"Red or Purple?" Sophie asked, holding up the dresses in front of Grady and Edaline.
She had been trying to pick a dress for Fitz's Winnowing Gala for what felt like hours, and choosing one from the 20 beautiful dresses she had received from the fashion show felt impossible. She had finally narrowed them down to her two favorites, the purple dress with the slit up the leg, and the red dress with the plunging neckline.
After Sophie had finally picked the two dresses, she decided to call Grady and Edaline for help, hoping they'd be able to help her pick one. Edaline was a very willing participant, giving valid reasons for either dress, and overall, helping Sophie choose between them.
Grady on the other hand, was not.
"Neither." Grady said simply, arms folded on his chest.
Edaline smacked Grady on the shoulder, turning back towards Sophie.
"Don't listen to him Sophie, I think the red one will look really good!"
"You mean the one with the slit that goes all the way down her chest! She might as well just wear no shirt at all then!" Grady said angrily.
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Ok, what about the purple one?"
Grady let out a humorless laugh. "That one has a slit that practically leaves her privates exposed. She might as well wear no pants at all either!"
This was the problem. Grady could find something wrong with practically every dress Sophie had pulled out of her closet, saying they all exposed her in one way or another.
At this point, Sophie was considering showing up dressed as a nun from a convent, the one outfit of hers that Grady would approve of.
"Dad, I'm not a little girl anymore. This was going to happen eventually. These dresses are my two favorites out of all the dresses in my closet." Seeing that Grady wasn't going to budge, Sophie pulled out the one ace in her deck. "Don't you want me to be happy?" She said in a pitiful tone.
Bingo. Grady turned toward her with a sad expression on his face. Hook, line, sinker.
"Of course I do, I'm just not ready to see my little girl grow up yet! And there are going to be so many boys there! Not even counting the worst one of them all!" Grady said angrily.
"Here it comes," Edaline said with a sigh. "You can't possibly still refer to him by that name, he is your employee now for goodness sakes."
"If you are talking about That Boy, yes I can and yes I will." Grady said firmly. "He is my employee and he still plays pranks on me, he has no respect for his authority figures!"
"Keefe respects me perfectly fine Grady, he is a very nice boy, he just bullies you because you are so easy to make angry." Edaline said teasingly.
"You dare betray me for him! The only reason I haven't fired him yet is because he is so good with the animals. Empaths..." he grumbled.
"Did you forget about the gift he gave you for your birthday this year?" Edaline said, amused. "You have that painting hung directly over our bed, so you can see it every morning, you love it so much."
"Just because I can appreciate an amazing piece of artwork, doesn't mean I have to start forgetting all of the artist's transgressions against me." Grady said, pouting like a man child.
"Dad, you have to pick one. Red or purple." Sophie said firmly.
Grady rolled his eyes. "Fine....wear the red. But you better carry a cloak, it's cold outside!" He said angrily.
"Ok Dad."
"And if you want to come home, just come straight home."
"Ok Dad."
"And you better not talk to any boys! Especially not That Boy!"
"Can't do that Dad."
Grady rolled his eyes a final time and grumbled, but it turned into a smile when Sophie gave him and Edaline a hug.
—————————time skip——————————
After Sophie had finally picked her dress, she put on a light makeup look, the same one from her very first VS photo shoot, and light leaped to Everglen.
Fitz had warned Sophie and her friends that his mom was going all out for this party, even though she knew Linh and Fitz were dating. She had apparently said that she still wanted her son to have a winnowing gala, regardless of whether or not he was actually going to date anyone on the list.
Basically, it was a glorified graduation party for Fitz.
She had begrudgingly worn the cloak that Grady had picked out for her, a black long cloak that concealed practically everything Sophie was wearing that she was definitely going to ditch when she got inside.
Sophie walked towards the entrance of the house, fingers tingling in anticipation as the doorman opened the door.
Sophie had been expecting over the top, but this had certainly exceeded her expectations.
The normally lavish Everglen foyer had been transformed into a gigantic ballroom, with gold and white decorations covering the entire space. The snack table alone was the width of Sophie's entire bedroom back in the human world.
