WHEN SOPHIE SEES KEEFE:
My stomach churned with emotions, tears welling up in my eyes. I didn't know what I was feeling. I bet if Keefe could talk, he would tell me exactly what I was feeling. He'd probably fan the air and say something like, "Whoa Foster, that's a lot of emotions you're throwing at me at once." The thought seemed to trigger the curve of my lips. But my mind couldn't go there. It just couldn't. I can't forgive him. I'll never forgive him. He's hurt me so many times and Keefe just expects me to go with it. And believe me, I've tried. Even he's beginning to realize it now. That look he gave me when he saw me. It wasn't saying I missed you. It wasn't saying I'm sorry. The look said Please don't hate me. But there was also something else. Something that I couldn't place. The same look Fitz gave me when he confessed. My heart fluttered at that but it shouldn't be. Keefe hurt everyone. He doesn't deserve that. I tuned out everyone, not caring what anyone would think and marched up to him, Sucker Punching him in the gut. A shred of guilt escaped me but I swept it under my rug of hidden feelings. Dex winced, probably because he made my Sucker Punch. But I didn't care. I wanted Keefe to experience as much pain as possible.
I jumped up on the table. The adrenaline of this pushed me to say something. I don't even remember. I was so consumed with anger that I wasn't aware of anything. Anything at all. I remember random strangers slapping Keefe and me giving them something in return.I also very vaguely remember talking to some guy. All of this was a blur in my mind. Frestration took over me and I wasn't even in control of my own body.
At least up until I heard his voice. Keefe's voice. It may have been just a whisper, just a whimper, but it meant everything to me. Just to hear that voice. It melted all my anger, all my sadness, and all that remained was hope, happiness, forgiveness, and... something else. Something I could place but didn't want to acknowledge. I pushed away the feeling and ran towards Keefe, hugging him with all my emotions pouring onto him. My tears soaked his shirt but we had done this before. Me, crying on his shoulder while he comforted me despite every messy thing that was going on in his life.
"I missed you so much Keefe. You don't even know," I whispered, my face still buried in his chest.
He squeezed me tighter and whispered back, stuttering, "M-me... me too, F-f-foster... me t-too." Everyone joined in the hug, crying on each other's shoulders. I did notice that there was a girl next to Amy, looking very confused. She was pretty, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Her facial features were soft and she wore a casual dress. Could her and Keefe... No. They can't be together. They weren't...a thing. The girl was probably as young as Amy. Wait why do I even care? So what if they were dating? It wasn't my problem. But I had to ask...
"Who's she? The girl sitting next to Amy" I asked. We all pulled away from the hug. Keefe looked at Amy as if he was signaling for her to explain. That's when I remembered. Keefe couldn't talk. But how was he talking to Amy? New questions swirled in my mind like a tornado.
"Maybe we should go somewhere else. What we're about to tell you is a little ground-breaking," Amy said.
"I can get some more money from the ATM, I think it's called," Dex told her.
"Yeah and we can check into a hotel," I finished. Grady, Dex, Biana, and Fitz looked at me with blank stares. "It's a place where you can stay for a few days," I explained.
"I have a question," the girl next to Amy said. "If you're going to be taking money out of an ATM and you don't have a credit card, then isn't that stealing?"
"No, 'cause we're taking the money from our birth fund. And don't ask what it is. It's way too complicated," Dex replied. The girl looked like she wanted to argue but she didn't say anything.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, I said, "Let's go then!" I waited for everyone to start walking until Keefe got up and started walking as well. It seemed like he was trying to keep a low profile but I couldn't let him have that. He was the last to get up so I waited for him. As he started walking-- trying to ignore me at that-- I walked up next to him. We walked in silence for a long time. I guess neither of us really knew what to say. Also Fitz kept looking in our direction with longing eyes. We just silently walked. But of course, I just have to trip on something. I trip on a nearby rock and Keefe catches me. I was sure my cheeks were bright red when he gave me his trademark smirk and whispered, "Just like old times, Foster." Fitz turned to look at us again and gave me an eyebrow raise. I tugged my hair in front of my face to hide from the embarrassment.
Thankfully, Dex interrupted my mental breakdown. "Let me go grab some money. The hotel is right next door. At least that's what Amy said." He looked at Amy for confirmation and she nodded. Dex ran to the ATM and within seconds, he was back with two handfuls of money. Amy motioned us to follow her and we all marched into the hotel.
"Hello, how can I help you?" the receptionist asked.
"We'd like to get a room," Amy said, pointing to Dex who was holding up the money. The receptionist reached under her desk and grabbed a key.
"Rooms 3163 and 3165. I hope you have a nice stay!" We all walked into the elevator
and it brought me great joy when Dex, Biana, Fitz, and Grady all clung to each other and squealed as the elevator ascended. Even Keefe couldn't help his snickers. We got out of the elevator and walked to our rooms. The room was... bland. The walls were all brown and there and there was a pale carpeting. That room wouldn't have even taken up an eighth of my room back at Havenfield. And by the looks of it, everyone else felt the same but no one complained.
We all gathered in my room. And just like that, the explanations began. Amy did most of the talking with the girl, who we now knew was Eleanor Olivia Wright/Fanny. That part earned Amy a stampede of questions which she wasn't really able to answer. Keefe held a notepad and wrote down all the answers to our questions. I guess that was his new way communicating. That made me wonder how he actually took the information when he found out Fanny was Eleanor. He had a habit of covering his true emotions with humor.
"But we have a more pressing matter, according to Keefe. Apparently the Neverseen know where I live," Amy explained.
I looked at Grady. He gave me a small nod.
"Amy... don't freak out. We know what we're doing. But according to Mr.Forkle, the Neverseen wants to hurt your parents, and maybe even you."
A/N: 1252 words!:))))
