Later the day Keefe asked her, Sophie had asked her parents. Edaline nodded, of course, while Grady reluctantly let her go. She was going to have to be careful that he didn't start making Sandor spy on them. Keefe had asked her on Thursday which really only gave her three days to prepare. Who knew dating was so stressful?
Sophie had tried to ignore it on Thursday but by Friday after school, she was dying for it to be Saturday while also wishing for more time. She had asked Edaline for some help.
Edaline laughed, seeing how nervous Sophie was. "Relax, it's only your first date."
"Exactly, do you know how many things could go wrong?"
"Sophie, I know Keefe wouldn't ask you if he didn't mean it. That boy is beyond smitten."
*Edaline called him 'that boy'!!!*
She realized that Sophie wasn't calming down as much as she had hoped. "Okay, baby steps. Let's start with what you're going to wear."
"I have no clue!!" Sophie exclaimed, frantically pacing back and forth.
Edaline gave her a tentative smile. "Remember how I bought you a lot of dresses?" Sophie nodded. "I got you that teal dress just because I thought it would make you happy. But want to see my favorite?" She dug through the closet before showing Sophie the most gorgeous ice blue dress.
Sophie realized what Edaline had been implying and covered her hands in her face. "Great. Dad liked Dex and you liked Keefe. That's not embarrassing at all."
"That's what parents do." Edaline smiled.
By seven on Saturday, Sophie was freaking out. Edaline strode into the room and snapped her fingers. A mirror appeared in front of Sophie's chair and she motioned for Sophie to sit.
It was a long and tedious process of Edaline helping Sophie with her hair and makeup but by the end, it seemed like the right choice. Sophie played with the end of the small braid in her hair. She heard the door open and Edaline went downstairs.
"Shoot," she whispered. Sophie started trying to put on heels. It took ten very long minutes to force her feet into the shoes. Note to self: Burn these shoes.
She summoned all her courage to walk downstairs. Keefe was standing at the door, uncomfortable with the looks Grady was giving him, and staring at his boots. He looked up at Sophie. In his fitted clothes, Keefe looked better than a Vacker.
Unsure what to do, Sophie awkwardly waved at him. Keefe sucked in a breath making her a little worried. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "What, did I smudge it?"
"No, Sophie, you look . . . perfect." She realized Keefe had called her by her first name and Sophie smiled. She tried to take a step forward, then stumbled. Keefe caught her.
"Still clumsy, huh?" He offered her his hand and she took it.
Sophie blushed. "This is why I don't wear dresses." That and the fact that almost every dress she owned was so . . . overkill.
"You should." Keefe gave her the most adorable grin, completely earnest, making her turn a shade of pink.
Grady ruined the moment by saying, "You better be back by 11." He kept talking. Thankfully, Edaline cut him off with one last wave and closed the door.
Sandor turned to Ro. "Is wherever we're going safe?" Of course Sandor would ask that.
"Relax! I checked. It's safe!" Ro rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath that sound suspiciously a lot like paranoid goblins.
"Anyway, close your eyes." Sophie closed her eyes and felt a cool breeze on the back of her neck. She was so tempted to read Keefe's mind and see where they were but she resisted the urge.
"Keep them closed. I promise I won't let you walk into anything."
"Should I trust you," Sophie teased.
"Absolutely! Okay, open them."
Sophie opened them and gasped. They were in a cave on a cliff. The view was breathtaking. She could see trees, a waterfall, mountains, and a river, all tinged yellow by the sunlight. It reminded her of the perfect campsite but more gorgeous, sparkly, and breathtaking because that was just how elves rolled.
"Where are we?"
"Remember when we went to the Black Swan's cave to reset your abilities?"
"This is where we came? You couldn't see this."
"Yeah, because there was a bunch of boulders. I saw light peeking out from the cracks so Ro and I moved them."
