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Chapter 7

Keefe met up with Sophie at Biana's house after dinner since he had been busy that morning, and they stood in an awkward silence. 

"So . . . what do you want to do?" Keefe asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

"I don't know. I thought we were here to talk."

"Talking's boring. We should sneak back into Foxfire."

"Do you really think that Magnate Leto would allow that? You're the biggest troublemaker there is."

"The Forkster won't mind. We're his favorite students."

"I think what you mean is you were his favorite student to send to detention."

"He never once sent me to detention."

"I'm sure he thought about it, that's all I'm saying." Sophie replied, and they both smiled. 

"But on a real note, what should we do?" We can talk later. We haven't hung out in ages."

"What do you think we should do?" 

"We could like . . ." he pondered. "Oh! We could hang out with Silveny and them."

"That is a good idea, huh?"

"Of course it is. I am the Mastermind of everything."

"Sure you are."

"Well shouldn't we get going?" Keefe asked, holding out a hand for Sophie. She took it, and then pulled out her home crystal to Havenfield. "Oh, no you don't, Foster."

"But don't we need to go to Havenfield?" Sophie asked, gesturing to the leaping crystal. 

"We should teleport. Just for old times sake."

"Fine. Which do you prefer? Me running until I'm completely exhausted, or free falling from off a cliff? I guess levitating would work too."

"I'll go with the second option."

"Alright. Let's go." she replied reluctantly. Luckily for Keefe, but not Sophie, there was a cliff right by Biana's house. "Here we go." she said, pulling him off the cliff. He only laughed in anticipation. Sophie tuned him out, focusing on the energy that was building up in her mind. At the last second, she visualized Havenfield's expansive pastures, and they slipped into the void. 

"That was fun." Keefe said, his hair a bit disheveled. "But now The Hair's all messed up."

"Teleporting was your choice, not mine." she reminded him.

"On that note, where's Silveny?"

"I'm not sure." Sophie said, but then spotted a flash of silver. "Never mind, there she is."

SOPHIE! SOPHIE! SOPHIE! 

Hi, Silveny.

KEEFE! KEEFE! KEEFE!

Yes, Keefe's here too. Do you want to fly?

YES! YES! YES!

Where's Greyfell? Keefe could ride on him.

BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

Sophie wondered how busy a sparkly, winged horse could be, but she pushed the thought away.

"Keefe, unfortunately Greyfell isn't here."

"And . . . ?"

"Well, we can't ride at the same time then."

"Sure we can. It's like last time. Come on!" Keefe said. Sophie didn't want to look like a wimp, so she joined him on Silveny's back. When Keefe put his hands on her waist, she blushed. She didn't want him to see, though, so she faced directly forward and prompted Silveny to fly. 

Together they flew for an hour, and Sophie watched as the sun slowly descended into the horizon. 

"Just like the good old days, right, Foster?"

"Yeah."

They landed, and Keefe assisted Sophie in getting off. His imparter suddenly rang, and Sophie jumped, startled. 

"I need to get this real quick." he said when he saw the caller ID. "Hey Melanie! What's up?" Sophie kind of wanted to hear what they were talking about, but she didn't want to intrude. She walked to Calla's Panakes tree and slumped against the trunk. When she saw Keefe approaching a few minutes later, she stood up quickly. "Hey, Foster. I was wondering where you wandered off to."

"What was up with Melanie?" 

"It was nothing."

"Why are you being like this, Keefe?" she suddenly asked. 

"Being like what?"

"I know that Melanie's your girlfriend. And stop pretending like she isn't. Won't she be jealous if she knows you're hanging out with me?"

"Why would Melanie care?"

"Because! You guys are dating."

"We're not dating? Why are you assuming that?"

"You invited her to Dex and Marella's wedding as your plus one. Doesn't that explain it?"

"That doesn't mean we're dating. She's just my friend."

"Well how come she's always hugging you all the time, then?"

"Because she wants to. I don't know. But I promise you, we're just friends."

"That's what Fitz said about Novaline before he broke up with me after we started dating again. And look what happened!"

"This is different! I swear Melanie and I aren't dating."

"You know what? I'm tired of all this. Trying to talk to you and Fitz was a mistake. Goodbye." Sophie said. She pulled out her home crystal, but before she could leap away, Keefe grabbed her hand. "Just stop!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop pretending that you and Melanie aren't dating." When she turned to look at him again, tears were in her eyes. "I wish I could have fallen for you instead. But now I can see that it's too late."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that I wish I fell for you instead of Fitz. Look where that got me." Sophie replied.

"Foster, I . . ."

Before she knew it, Keefe had pressed his lips against hers.