Meet me in the caves at 7.
It was probably another mysterious note from the Black Swan. Sophie knew she should probably tell her friends, but it was almost midterms and they were all likely very busy doing homework, like Sophie should have been doing. Instead, she paced in her room, wearing grooves into her plush carpet, glancing at the time. It was quarter to seven. She briefly considered telling Grady or Edaline, but she decided against it, knowing they wouldn't let her go.
Ten minutes later, Sophie decided to just go. She was a bit nervous, remembering that it had been at the caves in Havenfield where the Neverseen had captured her and Dex once, but she brought a flashlight and made sure she was ready to Inflict if need be. Then she made her way down to the caves.
At first, she saw no one in the caves. Wondering if maybe it was all just a hoax, she turned around, about to leave, a mix of relief and disappointment filling her chest. She knew it was probably better this way, but she had been half-hoping the Black Swan needed her again. It was good to feel useful.
"How's the Mysterious Miss F?" a voice said from behind her. Sophie jumped.
"Keefe!" She cried. "Don't scare me like that! And how did I not see you the first time? Are you a Vanisher now?"
"No," Keefe replied, an impish grin on his face. "But get this. This is a large rock. I can hide behind the large rock. Whoa. Mind-blowing, I know."
"Shut up." Sophie lightly punched Keefe on the arm. "So why did you send me that note? Why did you want to meet me here?"
"Sophie, I.." The words seemed to stick in Keefe's throat. Sophie didn't miss the fact that he called her by her first name, instead of Foster, like he usually did.
"Yes?"
"Sophie, you're really cute when you worry. But you're even cuter when you laugh."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Oblivious, as always, Keefe thought. Then again, she couldn't sense emotions the way he could. Fine, then. If she was going to make him say this the hard way, so be it. "Sophie, I love you," he blurted.
Sophie gasped. Keefe? Loved her? She had always thought Keefe and Biana would make a perfect couple. After all, Biana was head over heels in love with him. Often she thought that if it was her choice, she would just stay out of all this love drama. But when she looked up and saw Keefe's beautiful ice-blue eyes twinkling, a faint blush coating his cheeks, she thought otherwise. "Keefe, I..." She was too shocked to say much more than that. He really was a handsome boy. She had always liked his carefree nature, his ever-ready smile and ability to crack a joke. She just hadn't realized that she liked him as more than a friend. Sometimes, Sophie wished she was an Empath for the sole purpose of sorting out her own emotions.
"I'm sorry," Keefe said, backing away. "I shouldn't have said that. I know you don't like me back. It just slipped out. I'm really sorry, Sophie. I hope we can still be friends." He pushed past Sophie and out of the cave, where the sun was still casting faint rays of light onto the water. Keefe grabbed his home crystal.
"Keefe, wait-" She ran after him, but he had already leaped away. "Keefe," Sophie sighed. She realized now that she couldn't live without him. What if this just made things awkward between them? What if he thought she had rejected him and no longer wanted to talk to her? "I hope we can still be friends too," Sophie whispered.
Sophie returned to her room. She dug out an old photo album. She and her friends all had one of these albums. They had made them once when they had taken a trip to the Forbidden Cities and Biana had discovered the wonders of Kodak machines. She had insisted they each make an album. "Come on, it'll be fun," she had said. "That way we'll have something physical to remember each other by. In case..." Biana had trailed off there. In case one of doesn't make it through the war. In case one of us dies. Or, Sophie thought bitterly, in case one of us just needs a picture to fangirl over when things aren't working out.
She flipped through the album. She found a picture of Keefe, goofing around as usual and making everyone try on funny hats. He wasn't wearing a hat, as he had said it would mess up the Hair. But in the picture, he was trying to force a clown wig onto Fitz's head, while Dex wore a cowboy hat and Sophie, Linh and Biana all wore matching bunny-ear headbands. Tam was standing in the corner, pretending he didn't know them. Sophie's eyes focused on Keefe. He looked so young, so happy. Lately she had been seeing more of the scared, broken boy. She hoped she didn't lose Keefe. She didn't know how she hadn't realized she loved him earlier. Apparently, she was oblivious even to her own crushes.
After staring at the album for a while longer, Sophie put it back in the drawer where she had got it. She climbed into bed and clapped her hands once, closing the curtains. She lay there for a while, but though her plush sheets were warm and cozy she could not fall asleep. She thought about Keefe, and the Black Swan, and the Neverseen. Hours later, she finally drifted off, and dreamed of a pair of ice blue eyes. At first, they were a warm, friendly, bright blue. They made her happy. Then they faded to gray as Sophie saw the broken boy hiding behind another joke and a smile. They had lost all light, all warmth, everything that made Keefe Keefe.
Sophie awoke from her fitful sleep and vowed that she would never, ever, let Keefe be broken like that. She would try to make things right.
A/N: I actually published a chapter on Saturday! Wow. To any fellow Canadians, happy Thanksgiving weekend! Have some terribly written SoKeefe to celebrate. Please continue to read and review, you guys are what keeps me going!
