She was curled up in a ball, silently crying. Her back was pressed against the cool crystal of Everglen's gates. Her face was buried in Ella as she cried.
The vision of the fire was burned into her eyelids. The fire that had taken her home, her family.
Grady and Edaline were gone. Dead. And with it, Sophie's home. So she sat against Everglen's gates, at 3 in the morning, waiting until they came out. Fitz didn't believe her as she sent thoughts into his mind, thought she was a nightmare.
Sophie Foster sat, a crying, puffy mess, until morning. She must have fallen asleep at some point, because when she came back to consciousness, she was sprawled on the ground. She quickly sat up, confused at where she was.
Then it hit her, and so many emotions build up inside her that she started screaming. Lights flicked on in Everglen and Keefe came barreling out the front door, running straight to her and opening the gates.
Sophie stood up and stumbled into his open arms as she sobbed. Ella was squished in between them. Keefe slowly led her inside, keeping his arms around her. He let her go as she sank down onto the couch, hiding from all of the pitiful stares behind Ella.
Keefe sat down next to her, shooing the others out of the room. "What happened, Foster?"
"I-I.." Her voice trailed off and she couldn't finish the sentence. As if on cue, Fitz came into the room.
"Can I enter your mind to see what happened?" Fitz asked. She hated it. The concerned, loving voice he was giving her. She knew full well he didn't give a damn about her, was just pretending to. It made her want to vomit. But she begrudgingly nodded, knowing it'd be better than having to talk about it. So Fitz's warm hands placed themselves on her forehead and he slipped into her memories.
He started sweating almost immediately. Next, he started coughing. When he finally pulled his hands away, he was shaking. Sophie started crying again, burying her face in Keefe's tunic. He wrapped an arm around her, whispering "Shh, it's okay, Sophie. Shh." Fitz stumbled over to Keefe and muttered what had happened into Keefe's ear.
Keefe's icy eyes widened and started welling up. "You-you're joking, right?" When Fitz said nothing, he turned to Sophie. "He's joking." Sophie looked down and shook her head and Keefe covered his hand with his mouth.
"I'm going to tell the others," Fitz said. "You guys should probably be there." Sophie started to shake her head, but Keefe sent a calming breeze into her head. He must have removed her gloves at some point.
Fitz started to leave the room, and Keefe helped Sophie up, placing a protective arm around her shoulder. "It's going to be okay, Soph," he murmured. He led her out into the dining room, where everyone was standing.
Linh, Biana, Tam, Dex, Marella, and Wylie were standing in a line. Alden and the entire Black Swan Collective, Juline, Kesler, and Della were also there. Fitz stood, head hanging in the center of the room. Sophie could feel the eyes of all the people in the room finding their way to hers. Her face, hair, and clothes were burnt. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was coughing. A lot.
So she hid behind Keefe's sweatshirt. She hid from the stares, hid from the pity. Hid from reality.
Fitz let out a sigh. Mr Forkle spoke up, saying "What happened? We need to know now, Fitz."
Fitz looked 1000 years younger standing there, as he muttered "Neverseen burned down Havenfield. Grady and Edaline didn't-" he choked on a sob. "-didn't make it out."
The room was silent as everyone processed the information. Sophie buried her face deep into Keefe while he sent happy breezes through her mind. Then Juline let out a wail and sank to the ground, which triggered reactions. Della and Alden just seemed to be in shock. Biana came over to Keefe and Sophie, talking to Keefe about Sophie. Her voice was warm and concerned. Kesler was crouched down, comforting his sobbing wife. Dex and Tam just seemed to be in shock.
Finally Linh spoke up. "Where is Sophie going to live?" Sophie whimpered and Keefe wrapped his arm tighter around her.
"She can stay here," Biana volunteered.
"We don't have any guest rooms left, Biana," Della said. "Keefe took the last one." Keefe shook his head apologetically.
"I know," Biana said. "She can stay with me, in my room." The brunette glanced at Sophie, who nodded in agreement. Della's eyes were watery as she agreed. Sophie was led upstairs by Biana and Keefe. Some part of her hated it, being treated like a puppy. But she knew she'd collapse without them. So she let them lead her to Biana's plush bed, where she placed Ella.
Head hanging, she stepped into Biana's huge bathroom and locked the door, turning on the shower. She stepped under the freezing strands of water, shivering. Sophie never wanted to feel heat again. She twisted and washed her hair, watching as the burnt bits fell out and sank down the drain. Once she was clean, she stepped out of the shower, placing her hand on the sensor and letting the tingle run through her body and dry her hair. It floated down around her shoulders in a shimmery curtain. She found that Biana had slipped a pair of pajamas under the door.
She slipped out of the sopping wet, burnt clothes she had on and tossed them in the garbage can, before slipping into the bright purple onesie. It had fuzzy feet and a hood with kitten ears on it. She scrubbed her face, before slipping the hood on and stepping out into Biana's carpeted bedroom.
Biana and Keefe were in hushed conversation on the bed. Sophie heard her name multiple times, but decided to ignore them. She grabbed Ella and went to the couch in Biana's room. Warm lips planted a kiss on her forehead, and she clung onto that as she sunk into sleep.
haha, new story! i hope y´all enjoyed! make sure to leave a review, they are my motivation to continue! ~poptart