Adorable

Chapter 10 | Goodbye

Sophie felt strangely calm as she got ready for school that morning. Her calm was illogical, since the only things waiting for her at school were her friends and her ex- neither of whom she was looking forward to confronting. No, that wasn't true. School also meant Keefe, her sort-of boyfriend. But that wasn't why Sophie was ready to face school. No, it was the fact that she had no more secrets to hide. Now that her friends- and Fitz- knew about her and Keefe, she could relax. No more hiding. No more stolen glances and repressed kisses and pretending they weren't what they were. No more fear. They were official. Public. Sort of...

On that note, Sophie still hadn't decided what to tell her family. Or the rest of her friends. Or... oh no, now Sophie was imagining The World's Most Awkward Conversation with Alden and Della. 'Hey, you know how I was dating Fitz... sort of? Well, now I basically dumped him for his best friend. It wasn't exactly what had happened, but she had no doubt a lot of people would see it that way.

Sophie sighed, pinning her Ruewen crest onto her uniform cape and taking a last look in the mirror. So much for calm. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and imagining Keefe's face. It steadied her, and she walked to the Leapmaster with a new confidence in her step. She was ready.

*****

Sophie stepped off the Leapmaster platform still feeling confident. She scanned the crowd around her for Keefe's face, not finding him. She began walking towards orientation, figuring she'd see him along the way. She had barely taken two steps when a hand slid into hers.

"Wowza, Foster, you feel... different. Is that defiance?"

"Nah," she returned. "Just determination."

"And what exactly are you determined to do?" he smirked, clearly ready to laugh at her answer.

Instead of answering, however, she pulled him into the middle of the crowd of prodigies streaming towards orientation and turned to face him. She stood up on her tiptoes and pulled him down by a handful of his loose shirt into a very long, very public kiss. She kissed him like she'd never kissed him before, and he recovered from the surprise quickly and responded by wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back. Sophie practically melted at the feel of his hands around her waist and his lips against hers. She didn't care a bit if the world crumbled around them, so long as he kept kissing her like this forever.

It was Keefe who finally pulled away, a little shell shocked. "Wow. Was not expecting that."

"Get used to it." And she kissed him again, ignoring the now staring prodigies.

"Absolutely no problem there," he answered when she pulled away. "So... I guess this means we're going public?"

"Officially. Finally." This time it was Keefe who started the kiss, putting his hands around her waist, lifting her up, and swinging her around before gently setting her down and kissing her, his love and joy obvious.

"Miss Foster! Mister Sencen! If you could please make your way to orientation, it would be much appreciated!" came the piercing voice of Lady Galvin. "Public displays of affection between prodigies are frowned upon here at Foxfire!"

"She is frowned upon here at Foxfire," muttered Sophie under her breath.

Keefe wasn't able to stifle his laughter. He pulled Sophie towards him, whispering fondly in her ear, "You, Foster, are going to get us both detention."

"Like that's anything new for you," she retorted.

He laughed. "That's my girl. I love this new Feisty Foster!" He looked at Lady Galvin to make sure she was watching, then gave Sophie a big defiant kiss right on the lips. Sophie enjoyed the kiss, but mostly she loved the feeling of him calling her his girl.