"It's amazing, Keefe. But why would you choose this off all places?" Sophie cringed, thinking of the injection and the star scar she still had. She had almost died.
"Because we flew on Silveny here. That was when I realized I had more than a crush on you . . . and that you liked me too."
"Apart from nearly dying here, good memories," Sophie teased, to break the silence.
"Speaking of good memories, I got you this," Keefe gave her a single red rose.
Sophie's eyes widened a little as she saw the rose. It had been so long since she had seen one of these. The gesture meant a lot to her. "Keefe, how did you get one of these?"
"I have my ways," Keefe acted mysterious.
"He stole one of Alden's blue crystals," Ro clarified.
"Why did you have to ruin my air of mystery?!" Keefe gave her a look. Sophie giggled.
"It's amazing Keefe, thank you," Sophie kissed him. After several long minutes, they pulled apart.
"So I was right! Prepare to see Ro with sparkly ice blue hair!" Ro scowled at Keefe.
"Keefe, I think there's a more concerning subject." Sophie looked serious, quickly glancing over at the basket behind him.
"Did you bring food?" Sophie asked, really hoping he had some.
"Of course! The only thing is I made it so be cautious. I had some help from Edaline but it might've not been enough."
That explained why Edaline had been gone all day on Thursday. Sophie rolled her eyes as Keefe opened it. They talked for a while before Sophie bit her lip and reached up to pull out an eyelash.
Keefe grabbed her hand. "Uh uh. My last joke wasn't that bad, was it?"
Sophie shook her head. "It's not you, it's me. Well, it kind of is you too." That came out wrong.
"I'm just . . . thinking about my biological mother," she hastened to add.
"And what's so nerve racking about that? You don't have to tell anyone."
"But I want to," Sophie admitted. She had been arguing with herself over this for a while.
Keefe shrugged. "Then just tell someone you trust."
"Okay," Sophie took a deep breath. Of course. Just tell him. She whispered in Keefe's ear, "It's Oralie."
He looked a little amazed. Sophie took advantage of his silence. "Since I told you that, you better answer me honestly."
Keefe ran a hand through his hair and nodded. Did he know how cute he was doing that? He was probably doing it on purpose.
"What's up with you? You keep flinching randomly."
"Ah, well, I think you can guess."
"Your father?" Keefe nodded and told Sophie what had happened.
She shook her head. Every time, it was Keefe's family. His parents were so awful. "What is his problem?" Sophie called him some names and Keefe's eyes widened.
"Easy there."
"No! It's just, you have such awful parents! How is this fair? I'm hunted by the Neverseen, Dex is seen as Talentless, Linh and Tam are judged because they're twins, Biana got hurt by Vespera, Marella can't practice her ability, Wylie had to grow up without his parents most of his life, and Fitz . . . had to live with Alvar?" Sophie wasn't sure what Fitz had dealt with.
"We all have hard lives. Except for Fitz. No, he's had some pretty bad experiences. I can't."
When will Keefe stop being such a good friend to Fitz? It was okay for him to have opinions!
"Keefe, I get that you're Fitz's best friend but you don't always have to stand up for him. You're allowed to have your own thoughts. Fitz isn't this perfect person that you can't criticize occasionally. You're entitled to think whatever you want."
He exhaled. "It's just that we've all had these bad things you know? And then the worst Fitzy's ever gotten is living with Alvar. And Alvar didn't really do anything bad to him. Fitz is this golden Vacker and here I am, a Sencen. I'm awful in comparison. He always gets the happy ending while I have to fight for it."
Sophie hugged him. Keefe was such a broken boy, but she wouldn't let him stay like that.
"Keefe, you're not awful. Honestly, I think you're better. You've never forced me to do anything, gotten angry with me, you just try to be there for me. That's pretty sweet. And I know you'll get the happy ending."
"Really?"
Sophie kissed him. "You already have it."
*Sorry, but I'm not writing for a while because I'm going to be out of the country. See you guys in 2020!*