And...I'm back after, oh, 13 days! Yay, I updated before the 2 week mark! Yes, I know I posted this a few hours ago, but then I realized I forgot to do review responses. I looked, and it had all been transformed into code. Ugh. Thankfully, I had it stored on Google Docs, so no worries there. Now, to do what I came to do: review responses-oh wait, only one review. Make that review response.
booksaremylife: And...you get the cookie for being the one and only reviewer! I know, I hate cliffhangers too, but otherwise the chapter wouldn't have matched the length of all the others! Thank you so much! You are so nice. And in comparison to what I do when I'm talking about a Keeper book-(generally Nightfall)-that was not rambling at all. :) Oh, here's the cookie: (::)
Tam stood stone still for a moment, not really taking in all that Biana had said.
"Wait, what?" he said.
Biana sighed, but repeated herself nonetheless. "I said, my parents gave me permission to date."
Tam's jaw dropped. "Whoa. So, you can date anyone?"
Biana shrugged. "Well, yeah, but they have to know and approve of the guy."
Tam smiled. "Well, my parents don't really get to stop those sort of things, so I guess I'm allowed to as well, if I find the right girl…."
Biana smirked. "Do you have one in mind?" she said, playing along.
"Maybe, and maybe not. You'll have to guess," Tam said, with a twinkle in his eye.
"Oh, fine. Does she have blonde hair, red, black, or brown?"
"Oh, darker brown."
"Hmm...dark blue eyes, or light blue eyes?"
"Oh, in the middle, I would say."
"Is she at Foxfire, or Exillium?"
"Both, but currently she's at Foxfire."
"Oh, darn. That rules out Marella. Give me a hint."
"Okay, but then you only get one more guess. The hint is: she is someone you know well. She's also here," he said, inching closer and closer with every word."
"Is she…me?" Biana asked tilting her head up.
"Yes," Tam replied, just before he leaned down and kissed her.
There was no denying that this was not Biana's first kiss by far, but it was definitely the best. The girl sighed, pulling Tam closer to her and opening her mouth a little. They kissed for a minute or two, then broke apart, breathless.
"Wow. That was...amazing," Tam said.
Biana grinned. "It was, but I think we can do better," she teased.
Tam looked suspiciously at her. "Is that a challenge?"
Biana smirked. "I don't know. What do you think?"
Tam started kissing Biana again.
Keefe, Dex, and Linh stood awkwardly in one of the two unoccupied corners of the room. No one said anything, until Keefe, realizing that the nonexistent conversation would never have any actual talking in it unless he left.
"Um, be back soon. I have to pee," he said.
"Ew, gross," Dex said, not-so-mildly repulsed.
"Yeah, TMI," Linh said.
Keefe shrugged nonchalantly. "What? Everyone does it."
Dex and Linh glanced at each other with similar expressions of disgust on their faces. Keefe walked away, saying over his shoulder, "Well, you can't deny it, can you?" He was out the door before either of them could reply.
Dex and Linh looked at each other.
"So...hi?" Linh said, trying to spark conversation.
"Hi. Um, you look really nice," Dex replied.
Linh blushed. "Thanks."
They stood, neither knowing what to do, both waiting for the other person to break the silence. Finally, Linh stepped up to the job. "So, um, what do you want to do?" Dex looked around. Finishing Truth or Dare was out of the question at the moment, since Sophie and Fitz were busy...doing stuff.
Dex cringed, seeing his cousin and his old rival together, and quickly turned away. Tam and Biana were still kissing, if you could call it that.
"Um, I don't know. You?"
"I don't know either," Linh said.
They stood there for forty-six seconds, then, as if they had the same thought, leaned forward and gently kissed each other. As the kiss was escalating, Dex pulled away suddenly. "I'm sorry, Linh, but I can't do this. I know you're not over Fitz, and I'm definitely not over Sophie yet. It isn't fair to you, or to me," he said.
Linh nodded in agreement, trying (and failing) to ignore the huge rush of emotion she has felt at the kiss.
"You're right. I'm sorry. Can we just...forget this or something?"
"Okay. I don't want it weird between us. And I'm definitely at fault too."
As he finished saying this, Sophie and Fitz came up to them, breathless and looking apologetic.
"Sorry about that. We didn't mean to ditch you guys, but SOMEONE couldn't control himself," Sophie said, pretending to glare at Fitz.
"Oh, it's totally fine. You didn't ditch us, we all just kinda separated. Oh, look, there's Biana and Tam," Linh said, gesturing to the couple, who looked like they had just run a marathon.
Fitz's eyes twinkled. "I told you! I knew Biana would go to him first thing when I overheard my parents telling her she could date. Come on, pay up," Fitz said triumphantly.
Sophie grumbled. "Ugh, Biana, couldn't you have waited a day or two?"
