the prom queen

chapter four

s o p h i e f o s t e r

sophie checked her watch for the fifth time since they got to the cafeteria. she was a little worried about the time, getting home after five wasn't an option. it was already three fifteen and keefe still hadn't received his tacos. sophie was sitting down at a nearby table while keefe was sucking up to one of the lunch ladies to get a taco. she was about to complain how long he was taking until keefe appeared with a white cardboard to go box. "ready to start studying?"
she nodded and they headed to the library. there was a variety of medals and trophies in the cases leading to the library. sophie hadn't won any but she did see a few with keefe's last name on them. "did you win those?" she asked pointing to the case. keefe shook his head in response, he had a face full of taco so he couldn't answer verbally.
"you couldn't have waited until we got to the library to eat your tacos? i mean we're three feet away." she scolded him.
keefe rolled his eyes and put away his taco. "you made me miss taco tuesday at lunch and i'm not going another minute without eating these babies." he licked his lips and stared at the box in awe. that was the dumbest thing sophie had ever heard. and why would he waste his lunch time on her when it was the last day the cafeteria served tacos if he liked them as much as he said he did?
sophie rolled her eyes and yanked on the library's doors. in her one year of attending foxfire high she had actually never been in the library before. it was nice and quiet, perfect for reading, and they had bookcases filled with all different types of books. "where do you want to work?" she asked. there were tables with rather strange chairs pushed under them. one table had a rocking chair, another had a bean bag as tall as she was, and one even had a bar stool. why would anyone want to sit there?
keefe pointed to a wooden table in the back with normal wooden chairs. she followed along behind him and was happy he didn't choose the table with edible chairs. yes this library did in fact have edible chairs. that grossed her out the most. sophie looked away from a freshman gnawing on the corner of a bubblegum flavored chair. did he know that people sat on those?
now sophie was beyond grossed out and she realized why people didn't come here more often. keefe pulled out her chair for her and she warily sat down. why was he being so nice to her when he barely acknowledged her existence in chemistry a few days ago? she was still suspicious about what happened in the lunch room, especially since he'd broken up with biana five seconds before asking her out, but she decided to let it go for now. "so why don't you read me what you've got so far for your essay about the elizabethan era." keefe suggested.
"alright." sophie reached into her jam packed bag and ripped out her english folder. she slipped out the first draft of her paper she'd written yesterday and during homeroom this morning. "queen elizabeth the first was born on september 7 1533 she was was crowned-"CRUNCH.
she was interrupted by the loud chomping sound of keefe demolishing his tacos. sophie tore her eyes from her paper and looked to keefe. he stared right back. "do you mind?"
"oh no please. don't wait for me to finish, you're reading isn't bothering me." keefe assured her.
sophie gave him an annoyed look, rolled her eyes, and continued reading. "she was crowned queen of-" CRUNCH. she groaned and turned to face keefe. "i can't read my essay with you eating. it's very distracting to me and everyone else in the library. plus you're supposed to be here to help improve this paper, which you can't do if you're busy on other things." she looked down at his taco in disapproval.
"you and the ass eating candy man over there? i'm sure he's really bothered by me. why don't you go ask him?" keefe retorted.
"he was not eating the seat part of the chair! so maybe you should-"
"look again foster." he smirked.
oh she really hated that he was right. when her eyes drifted over to the boy he was, in fact, licking the seat of the chair. you hate to see it. sophie exhaled, trying to calm herself. she put her papers back away in her english folder and closed it shut. "look keefe, this isn't working out. if i can get into yale without you're help, i'm sure that i'd get rejected with it. so if you'd excuse me i'm going home now."
he didn't even try to stop her when she gathered her things. sophie got up and left the library. when she checked the time again it was only three fifty. she and keefe couldn't go five minutes without starting an argument so she wasn't surprised they didn't last longer than an hour alone together. by herself she found her way to the entrance and started on her way home. she was less than a minute away from her house when she heard a horn honking. beep beep!
sophie peered over to see a silver bmw pulled up beside her. "foster i'm sorry, i know i was being a little annoying over my tacos but you see-"
"keefe apologies don't have the word but in them." she snapped. sophie stormed off ahead but he was able to keep up in his car.
"right sorry. i'll just get to the point. for my-" his eyes seemed to scan over the house behind her. realizing this was hers she started to back up into it. "senior project" keefe got out of his car to carry on the conversation at a normal distance. he jogged up beside her as she climbed the steps to her house. "i have to write an essay on music and was wondering if you had a good place for me to...experience some?"
her eyes light up when he mentioned music. sophie loved music. she'd been playing the guitar since she was four. "i do happen to know of a place..." keefe beamed and urged her to go on. "it's called eternalia. meet me there at seven. no later." she doubted he would show but in case he did...sophie had something special in store for him.
"eternalia, no later than seven, got it. see you there foster!" he called over his shoulder starting to walk away. ugh, boys. he'd given the worst excuse in the books and expected her to believe him. she didn't know if she should feel insulted or know that made her ten times smarter than him.
"sophie what are you doing waiting out on the porch?" she was so lost in her thoughts that sophie hadn't even realized edaline open the door. "come in come in. i made mallowmelt." she smiled. when she got a whiff of the delicious treat she scurried inside, past edaline to the kitchen. there she found grady gobbling up, what looked like and what she hoped to be, his first piece."
when sophie locked eyes with her future husband, she licked her lips and sprinted to the oven. this was, by far, her favorite dessert. she liked it so much she married it, in her dream at least. sophie barely even decided to get a plate before cutting out a big chunk of cake. edaline sometimes made mallowmelt in cake form or cupcake form, they were both equally delicious and messy. the icing was thick and creamy but after a bite you'd feel like you're having a heart attack.
the chocolate chips inside perfected the taste and she couldn't think of anything more deserving to fill her thought other than mallowmelt. the first time she tried it she wolfed down the entire cake. no one stopped her so it wasn't she they should blame. edaline made a whole batch just for sophie. how was she supposed to know to save it for the rest of the week? or other people.