Chapter Eight Updated!
So...I tried to update this and it did the weird coding text glitch that happened with 7 too, and I lost all the review responses. I'm so sorry, but I'll redo them later. I don't have time right now. In the meantime, please enjoy this UPDATED chapter!
EIGHT
DESPITE BIANA'S ASSURANCES two weeks would feel like eternity, the first week flew by quickly. The only hiccup was Sophie's next Elvin History session. Every time she jumped she would picture the room at exactly the moment she left it, and the void would crack open. But every time she spent the same amount of time in the void. At the exact same moment she slipped into the void, she slipped out the other side. No matter how hard she thought about the exact moment in time she wanted to travel to, she always returned to the exact moment she'd left.
Sir Faro was getting more and more frustrated by the moment, stalking about and muttering about her lack of effort, or the utter disrespect she showed for him in wasting his time.
Then Alden would remind him that because he was a mentor, even if Sophie wasn't his prodigy he would still be in a different session anyway. In a different room, with a different prodigy, but still teaching. And probably teaching a subject that was much less exciting than the one he was currently helping to make history in.
Neither she nor Alden got along very well with Sir Faro, although at least Alden tried to hide it. Most of the time.
On Thursday, Tiergan decided she and Fitz were going to take a day off and do another trust exercise. This time, they were going to walk around campus with their minds open, reading each other's' thoughts and emotions. It would be like a game of association, except it would be with Foxfire experiences and memories.
"Really?" Sophie asked. "It's that simple?"
"I thought we would do something easy today. And fun. You deserve a day off. So off you go."
As Sophie walked out the door Fitz paused on the threshold. "You're not coming with us?"
Tiergan laughed. "No. I think I'll just stay here and take a little nap. You two have fun." And with that he sprawled across the couch and fell asleep.
"Well okay," Sophie said, staring at her sleeping mentor.
With a mischievously Keefe-like smirk Fitz pulled her into the hallway and shut the door. "Where do you want to start?"
"We've got the entire class period. Let's just walk, I guess," Sophie said, staring down the Vortinator steps.
"Okay," Fitz agreed, walking down the stairs with her. Can I enter your mind?
Sophie rolled her eyes at Fitz's chivalry. Can I enter yours?
Of course. Always.
She smiled as they walked out of the tower, keeping close track of his emotions. Aside from the occasional small chat and funny memory, nothing really happened. Then they walked past the cafeteria and Fit's mind lit up like the inside of a disco ball.
"What?" Sophie asked, pulling her consciousness away and searching around them for attackers. But other than Fitz literally rolling on the floor laughing, nothing was out of the ordinary.
Sophie poked him with a toe. "Are you broken again?"
Fitz calmed down and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Yes," he laughed. "I'm fine. You're the one that went crazy."
"Because suddenly you decided to give me a heart attack. What was that about?"
Fitz started laughing again, and Sophie crossed her arms, glaring daggers at him until he stood up like a normal person. He spread his arms and threw his head back, spinning in a circle and indicating the giant glass pyramid they stood under. "This is where it happened."
"Where what happened?" Sophie asked crossly. She was frustrated, but not angry enough to keep her curiosity from getting the better of her.
"The Great Gulon Incident," Fitz laughed.
"Stop laughing. It's annoying."
Fitz just beamed at her. "Of course, you still don't know what the Great Gulon Incident is, do you?"
Her eye roll as she turned and walked away was all the answer Fitz needed.
"Aren't you curious?"
Sophie paused. She did want to know.
Fitz's emotional center went orange. "Well, I guess that's too bad," Fitz said, as if he knew what she was thinking. "Keefe made everyone swear not to tell you."
"He what?"
"He made me swear. I can't go back on my word."
"Are you serious right now?" Sophie asked, her face morphing back into a scowl as she crossed her arms hostilely.
"I don't joke about my word," Fitz said with an innocent smile. Then he turned and walked toward the opposite exit to the pyramid.
"You can't just leave me hanging like this! You need to tell me! What happened?"
"My lips are sealed."
"Obviously not because you just opened them to tell me that. What happened?"
Fitz lifted his hand to his mouth and mimed locking it, then throwing away the key. Sophie mimed picking it up and unlocking his lips again. They were so close she could feel his breath on her cheeks. Her voice quiet she widened her eyes innocently and told him, "I won't tell him you told me. It'll be our little secret."
She thought she had him with her closing smile, but he looked over her shoulder and his eyes went as wide as dinner plates. That was when Fitz's mind went awol.
"Whoa!" she said out loud as the colors overwhelmed her. "What just happened?"
Fitz laughed tightly. "Remember the Ultimate Splotching Championship Level Four?"
"Don't try to change the subject."
"Just try. Please."
Sophie sighed. "The one I kicked your butt in?" she teased.
"No, that was Level Six."
"Oh. Your Level Four. I also kicked your butt in that one."
"It was a draw."
"I got the pardon."
"Because you used a brain push."
"Because you didn't."
"Fine," Fitz conceded. "The first time you kicked my butt."
"What about it?"
"Just…it."
Sophie paused for a moment. "Yeah. That was fun. I nailed Dex in the face with a pink splotcher."
"Ours was pink too."
The way he said "ours" made Sophie heart rebel against her lungs.
"Yeah."
It wasn't enough, but they were both so caught up in the memory that it didn't matter.
Looking at the scene through Fitz's eyes was…a new experience. His recall wasn't as sharp as she was used to, but the emotions…they were overwhelming. His surprise at seeing she'd made it to the final four, the respect when she made it to the finals, the unshakable assurance that he would win.
It was that last one that had her laughing so hard tears started streaming down her cheeks.
"Really? I was that pathetic looking?" she managed between peals of laughter.
