watch?v=NGbI60xDL8Y Mr. Doctor Man: PALAYE ROYALE
Sophie was spending her time mulling over dangerous questions. The questions themselves were dangerous, and the questions could paint a target on her back. These questions could make the Neverseen work even harder to get Alvar back. These questions could give the Neverseen reason to focus all their time on murdering Sophie. Mulling over these questions was the least stressful part of her week.
Mulling over those very questions was helping Sophie focus. The questions were helping Sophie cope with her already chaotic life.
She was not looking forward to the multiple inflicting sessions with Bronte this week – even though they were now on better terms, inflicting was still not Sophie's favorite session. Sophie was not prepared for the mimicking assessment she had to pass. Sophie had been working tirelessly with Keefe, and she still couldn't make herself sound like Grady, Edaline, Keefe, or anyone else she attempted to mimic. And Sophie was definitely not ready for her telepathy class, which she now had to share with both Fitz and Keefe. Now that Magnate Leto – Master Leto – was head of the school, he decided to incorporate old training techniques into Sophie's schedule. Sophie also wasn't ready for a jealous Marella, Biana, and Dex.
Sophie, needless to say, was stressed. She was dealing with it the only way she knew how: Sophie was adding more stress.
What do they have hidden in Alvar's mind?
Ro's words had been constantly reverberating in Sophie's mind since she asked her Earth-shattering question. Sophie repeated the words in her head over and over; she was beginning to feel like a broken record.
And why are they going to such great lengths to hide it?
Sophie mentally – and physically – sighed, abandoning all attempts to pay attention to her elvin history mentor drone on about the evolution of the Gnome-Elf agreement. Sophie found the lecture quite interesting, but she could no longer focus on the facts her mentor was spewing out. She quickly developed a stress-induced headache, and her brain was beginning to throb with pain.
"May I go to the healing center?" It was rare Sophie willingly went to see Elwin – it's not that she had anything against him, she rather liked Elwin – but the pain in her head was growing rapidly, and there was no way she would be able to focus for another half-an-hour.
Her mentor nodded and Sophie left the classroom, making her way to the healing center.
"Foster," said a voice from behind her. Letting out a sigh and rubbing her temples, Sophie turned around to face the speaker.
"Yes, Keefe?" Keefe had his back pressed against the wall of an abandoned classroom, and he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He motioned for Sophie to sit with him, and his invitation was turned down with a shake of Sophie's head.
Keefe let a brief frown cross his face, quickly transforming it into his trademark smirk. "I was hopeful I had finally rubbed off on you and you were deciding to skip class, but I was mistaken." He shook his head as if it were the worst thing he had ever experienced in his life, a look of utter grief taking over his face.
"Healing center," Sophie declared, spinning around and walking to the healing center, trying to avoid anything Keefe could say that would make her want to stay with him.
"What kind of gentleman would I be if I let such a dashing lady walk to the healing center by herself?" Keefe asked, hopping up and pursuing Sophie down the hallway.
Sophie rolled her eyes and blushed at his comment, blushing even more when Keefe grabbed her hand once he caught up.
Once Keefe caught a glance at her face, he teased, "Foster, you're cute when you blush."
"Whatever," Sophie sighed, trying her best to fight off a more prominent blush, "arguing will just make my headache worse."
They walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way. Reaching the door to the healing center, they were greeted by a beaming Elwin.
"My two most frequent guests, back again. Which one of you is it?"
Keefe put his arm around Sophie's shoulders, and said, "Foster here has a killer headache. I'm only here to do my job as her Favorite Person and accompany her."
"You are not my Favorite Person," Sophie lied. Keefe smiled, showing her that he knew she was lying.
Elwin rolled his eyes and led them into the healing center, giving Sophie a bitter tasting liquid. "That should clear your headache right up by your next class," Elwin said. "Keefe, would you like a pass?"
"Nah," Keefe replied, sitting on the edge of Sophie's bed, "I'll stay here with Foster and make sure she gets by okay." He winks at Elwin and smirks at Sophie, sending her heart into hummingbird mode.
Sophie cursed her over-sensitive heart. It was not the time to get hung up on her boy problems. With the thought, Sophie's inner-voice soured. Boy problems were never problems she wanted to deal with. She never even wanted to associate herself with having boy problems.
"Whatever, it's not my fault if you get in trouble," Elwin answered with a shrug.
"So, Foster," started Keefe, once Elwin was out of earshot, "what's up?"
"It's just a headache, Keefe," Sophie said, which wasn't a complete lie. She did have a headache, and it was quite a horrible one at that. She didn't want to talk about the stress of school, or about Ro's questions about the Neverseen. Especially since some of her school stress was Keefe-related.
Sophie could tell that Keefe knew she was lying – he was an empath – but he didn't press her to answer his question truthfully. He would let her do that on her own. Keefe leaned closer to Sophie, and letting his voice drop, he whispered, "You can talk to me if you need to; you can talk to me about anything."
Sophie nodded, trying to fight the blush creeping onto her face. Yet again, there were other things to worry about, and boys shouldn't even reach the top ten list. Even if Sophie tried to keep it that way, Keefe and Fitz made themselves extremely hard to ignore. Fitz was acting odd, showering Sophie with gifts, and Keefe was getting closer to Sophie nowadays, physically and emotionally. He tended to sit closer to her than he really needed to, and he was getting Sophie to open up to him a little bit more.
