The Burning Light with Shadows (A SOTAM Fan Fiction)

Plans Pt. 1 (Sophie's PoV)

I beat Ro to Keefe's door and jumped in front of her. "Is it possible for soporidine to be transmittable by air?" I asked, panting. She gave me a confused look. "Uh... I'm no scientist, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised." She thought for a second. "I may have heard one of my father's scientists mention something about that." She shrugged. "But I don't remember."

I nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll... probably ask Lady Cadence then." I instinctively shivered at the thought of her name. Ro raised an eyebrow at me, then stormed into the room, yelling some colorful ogre words. I heard Biana and Keefe yelp. Then she shouted something along the lines of, "SERIOUSLY LORD HUNKYHAIR?!"

I quickly ran back into my room and flopped on the bed, making sure that I was in the right room this time. I stared out the window, placing my hand on the cold, solid glass. I gazed at the lake, admiring the sheen of light reflecting the sun, but suddenly, it didn't seem so... bright. A shadow seemed to cross over the lake, making the sheen of light disappear. I frowned. I doubted that was Tam's doing...

"Sophie!!!" I heard Biana scream behind me. I nearly banged my head against the window, and I yelped, turning to face her. "Seriously Biana, stop screaming and scaring us like that!" I scolded her. Her grin grew. "Okay, so, I planned your winnowing gala to take place in one week. Also-" I whacked her hand away. "Biana. I had ten boys on my matchmaking list. And three of them are literally dating, from what I know of. What is the actual point of having a winnowing gala?" I demanded from her. She shrugged. "We'll invite a couple others, too. Mr. Forkle agreed to check other boys that we invite. They'll all be from your level!" I groaned.

"This is going to be such an unorthodox gala," I grumbled. Biana rolled her eyes. "And that's what's going to make it so exciting!" I gave her an are you serious? look, but she ignored it, dancing around the room enthusiastically. "Biana!" I yelled at her. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a squeal at the door. Linh dragged Tam and Fitz into my room. Keefe and Marella popped their heads at the opening.

"What is going on?" I asked. "And why is everyone in my room?" Biana looked at me mischievously. "Oh, nothing, except the fact that we need to plan out what to have at your gala!"

I slammed my forehead into my hands. "Biana!" I yelled. Tam smiled slightly. Keefe and Fitz shared knowing glances and grins, and Linh and Marella just giggled. "Okay, what food do you want there to be?" Biana asked. I thought for a moment. "Mallowmelt and custard bursts," I suggested. "And ripplefluffs!" Fitz added. The others started giving other deserts as suggestions, and Biana quickly grabbed a piece of paper and began noting them down. Then she asked something about decorations and some other random things before squealing and running out the room, muttering something about planning. Fitz, Keefe, and Linh followed her, leaving Marella and Tam with me.

"So... that just happened," I said awkwardly. Marella twisted one of her small braids in her hair. "Your gala's going to cause quite the uproar at Foxfire," she said nervously. Tam smirked. "That's for sure. Just about every other boy in your level's going to be running heads over tails to be there," he added jokingly. I shoved them both lightly. "Yeah, right! Who would want to be with the freaky girl with freaky brown eyes!" I bit my lip. "Who said anything about them being freaky? I think they're quite pretty," Tam argued, turning slightly red. I felt my cheeks turn warm. "You think so?" I asked. Tam nodded. Marella followed in suit.

"Remember? A really, really long time, a while back, Dex said that people had been ordering brown eye elixirs," she said. I thought back to the moment with my photographic memory. "Oh... yeah. I forgot about that."

Tam placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Don't call yourself things like that. It'll just bring your spirits down. Focus on the brighter things in life, instead of the darker things." Marella smiled. "Yeah, what Bangs Boy said." Tam shot her a mocking glare. "Now you're using that nickname, too?" Her smile grew even wider. "Yep. From what I hear, Keefe's coming up with another one, too." Tam rolled his eyes. "Of course he is."

We heard Biana's voice yell out, "Tam! Marella! Get here right now to help me plan out this gala!" They both shared a worried glance before leaping out the door, but not before Tam waved goodbye.

I looked back out the window, and the shadow over the lake was gone. Then I saw a glisten near the shore of the lake.

An orange-tinted bottle.