Sophie continued to sit in silence, wondering what was on Dren's mind. He looked deep in thought as she ventured to ask, "Dren, what are you thinking?"

As if startled out of a trance, he sighed. "Honestly, I don't know what to think." He said. "So many thoughts are racing through my mind, above all what is going to happen when I return back to our hideout." Suddenly, he looked up at Sophie and added, "But let's not think about that now." He leaned in to kiss her, but she quickly raised her arms to prevent him from doing so. "I don't think so, you already stole my first kiss from me." She smiled teasingly as she saw Dren's expression drop in disappointment. "But I'll give you this one." She said softly, as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. She felt her heart quicken as their lips touched, and she felt herself blush as she slowly broke away. She looked up into his eyes to see him staring down into her own, looking mildly surprised. "Thanks." he said quietly. "Your... ears are out." He added, putting his hand on her head, causing her to blush harder and flatten her ears in embarrassment.

Suddenly, her ears pricked up, as she heard rustling nearby. She jerked around, to the sound of the rustling but saw no one. She sighed in annoyance. "Am I getting really paranoid or something?" She asked, almost to herself.

"I heard it too..." Dren said.

Sophie stood up, trying hard not to apply pressure to her wounded foot. She looked out into the dark wooded area behind them, wondering who - or what - was out there. She then turned around, to see the darkening sky. It was clearly getting late. "Dren.." She started. "I really need to get back now. My parents normally want me home before dark."

"Sophie, I don't want you to leave yet. I don't know when, or even if I will be able to see you again on good terms." The pleading in his voice made Sophie come to the sudden realization that what he was saying was probably true. She looked down, wishing things didn't have to be so frustrating.

"Let me at least walk you home." He decided.

Realizing that she would probably have trouble limping home alone, she decided to accept. "Sure. The old fashioned way, where we just walk, right? No teleporting or anything?"

Dren laughed. "I was planning on it. I'll get to spend more time with you that way."

Sophie felt herself blush again as he put his hand in her own and helped her along towards her home.

l*l*l*l*l*l*l*l

She had barely sat down on the pillowy sofa in her living room, when Sophie's phone began to vibrate wildly in her pocket. She sighed, feeling very tired and ready to take a nap, but pulled her phone out anyway. The caller ID said "Bridget Verdant". Sophie's eyes widened. She had been given permission to take the day off, due to the incident the day before, so work couldn't be the reason. She then shrugged, and opened her phone.

"Hey Bridget. What's up?" She asked.

"Hi! Umm, Sophie?" She started.

"That's me." Sophie replied.

"Okay, good. Well, I was wondering... I am going shopping in about half an hour. I was wondering, would you like to come with me? I need someone to help me pick out an outfit for my school's prom in the spring."

Sophie frowned. This seemed rather short noticed, but she disliked turning down shopping opportunities with her friends. "Sure! I'll ask my Dad if he can drive me down there." Once said, Sophie cupped her hand around the end of the phone and dashed up the stairs, and into her parents room to see her Dad on his laptop. "Hey Dad, Bridget was wondering if I could go to the mall with her. Do you think you can drive me there?" She asked hopefully.

After receiving a "Yes, after I finish this," she relayed the news to Bridget.

"Okay, see you then." Bridget said, immediately hanging up afterward.

Sophie frowned, as she headed to her bedroom to get things together. Something was up with Bridget. She didn't know Bridget all that well, but she knew her well enough to know that she wasn't usually so blunt.

She quickly put on her jacket, grabbed her purse, and was off to the mall with her Dad.

"So, did you have fun last night?" He asked her as he pulled out of the driveway.

"What? Oh! Right, yeah I had loads of fun." She stammered, remembering that she was supposedly at a sleepover the night before.

"It's good to see you've made some new friends!" He said. "Are they pretty nice?"

"Yeah. They're really cool. I think we're going to become really good friends." As she said it, she rested her chin on her hand, wondering just how good of friends they would become. She was apparently going to be seeing them often, since she had work nearly everyday, and had to battle monsters in between. She wondered if they would become good enough friends for her to relay to them her relationship with Dren. She wanted to tell someone about the things going on in her life, but Kailey and Delilah would think she was crazy, and she still didn't fully trust the Mew Mews yet.

