What did I do?
Sophie shook her head, trying to get a grip on her reeling head.
Her mind flashed back to New Year's Eve, sharing the first kiss of the year with Keefe. The way it was all so hazy and dreamy, with the gazebo lights twinkling down on them, mimicking the stars above. His blond hair like a halo of warm light, his warmth that enveloped her, his icy blue eyes looking electric-
Her thoughts snapped back to yesterday, a totally different kiss. Abrupt and fleeting, yet sincere and innocent. Fitz's bewildered teal eyes, a faint smile pulling on his lips. The way she felt when she leaned into him, as if the world could be falling into the sun... and it wouldn't matter.
"I guess I'll just have to choose Iggy." Sophie said, stroking Iggy in between his ears. He made a purring sound, then bit her hand suddenly.
"Ow! Why'd you do that?" Sophie quickly deposited him on the ground.
"That's basically what you did to them." A voice said from the doorway.
"What?" Sophie asked to the owner of the voice.
"To Keefe and Fitz. You're super hard to figure out." Marella explained, walking over to sit by Sophie.
"So you're here to be the sympathetic friend?"
" Yeah, if you want. I thought you might need a little help after that big debate debacle."
Sophie rolled her eyes.
"That was a nice thought." Sophie said, thinking about what the debate caused. " I guess I do need help."
Marella scooted closer.
"So you kissed Fitz-"
"WAIT! How did you know about that?" Sophie cried, eyes wide. Marella shrugged.
"I was walking through the halls, and I just happened to see you two. Very cute, by the way."
Marella took out her phone, which depicted Sophie and Fitz, kissing in the hall.
"AAAHH!" Sophie deleted it. Marella raised a blonde brow.
"I back up all of my pictures in the cloud you know."
Sophie deflated. "Don't show that to anyone!"
"Oh, I won't. As long as you cooperate."
Sophie slid suspicious eyes to Marella's face.
"Wait! Is this blackmail? Because if it is:
1. this is really not cool, and
2. will there be an ultimatum like in the movies?"
Marella shook her head, but she was smiling a little, which was Sophie's intent. Get on her good side. Show her that you're human.
Wait, aren't those tips for when you're being kidnapped?
"Sophie?" Marella snapped her fingers in front of her face.
"Sorry, it was a lot to process. What were you saying?"
"I was saying, you have to pick between Fitz and Keefe. And I want you to pick Keefe."
"What? You're trying to blackmail me into who I should like?" Sophie scoffed, done trying to be nice.
"Yeah. Fitz is way too good for you. And if you decide to do the opposite, I'm going to leak this picture to the entire school. Imagine this: you walk into a rally, and the huge screen is this picture... of you. And Fitz. And what? You're kissing! But isn't that against Foxfire campus rules? Hmm... I guess we'll find out."
"That's a pretty low Marella. Why do you want me and Keefe to be together anyway? Do you like him or something?"
Marella crinkled her nose a little.
"There are more pieces in play than what's in front of you." Her comment sounded like a hint, but riddles and gossip were what Marella dealt on a daily basis.
"Choose wisely." Marella said, getting up and walking out.
Sophie sat on her floor, mulling over what had just happened.
"That was short." Sophie's mom said, stopping at the doorway of Sophie's room. "I thought you and Marella would spend more time together doing homework."
Sophie nodded to herself. Of course Marella had to get in somehow.
"No, we finished early." Sophie said.
Sophie had many flaws, but she refused to be a sellout... at least not yet.
***
Sophie's head moved back and forth. Pros and cons for Keefe, and pros and cons for Fitz.
She glanced back at the first list.
Fitz
Pros: Cons:
*Has Biana as sister *Has anger issues sometimes
*Handsome *He wears really expensive clothing that
*GOOD AT MATH I'll probably mess up
*Honest *His favorite genre of music is classical music
*Has a cool accent when he's off-guard
*Go with the flow
*Gets good grades
Keefe
Pros: Cons:
*Has nice hair *His parents hate me
*Funny *He doesn't take important things (school) seriously
*Considerate *He takes things too far sometimes
*Agrees that Mallowmelt is the best
*Likes to have fun
*Spontaneous
Sophie sighed. Lists weren't going to help her. They weren't paper and ink, they were people. People who may and may not know that she liked both of them at the same time.
"On one hand," Sophie said to herself. "Picking Keefe is the obvious choice, because I'll have lots of fun and live out of my comfort zone. But, I might die a premature death. And also he doesn't take important things seriously, so what if that transfers over to our relationship?"
"Then again, I could choose Fitz. He's reliable and sweet, and I know I'd be really happy with him. But, he has anger issues that are kind of scary to me, and I don't want to be scared of my boyfriend, which I guess he'll become if I take this route. And the same for Keefe."
"But why does Marella not want me to pick Fitz? What if there's something about him that I'm not seeing, and she wants it for herself."
