Chapter 5 :)

I burst out laughing. "Lord Hunky Hair?"

A faint blush settles on his cheeks, something I thought wasn't possible.

He regains his swagger immediately though.

"Yep! Feel free to call me that too. Now come on, let's go!"

I let myself get pulled to my feet. Dex gives me a questioning look and I shrug.

"Ok now just follow my lead," Keefe whispers, close to my ear. My face gets really hot and I feel like I'm blushing again. What is wrong with me?

We walk up to the front of the classroom.

The old, balding teaching looks up from his book.

"What is it?"

Keefe clears his throat. "Miss Foster here is new to Foxfire. She was wondering where the bathrooms are. I, being the chivalrous gentleman I am, kindly offer to guide her there."

The teacher thinks for a bit. "Ok, fine you guys go."

"Thank you, sir."

We walk out and Keefe pumps the air. "Woo! It's too easy!"

I laugh and follow him as we swerve through a bunch of hallways. I lose track after we turn seven times. Finally, we reach a hallway that's darker than the rest, with a bench sitting right in the center.

"Welcome to my ditching place!" Keefe gestures to the hallway and turns to capture my reaction.

"Ummm. It's cool, I guess?"

Keefe rests a hand on his heart. "You guess? Foster, this is the best ditching spot anyone could have! It's away from all the classrooms so no teacher can walk out and see me. There's a window over there so I can stare outside while I lay down. The light is perfect for sleeping. What else could there be?"

"A chocolate fountain would be nice."

Keefe laughs. "I like you, Foster."

Of course, my brain becomes all mushy. I stumble over words, something like "I- I um-uh- like- I mean-" coming out.

Thankfully, Keefe doesn't notice. He already made his way across the room to the big window, giving the hallway all the light it has. It has a beautiful view of the campus. A bunch of lily's lie under the window on the other side.

"Those are beautiful," I whisper.

Keefe looks at me. "You want one?"

Before I can answer, he opens up the window and plucks a single, pink flower from the ground and hands it to me.

I take it from him. I feel like crying. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me before. And that says a lot.

Before I can come with a legible response, he's already turned the other way.

"And over here is an emergency exit, which we never use unless there's a fire drill or an explosion."

I side-eye him. "You've had an explosion here before?"

"A small one. I, of course, had nothing to do with it." But a mischievous look in his eyes says everything.

"So.. you come here whenever you ditch?"

"Yep! Which happens at least once every day. Classes have gotten SO boring. We literally don't do anything interesting."

I turn to him and ask, "How are you not failing your classes?"

He taps the side of his mind and says, "Photographic memory. Life-saver."

My jaw drops. "I have that too!"

"Actually?"

"Yeah! I've never met someone who also has it."

"Yeah same! I always make Fitz jealous in the classes we have together. He acts like he doesn't care, but I once caught him youtubing how to get one."

That makes me laugh. I've never thought of it as something so special. I mean, of course it comes in handy when you're studying for your classes and stuff, but at my old school, I just got called a freak for it.

"Well, we've been here for at least 10 minutes so we should probably head back. Or else Mr. Glen might think you're constipated or something."

I make a face. "Let's go then!"

We take a different way back, passing a bunch of colorful lockers. Finally, we're back at our study hall room. When we walk in, all our friends look up.

"Where were you guys?" Biana asks, looking a little suspicious.

"I was just showing Foster my ditching spot," Keefe tells her, as he sits back down.

"You have a ditching spot?" Marella's eyes widen in amazement when he nods.

"Of course he does," Dex mutters.

"As fun as that little adventure was, I need to finish this essay," I say as I sit down next to Dex. He smiles.

I glance up at the clock, which reads 2:00. About an hour left of study hall. That should be enough time to finish this essay.

The bell rings at 2:59. Everyone hurries to shove their books and papers into their backpacks.

"C'mon, my mom texted. She's waiting in the pick-up line."

"I'd like to use a pick-up line on your mom," Keefe smirks. Fitz punches him but laughs.

A magical sound. I find my heart beating abnormally fast. It gets faster when Fitz notices me staring at him and gives me a movie-star smile.

I need to focus on putting my stuff away, ignoring the possible heart attack I may be having. As soon as my last pencil is in my backpack, Biana pulls me 0ut of the room, everyone else following.

"Hang on, I need to text Edaline," I say, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

"Oh, she'll let you! Our dads are friends," Biana says smoothly.

Sometimes I wonder how Grady and Edaline could know so many people.

Her response comes immediately, telling me it's fine with a heart emoji. I smile and send a thumbs up back. By the time I safely secure my phone back in my pocket, we're outside waiting on a grassy field.

"There, I see her!" Fitz yells, and motions for us to follow him.

We head towards a red tesla, and a pretty lady with cobalt eyes and long, chocolate brown hair. I immediately see the family resemblance. No wonder Biana and Fitz look like movie stars.

"Hey kids! Biana said you all are coming over!"

We all nod and she opens the back door, allowing us to file in. I end up squished between Dex and Biana.

"Sophie, right?" Biana's mom asks, bringing my attention back to her.

"Yeah," I say.

"I'm friends with your parents, Edaline and Grady. How are you liking Foxfire?"

"It's pretty cool." Surprisingly, it's not a lie.

"I went to Foxfire when I was your age too. Did Biana tell you? Her dad and I had a band."

Biana sighs. "Mom! No one wants to hear about your band!"

Her mom fake-gasps. "Biana, how could you say that! Our band was the coolest thing to ever hit Foxfire. It was called 'Elvin Life'. We had so many cool songs and it was how I fell in love with you dad.." She goes on about the band, and my mind tunes her out.

This might possibly be the most I've ever interacted with a group of people ever in my life. I don't even miss my old school anymore.

A light temporarily blinds my vision and I let out a small shriek. By the time my eyes adjust we're pulling into a driveway. Fitz, noticing my confused expression, explains.

"We have a fence with a sensor light that tells us when someone enters the property."

I look back and through the window I see a huge fence blocking their driveway from the rest of the neighborhood. Weird.

Before I can ask any questions, everyone starts climbing out. My feet find solid ground and I lightly dust myself off. As I'm looking back up, my jaw drops for the second time today. A huge mansion fills up most of my vision. I need to take a step back to even see the entire thing.

"You LIVE here?"

Biana and Fitz laugh.

"Yep! The backyard is so huge! It's perfect for Base Quest."

All this space and the only thing she talks about is Base Quest.

"You children head on in. I left some cranberry juice and apple turnovers on the counter in the kitchen!" Their mom tells us.

"Thanks mom!" Biana and Fitz take turns hugging her before motioning for us to follow them into the entrance.