Biana, realizing what the pair had been up to, asked, " Did you guys bet on when we would get together?"
"Of course we did," Fitz said. "And thanks, sis. Now, because of you, Sophie has to wear a dress on our date-"
"WHOA WAIT A SECOND YOU GUYS ARE GOING IN A DATE YAY SOPHIE HOW DID HE ASK AND CAN I PICK YOUR DRESS?!" Biana exclaimed in one big jumbled mess.
Looking very overwhelmed, Sophie tried the best she could to answer Biana's questions. "Wow, slow down a little, 'kay Biana?" she said. "Yes, you can pick my dress, but it can't be TOO sparkly and frilly and girly. And he never really asked, but-"
Biana interrupted once again. "Wait, he never asked? Fitz, you know better than that!" she said, turning a glare in his direction.
Fitz held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I forgot! Sorry, Sophie. I should have asked you."
Sophie smiled rather confusedly. "Um, it's okay," she said.
Biana groaned. "You're supposed to ask her now, not just apologize!"
Fitz sighed. "I was getting to that," he said.
Turning to Sophie, he said, "So, will you go out with me, say this weekend?"
Sophie smiled. "Of course," she said.
Biana cheered. "Yay!" she said. "Now that that's out of the way, let's finish Truth or Dare," she said to Tam, Linh, Dex, and Keefe, who had just returned from the restroom.
Everyone walked into Alvar's room to begin Truth or Dare.
"Okay, same rules as last time. "If you refuse a truth, then you have to dye your hair. You must dye it the color that the specific person chooses."If you refuse a dare, you have to either roll in alicorn poop or let me give you a makeover. There is no asking the person who just asked you. Now, I was the last person to be dared, so I'll go first. Keefe, truth or dare?" Biana asked.
Keefe raised his eyebrow. "Dare, duh," he said.
"Okay. I dare you to let me do whatever I want to your hair, and you have to keep it like that till you leave tomorrow. Oh, and you can't hide it, change it in any way, and you have to show everyone I tell you to."
Keefe stared at her, his face shocked. "Wow, Biana! I had no idea you were so evil. Come on, let's get it over with."
Biana led him to the bathroom, part of which counter was filled with Biana's 'beautifying' supplies. He sat on a stool, and, while everyone filed into the bathroom to watch Biana's ingenious dare be performed, the not-so-innocent brunette ran to her room and grabbed several elixirs. She sprinted back to the bathroom with an evil smile. "Drink these," she ordered Keefe, putting all the bottles on the counter.
He complied reluctantly, and bravely turned towards the mirror. Immediately, his face grew very scrunched up, and he blinked back tears of sadness at seeing his hair, which he took immense pride in, ruined. Fitz chuckled. "I never thought I would see the day," he mumbled.
Keefe's hair was dyed bright purple, with random splotches of hot pink providing variety. Some parts had also been corkscrew curled, and parts were spiked up. The result: boring, flat hair with random little pieces of hair sticking out, both spiked and curled. Keefe turned around to show his audience the full effect of Biana's new hairdo.
They all burst out laughing. Keefe grumbled. "Let's just go back to the game, he said. They all ran back to Alvar's room, everyone sitting on their respective sleeping bags. Keefe looked around to select his target, and his eyes settled on a certain periwinkle-eyed boy.
"Dex, truth or dare?"
Dex contemplated his decision for a moment, then replied, "Well, normally I would never choose to do a dare from you, but you're probably expecting that, so….dare!"
Keefe pouted. "Darn. you ruined my plan. Ugh. Your dare is: go to Slurps and Burps with us, and make the worst elixir you can think of. Then, drink it."
Dex shook his head. "Uh, no way. Sophie, take us to Havenfield. I'll roll in Silveny's old poop."
Sophie smiled evilly. "Sure." She held up her home crystal and light-leaped all of them to Havenfield, right outside Silveny's old enclosure. Keefe smirked, remembering when he had to roll in the piles of poop just like Dex was about to do. Dex took a deep breath, then stepped inside the stall. He gingerly got on his hands and knees, then dropped himself, rolling around in the poop. When he had smeared the smelly substance all over most of his body, he got up and walked out.
"I need a shower," he said.
Everyone plugged their noses. "Yeah, you do," Tam said. "You stink."
"Hmm, I wonder why," Sophie said jokingly.
"I think I've had enough of truth or Dare for now," Biana said.
"Come on," Tam said. "Fitz, leap us back"
The teal-eyed boy complied, leaping the gang back to Everglen, where Dex promptly ran up the stairs to the bathroom, where he took a shower. "Well, at least he wasn't as fussy as SOMEONE while he was rolling in the poop," Tam said, looking accusingly at Keefe.
"Hey, I have to protect The Hair," he said, looking insulted.
Sophie sighed. "Really?" she said.