Sophie tapped her chin with her pencil. That didn't sound like Marella, but then again, neither had the incident.
The F.R.I.E.N.D.S theme sound rang in the empty room. Sophie quickly grabbed her phone adn answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi Sophie, this is Fitz. I was wondering if you were doing anything important right now."
Sophie smiled. "No, just hanging out."
"You should come over. I made Mallowmelt."
"WHAT?" Sophie hung up the phone, already across the room gathering a pair of shoes and socks. Her phone buzzed again, but she ignored it. It was probably Fitz, and that would waste time that could be spent riding over to the Mallowmelt.
"I'm going to the Vackers!" Sophie yelled to the seemingly empty house.
"Okay! Just be safe!" Sophie's mom yelled back.
"I will!"
***
Sophie arrived in record time. The last batch of Mallowmelt was just being taken out of the oven when Sophie burst into the kitchen. Biana waved to her from the counter, the sticky treat all over her face. But she made it work.
"Have a seat!" Biana patted the stool beside her. Sophie bounced over to the stool and sat. Fitz, who had actually been making the Mallowmelt, set down a fresh platter, then took off his oven mitts (which looked like ladybugs).
"Nice mitts." Sophie joked, already finished with her second helping. Fitz laughed.
"They're my older brother Alvar's, actually."
"No way! I didn't know you had an older brother! Wait, did you guys ever tell me, or am I just really oblivious?" Sophie racked her brain for some mention of an older brother.
Biana tilted her hand back and forth in a 'maybe' gesture.
"He doesn't come up a lot, since he's way older than us, and he left to go to Harvard right after he graduated." Fitz explained. "But, coincidentally, he's visiting today. Maybe you'll get to see him."
"That sounds nice." Sophie said. "Does he visit a lot?"
"No." Both Vackers replied at the same time.
Ding-dong
"Speaking of," Biana muttered, walking out of the kitchen to answer the door.
"So do you guys like him?" Sophie asked Fitz.
"I guess, but he kind of shut us out, which was hard for my parents. And he likes to party."
"So not the average Vacker?" Sophie inferred.
"You could say that." Fitz replied. He grinned at her, making Sophie remember what transpired not to long ago. Biana came back into the kitchen.
With Alvar.
Who was basically Fitz, just a little more grown up. He had darker wavy hair, which looked more casual than Fitz's hairdo, and his eyes were sea blue instead of teal.
"Hello, I'm Alvar. Nice to meet you." Alvar definitely hit the jackpot in smiles, because his was...radiant? Sophie couldn't find a better word for it.
"I'm a Sophie. I mean Sophie." Sophie said, her voice betraying her. Alvar's laugh was warm.
"It's nice to meet you Sophie. I see you are a fellow Mallowmelt lover." He gestured to the nearly empty plate in front of her.
"Oh yeah, it's the best." Sophie said, still kind of dazed.
"Hmmm. Well, you haven't had Mallowmelt until you've tried my version. I add a few extra ingredients." He winked at her, which made Sophie blush.
"Alright, chat time over." Biana said, shooing Alvar away. "You should probably get unpacked now."
"But Sophie needs to try my Mallowmelt," Alvar insisted. "The world will never be the same, I promise."
Alvar looked like the younger sibling as Biana dragged him out of the kitchen. He allowed her to lead him, but threw an eye roll and a smile at Sophie before he disappeared. Fitz shook his head.
"He's definitely a character." Fitz muttered.
"I liked him! He's so fun and relaxed." Sophie replied. Fitz gave her an exasperated look.
"Not you too."
"He was nice. I can't just hate him because you guys do." Sophie defended herself. Fitz seemed to realize they were arguing; he sighed and sat down on Biana's stool.
"I guess he could have changed." Fitz conceded. Sophie smiled at Fitz, who returned the look.
"So about what happened." Fitz began. Sophie froze up.
"I just wanted to say I don't want to make it awkward." Fitz continued.
Biana walked back into the kitchen before Sophie could reply. "You'd think he was twelve! Did you know he asked me if we had orange juice?"
Fitz rolled his eyes.
"It seems like he's already made the Vacker house more interesting." Sophie mused. Biana laughed.
"Oh yeah, he really stirs things up. You should come over more and watch."
"Maybe I will."
Yeah, I'll stop it right there, or else I probably won't publish on time. I added Alvar, who's already been pretty fun to write. He's like a mix between Fitz and Keefe with a dash of dangerous, at least in my mind. Hmmm... maybe he'll ride a motorcycle. :)
Question of the week: Do you guys have any other characters that I've left out so far that you'd like to see appear?
I kind of forgot about Alvar, and then I felt kind of bad because I think he's underrated. I mean, he's basically a footstool to the Neverseen. AND he felt like a misfit in his family. Poor Alvar, he went to the dark side.
Have a great week!