"Hey!" Fitz cried. "In my defense, none of us knew you were Project Moonlark yet."
"Why did you think you were out there looking for me in the Forbidden Cities?"
"I don't know!" Fitz said, running a hand through his hair.
God, his hair looks good.
"Really?" Fitz asked, a puzzled expression crossing his face, followed quickly by a pink flush. "I mean, thanks."
"You're welcome."
Hold up. Did she say that out loud?
I'm still in your mind, remember?
Sophie went so red she thought she might die of embarrassment. It was ten times worse than the time she almost started a war with the ogres.
"Hey, it's okay," Fitz said, a smile playing at his lips. "I think your hair looks really nice too."
Sophie turned around to keep walking, rolling her eyes.
Wait.
Hold up.
Did Fitz just say her hair looked nice?
Sophie froze when Fitz's laugh roared through the hallway behind her. "It's so cool being in your head. Seeing your thought process. Better than watching Keefe play pranks!"
"Get out of my head," Sophie grumbled crossly. Then her mind flashed to his storm of emotions earlier. "That doesn't explain what you were thinking earlier though," she told him.
Fitz immediately sobered. "Right."
"Well are you going to tell me? Isn't that the point of this exercise?"
Fitz sighed and lifted a hand to his hair, only pause and lower it a few inches from his head. "You're right."
He paused, and she resisted the urge to tell him to spill it already.
"I was thinking about your allergic reaction. How I almost didn't get you there in time."
Sophie froze and her face went even redder than before. She'd been wrong. Throwing up on Fitz was still her most embarrassing moment ever.
"I still can't believe you forgave me for throwing up on you," she groaned.
"It wasn't your fault!" Fitz laughed. "How were any of us supposed to know you had an allergy?" Then he sobered. "But seriously. Seeing you like that…I think that was one of the scariest moments I've ever had. Even after facing the Neverseen."
Sophie looked to the floor, her cheeks still flaming. "I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing!" he told her, stepping closer and tilting her chin up to meet his eyes. "It wasn't your fault. Just, don't ever almost die on me again, okay? I couldn't handle losing you."
Sophie felt like melting as she looked into his eyes. Any girl would if he was looking at her like that; raw, uncertain, and completely and utterly honest. So she did what any girl in her position would do. She nodded her head. And then she kissed him.
It was just a quick peck. Really. Completely innocent. Or at least, that was what Sophie told herself. And after she realized what she'd done her entire face flushed the color of a tomato and she stared at the ground. "Sorry," she mumbled, humiliated she'd acted so impulsively.
"What for?" Fitz asked, his voice surprisingly unsteady.
So she raised her head, the most vulnerable she'd ever felt, and met his beautiful teal eyes.
His cheeks were flushed just as dark as hers, but there was no hesitation in his gaze as he leaned down to kiss her again. When he pulled away, this time he was the one that couldn't meet her eyes. "Sorry."
"What for?" Sophie mimicked, unable to keep a wide smile off of her face.
He looked up, his expression confused and tormented. "That was impulsive, and rash, and I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it."
Sophie's smile evaporated. He shouldn't have done it? What kind of guy says that after a girl's first kiss? Especially when said guy is one of said girl's best friends and he knows it's her first kiss! Well…second, technically. But still! He didn't know about the whole kiss with Dex—unless Keefe had told him, which Sophie really hoped hadn't happened—and it was her first kiss with Fitz! Cheeks heating with shame and embarrassment, Sophie scrambled away and down the hall with her head down. "I should go."
"No!" he said, taking two quick steps after her and grabbing her hand to stop her. She realized she didn't know when they'd let go. She also realized she kind of liked it when he held her hand. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Then how did you mean it?" Sophie asked. She lifted her eyes up to his, silently begging him to retract his earlier statement as "Mistake. Mistake. Mistakemistakemistake," echoed through her head.
"Matchmaker Scrolls come out soon," Fitz blurted, a slight flush creeping over his porcelain cheeks again.
"Oh."
They stood there in silence a few moments. Then Fitz sighed again, pulling her closer and looking her in the eye with such intensity her heart stuttered, then sped up to double it's usual pace. "I just meant…what if we're not on each other's scrolls?"
"What?" Sophie asked, her brain firing through the possible implications of his words. He wasn't…?
"What if we're not on each other's scrolls?" he repeated, the flush growing darker.
"Do you want me on your scroll?" she asked quietly, not daring to allow herself to hope. No way…
"Who doesn't want you on their scroll?" he said to the floor, and despite her soaring heart Sophie couldn't help feeling a little nauseous. Did he just…?
"You want me on your scroll," Sophie repeated dumbly, this time more as a statement that a question.
"Of course," he informed the floor again, his face now turning slightly purple with embarrassment. He did!
Sophie squealed inside, doing a little happy dance and beaming uncontrollably. Fitz Vacker wanted her—Sophie Foster—on his Matchmaker's Scroll.
FITZ VACKER WANTED HER—SOPHIE FOSTER—ON HIS MATCHMAKER'S SCROLL!
She wanted to jump with joy, to scream it to the entire world, and to kiss him again all at the same time. But in the end she did none of those things.
"Oh," she finally managed to squeak, her face burning as she completely avoided meeting his gaze. "That's nice."
'That's nice!' she screamed at herself in her head. 'He tells you he wants you on his Matchmaker's Scroll—something you've hoped for since Level Two—and you say "That's nice?!"'
"Yeah," Fitz mumbled, humiliation coloring his cheeks.
They sat there for an indeterminate amount of time. It seemed to Sophie like the awkward silence stretched on for hours, not minutes. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She mumbled something like, "We should head back to class. Tiergan's probably waiting for us," and she sprinted away from him as fast as she could move.
