The Burning Light with Shadows (A SOTAM Fan Fiction)

Matchmaking Pt. 2 (Sophie's PoV)

"Wait, Tam!" Linh called, but he ran upstairs, and I could have sworn I saw a hint of red on his face. "Let's open it ourselves then!" Keefe declared triumphantly, lunging to grab the scroll that had unfurled on the ground. "No!" Biana, Linh, and I yelled.

I immediately jumped forward and picked up the scroll, and in the process of rolling it back up again, I saw my name. With the number 1 right next to it. I dropped it in surprise and shock, and Keefe swiped it up.

"Hmm... let's see... no that's a random girl... wait, Foster got number ONE on Bangs Boy's list?!" he exclaimed, letting the scroll float to the ground. Biana and Linh gaped in shock. "Seriously?!" Biana leaned over to Keefe's side, inspecting the lettering. "Stop that!" I shouted. "It's not your business to read his matchmaking scroll out of all things!" I snatched it out of Keefe's grasp and handed it to Linh. "You should go back upstairs and give it to him," I said quietly. "You can't trust Keefe with it. Ever." I added the last part as a joke, but Linh appeared to take it seriously, and ran upstairs, clutching the scroll to her chest.

Marella twisted a strand of her hair. "Well... that just happened..." I started dazing out, trying to push any thoughts of matchmaking scrolls out of my mind. Tam got me as his number 1... I thought. Does that mean... I recalled what had happened a couple nights ago. We slept on the sofa together... but I didn't like him... right? But his face was red...

"Foster! Open your scroll! You're the last one who hasn't!" Keefe yelled, knocking me out of my daze. "Wha- wait what?" I stuttered. "Wait, I'm the last one?!" I noticed that everyone else's scrolls were wide open. "You didn't hear? Were you paying attention?" Biana asked. I noticed that Linh hadn't come back yet. "Uh... no?"

"Come on Foster!" Keefe complained. "I expected better from you." I glared at him, but he just grinned right back. "Alright! Alright, fine," I grumbled. I tentatively opened my scroll to find only ten names on it. "There's... only ten names here," I said, surprised. Biana and Marella crawled over to me and looked over my shoulder. "Wow, Mr. Forkle must have only looked for ten eligible people that you could be with!" Biana exclaimed.

"Dex is number 8!" Marella announced. "And Keefe is... 5!" Keefe pretended to frown. "Aw man, I thought I would have been higher," he said mockingly. Biana slapped him on the shoulder. "Hey!" he whined.

"Fitz is number 2," Biana informed the others. "Can you sto-" I protested, but Biana cut me off. "Tam's her number one!!!" she squealed excitedly. "I ship it!" I slammed my forehead into my scroll. "This is the worst day ever," I groaned. Keefe smirked at me. "And you were upset about being unmatchable?"

"I mean, I didn't want to get my matchmaking scroll now, but I wanted to be able to one day!" I yelled in his face. He flinched. I gripped my matchmaking scroll so hard that the edges crumpled. I threw it in his face and stormed upstairs toward my room. "Sophie, wait!" Fitz called, grabbing my forearm. I tugged my arm away harshly. "No! This matchmaking business is just stupid! Have none of you realized what Tam and I have gone through?! And you guys call me oblivious!"

I felt hot, soppy tears roll down my cheeks, and I wiped them away angrily. I felt like a tiny child pouting over something stupid, but I didn't care. I ran into my room and slammed the door, collapsing on the floor in tears. A few seconds later, I felt a firm hand on my shoulder.

"I don't want to talk, Fitz!" I screamed, not opening my eyes. "It's not Fitz," a familiar deep voice replied. I looked up and saw Tam and Linh looking at me. "Oh..." I had walked into the wrong room."

"We heard what you said," Linh said softly. "And... I'm really, really sorry I didn't realize you were going through the same thing as Tam. Actually, even worse." She held my hands lightly, as if I was a small, helpless creature that would pass away if held too tightly.

Tam winced slightly. "I also heard what Keefe said. He probably didn't mean it in that way," he said reassuringly. I raised an eyebrow at him. "You? Supporting him? Am I dreaming?" I asked sarcastically. "Somebody pinch me!" Linh pinched my forearm, and I yelped. They laughed.

"Well... I know you two are close," he said. I nodded. "Yeah. Just... not really on the romantic side." I glanced at Linh. She winked one of her silver blue eyes. Why did she- I thought. "What are we going to do about the matchmaking scrolls though?" she asked, breaking my train of thoughts. "You both left them downstairs. Well, I'm guessing Sophie did too, since she doesn't exactly have her scroll with her right now..." she trailed off.

"I... may have thrown it in Keefe's face." I confessed. Tam grinned, giving me a high-five. "Ha! Got what he deserved," he said snarkily. I giggled.

And for the rest of the day, we all laughed and played around in Tam's room, truly enjoying ourselves for the first time in a very, very long time.

A/N I'm sorry Sokeefe and Sophitz readers. They'll get forgiven later :).