Love in the Forbidden Cities

Chapter 1: Naps

Chapter 1: Naps

It had been years since the Neverseen were defeated. Sophie used to have nightmares for a while afterward, but they had decreased over time and were gone now. And Sophie was very happy about that. She was tired of waking up with a cold sweat and seeing her friends get severely injured or killed every night. So she definitely would not have missed those nightmares. Now, she was 27 in Elvin years. Sophie had gotten over her silly crush on Fitz, she and her friends had graduated from elite levels in Foxfire, they had all gotten jobs, and life was a lot more normal (and uneventful, as Keefe would say). Things were looking up.

Sophie had so many things to juggle and focus on nowadays. But seeing that she had 3 jobs, along with the Black Swan, and her friends, it wasn't so hard to believe that she barely got sleep. The one thing she did not concentrate on, was her love life. Though that was not a priority right now.

Back to old habits, I guess, Sophie thought, as she tugged out another itchy eyelash and looked at the piles of paperwork still sitting on her desk, practically screaming that there was no time to sleep and that they had to be read and signed. But the words on the papers were blurring out when Sophie tried to read them. She sighed and thought, It really wouldn't hurt to take a nap, would it? So, with that, she walked to her canopy bed and flopped onto it, finally being able to relax a little.

Sophie didn't know when she went to sleep or how long she was asleep, but she did know that she was furious at whoever it was that woke her up. She groaned and flipped over in her bed.

"Awww. I really thought Foster would be at least a little more excited to see me," said a deep, husky voice.

"Keefe?" Sophie asked groggily. She was definitely rocking some major pineapple bed head right then, but she just wanted to know why there was a smirking boy standing across her room, waiting for her to get out of bed.

"Miss the Amazing Lord Hunkyhair?" asked Keefe. Sophie just groaned in reply.

"What are you doing here, Keefe?" She asked. Then she realized it looked about noon, and she had gone to bed at about 7:00 pm. "Holy crap! How long have I been asleep?"

"Oh, only, like, 18 hours," Keefe said casually.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT," Sophie said, running around the room to get ready. Now she was definitely awake. "I have to do some paperwork for the council, and then prepare for the next Keeper appointment, and then I have to do work for the Black Swan, and then Bian-"

"Woah there! Calm down, Foster. It's fine. The Council and the Black Swan's got that all covered. Well maybe except for that part about Biana'' He added. "But anyways, you missed the Council's, the Black Swan's, and my hails. We are going on an assignment together! Get ready for some ultimate Team Foster-Keefe time!"

"Wait, what? I thought you were a Regent. And Regents and Emissaries don't go on assignments together?" Sophie asked, confused.

Keefe shrugged and said, "Special case, I guess. They think we work together better than anyone else. Plus, it's also from the Black Swan, so it's a bit different."

"What kind of assignment?"

"We are going to high school! I have always wanted to go there. It seems so cool! And fun! And weird! But I think I might join the -- what is it called? -- legball team (A/N: I mean American football y'all), and-" He was cut off by a groaning Sophie.

"Whyyyyyyy! UGGGHHH! High school was the worst years of my life!" Sophie had been bullied all throughout her years in highschool because of the fact that she was the youngest one in her grade. And as much as she knew how hot Keefe would look in a football uniform, she did not like the idea of going through high school again. Wait a second, did you just think that Keefe looks hot?!

"Oh c'mon Foster. It'll be fun! You didn't have me the last time you were there, but now you do, and we'll be the coolest people there!" said Keefe, interrupting her thoughts.

"Um, Keefe. I hate to break it to you, but I've been to high school, and trust me, being the new kid does not make you cooler. All it really does is bring you unnecessary attention and people watching your every move," Sophie argued. And it was true. Nothing good could come out of being the "new kids" in your senior year of high school.

"Oh, but Foster, you know I love attention. And if you don't want attention, then it's just more for me, then!" countered Keefe. He seemed a lot more enthusiastic than Sophie was. "But anyways, you won't be able to get out of this assignment. It's some sort of human-elf trust test or something. I didn't really pay much attention, but you probably know that. And it was from both the Council and the Black Swan, and you know they barely get along, so this must be big."

Sophie just groaned again but gave in. "UGH! Fine, but I need to be able to have custard bursts, mallowmelt, and ripplefluffs every day! Or this is a no-deal!"

"Okay, Foster! Whatever you say!" Keefe said, giddily. How in the Forbidden Cities could someone be that excited to go to high school! And why does he look so cute when he's excited? Sophie turned red when she realized what she thought. She hoped Keefe wouldn't notice, but of course, he did.

"What is the Mysterious Miss F blushing about?" asked Keefe, his signature smirk making its way back to his face. Ugh! His smirk is so cute! And Sophie mentally facepalmed for thinking that. So Keefe had obviously caught on to her emotions. "Ooooohhh! Foster's smitten by someone, huh? Who is this special person?" His smirk stayed in place, but Sophie could see the disappointment in his eyes.

"W-What? Nothing! N-Nobody!" she said, a little too quickly. Keefe doubled over, laughing hysterically. Sophie groaned and shouted, "Shut up, idiot! Let's go, don't we have to do stuff for the assignment or something?"

He finally got up from the floor (where he was taking "rolling on the floor laughing" to a new level), and wiped away tears from his eyes, from laughing too much (or maybe it was tears of sadness, but Sophie couldn't tell). "Okay, okay! Let's go. Bronte said to meet in Eternalia at his castle. (A/N: Also, IDK if Eternalia is where the councilors live so if not just correct me) You know, in all my time part of the nobility, I have never been to Bronte's castle, so this is gonna be a weird day!" Sophie had never seen (get it?!) Bronte's castle either, so it was surely going to be a weird day.

A/N - So... how was that? I have absolutely 0 idea what the hell I am doing, so if you guys have any constructive criticism about it, please do comment and tell me what I can do differently. And is it too long, or too short? The word count is about 1000. Also, I am probably incorrect about a bunch of things, so if you see anything wrong, can you correct me?

Anyways, I hope you liked it! The next update will be coming pretty soon.