Sophie. "Either tomorrow or Tuesday. They have a lot of people working at the office, which means faster results."
Sophie nodded, deciding to trust Biana's judgement.
"We should probably start going. The boys are really impatient," Linh said and Sophie picked up her things.
"True," Biana said with a smile.
The girls walked out of the room and into the hallway where the boys were chatting while waiting.
"Hey, ready to go?" Linh asked her brother, walking towards him.
Tam nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."
After saying quick goodbyes to everyone, the twins left to go home.
Dex had already left earlier—an emergency at the store his dad needed help with—leaving Keefe, Sophie, Fitz, and Biana.
"Bye, Biana," Sophie said, hugging her. She awkwardly made brief eye contact with Fitz before walking over to the leapmaster.
She heard Keefe whisper something to his best friend before catching up with her.
"You excited, Foster?" he asked with a smirk after he called out "Candleshade" to the leapmaster.
"Excited for what?" she asked as she waited for the beams of light to fully appear.
"To see your scroll," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the universe.
Sophie shrugged, looking at him to answer before walking into the light. "Clearly not as much as you are."
* * *
"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Sophie shouted as she light leaped into Havenfield, figuring her parents were out in the pastures rather than inside.
"Over here!" she heard Grady's deep tone shout from somewhere around Verdi's pasture and Sophie smiled as she started running towards him.
As soon as her father came into vision, Sophie picked up her pace and practically jumped on top of him. She didn't care if he was caked in mud and dirt.
Grady grunted, but smiled, as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Hey, kiddo! Did you have fun?"
She nodded against him, not believing how much she had missed her parents. "It was . . . interesting. But I was glad to spend the weekend with my friends."
He chuckled and ruffled her hair as they pulled away from each other. "It was a full weekend with teenagers, who, mind you, didn't have much parental supervision, making appointments to get a list to see who they'll spend the rest of their lives with. I wouldn't imagine it would be anything less than interesting."
"Sophie?"
Sophie barely had time to turn around before she got enveloped into a tight hug.
"Hey, Mom," Sophie greeted, returning the hug.
"How are you? How was it? Did you have fun? You didn't get hurt, did you? You never know what'll happen to you in the span of two days."
Sophie cringed at her mother's over-protectiveness as Edaline started scanning her for invisible injuries. But secretly, she loved how caring her parents can be. "I'm fine. It was a great weekend and I'm so excited to tell you about it."
Then she spared a glance towards Grady before whispering to Edaline loudly enough that Grady could still hear her, "I don't think he'll like it very much, though."
Grady laughed and Edaline chuckled.
"You can tell us over dinner. I just finished cooking it," Edaline told her as the three of them started walking towards the house."
"As long as you didn't kiss a boy, I'll be fine," Grady said with a grin.
"Oh . . . ," Sophie mumbled. "Then maybe I really shouldn't tell you."
"WHAT?!" His grin was gone now . . .
* * *
After she had finished unpacking and making sure everything was neatly put away, Sophie had lain down on her bed, watching the colors of the sky darken as they reflected off her high ceiling, Ella resting on her stomach.
She had wanted a few moments to herself to just lie down and clear her head. But that failed horribly and her thoughts kept running back to Fitz and the scrolls and the sleepover.
She wasn't even sure what the problem was and why she felt at unease when thinking that her crush liked her back. That's exciting news, right? But Sophie felt restless.
Are you awake? the boy in question transmitted to her and Sophie felt her cheeks warm.
Definitely not, she responded, wondering why her emotions were out of whack. And I was most definitely not thinking about you.
WHAT. THE. HECK?! Sophie mouthed to herself, cringing when she realized she sounded like she's never talked to a boy before.
Strange. I was definitely not thinking about you, either.
Sophie sighed with relief, glad she didn't make a fool out of herself—this time.
So . . . what else weren't you thinking about? she asked him, then realizing that sounded weird. But it was too late to turn back now. And then also realizing that he was thinking about her, she buried her face in her pillows to hide her blush from anyone who could see (which, at the moment, was not a lot of people, unless you counted Ella).
