The Realization (A SoKeefe/Keephie story)

Chapter 9 - Sophie

"There! Aaaaand... There! Here, too!" Sophie had walked up the stairs to her bedroom when she saw Biana dyeing bits of Fitz's hair. They had taken such a long time upstairs that everyone downstairs was tired of waiting for them and thus sent her up to investigate. It turned out that the reason was that Biana was making her brother into a completely different person.

"Uh, Bi, when are you going to be finished?" Sophie asked, staring at Fitz's hair, which was now streaked with multiple colors, curly, and puffed up in a huge afro.

"Just... One... More... Second!" Biana said, smoothing a bit of Fitz's hair into place. "Done! Finished!" She stood up and steered Fitz to the mirror.

Fitz's eyes popped out of his head. "BIANA!" He shouted. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" He turned around and lunged for his sister, but Biana had already escaped the room, giggling — no, cackling — as she skipped downstairs.

"That Biana." He gritted his teeth, then seemed to realize for the first time that Sophie was there. "Oh. Hey, Sophie," He said, as he awkwardly tried to cover up his hair with his hands.

"No, it looks fine," Sophie reassured him. "I mean, Keefe will make fun of it—"

"Yeah, Keefe," Fitz growled. Then he said something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like, "Of course you would think of Keefe first."

"What did you say?" She asked curiously.

He shook his head, irritated. "It's nothing."

"Okay, um, everyone else sent me up here because they were tired of waiting for you and Biana. Wanna come downstairs now?" Sophie asked, trying to dispel the tension that had come up.

Fitz shrugged. "Sure." Then followed her downstairs.

Downstairs, she was surprised to find the rest of her friends peacefully snacking on the ripplefluffs. She was surprised that there was no chaos. When Keefe saw her, he jumped up.

"Man, Foster, things have been boring since you've been gone. I kinda miss your near-death experiences." He slung a hand over her shoulder, and while Sophie tried to shrug it off, Fitz spoke up.

"Does that mean you wish that she would nearly die and get injured more?" He said, glaring at Keefe.

"What, no! Of course not! I would never wish for Foster to get hurt!" Keefe said at the same time Sophie said, "No, Keefe just lives on excitement. He wouldn't wish for me to get hurt."

Everyone looked in between them as if they were expecting a fight. When Fitz opened his mouth, seemingly to continue the argument, Sophie spoke up herself.

"Enough!" She almost wasn't sure that she was the one to say it, but she continued. "I don't care what your reasons are, but I've had enough! You two keep fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting! Can't you stop bickering, just for a moment?"

Keefe only smirked. "Sure, anything for my girl," He said, casually putting another arm over her shoulder.

"I'm not your girl!" Sophie snapped, pushing him away. When she saw how the rest of her friends were gawking at the three of them, she deflated.

"Okay." She took a few deep breaths. "Sorry about that. Why don't we go up to my room and find something to do?" Without another word, she marched up the stairs.

What were Keefe and Fitz thinking? She thought as she walked up. Can't they be pleasant for once to each other? Where did this sudden rivalry come from anyway? Weren't they best friends?

When she got to the door of her room, she paused and waited for the rest of her friends to arrive.

"How about we play truth or dare?" Biana suggested.