a/n: so i update the most on wattpad, but i'll upload the chapters i havent on here yet- sorry haha!

Chapter 13

Finally, after a long day that seemed to drag on forever, school was over. I groaned, starting the long trek to the Leapmaster.

After a long walk up the spiraling stairwell, I had one foot into the light when I felt something wrap around my arm. "Who—" I start.

"Havenfield!" shouted Biana's voice.

The light wrapped around us, carrying us to Havenfield.

I blinked, the scene around us now changed. We were standing in front of the Leapmaster 2000 on the top floor of Havenfield.

"Sophie we need to talk," Biana said simply.

I bit my lip, staring down at my shoes. They were scruffy and worn out from all the times I'd worn them, because they were my favorites.

Sure, I had a lot more shoes in the closet, courtesy of Della, Edaline, and Dex (he actually was a really good shoe shopper. I swear he's like an expert at finding the best ones that fit my feet, are super comfy, and don't wear out too easily, which is my style) but since I mostly tended to wear these, they were worn out really well.

"Stop staring at your shoes, Sophie," Biana said, sounding impatient.

I lifted my head and shrugged. "What is it, Biana?"

Biana sighed, pushing a loose curl out of her eyes and stepping forward out of the relaxed stance. "Sophie, I can recognize the look on your face," she warned. "I know that look really well."

"Really?" I hummed.

"Yes. It's the, I'm going to do something stupid expression. And because I'm your friend, I don't want you going off and doing stupid shit. The only reason I told you what happened with Keefe and not going straight away to the Collective, is because I wanted you to be the first to know," she stated. "But you know that. Now I'm regretting it because I know you're probably going to run off and do something really stupid—"

"Relax Biana, I'm not going anywhere," I laugh, shaking my head. "But I don't think the Collective should know yet because you know what they'll do? Like every time, they'll just go paranoid and start—"

"Sophie do you even hear yourself right now? You're being incredibly stupid," Biana pointed out, narrowing her eyes so much they looked like a cat's. "The Black Swan is trying to do the best for us. I'm going to tell them regardless of whether you want me to or not. Keefe called me after all, and not you. It's not your decision to make. It's something that affects all of as a whole."

I swallow my saliva, reaching my hand up to instinctively start tugging at my eyelashes.

Biana shook her head, and her finger gently stroked across a small corner of her eye where her mascara was smeared. She stared at the mirror hung on the hallway's wall and pursed her lips, drawing back her hand and turning her gaze back onto me. "I thought you were getting better at this stuff, at trusting the Black Swan—" she started.

"I do trust them, Biana, that's not the problem," I cut in. "Do you realize what this is going to sound like? If we tell the Black Swan about Keefe's 'fate?' We can't get him back after that. Mr Forkle's going to be convinced he's working with the Neverseen now, against our backs, and that he's too dangerous to bring back to our side. Don't you want Keefe back? I know he'll come back, he always does," I desperately say, "but if we report something like this to the Black Swan, you know what could happen. I don't want to lose him."

"Who cares if that's the case? Who cares if that's how he'll react, Sophie?" Biana's voice quivers a little, cracking as she talks. "I don't want to lose Keefe, none of us do." She glances around the room, pursing her lips again. "But this isn't something easy with a one step solution. This isn't clear cut at all. For one thing, we don't even know if what Keefe said was true—"

"Exactly. Why tell the Black Swan anyways then? For all we know, Keefe could be exaggerating the truth, or maybe the Neverseen created the call," I interrupted, crossing my arms.

Something rose up in Biana's eyes, something that seemed to darken her usually cheerful facade. "Yes, Sophie. All of that could or could not be true. We are going to tell the Black Swan."

"No, we're not," I shot back, holding my pose and glaring at Biana defiantly.

Biana narrowed her eyes and stepped forward, making me stumble back a few inches. She stared at me, our chins nearly touching and foreheads just about brushing against each other. "Yes, yes we will," she said, her breath hot on my face, reminding me of when I'm bent over by the vents in the winter, rubbing your hands vigorously together as you wait for the waves of heat to roll out in the air and hit you in the face, warming up your numb skin.

I stepped back again, a sudden jolt of fear washing over my body.

"Sophie? Is everything okay?" Biana softened her voice, and her forehead creased right in the middle as she studied me hesitantly.

"Yeah, everything's fine," I shrug, unsure where that sudden fear came from. Biana could be pretty intimidating sometimes when she wanted to be, that was probably it.

Biana nodded. "Okay. Well, I should be going," a flicker of a frown crossed her face for a moment before she covered it up with a small smile. "I'll tell the Black Swan, this is the best thing for all of us, you're not going to argue anymore," she adds afterwards. "Think about Tam. If what Keefe said was true, he might be in danger."

Before I could snap back with something argumentative, she let go of my wrist and fell back to the Leapmaster, the light curling around her and carrying her off to Everglen.