Salutations, my fair readers. And, great apologies for not updating sooner. I had a small case of writer's block, and a huge gym meet, and the end of a term, and a fairly big science project to turn in, so sorry if this chapter is crappy :/ So sad that Spring Break is almost over :( But, on a happier note, some Team Foster-Keefe in this chapter! Enjoy!

As you all (hopefully) know, I DO NOT own KOTLC. Unfortunately. Cuz if I did, then I would make sure to release Lodestar BEFORE November 1st.

I squinted my eyes as Keefe and I entered Foxfire. Whatever concoction Elwin had given me, it was definitely doing it's job, but not only on my legs. My senses were practically overloading with the bright lights and pressing silence of the empty halls.

Walking down the halls was a very quiet affair, both of us too caught up in what happened to really do anything more than walk and look like zombies. Only when we reached my locker and I had licked the DNA strip (I couldn't tell what it tasted like because my amplified taste buds made it extremely sweet) did Keefe break the peace.

"Hey."

"What?" I asked, turning around to face him, my voice sounding sharper to my ears than I intended. I guess I sort of blamed him for my new condition. He reached for my hand, and I almost pulled away, but I decided to see what he had to say. (Hey, that rhymed!)

"Are you doing okay?" Keefe questioned, with actual concern in his eyes that I hadn't seen since, well, never (at almost no time could Keefe be seen without a mischievous look).

"Well, besides having green skin and not being able to feel my legs without a potion, then, yeah, couldn't be better!" I snapped, suddenly losing it. I was exhausted and I wasn't sure my (very enhanced) nerves could take any more stress or excitement on right now, especially a relationship. I tried to yank my hands from Keefe's, but he held on tight.

"I know you blame me," he said, looking genuinely apologetic, "and I'm sorry, but I didn't know that The G.O.O.P. would have such an effect like this." Keefe squeezed my hands and tingles shot up my arms, which I am going to blame on the potion. "I'm so, so sorry. Will you forgive me?"

Throughout his little speech, I could feel myself softening (and it didn't help that Keefe was doing puppy-dog eyes). I also couldn't help noticing the extreme cheesiness, which made me giggle.

"What?" Keefe asked. "Was it something I said?" His eyebrows drew together.

"Oh, nothing," I said, trying to kill my snickers and disguise them with a cough. Then, I looked deep into his eyes, and said in the most serious, and probably ridiculous, tone, "I forgive you."

In seconds, we were leaning on each other because our legs were weak from laughter. As the excitement died down, I reached into my locker to grab my things for class, but was interrupted (yet again) by Keefe's hand on my wrist.

Sighing, I turned around. I was starting to think that boy just liked the feel of my hands. "What is it now?"

Keefe, looking anywhere but me, shifted awkwardly. "Well, um, you know... I was just -"

"Spit it out."

"Um, I was thinking about last night and, er, was wondering what it, you know, meant."

Now I was the one squirming uncomfortably. "Um, well, er -"

"Spit it out." Keefe grinned as he reused my line.

"Well, Iwastinkingthatifyouwantedtowecouldsortofgoouttogetherbutitwouldprobablyhavetobesecretbecauseofmydadandeveryoneatthisschoollikestogetinyourbuisness," I gushed, forcing everything I had been thinking about out of my mouth in one breath.

Keefe just looked at me and blinked. "What?"

I sighed. "Yes, I will go out with you, but -"

He interrupted me with a kiss.

I was so surprised that for a second I didn't react. I just wasn't used to using my lips for anything other than talking and the occasional whistle, so this was very new to me. Before Keefe pulled away, I carefully kissed him back, attempting to remember what I did last night. I gave up thinking when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer.

We pulled away, breathless, and I touched my lips gently. Elwin's potion had made the kiss practically electric, and my mouth and waist still tingled from Keefe's touch.

When he leaned in to continue, I pushed him back lightly. "You have to promise me one thing, though."

"Anything."

"We have to keep this secret. Our relationship, at least for now."

"What?" Keefe exclaimed. "Why?"

"Let's just say that there are many people who want me gone, and I don't need to add about 200 girls to that list," I said, which made Keefe wiggle his eyebrows. "Also, I'm not sure that my dad would... approve of me dating you, or anyone in this universe. Except maybe Dex."

"Gotcha. Shall we go to class?" He offered me his arm. I smiled and looped mine through his.

"We shall."

"Where were you guys this morning?" Dex asked Keefe and I as we sat down at our usual lunch table.

"Oh, you know, the usual," Keefe said, biting into a small fruit that looked like a purple candied kumquat. "Foster got into trouble and I had to get her out."

"No!" I exclaimed, swatting his arm and making the fruit he was eating smash into his nose. Keefe grumbled something about napkins and left his seat. "I woke up and I couldn't feel my legs, so I called Elwin and Keefe -"

"Why Keefe?" asked Dex. Biana, who had been unusually quiet today, gave him the type of look that a Froster would give someone they wished to freeze.

"I wanted to see if he had pranked me or something, cuz it looked sort of like his work. My legs are all green!"

"And did he?" Fitz chimed in.

"Well, sort of," I said, scratching my head. "It's complicated."

Fitz, Dex, and Biana all opened their mouths to question me, but luckily Keefe swooped in and plopped down next to me, his face now fruit free. He flung his arm around my shoulders and said, "You guys all look like a bunch of fish." Keefe then proceeded to mime a fish by opening and closing his mouth.

I quickly shrugged his arm off, which made him stop making idiotic faces and glance my way. I gave him a knowing look, attempting to remind him of the rule: no PDF so no one will know.

I started to eat my lunch, but stopped my fork halfway to my mouth when I noticed the looks people were giving each other. Fitz was glaring at Keefe, who was blissfully unaware and currently stuffing his face. Dex was also scowling at Keefe, and Biana was staring daggers at Dex, probably because he was glaring at Keefe. The whole thing just reeked of jealousy.

We continued on with lunch, pretending that nobody noticed that moment (some of us didn't have to pretend, like Mr. Ignorant who was sitting next to me). Small talk flitted throughout the table, and we parted our separate ways when the bell rang (does Foxfire even have a bell system?) I walked to class deep in thought, more than my next course, Linguistics, on my mind. I was so engrossed with my speculations and such that I didn't even notice Keefe until he bumped me.

"Hey."

"Hi, Keefe."

"We should hang out after school."

I started to protest about how we need to keep our whole "relationship" thing hush-hush, but Keefe stopped me by saying, "We can meet where we did last night, so people won't see us."

"Okay, I guess," I said, my heart speeding up at the thought of New Year's Eve.

"Then it's a date."

Sorry about the not-so-great chapter... It was sort of (another) filler. Pleeze give me tips and ideas if you have any you desperately want to share. I will hopefully be able to update sooner next time, since my gymnastics season is over and I will now have (relatively) free weekends. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR READING AND REVIEWING! IT MEANS A LOT TO ME!

Farewell! Adieu!