Hmm . . . I wasn't thinking about Matchmaking and how fast I can see if a certain someone was on my list or not.
Sophie nodded to herself as she sat up, thinking that's she's been really lucky so far—him not saying anything about how she's acting like a doofus.
I'm equally excited to get my scroll as I am nervous, she admitted.
Because Matchmaking could easily tear friendships apart as it could bring two soulmates together?
Sophie smiled even though she knew Fitz couldn't see it. It's like you read my mind.
Then her eyes went wide and she stood up so fast, her mattress barely squeaked.
HOLY SUGAR HONEY ICED TEA. HE'S BEEN ABLE TO READ MY MIND.
Sorry. I guess I should have mentioned that earlier, huh? he transmitted to her and Sophie sank down to her knees, feeling embarrassed and totally humiliated.
Can I, like, die now? she transmitted to him, only half joking.
Hey! Be careful what you wish for, he warned her, though she could practically hear it in his thoughts that he was grinning.
Yeah, yeah, she thought. Can you do me a tiny favor?
Anything.
She laid back down in bed, squeezing Ella tightly. Don't mention a word about this on Tuesday?
Wasn't really planning on it.
Sophie allowed herself a pitiful smile and buried her face into her pillows again. Thank you.
And for the record, you didn't sound like a 'doofus.'
Sophie only groaned in response, knowing that he at least wouldn't be able to hear that.
* * *
"Sophie!"
The high-pitched scream woke her up and she felt groggy as she slumped out of bed.
"Wha . . ."—she yawned as she entered the hallway and headed downstairs where Edaline was—"What's going on?"
Grady walked over to Edaline just as Sophie reached the last step.
He was focusing on something in her hands—Sophie's vision was still too blurry from sleep to tell what it was—as he stuttered, "I—Is that . . ."
He didn't have to finish his sentence before Edaline nodded vigorously, holding back a huge smile as she looked at Sophie. "It is!"
"Is what?" Sophie questioned, still feeling tired before her vision finally cleared and she saw the scroll in Edaline's hand with the words "Sophie Elizabeth Foster-Ruewen" written on it in loopy letters. "Oh. That's my Matchmaking scroll?"
Wow. They really do come fast, Sophie thought before her eyes widened when she realized what she had just said and she jumped up with excitement. "IT'S MY MATCHMAKING SCROLL!"
For the next few minutes, the family was in a frenzy, jumping and screaming crazily as a few gnomes outside gave them strange looks. But, It wasn't until Edaline handed Sophie the scroll and said, "Here," that it really started feeling real.
Sophie took it tentatively, hands shaking. Barely audible, she whispered, "It's my Matchmaking scroll . . ."
Grady placed his arm around Edaline's shoulder and Edaline leaned into him.
"It's a nerve-racking thing to realize what's really in your hand," Edaline said softly. "And realizing that your future may be written in that piece of paper you are holding."
Sophie gulped, unable to take her eyes off of it, agreeing to what Edaline said.
"Yeah, kiddo. We just want you to know that, whomever you choose, whether they're on that list or the other four lists—if you choose to get them—that, as long as you're happy, we'll support your decision."
Sophie forced a weak smile. "Thank you."
But she really just wanted to see one name written, hoping that there was just one specific name written on her scroll, despite the fact that her feelings wouldn't change if it wasn't.
"Whenever you're ready, Sophie."
After a minute of silent staring, Sophie finally built up the courage to open her scroll.
With shaking hands, Sophie flipped over the scroll and slowly undid the ribbon. She let it drop to the floor as she clutched the rolled up paper in her hand. Heart racing, she unrolled the parchment and started to read:
Top Tiers for Sophie Elizabeth Ruewen-Foster . . .
~*~
The sleepover is finally over! Time for some drama to begin (in a couple of chapters, anyway).
Song: Dabin ft. Conor Byrne - "Rings & Roses"
Thanks, lovelies! -Nuela <3
Edited by missmusical227 & EllenH2006