CASTAWAY 'ˎ˗ kotlc

~TWENTY~

Sophie had reached the breaking point. She sat on her bed, hyperventilating.

Well, there was no hope.

She couldn't let herself feel any hope. She was, putting it simply, hopeless.

Forkle had just informed them that some scouts he sent to get them info on Tam reported back to him saying that Tam and Magnific had moved locations. Great.

KNOCK. KNOCK. The pounding of a knock filled Sophie's ears.

Keefe peaked his head through the door. Sophie's stomach fluttered.

"You okay Foster?" Keefe asked her.

"Yeah." she sighed.

"I think you could use some air." Keefe walked up, grabbed her hand, and dragged them outside to Calla's tree.

Sophie breathed in the fresh aroma of blooming flowers. She turned around to see Keefe gesturing to a picnic cloth with a picnic basket overflowing with mallowmelt and custard bursts.

"Sit. Calm down. Eat some food." Keefe smirked.

"Wow, Keefe-"

"You don't have to say anything Foster. I know you're speechless." Keefe tousled his hair deviously.

Before Sophie could say anything, Keefe disappeared.

"Keefe? Keefe, where are you?" Sophie shouted.

"I'm right here," a voice in front of her said.

Sophie jumped back, fear flooding through her. This couldn't be happening. Keefe was already a pyrokinetic. What now? A gust of wind rattled her bones and knocked her to the ground. In front of her, Keefe was flickering in and out of vision.

"Keefe, you're a Vanisher!" Sophie cried out, hanging on to a tree root as the wind blew against her.

"And apparently a Guster!" Biana yelled over the wind, running up and shaking Keefe's flickering form. The wind stopped abruptly, and Sophie fell to the ground with a thud, hearing a crack in her arm, and pain shot through her body.

"Foster!" Keefe shouted, running to her crumpled form and kneeling over her. "This is all my fault. I hurt you again."

"Keefe, this is hardly the point right now! Sophie probably just broke her arm!" Biana scolded a mopey Keefe.

"No, no, I'm fine," Sophie argued, sitting up straight and cringing at the pain. "Anyways, what are you doing here Biana?"

"I came to see if my best friend was alright." Biana sent Keefe a glare that shot daggers into his soul.

Keefe cowered back with a shameful look on his face.

Sophie felt awful that he felt like he needed to blame himself for this. After all, it was Sophie's fault that Keefe's powers were even malfunctioning in the first place.

"Let's stop fighting and put this food to good use!" Sophie suggested, stuffing mallowmelt in her mouth and nodding. "MMMmmmm."

"I'm not hungry." Biana stated, letting out a small hmph as she crossed her arms, scowling.

"Here, Keefe," Sophie tossed a custard burst at Keefe with her bad arm and yelped in pain as she did so, sending the custard burst flying at Keefe's face. It hit him in the middle of the forehead and the gooey filling ran down his face.

They all sat in silence for a second. And then they erupted with laughter.

Keefe licked the goo off his face and they all sat for a while, eating, talking, and laughing like the old days.

"I should be going," Biana said, looking at the sun setting in the sky. Biana waved goodbye as she held up her crystal to the light and light-leaped back to Everglen.

"So, why don't we enjoy what we have left of these sweets?" Keefe laughed.

Sophie nodded, smiling. "Hey, can we talk?"

"About what?"

"The other day- what we did- in my room- before Fitz came in-"

"Oh, the kiss." Keefe sighed. "When a girl wants to talk about romantic related stuff, it's never good. Go ahead, reject me and crush my dreams."

"No," Sophie laughed. "That's not at all why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to say, I used to like Fitz, or I thought I did. But that kiss changed my perspective. I realize you were the one I actually liked."

Keefe's face lit up and he bellowed, "YES!" apologizing after for the interruption. "So what are we gonna do about Fitzy?"

"I'll handle Fitz when the time comes to tell him about us."

"Us? You mean, 'us' us?" Keefe asked, stars in his eyes.

"Uh, I mean-" Sophie started. "Only if you want to-"

"Yes! A million times yes." Keefe smiled at her, the kind of smile that melted her heart. "And Foster?"

"Yes?"

"Everything's going to be just fine. We'll get Tam back and fix my abilities." Keefe told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they leaned against the tree and stared at the stars illuminating the sky.

And for once, Sophie actually believed everything would be okay.