Renegades: KotLC

Twist -30

"So-phie!" Rajni sang as she knocked into Sophie from behind, the broom slipping from Sophie's hand.

"Gah!" Sophie stumbled forward, her hands shooting to her side as she righted herself again. She sucked in a sharp breath, playing it off as nothing as Rajni stepped back with her cheeky grin. Sophie chuckled. "Rajni! You can't sneak up on me like that!"

Rajni's shoulders straightened, and-like a puppy hearing a curious noise-her head tilted to the side as she blinked her wide, confused eyes. Sophie felt her lips pulling into a grin. Rajni really was like a child. "Why not? I do it to Ken all the time."

"Um-never mind. New topic: what are you doing in the pantry?" Sophie picked the broom up, discreetly using it as a cane until her side recovered from the sudden movement. It was cleaning day-everywhere except the stage, because Anwir had hired some men to repair it professionally. Kenna was repairing the rusted cabinets; Evander had been tasked with making errands; Koen, cleaning the bathrooms (his punishment for eating all their 'break time snacks'); and Rajni was meant to be supervising Koen.

"I got bored," Rajni said, hopping onto one of the pantry's shelves and swinging her legs just above the tiled floor. Sophie frowned at the mold hidden between the crevasses. "Koen was going on and on about Lunchables, and kept tryna get me to sneak him one. But I'm smart, so I didn't fall for it!" She flashed a cocky grin. "I gave him a Poptart instead."

"A Poptart?" Sophie asked. "You really outsmarted him then, huh?" As Rajni bobbed her head, Sophie shook hers, doing all she could to keep from laughing.

"It was a strawberry Poptart. He told me he liked it cold, and not in the toaster, so I put it in the toaster because he said the opposite. Y'know?" Her swinging legs quickened as she cackled-or what was probably meant to sound like a cackle. To Sophie, it was equivalent to a little toddler who was getting an attack of tickles.

"You got him good, Ray," Sophie said. A warm feeling settled in her stomach. As time continued to pass, Sophie was growing more and more familiar with the Renegade life, and all that came with it-nicknames included. Apparently, they took nicknames seriously, as a sign of familiarity and affection-explaining why Rajni had been so happy when Sophie had first called her 'Ray'."

Sophie didn't tell Rajni that, in fact, Koen had played her.

"Ooh, did Evander tell you about tonight?" Rajni asked. Her legs stopped kicked as she recalled exactly what he'd said.

"Evander... What about tonight?" Sophie asked. Why hadn't Evander told her in person, as he'd apparently done with Rajni?

"It's been awhile since we've played anything," Rajni recapped. "So Evander said we'd be going to the corner tonight. 'For old times' sake', he said. He also said 'if you wanna be under the spotlight with them, you can-if you're up to it'."

Sophie blinked, the flood of information cramming itself into her brain. "The corner... Tonight..." She shrunk as the last word left her mouth, coming out in a squeak. "Spotlight..."

"Yeah!" Rajni said. "I'll be in the crowd still, doing my job-not that we'll be needing the money soon enough. It's all just for 'old times' sake', in E's words. But you know a bit of guitar now, so it'd be cool to see you up there, y'know? A chance to leave your mark on the world: Sophie Foster, prettiest of the Renegades-"

"Yeahhh... let's not go with that. Besides, if I were-which I won't-but if I were going to ever be on stage, I'd probably have a stage name. The council's hunting me down, remember?"

Realization entered Rajni's eyes, her mouth making an "O" as she nodded. "Oh, yeah! So, what'll your name be then?" Rajni leaned closer, tucking her dark hair behind her ears and in full-listening mode.