Rewritten

Chapter Eighteen~ Keefe

Keefe stepped through the large doors of Candleshade after school.

"Hey bud!" his dad called from the kitchen table.

Keefe smiled from his greeting. "Hi Dad!" he said, making his way to where he was seated. "Still working on your project for the Council?"

Cassius sighed. "Unfortunately," he muttered.

Then, the front door opened and a tall elf in a navy blue jerkin and a grey, jewel-encrusted cape strode into the room.

He had dark hair and unmistakable teal eyes.

The one and only Alden Vacker.

"Ah! Cassius!" Alden said, approaching the table.

"Alden," Cassius nodded.

Alden's eyes narrowed. "It's Lord Alden,"

Cassius didn't seem intimidated by the elf. He just smirked and said "Oh, yes. Excuse me,"

Alden--- Lord Alden---pulled files from his jerkin.

He glanced at Keefe before handing the files to Cassius. "Could we discuss this? Alone?" he asked, though it was more of a statement.

Cassius met his son's stare. He seemed like he could tell that Keefe was offended by Lord Alden's abrupt entry. "One moment," he said, "Was there something you wanted to tell me, Keefe?"

"Uh, yeah. Is it okay if I sleep at Havenfield tonight? Sophie invited Dex, Biana, Fitz, and I there," Keefe said, ignoring Lord Alden's annoyed glare.

"Sure," Cassius said.

Lord Alden cleared his throat. "Yes, Cassius?" he motioned to the files, "We need to get moving,"

Cassius rolled his eyes at him and rumpled Keefe's hair. "See you later," he told his son as he and Lord Alden made their way out the door.

Keefe rode the vortinator up to his bedroom and packed his bag.

He was so happy to find Mrs. Stinkbottom in the deep recesses of his closet.

"I haven't seen her in a while," his mom said from behind him, "You haven't slept with Mrs. Stinkbottom in years,"

Keefe blinked in confusion. He quickly came up with an excuse saying "Oh, I just thought I would tonight...since I'm going to Foster's,"

"You two have become close?" she asked.

"Yeah, she's hosting a sleepover," Keefe said.

"On a school night?" Gisela asked in disbelief.

SCHOOL NIGHT?!

Technically, the sleepover was Biana's idea, but none of them had thought this out.

"Heh, heh, yep..." Keefe chuckled nervously, "good ol' Foster..."

Gisela sighed playfully. "What am I going to do with you, Keefe?" Keefe laughed as his mom kissed his forehead and told him not to stay up all night.

That went... surprisingly well.

Keefe finished shoving the last few things into his overnight bag and headed for the leap master.

Once at Havenfield, Keefe met Brant in the kitchen. "Keefe, right?" Brant asked.

"Yep! That's me!" He said.

"KEEFE!" Dex yelped as he dashed through the doors, "Wonderboy's trying to talk to me!!!!"