As if that wasn't enough, Tam kept making comments such as, "Fitz is unbearably desperate," and "Keefe is trying too hard." Not to mention Sophie's least favorite: "You two are making it so much harder for Sophie to choose." Sophie didn't like being singled out, and she didn't want to "choose between the two of them", whatever Tam meant by that.
"Any news from the Black Swan yet?" Keefe asked, after a quick glance around the room. Sophie shook her head, glancing around the room as well. Sophie was glad to see no goblin and ogre bodyguards eavesdropping on their conversation. Ro and Sandor were keeping guard outside of the door, following their promise to leave the two alone. It was something Keefe had suggested – "You can't be involved in all of our scheming. I can protect Sophie, anyway." – and it was something Sophie was grateful for. Even if it was only alone time between her and Keefe, she was glad that she got some alone time.
Keefe sighed, running his hand through his hair. The Black Swan had been noticeably silent over the past few weeks. After the Big Question, the Black Swan decided to move Alvar to a remote location only a few of the members knew of. They were worried the Neverseen would try and retrieve him, which made Everglen a target.
"Not only is the Black Swan being quiet," said Keefe, "the Neverseen have also been lying low."
Sophie nodded her head in agreement. "It makes sense. They want it to be a surprise attack, they won't want us to expect it."
"They'll be watching," Keefe added. "And they'll make sure we're with Alvar. I have no doubt they want him back."
"We know they'll attack," Sophie sighed. "The question is where and when." Sophie flopped down onto the bed, Keefe following suit, laying himself next to her.
"We'll have to stay on our toes, I guess," Keefe said with a frown. Sophie knew there was no way they could ever be prepared for a surprise attack. The Neverseen was always too good and too careful. There were absolutely no clues to what the Neverseen was about to do, and now the Black Swan was sitting in the dark, completely blind and defenseless.
Keefe grabbed Sophie's hand, intertwining their fingers. "We'll win," he breathed, "I promise."
Sophie turned to hug him, reassuring herself that he was real. Sophie was glad that Keefe was always there when she needed him, he was always exactly what Sophie needed, which was more than she could say for Fitz.
Keefe smiled and hugged her back, his eyes locking with hers, his face making its way closer to Sophie's slowly.
"It's time for your next class," Sandor's squeaky voice announced.
"That means it's time to move, lovebirds," Ro clarified.
Keefe sighed, and Sophie's heart was still in hummingbird mode when she left the classroom.
Sophie was not greeted with smiles, happiness, sunshine, or rainbows when she arrived home. She was greeted with solemn faces and a heavy tension in the air. Her suspicions of bad news were confirmed when she found Alden sitting on her couch. Sophie's stomach dropped to her knees, and her body was trembling with anticipation – and fear – to hear the news.
"Earlier today, hundreds of elves found a slip of paper with the number 3914 written on the front," Alden began, not bothering with greetings.
"There's reason to believe more of these slips will be found, or be given," Grady added.
Sophie was expecting much bigger news. A couple people found some number on a sheet of paper? So, what? Sophie was expecting a hint that the Neverseen was planning, she thought Alden would reveal facts he – and the rest of the Black Swan – found out about a looming Neverseen threat.
Maybe Sophie wasn't even expecting Neverseen related news. Maybe she was hoping for it.
Anything was better than sitting blind in the dark. There was nothing she could do. She was useless, and the Black Swan wasn't making any progress. The Black Swan was doing nothing.
The suspense was getting to Sophie, eating her from the inside out. Waiting for the Neverseen to make their next move – or show some hint about their next move – was like ending a book on a horrible cliffhanger. Sophie can't stand cliffhangers.
"Okay…" Sophie could tell that this story had something more to it. Something big. Something game changing.
Sophie's thoughts turned bitter. When was the news not big or game changing?
Edaline stood up and sat down next to Sophie, clasping Sophie's hand in one of her hands, and places her other hand on Sophie's knee. Edaline smiles at Sophie and says, "You might want a little bit of support for this bit."
Sophie smiles gratefully at Edaline and turns back towards Grady, bracing herself for the bad news that he would give her. Sophie knew that if Keefe was here, he would have been able to feel the dread radiating off her. Sophie let out a long, slow breath, reminding herself that she hadn't heard the news yet. Maybe it wasn't that bad.
"Jazzmine Aerodyte disappeared earlier today." It was Alden who broke the news. Edaline tensed up beside Sophie, and Sophie knew immediately that Edaline wasn't only there to support Sophie. Edaline knew Jazzmine Aerodyte. Edaline needed Sophie's support as much as Sophie needed Edaline's support.
Sophie turned to give Edaline a hug. "It's okay, Mom," Sophie whispered, and Edaline wiped off the tears streaking down her face.
"She had a number. The same number as many others did," Alden continued. He waited a couple seconds before adding the last piece of news he had to deliver. "Jazzmine Aerodyte had – has – ties to the Black Swan."
Ties to the Black Swan… Disappearances… Maybe Sophie's suspicions – or hopes – were true. If the Neverseen was behind this…
The door to Havenfield opened suddenly – and with great force. Standing in the shadows was a large, wrinkly figure, who was giving off the distinct smell of feet. "We have reason to believe the Neverseen is behind something."
A/N Thanks for reading Chapter Two of Fix Me, Foster! I apologize for the day-late update; my power was out from the wind storm for the longest time. I hope the wait was worth it though. At the top is the song "Mr. Doctor Man" by Palaye Royale. Also, has anyone seen the Flashback cover? And oh my God, can I just say: I'm going to die. It's beautiful. Anyway, the new chapter should be up by March 27th, so stay tuned!