After the rather dragging silence, her Dad cut in again. "So, I saw your foot was wrapped. What happened?"

Sophie straightened. She had re-wrapped her foot when she got home with proper material and padding, to help her walk on it, but she hadn't thought of what she could use as an explanation. "While out today, I tripped and sprained my ankle." She decided to leave out the fact that she had gotten cut, because then her Dad would probably want to have a look at it - which would lead to more questions since the cut was clearly done by a blade. She didn't want to have to lie anymore than she had to.

"Oh, you should have come to your Mom or me to have it looked at." He replied. "Ah well, no use now. We're here!" As he said it, he pulled into a parking stall of the rather empty lot of the local shopping mall. Sophie could see Bridget standing at the door, texting on her cell phone. Sophie quickly unbuckled, thanked her Dad for driving her, and dashed out of the car and up to her green-haired friend.

"Sophie!" Bridget called out. "Good to see you."

"Hey you too." Sophie replied, giving her a hug. "So, how about finding you a dress?"

"Yeah." Bridget said quietly. "Uh, do you want to head to Deb first? I've heard they have some nice prom dresses."

Together, they entered the store and began to browse around at all the brightly coloured dresses lining the walls. They passed many unique gowns until a beautiful deep green dress caught Sophie's eye as she wandered along the isles of glittering clothing. Upon closer inspection, the beautiful dress was emerald green with black lace overlaying the base fabric. Silver sequins studded the length of it; together forming the detailed shapes of flowers, butterflies and tendrils. Glitter was gently sprinkled across the lacy fabric.

"Hey Bridget, come look at this!" Sophie called. As Bridget rushed over, she added, "This would look really good on you. The darker green will do a good job at bringing out your eyes."

She could see Bridget's eyes sparkle in delight at the elegant gown. She gingerly lifted the gown away from the rack and held it up to herself. Sophie had been right, it truly looked perfect on her. The green of the dress reflected off her normally blue eyes, making them shine a sea green.

"Wow! You're sure to be the Belle of the Ball in that dress!" Sophie exclaimed.

"Thanks, Sophie! This is so me!" Bridget said happily as she went up to the register to check out.

Sophie waited next to her as the the dress was scanned and bagged. She could tell something was up with Bridget. "Um, Bridg, is there something bothering you?" She asked as Bridget fumbled aimlessly in her purse.

"What? Oh, it's nothing... It's just..." she paused. "I'll tell you when we leave." She gently picked up the bag off the counter and briskly walked towards the hall exit. She guided Sophie over to a small wooden bench nearby. "Okay, Sophie, I have a question... do you like the alien, Dren?"

Sophie felt the colour drain from her face. What made her think that? Was it the time that he had randomly kissed her on their first encounter? Sophie laughed, somewhat nervously. "What would make you ask that?"

Bridget hesitated, then took a deep breath as if debating whether or not to tell Sophie something. "Well, I was hanging out with Zoey earlier today, and Mini Mew alerted us that there was an alien nearby. Zoey was late to an appointment, so I told her I would take care of it. After transforming, I walked past the ice cream shop to saw you in Dren's arms, and you pushed away - but later, I saw that you kissed." After seeing Sophie's look of disbelief, she added in a worried tone, "I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to be spying on you!"

Sophie put her thumb and index finger to her forehead in exasperation, and then sighed. "Bridget, you have to promise not to tell anybody." she pleaded.

"I won't if you don't want me to." Bridget replied sincerely. "It's just... I was worried. Why were you with him?"

"You don't need to worry." Sophie said. "It's not like I'm turning to the bad side or anything like that. It's just..." her words trailed off. The few simple words she was going to say were suddenly so obvious, they were something that she herself hadn't completely come to realize until that moment. "I really do like him, Bridget."

Bridget looked at her with an understanding look in her eyes. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

So, Sophie has come to like one of the Mew Mews! (What's not to like about Bridget though? She's so nice!) So... the question is - what is happening to Dren right now? Find out in the next chapter of The Secret Mew!