keep your friends close

(21)

"One more week!" Marella squeals.

Sophie slides into the cafeteria seat beside her, directly across from Dex and Jensi. "Until what?"

"Only, like, the biggest Foxfire event of the year," Stina scoffs.

At Sophie's blank look, Stina just sighs. "The dance, silly."

"Oh," Sophie says. She's more surprised by the fact that Stina spoke directly to her. They haven't really talked since her mini outburst at the splotching tournament, so Sophie takes this as a good sign. Stina tends to hold grudges that, although temporary, can still last for a long while.

"It's not that big of a deal, don't worry," Maruca reassures Sophie as she eats another forkful of what looks like purple salad. "It's just an excuse to dress up and have fun."

"Oh yeah, are we still going as a group?" Dex asks.

"Unless you somehow scored a date last minute," snickers Jensi, who is also talking and eating a Butterblast at the same time.

"Well, Sophie sure did," Marella pipes up with a sly smile. "Or so I've been told."

Jensi's jaw drops. He turns to Sophie, who can already feel herself turning bright red. "What? Who?! Why didn't I hear about this?"

Dex grumpily stabs at his lunch with a fork. "Don't remind me. I already have to hear about Fitz way more than I need to."

Jensi gawks. "Sophie's going to the dance with Fitz Vacker?!" he exclaims.

Sophie shushes him hurriedly. Jensi isn't exactly the most subtle person; more than a few heads have already turned their way. "It's not like that," she says. "We're going as friends. Kind of."

Maruca raises a playful eyebrow. "Kind of?" she repeats.

"I mean... I don't know him that well."

"You guys should totally match your outfits," Marella says, leaning forward eagerly. "It would be adorable."

Dex groans. "That's so tacky."

"No, it's cute! Right, Stina?"

Sophie listens to her friends squabble amongst themselves. A part of her definitely thinks matching their outfits feels too coupley for people going as just friends. Yet another part of her secretly craves the mushiness of going to a dance with a cute boy and having everyone see them as a couple—two Telepaths in matching attire, like they were made for each other. She wonders what Fitz would think.

"Sophie!" someone calls out. "There you are."

Everyone glances up. Biana has wandered over to their table, wearing a bright smile and waving cheerily. It's a welcome distraction.

"Can we help you?" Stina asks sharply.

Biana ignores her. "This is important. Do you have a dress picked out yet?" she asks Sophie.

Sophie was so caught up in her daydream that she almost forgot the obvious. She has nothing to wear to a fancy elvin dance, let alone something nice enough to wear as Fitz's date.

She feels herself begin to panic a little—then almost laughs. Sandor trained her for years to control her fear and anxiety in high risk, high pressure environments, yet here she is, freaking out over what to wear to a school dance.

"Not really," she admits.

"Sophie!" Biana gasps dramatically. "That needs to change." She points at her with an insistent finger. "You and me. We're going dress shopping in Atlantis. Are you free this weekend?"

Sophie exchanges a glance with Dex. She expects him to look annoyed, but instead he raises his eyebrows encouragingly. Right—this would be a good opportunity to stick close to the Vackers. One of them, at least.

"Sure," she replies, very aware of all her friends' stares. "I can do that."

Biana sighs in relief. "Thank goodness. I know what Fitz is wearing, so I can help with color coordination."

So no matching outfits. Sophie represses a sigh of relief.

"What about you, Biana?" Marella asks. "What are you going to wear?"

"Oh, I had that figured out ages ago," Biana answers with a wave of her hand. "Keefe and I picked our outfits last month. We decided to go for a more neutral color scheme..."

She delves into the details of her dress and matching jewellery, but Sophie's head spins in confusion. Around her, her friends look equally as lost. "Keefe?" she questions.

"Yeah!" Biana exclaims. "Oh. I didn't tell you, did I? I'm going to the dance with Keefe."

The chatter of the surrounding cafeteria continues around them, but their table is suddenly very quiet. Sophie notices Maruca and Stina exchanging pointed glances. Jensi seems to have taken an intense interest in his empty plate.

Someone at another table calls Biana's name, and she quickly excuses herself with a friendly grin, unaware of the awkward tension she leaves behind. Sophie feels like she only knows half of what's going on. Sure, she feels weirdly disappointed to find out that Keefe is going with Biana, but everyone else looks like they've just seen a ghost. There's definitely something else going on that everyone but her knows about, and frankly, she's feeling a little frustrated.

Sophie takes a deep breath. "Can someone tell me what's going on? Because I feel like I'm missing something. Do you guys not like Biana?"

"It's not that, Sophie," Maruca sighs. Her gaze darts around the table, at their friends who are staring but trying not to stare. "Can we talk about this outside?"

Confused, Sophie agrees. As she gets up to follow Maruca, Sophie shoots a quick glance at Dex, but he just nods reassuringly.

Away from the hubbub of the noisy cafeteria, the hallway is dead quiet. Maruca leans against the wall and crosses her arms with a sigh.

"I didn't want to keep this from you," Maruca admits quietly, "so I'll just say it. Biana's my ex-girlfriend."

"... Oh." Sophie opens her mouth, then closes it. Somehow, out of every scenario she'd imagined, she wasn't expecting that.

"When I heard about your mission, I wanted to help you," Maruca continues. "But Wylie refused, because I was dating Biana. He said I had a conflict of interest. So I broke up with her."

"Maruca..."

She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter. He still doesn't want my help, and I couldn't give Biana a reason for why I ended things." She shrugs. "I don't really care if Biana goes to the dance with Keefe, but for the past couple years we've always gone with each other until now. The others think it was a mutual break-up. Only Stina knows the real reason."

"Why didn't you want to tell me?"

Maruca hesitates. "I... wasn't sure if you would listen to Wylie over me. If you refused my help, Wylie might use that to discourage me from getting involved in the Black Swan."

Sophie frowns. "That's not cool of him, Maruca."

"He's just overprotective," Maruca explains with a grimace. "The worse things get, the more tense he is. You know what he's like."

"I can talk to him," Sophie tells her. "You saved my life in the Himalayas. There's no way he can deny that."

Maruca laughs a little, relieved. "Thanks, Sophie. I'm sorry I didn't trust you before."

"I'm sorry too. I don't know if I can convince Wylie, but I can at least put in a good word for you with the Council. Wylie's probably more stubborn than all of them combined, anyway."

They giggle at that, and Maruca relaxes slightly. "We should get back to the others before lunch period ends," she remarks.

As they slip back into the cafeteria, Sophie's Imparter dings. She pulls it out quickly just to check, but her heart skips a beat when she sees the message is from Mr. Forkle.

We found Alvar Vacker.