Starstruck [KotLC]

Chapter 7

"Woah," Keefe said. "Wait, like. Woah."

"I know, isn't it amazing? I'm so excited! I've been wondering what they look like and if I'm anything like them, and I know it's kind of lame, but-"

"No. Woah. What are you going to do when you meet them? Have you guys even thought this through? What if they don't want to meet with you? Maybe there's a reason the Black Swan told you to stay out of it."

"Well I know there's a lot of risks, but-" Sophie began, only to be interrupted by Keefe for the second time.

"Sophie I don't think you understand! There are so many terrible things in this world that we get our hopes up for and then they just come crashing down." He sighed. "I know from expecience that parents aren't all they're cracked up to be, ok? Just... I don't think you're ready." His tone was patronizing, belittling. Sophie furrowed her brows.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She accused. "I can handle this. I've done so much more before."

"Yeah, but that was with your weird mind powers. This is emotion. Not some freaky robot stuff that the Black Swan gave you!" 

They shared a look. "Sophie, I-"

Her eyes brimmed with tears. She reached for her home crystal, locking eyes with Keefe as she sparkled away to Havenfield.

She screamed as she woke up from another nightmare. This time there was no Black Swan, no Neverseen, no ogres or goblins or trolls. Just her friends, circling her, laughing.

The next day started with a more zombie-like Sophie than usual. She plodded downstairs for breakfast to find a fuming Grady and an eternally-pacing Edaline.

"Sophie, we're worried." Edaline explained. "Is everything ok?"

"I'm going to have to have a word with that Sencen boy if he's the reason for this behavior," Grady threatened, Sandor nodding in agreement behind him.

"I don't want to talk about it." She replied, not wanting her two lovely adoptive parents hating Keefe just yet. She pushed her breakfast out of sight, not really wanting to sit at the constant scrutiny of everyone any longer than she had to, and rushed up to the Leapmaster. She'd have to be early to Orientation today.

She called down the Foxfire crystal and leaped away, hoping to avoid her friends for the day if possible.

Sophie had mixed feelings about Keefe's lack of effort in talking to her the next day. Part of her wanted him to come up and apologize so things could go back to normal, but she had a feeling she'd have a harder time facing him than she'd thought. Her head remained hung throughout lunch, sulking at Keefe's absence. She hated to admit it, but she loved his daily impersonations of his mentors.

Fitz and Dex exchanged a triumphant look when they noticed her less-than-enthusiastic posture. Confused, Sophie asked, "What?"

"Oh, nothing. We just predicted you and Keefe would end in a massive explosion of emotions." Dex explained, obviously finding the matter of her love life hilarious. 

"And we were right," Fitz added. The two high-fived.

No longer able to handle lunch, Sophie tossed her lunch tray away and headed for her next session, gathering her thoughts on the way. Keefe obviously either didn't care that he had hurt her feelings or was too much of a coward to apologize. Fitz and Dex only found it funny that they were fighting. None of them were considering Sophie's feelings.

She trudged to the Leapmaster after school, defeated and deflated. 

Finally slipping in to the living room of Havenfield, she was stopped by Edaline, who insisted they talk.

"It can be just between us girls, and you can tell me everything about last night." She promised.

Sophie hesitated before realizing that this was the kind of thing daughters go to their mothers for. She wanted to have that kind of relationship with Edaline. Sophie lead her mom up to her room for more privacy. Sophie recounted the entirety of the night, attempting to leave out the cheesiest parts. 

"And now he won't even talk to me," Sophie complained, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. "He avoided me all day."

Edaline nodded, her expression showing her broken heart. She put a hand on Sophie's shoulder. "Sophie, you can't listen to people when they say that about you. But not only can you not listen to them, you can't let them say things like that about you. If someone is treating you badly, you need to cut them out of your life. Keefe doesn't deserve you anymore. He has lost that privilege. And he's lost our trust."

Sophie smiled, surprised at Edaline's uncharacteristic aggressiveness. 

Keefe was standing at her locker the next morning, leaning nonchalantly against the wall. When Sophie got closer, she could barely believe what she was seeing. 

Keefe's normally meticulously disheveled hair sat flat against his head. Beneath his eyes were burgundy circles that rivaled her own. Even his uniform was wrinkled worse than Marella's.

"Keefe?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Sophie, things aren't going to work out with us."

"Huh?"

"We can't be friends or... anything anymore. I'm sorry."

Despite the fact that she had been about to break up with him,  Sophie was still shattered when the words broke through his lips. Keefe walked away, and Sophie watched until his figure faded blended in with the other prodigies and he became another invisible face.