"You're late," Lady Cadence told her as she opened the gates to the silver tower.
"There was a lot of traffic in the halls so I had trouble getting here," Sophie said, tugging out one of her eyelashes-- a nervous habit.
"Very well, but you will be staying here for an extra 5 minutes to make up for it," she told her.
"I wasn't even gone for--" she stopped herself when she realized that she should be grateful Lady Cadence hadn't even given her detention. Normally she was one of the worst teachers at Foxfire. Maybe her hate for Sophie was slowly fading, though she doubted it.
"We don't have all day, follow me." She said and they walked to the classroom.
***
"What took you so long?" Dex asked as Sophie sat down beside him for lunch.
"Sorry, Lady Cadence made me stay in an extra 5 minutes for being late," she explained.
"Wow I'm surprised you didn't get detention." Marella told her. She nodded in agreement.
"Hey guys!" Jensi said as he made his way over. Sophie noticed someone walking right behind him.
"Is it okay if Lura sits with us for lunch? There's plenty of room at our table." He asked them.
"Uhh-" Marella started.
"Of course!" Sophie didn't want to be rude to her on the first day. "We can get to know her better this way." Marella glared at her. Then her face expression changed. Sophie turned around to see Fitz getting lunch. He'd started level 7 at the Gold Tower that year.
"I thought levels 7 and 8 were supposed to eat in the towers," Marella thought.
"Who cares? Aren't you excited for him? It's his first day in the tower he must be nervous" Biana said. Lura looked confused.
"Who's Fitz?" she asked.
"My older brother. And Sophie's--" she stopped herself from finishing the sentence and looked down at her plate.
"It's fine, Biana. Fitz and I... sorta-dated for a while, but we're not together anymore. You guys don't have to feel awkward about it." Sophie told them. Biana looked relieved.
"Well that's good, because he's coming right here." Marella told her. They turned to look at where Marella was pointing. He'd grabbed his lunch and was heading to sit at their table.
"Hey guys long time no see," Fitz said, placing his tray down, "You're probably wondering why I'm here, but it just felt weird not having any of you with me. Is it fine if I sit with you guys for today?"
"Of course!" Biana told him.
"So is it scary being in the gold tower?" Linh asked.
"Yeah, I pretty much don't know anyone, and I don't have Keefe to keep me company during breaks so.." Sophie flinched at the name.
"You know, Sophie, you've been awfully weird about Keefe lately." Biana said. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
"Of course not! I just feel bad that he's missing classes, that's all." She wished she could suck the words back in as soon as they left her mouth. She was a horrible liar. Keefe could probably already pass all his classes because of his photographic memory, and he would be glad to skip school. She hoped no one noticed, but they all looked unconvinced. She sighed. It was probably time she told them.
"Fine, there actually is something I have to tell you..." Sophie confessed about the letter and told them everything. They all looked miserable by the end of the story, and she could see Biana and Linh wipe a few tears away. Then a voice said...
"Um... who exactly is Keefe..?" Sophie jumped. They'd all forgotten Lura was there, and she'd heard everything.