People milled about the room, most talking amongst themselves now that there was no one for them to court.
There were a couple of ignorant girls who were convinced they could seduce Fitz away from Linh, and they all gathered around Fitz trying entice him. However, Fitz only had eyes for Linh, and would give the girls a polite smile before turning back to talk to her.
Sophie hung her cloak in the coat closet and descended the staircase at the entryway, immediately ambushed with hugs and girly shrieks from Linh, Biana, and Marella.
"You're finally here!" Biana exclaimed, grabbing Sophie and pulling her to the snack table, Maruca and Marella in tow. "You would not believe how many of those girls think they can pry Fitz away from Linh, I am tempted to send them home right now." Biana grumbled.
Sophie grabbed a custard burst from the snack table, biting into it gingerly. It didn't taste as good as Edaline's but it was certainly a close second.
"They'll probably give up soon, Fitz is completely head over heels for Linh." Marella said giggling. "Look at them making heart eyes at each other right now."
Sophie turned to look at the pair again, who were holding hands while having a telepathic conversation, much to the dismay of Fitz's fangirls.
Everyone giggled at the sight, and Sophie grabbed more custard bursts from the bowl on the table.
"On a similar note, shouldn't you be hanging out with Keefe?" Maruca asked Sophie teasingly.
All of Sophie's friends turned toward her immediately, smiling with shark-like grins.
Sophie blushed, knowing they would just tease her more if she didn't explain. "I just got here, besides, I haven't seen him anywhere. And I put on this dress just for him!"
Biana giggled, gesturing towards the balcony on the other side of the room. "Maybe instead of looking for him, you should let him find you. Go outside and stand on the balcony, you can even take your custard bursts with you. My guess is that he is probably watching you from afar, and if he sees you go somewhere more secluded, he'll feel less shy because you guys are alone."
Sophie grabbed a plate and piled multiple custard bursts on top of them, walking towards the balcony.
When she opened the door there was no one else there, just a large space with a railing to hold onto as you watched the stars. Sophie closed the door behind her, walking towards the railing. She placed the plate on the railing beside her and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the edge to watch the stars.
While the view was beautiful, Sophie was starting to get bored, and she was almost out of custard bursts.
If Keefe didn't show up soon, she was going to find him herself.
Sophie finished her last custard burst, grabbing the plate and walking angrily toward the door, only to get smacked in the face by what felt like a wall.
Sophie looked up to see Keefe looking down at her apologetically.
No she had not hit a wall, she had hit a wall of muscle.
Rolling her eyes, she went back to leaning on the ledge. Keefe followed behind her until he was standing next to her.
"So... the stars look pretty cool tonight." Keefe said slowly.
Sophie rolled her eyes at the weak attempt to break the silence, but nodded in agreement.
Sophie could feel Keefe staring at her without even looking up. To be honest, it was getting annoying. She had put in so much effort into her appearance for this party, and Keefe had said absolutely nothing about it, even though he clearly noticed based on the way he was staring at her.
"I can feel you staring at me Keefe." Sophie said, simply. She didn't say anything else, for Keefe could probably feel what she was feeling anyway.
"I-I was just wondering how you managed to wear that and not incur Grady's wrath." Keefe said stammering.
"I almost didn't, but Edaline helped me convince him. By the way, does Grady still refer to you as "That Boy"?" She asked.
"Yes. I even gave him a painting to make up for it and he said, and I quote, "Thank you so much, make sure you are early to work tomorrow Boy."" Keefe said, mimicking Grady's voice perfectly.
Sophie giggled, looking up at the stars. While Keefe could make her laugh any day, he still hadn't complimented her dress, and she could tell he liked it.
"You never answered my question by the way." Sophie said teasingly.
Keefe looked at her with a puzzled expression. "What question?"
Sophie stood closer to Keefe, leaning in on her tiptoes until their noses were almost touching, smirking when she noticed his cheeks turning red.
"Do you think I look pretty Keefe?" She said softly.
Keefe's face flushed even redder, and he looked away shyly as Sophie waited for a response.
"...Yes."