Keefe screeched to a stop, slamming his foot into the pedal. Sophie's face felt warm, and her stomach churned as she had no clue what was to come. Why did she trust Keefe to drive her to school? It was all so embarrassing. Her reputation would be ruined for life if the police put her in jail. She tried to hide behind her golden-blonde hair as an officer strode up to Keefe's window.
Keefe laid his arm on the edge as he rolled down his window smoothly. "Why, hello!"
"This boy again," They mumbled into their walkie-talkie. They must have had an encounter with Keefe before. That didn't bode well for their current situation.
Sophie slumped back in her seat as the police scribbled some noted into their notebook. They kept their face hidden, their head held low. "We're so sorry. Please don't send us to jail!" Sophie pleaded desperately.
"We're too young to die!" Keefe added, and she scowled at him.
He wasn't exactly on the same wavelength as her.
The officer's head snapped up with a smile. He was young, with a broad chin and cobalt blue eyes.
"Alvar!" Keefe held his hand up to wait for a high five. "Don't leave me hanging!"
Alvar reluctantly tapped his hand against Keefe's.
"You're an officer?" Keefe pumped his fist. "That's amazing!"
Sophie blinked her eyes confusedly. Whoever Alvar was, he was still an officer. Sometimes Keefe was a hopeless cause. Correction: He always was.
"Sorry to interrupt the moment," Sophie tilted her head so both of them could see her confused expression. "But, who is he exactly? No offense, officer." She stuck her hands up in front of her to defend herself.
Alvar chuckled. "I'm Alvar Vacker, your neighbour."
Her cheeks turned red. "Oh."
"Anyways, I'll need to view your Foxfire pins to know you are a legal student," Alvar pulled his aviators up over his eyes.
"Yep," Sophie pointed to her pin and he nodded as he squinted and scribbled down a note. "Keefe, show the officer your pin." She emphasized the way she said officer, hoping he'd get the hint.
Keefe dug through his pockets, only to find some lint, chewed gum, a key chain, and other little trinkets.
"No need for titles," Alvar waved it off. "But seriously, Keefe. I'm on duty and need to see your pin."
"Yeah," Keefe mumbled and gave a nervous laugh as he fidgeted. "I may or may not have forgotten it at home."
"Keefe!" Sophie and Alvar said in exasperation.
You could never win with him.
"I'll swing by and get it." Keefe saluted.
"I have school, for goodness sake!" Sophie reminded him. Now that she had jumped in the car with Keefe, she had had enough 'bonding' with her neighbour.
"It'll take five minutes," He pleaded.
"Fine," Alvar huffed. "If you aren't back in five minutes, I could be fired. And this is like, my only job." He brushed some hair out of his face and went off to wait in his police car.
"Let's go, Foster!" Keefe seemed way too enthusiastic for a person who'd just been caught by the police.
"Just hurry, okay?" She asked.
Keefe revved up the engine loudly, and before she knew it, Keefe had them driving around bends and corners.
She leaned forward and turned on the radio in search of a song to pass the time. Sophie winced at some of the opera and shut it off.
Keefe had parked in his driveway and hopped out of the car, promising to be back soon. He left the windows open for cool air to breeze in. They had a good minute left to spare.
Sophie immediately got bored— And not because Keefe left. That on it's own was a relief. And so she flipped through radio stations until a song she recognized came on.
She smiled sadly and hoped no one heard her as she hummed along.
'I love this place
But it's haunted without you
My tired heart is beating so slow . . .'
She quietly sang along with her head hung low.
'It won't go away
The wonder of it all the wonder that I made
I am here to stay
I am here to stay
Stay'
She leaned back and let a tear slip down her face. Sophie quickly wiped it but paused, and her posture stiffened.
Wait a minute . . . She thought as a breeze blew her hair around.
The windows were open.
Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.
She turned her head and saw Keefe watching with his mouth open as he leaned against his car. But he wasn't alone. He was with two people of whom she knew the names of.
Fitz and Biana Vacker.
They both wore new, fresh clothes and had neatly styled hair. And, they both seemed to be avoiding her gaze. Both the siblings' teal eyes glinted— A fascinating colour. Like sea glass shards, she thought. But that wasn't what she was supposed to be thinking about.
Sophie stared down at her hands in her lap. That song was in a memory she'd had when she was little.
It hurt so bad.
"Foster?" Keefe asked as she sat there, her cheeks flushing madly. His voice was soft. Only slightly teasing, but caring.
"Yes?" She didn't dare meet his eyes as she slouched lower in her seat. The silence of the Vackers drowned her, trapping her in a whirlpool of worries.
"Alden asked me to drive Fitz and Biana since he's got work or whatever. I guess we've all got late passes!" Keefe winked.
"Your car only has two seats. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, I know. We'll fit." He brushed off the comment.
"I'll walk," Sophie immediately spoke. She picked up her bag and opened the door in a rush.
"Foster!" He exclaimed as she strode down the sidewalk.
"What?" Sophie moaned, turning back.
"We'll all fit." Keefe seemed sure, but she wasn't.
"You have to show Alvar your pin, and you have a good minute to spare. Go ahead." She shooed him away but not before coming back and snatching one of the passes from his hand.
"Come on!" He complained. "You're no fun!"
"Goodbye, Keefe," Sophie tromped down the path. But she ended up increasing her speed, hoping he wasn't on her tail.
Gosh. Why was she so . . . unpleasant? Imperfect? There probably wasn't a word that'd describe her fiascos. She kept her head low and listened to the soft padding of her feet. She wanted to curse when she remembered that the office had probably already called Grady and Edaline about her tardiness.
Sophie heard footsteps behind her. She hoped Keefe wouldn't drive up beside her. For her first day, being late, stopped by the police, and caught singing in the car, wasn't on her morning to-do list.
She sucked in a sharp breath and kept telling herself that she had got this. The footsteps grew closer, and she was seriously considering making a petition so that she could move away and get spared the irritation.
Sophie stopped walking. "Please, go away, Keefe!" She didn't want to look back, but she couldn't help it and saw a rumpled, ice-blue-eyed girl with a Foxfire pin stuck onto her white t-shirt. Her hair had tiny, intricate braids woven into her blond hair. She had a petite figure and inquisitive eyebrows.
"Um," The girl mumbled. "I'm not Keefe. . . although I do have ice-blue eyes and blond hair," She shrugged.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Sophie's cheeks tinted pink. Introductions were not her thing. "I'm Sophie Foster."
"Marella Redek," She held out a hand, and Sophie reluctantly shook it.
"I'm always late. Anyways, let's get to Foxfire," Marella declared, clasping Sophie's hand in hers and dragging her along. "As if we aren't late enough."