The Winnowing Galas

Chapter 8: Dawn Coming

Hi! It's me again and I'm happy to tell you that I will be updating regularly again! 😁 Hope you've enjoyed everything so far!

Sophie sniffed, her eyes burning, and her throat tight. She watched Biana appear and start arguing with Ariana, but their words faded out. Sophie could see Linh standing behind Ariana, looking just how Sophie felt.

What am I doing? She thought, This was between me and Linh, now I've dragged Biana in. And Ariana. She thought reluctantly. Sophie had a feeling that even if they hadn't had this argument, she and Ariana would never be friends. There was just something about her that rubbed Sophie the wrong way.

Sophie blinked her tears away, determined not to cry. She had been through worse then a fight with Linh about boys.

This is rather ridiculous. She gave a small smile. Sophie had no idea how this had blown up out of control. She stood up and cleared her throat.

"Thank you, Biana. I've got it from here."

Biana stepped back, her eyes wide with surprise, "By all means, please take it from here, Sophie."

Ariana stood with her hands on her hips and a sneer on her face.

"I don't like you, and I don't think I ever will," Sophie glared, "But I never did anything to you. You pretended to help Linh, to be her friend, but the truth is, you're jealous."

"As if, why would I be jealous of you." Ariana snapped, "You're just a weird girl who was raised by humans."

"First of all, I'm not weird, I'm not worthless, and it doesn't matter who I was raised by."

"They obviously did a better job than your parents." Biana chimed in.

Ariana scowled at her.

"You're pretending to fight for Linh, but I know her, she can fight her own battles. If Linh wants to tell me something, she can do it herself."

"Linh, would you like to tell Sophie something?" Ariana asked mockingly.

Linh just stared at the ground, wilting slightly.

"I thought so."

"And?" Sophie asked, "Who are you, to fight her battles, to speak for her. You're just looking for an excuse to pick a fight." Sophie accused, "Well, I say, go dunk you head in the pond."

Sophie gestured to the water lily pond.

Ariana scoffed, "You know nothing. You have no idea how Linh feels, because you've never been rejected. Well I have. You have no idea how much it hurts."

"I've never been rejected?" Sophie laughed dryly, "What about when the entire elvin world rejected me because they were scared of me."

"Wow. I had no idea. Poor little Sophie, she has too many abilities. Must be awful being the most powerful elf in the world."

"You're right, it's awful having so many powers, people try to take them away, or exploit them." Sophie shuddered, thinking of that horrible circlet the Council had made her wear. "It's awful when everyone tries to use you as a pawn in their plans. When you've made so many enemies that you have to be careful of every move you make."

Sophie walked forward, "You have no idea how I feel," She said softly. "And you never will."

Sophie moved forward until she was right in front of Ariana. "Move."

Ariana glared at her. Sophie glared back. Finally, Ariana left with a huff. Sophie walked over to Linh, who was staring at the ground.

"Linh, are you all right?" she asked softly.

Linh looked up at Sophie, her eyes red and puffy. She gave a small sniff. She nodded slowly.

"I-I'm fine." She said after a minute, tears falling quietly, "But Sophie, I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to blow up out of proportion."

"It's okay." Sophie replied, "I know you didn't mean it."

"I never wanted to be jealous of you, never meant to, I tried to shove my feelings back, but I failed." Linh sniffed.

"I understand."

Sophie knew that if you keep pushing your feelings back, eventually, they explode out of you. Better to let them trickle out little by little.

"You can always talk to me, Linh." Sophie assured the other girl, earning a sad but grateful smile in return.

"Thank you, Sophie." Linh said, wiping her eyes, "It was rather silly of me to get so worked up over something like this."

Sophie hugged Linh gently. Linh hugged her back and even Biana, who had been waiting respectfully a small distance away, joined in.

"I feel much better." Linh said with a relaxed sigh, her tear stained face shifting into a smile.

"Good." Sophie replied, "I'm glad."

What do you think? Thank you for reading! Comment below! I read every single comment! You guys are awesome!

Stay Magical,

CoordinatedChaos✨