@Soccerbadger OVER HERE

two

"Sophie?" Someone called. "Sophie wake up or I'm gonna give you a MAKEOVER!" At that sentence, Sophie shot up. She blinked her eyes drearily as they focused on a set of teal eyes and long, wavy brown hair. Biana grinned at her brother and smugly said, "Told you she'd wake up!" Fitz rolled his eyes playfully, but he seemed a bit troubled.

 Everyone had gathered there— the whole team. Except for Dex. Sophie noticed the missing member at first, but her attention quickly diverted to Elwin. Wait— why was Elwin here? Oh. Right. She had probably collapsed after- after what had happened in the morning. Sophie still didn't want to acknowledge it, but it was obvious that everyone in that room was dying to know. As soon as she lifted her head from the Healing Center's bed, she was bombarded with questions. Elwin lifted a hand and had to almost shout at them to stop. He told Sophie, "As you can see, there are people here who want to interrogate you. Do you need some time alone or are you up for it?" Sophie really didn't want to relive that moment when she learned Keefe was gone— but she knew she had to say something. Sophie asked her friends to call everyone else because she didn't want to have to say it more than one time. She dreaded what everyone's reaction would be, especially Fitz's, but she steeled herself to be brave.

As soon as Elwin gave the green light, Sophie leaped over to her home with all her friends. She was surprised to see everyone gathered there already, as only a short amount of time had passed since she woke up. Or at least that's what she thought. Mr. Forkle saw her slight surprise, and as if he knew what she was thinking, (which he probably was, Sophie thought as she internally rolled her eyes) Mr. Forkle cleared his throat and quietly said, "Miss Foster, you shouldn't be surprised anymore. You are the foundations of our very society, and probably the most important elf in the world. We all practically rush to you when you need us. Even councillors." Sophie didn't know if that was supposed to make her feel better, and even if it was, it didn't certainly lessen the queasy feeling in her stomach. It actually became worse, when Councillor Alina huffed, "We are Councillors, and we don't go around chasing little girls who are dealing with problems we didn't even know existed. Her little boyfriend has all those strange abilities because of his mother's doi—" Fitz cut her off, and he looked so insulted and annoyed that steam practically came out of his ears. "Well guess what, Councillor Alina, these problems do exist. You have yourself seen the handiwork of the Neverseen and yet, you sit on your little throne and pretend everything is as sparkly as your fake smile! And Sophie's friend, our friend, has those unique abilities because you failed to keep our world safe!" As Fitz finished his rant, Sophie sent a transmission saying, "Wow. You sound way too much like Ro. She's probably your new bodyguard and you have been spending way too much time with her." Oops. Sophie didn't realize her little slip until it was too late. Fitz looked surprised and transmitted, "Wait. Why would Ro be my bodyguard? She's Keefe's, as of a few hours ago..." Sophie tried covering up by saying, "Umm... I was kidding! Why would Ro switch bodyguards especially at this time when Keefe is so vulnerable and she even calls you Pre—" Fitz sighed. "Sophie, there's something you're not telling me." Sophie was saved by Biana, who cleared her throat and gently said, "Sophie. You done yet? People are waiting to know what made you look so alarmed, and I'm one of them." Uh-oh. Sophie had rejoiced too soon. She had completely forgotten about the Councillors, most of whom were impatiently waiting to know what so-called disaster had struck. Sophie took in a deep breath, looked at Fitz with an uneasy glance, and said, " It's about Keefe. He—" *big paras galore!! :DDD don't worry I'll break it*

It was chaos. Questions were being thrown, no, shouted at her. Councillor Noland had to screech at them to make them stop. At that precise moment, Dex arrived. He somehow seemed unperturbed by the shrill voice. As everyone looked at him with envious glances, he held up two sparkly blobs and said, "I was wearing earmuffs." Refer ∘ Sophie said, "Come on. We've been waiting for you. Where were you, by the way?" Dex muttered something like "so this is what it feels like to be needed" and said, "I was making some gadgets." when Sophie looked at him with a glance that implied, "go on", he just shook his head and said, "Nothing really. Just one of my pastime hobbies." Sophie knew there was something more because that didn't explain why he hadn't been picking up her hails. She wanted to investigate, but everyone was impatient now that Dex was here too.

 Sophie knew that everyone knew she was stalling. She just didn't. Want to. Say it! But it was inevitable. It would probably be easier to get out over with, she reasoned, but deep-down Sophie knew that everyone, including herself, would be better off not knowing.

 Dex cut short her thoughts by saying,"Okay... now that I'm here-" he grinned feebly and continued, "I guess you can say it." Sophie reluctantly began, but not before informing everyone that if she was interrupted, she would stop.

 "Keefe is gone."

 A wave of shock passed through the room. Sophie could practically feel the atmosphere grow heavier and colder. "He wrote me a letter, explaining why he needed to go. I don't know where he is, or if he's okay." Her voice cracked as she said, "Or if he's ever coming back." Sophie didn't want to say the words, but she did before she could even think of sucking them back in. too much emphasis* Refer ∘ "And by the looks on your faces, I'm assuming he didn't leave any of you anything of the sort." Sophie was quite astonished when she realized that Keefe hadn't left even his best friend a letter, let alone the others. Why only her?

Sophie was expecting strong reactions, even some tears, but she could never, would never have expected what would happen next.

* so in this line, it doesn't happen immediately, but a good 15-20 min after this cliffhanger takes place. What can I type instead, so that it'll be cliffhanger-y and correct plotwise?*

∘ I'm a dictionary. :D anyways.

I read somewhere that there's something called fake emphasis or sth. It's where you put extra drama/emphasis to make something seem exciting when it's not needed. for example (I cant think of anything...) The chefs sprinkled the chili powder over the dish copiously. *extra, unnatural emphasis:* The chefs sprinkled chili powder over the dish so much that it turned as red as a spicy apple. (now taht's just wrong. It sounds like one of the *kiddish* Geronimo STilton books.)