The Neverseen's Last Resort

71

Keefe

"Woah." 

Keefe smirked. It seemed to be the only thing she could say, and Keefe was loving it. He hadn't known her when she'd first seen Foxfire, so he felt extremely lucky to see Sophie so mesmerized and amazed. The way her eyes lit up, her smile brightened. It was amusing, he had to admit. She'd walked through that building many times before, seen it just as often. He'd witnessed her reluctance to return to school so many times, her sigh as she fiddled with the uniform's cape. And yet, and yet, it didn't take away from her amazement. 

Keefe couldn't stop admiring how perfectly curious she looked in that moment. The curiosity, the way her worries seemed to wash away as awe and curiosity replaced her thoughts. It made her all that more beautiful. Sure, she might've been mad at him only a couple of days ago, but that didn't stop him from caring about her. 

Sophie must've felt him staring, because she turned to him with a suspicious eye. "What?" She asked, and Keefe couldn't suppress his smile as he shrugged guiltily. 

"You realize you've been here a hundred times, right?" He smirked. Sophie rolled her eyes.

"So? I don't remember any of that." 

"Guess we can cross that off the list," Keefe grinned. Sophie did a double take. 

"Wait, what list?"

"If you won't tell me what's wrong, I'm going to have to use my amazing detective skills to figure it out myself." 

Stina laughed as the group headed for the front doors. "That's a lot of memories to go through, y'know."

"Then you guys should help me." Keefe beamed, and Sophie rolled her eyes. Though Keefe didn't miss the smile she'd attempted to hide. 

"I'm in," Stina chuckled. "Couldn't hurt to try, right? Besides, we all  know Sophie won't tell us no matter how hard we push." 

Keefe wasn't so sure. He'd seen her tell him the secret stuff, the things she'd probably sworn she'd never tell anybody. They'd both shared top secret things with one another, they'd trusted each other just that much. And it hurt, knowing that that level of trust had been erased along with the rest of Sophie's memories. Never again would she trust him so much, especially considering all the secrets he was keeping from her. She'd hated him for that. 

"She's too good a secret keeper," Tam added, and another weight placed itself on Keefe's shoulders. Keeper. Too many horrible memories came flooding back, reminding Keefe just how much the Neverseen had hurt Sophie. How much they'd changed her. 

Keefe's eyes found Sophie once again. She was laughing. Her emotions were warm breezes at the beach, dancing throughout the air. They were so warm and obvious, Keefe found it hard to believe he was the only one who could sense them. Yet, it was true. Only Keefe had the ability, the opportunity to experience such a wonderful feeling, no matter how strong and nagging it could sometimes get. It was a beautiful thing, he thought. She was much happier now, rather than at Calla's tree. Whatever she'd been worrying about, it was bad. A dark cloud had smothered Keefe's heart, rain slamming into him and lightning striking fear. 

Whatever it was, hadn't just bugged Sophie. It had rattled her. Shaken her to her core. It was truly frightening. However, that just made Keefe all the more determined to find out how to help her. 

"Keefe?" 

Sophie was watching Keefe, her bright, brown eyes dimming. The beach winds became a snowstorm of worry, and Keefe had to take a step back. It didn't help. Still, he wore a smile as he addressed her. 

"Yeah?"

"You've been really quiet. Is something wrong?" 

Keefe's smile faded, eyes looking down. She'd figured him out. "No hiding the truth now," he told her, eyes still facing the floor. The blizzard winds grew worse. "Sophie, the thing is... we haven't showed you the teachers' secret stash of treats!" His smile returned instantly, and he raced off down one of the halls. The blizzard vanished as he got further and further from Sophie, who struggled to keep up with him. 

"You scared me!" Sophie called after him, and Keefe laughed.

"Awe, Foster cares about me!" He yelled as he continued towards the teachers' lounge. He'd said it in a joking tone, teasing her. In reality, however, Keefe was glad to know she still cared. Sure, they'd been talking like friends, and hanging out as friends, but... until that moment Keefe hadn't been able to silence the loud nagging echo in his heart, telling him that she was pretending. Faking. It was nice to know she still cared. It really was. 

Keefe slowed to a stop outside the teachers' lounge, turning the knob to find it wasn't locked. Footsteps closed in on him and soon, Sophie, Stina, and Bangs Boy emerged from the corner. 

"It's not funny!" Sophie scolded as she stomped towards him with her irritated, but relieved expression. "You really scared me!" 

"Not me," Bangs Boy offered, and Keefe rolled his eyes. Playfully patting Sophie's head, he smirked. 

"Sorry, but it wasn't a joke. It was a really serious problem that we hadn't stopped here first." 

"The teachers' lounge?" Stina questioned, eyebrows raised. Keefe's grin grew.

"Exactly. Ten points." 

Keefe led the group into the room, happily pointing out where all the good stuff was held. Sophie went straight for the custard bursts; stuffing them in her mouth, her pockets, her boots, and anywhere else she could stuff them. 

Stina satisfied herself with butterblasts, and Keefe opened all the Prattles he could find, collecting all the good pins and placing the lame ones back in their now-empty boxes. 

"The mentors aren't going to be happy when they find out someone stole all their Prattles," Tam reprimanded just as Keefe pulled another sasquatch pin from the box, only to throw it back in after he'd finished the treat. 

"Mentors are never happy. They spend all day dealing with annoying children and trying to 'un-stupid' them, only to go home to their sad, lonely lives 'cause no one wants to marry a mentor." Keefe eyed Tam with a smug smirk, and Tam stalked off, refusing to eat anything from the room. Keefe shrugged, stuffing his prizes in his pockets before leading Sophie and the group to the next room, making sure to show her all the boring stuff too, because school was %95 boring and she'd need to know her way around by Tuesday. 

Sundown nears as the tour finally comes to an end.