what happened after unlocked

chapter fifty-two ~ the plan

In the middle of the day, Sophie finally had enough energy to use her brain without falling asleep. Her abilities were making it harder for her to function, so she wanted to know why.

The first conclusion she came to was that she'd just been having a rough time, because of all the events that had occurred. And then her and Fitz's connection started fading out...so now she suspected that it was because of that.

The only question was, why?

Even if they weren't dating anymore, they were fully comfortable and acted like themselves in each others' presence. Their relationship was more mature and friendly than it had been before.

So maybe it had something to do with Sophie's unresolved feelings...

She arrived at Watchward Heath as soon as she could, stepping over the flowers and birds pecking at the grass carefully. She knocked on the large golden door, hoping with all her might that Mr Forkle was inside.

An elegant flock of lorikeets soared across the sky above her, carrying the breeze on their wings. She breathed it in, suddenly smiling.

The door swung open in front of her, and she turned her head back down to see Mr Forkle's expectant face.

"Miss Foster," he said, with a hint of annoyance in his tone. "If you have come to ask about your father, then I repeat, I don't have an answer for you."

"No, it's not about that," Sophie said to him in a hard voice. "I need to speak with you about me and Fitz."

Mr Forkle raised his eyebrows for half a second, clearly surprised, and then let her in.

Tiergan, was standing with his eyes focused up on one of the walls. Half of his face was covered in crumbling stone but the other half was still himself. He didn't react to Sophie's presence.

Mr Forkle nodded at her sharply, indicating for her to elaborate.

"I've been really worried lately," Sophie said to him, "About me and Fitz as Cognates. Lately when we've practiced, our connection is really off."

"Off how?" Mr Forkle asked. His voice was no longer stern, just concerned.

"Like, when I'm in his mind, it's really distant, and Fitz says the same about mine," Sophie explained. "And a few times we weren't even able to transmit. I can't tell if someone is interfering or if it really is our minds."

"It's your minds," Mr Forkle said. "But it could be someone's interference at the same time."

"How do you know?"

Mr Forkle didn't answer.

Sophie groaned. "Well, if this is going to stop us from doing something important, then how do we fix this? I don't just need a reason why it's failing."

Mr Forkle's lips twitched. "How is your friendship going? If it wasn't going well, you would have said something."

"It's fine," Sophie said truthfully. "Actually, it's better than it's ever been. And we've gone past all the dating stuff. So basically we're absolutely fine. I don't get why our connection isn't working!"

Like he could see straight into Sophie's mind, Mr Forkle gave her a complicated look. "Are there any other things you're trying to figure out? More secrets? Things you could be telling him?"

Sophie looked down after thinking for a bit. She shook her head.

Technically her romantic life wasn't something she had to tell everyone, right? And she didn't even know herself!