When We Were Together

Part 1 - Friend Time

~Middle School~

"Sophie, sweetie! It's time to get up. First day of middle school! Aren't you excited?" Edaline called. Sophie yawned and crawled out of bed. Quickly changing into her funky looking uniform, she ran into the bathroom. After lazily splashing some water onto her face, she took a look in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, so she poked her toothbrush around her mouth and grabbed the hairbrush. Sophie managed to make her bed head into a sleek and twisty ponytail. I'll have to do that again every day, she told herself.

After closing the bathroom door, she messily did her bed and dragged the curtains to their own separate corners. Serves them right for always being so close and not allowing the sun to wake her up. Picking up her school bag, she trudged down the stairs as slowly as possible.

"Hey, guys," she said blearily. Grady smiled and kissed her forehead. Sophie sat down at the dining table and poked at her food.

"What's up, kiddo?" Grady asked, worry creeping into his voice. "You don't look so good," he added. She reached to tug out a loose eyelash.

"I'm fine, just not too hungry," she replied.

She wasn't really lying. She wasn't hungry, because it was the first day of middle school. And she knew it wasn't going to be easy. What if she didn't make any friends? Or, what if she couldn't fit in?

"Sophie, hurry with your food, Keefe's waiting for you outside," Edaline reminded her. Grady groaned as Sophie's eyes lit up. At least Keefe would be with her in her new school.

"I still don't understand why you have to walk to school with That Boy!" Grady grumbled. Edaline gave him a playful punch on the shoulder as Sophie rolled her eyes.

Keefe Sencen. Her first friend. Her first crush. She didn't care that Keefe was unpopular, unlike the other kids down the street. He gave her a chance. Even when no one else believed in her, he did. And she wasn't going to give that up. Not then, and not ever. Keefe was her best friend.

No one else could take that away from her. As soon as she gulped down the last of her breakfast, Sophie shoved her lunchbox into her bag and ran out the door. As the door opened, she caught sight of twinkling blue irises. Keefe chuckled as she ran into his arms, laughing and sobbing gently.

"Hey, Foster! Wait - why are you crying?" Keefe asked, his eyes filling with worry. Despite only being a fifth-grader, he was extremely kind and caring. He seemed to have found an answer because he whispered into Sophie's ear, his mouth tickling it, "Missed me bad, huh? I'm back now, and they're not taking me anywhere else." Keefe's parents, Gisela and Cassius, had taken him all the way to London during the summer holidays. Sophie was devastated, but at least she still had some other friends to spend time with. Speaking of friends, Sophie couldn't wait to see them on the weekends.

~Time Skip~

"Sophie! I've missed you so much!" Biana yelled from across the courtyard. Sophie blushed as all eyes moved to her and Keefe, flicking back and forth between the two blondes. Sophie felt her blush creeping up her neck, threatening to reach her cheeks. Biana, followed by Linh, Marella, Fitz, Dex and Tam, tackled Sophie and Keefe with a suffocating hug. Sophie sank into the hug, letting the warmth fill her entire being before letting go.

"Why are you guys here? I thought you were all going to different middle schools?" Sophie asked, puzzled. Biana and the rest of the gang fell silent. "Well..." Biana started. Fitz cleared his throat.

"Okay... the truth is, Fitz filled out the wrong application forms for middle school, so we went to the wrong school."

"Hey! I thought we agreed to leave that fact out!" Fitz interrupted.

Biana rolled her eyes and continued, "And Mom and Dad decided that we should go to your school, but there weren't any open applications for us. But, there were 6 spaces available in the other school down the street, so we pulled some strings, and now the whole gang is attending the school! AND! Every day we can hang out after school!" she finished excitedly.

Keefe clapped his hands. "That's awesome!" he yelled. Sophie laughed and hugged her friends, super glad that they would be together again. Soon enough, Fitz and all the boys were crowding around each other, possibly debating on whether or not to do one of Keefe's pranks. Sophie rolled her eyes and turned to face Biana, Linh and Marella - who were supposedly gossiping about the latest hairdo, which Linh had Tam do to his bangs and the ends of his hair.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked. Biana shot a glance across the courtyard at Fitz, and he grinned a flashing smile back.

"Sophie, we have a surprise," she said sarcastically. By now, Fitz had leaped across the bricks and face-planted, leaving Keefe in a fit of laughter. Even Tam cracked a smile at that. Fitz shot up, dusting off himself. He seemed to ignore the fact that his face was grazed.

"ALVAR IS COMING!" he yelled so loud that the entire courtyard heard. Sophie's jaw dropped, and she wasn't even sure why. Oh wait, now she did know. Alvar was always an annoying big brother to Fitz and Biana, all their friends as well. He would treat them like little kids and probably try to 'improve their outfits' which obviously annoyed the younger Vackers. One thing that Sophie remembered was that he had a sweet girlfriend who practically looked like an older version of her. Anna was her name. Alvar was in the ninth grade this year, since the last time she saw him was last year. Although Sophie didn't like Alvar, Anna was a good influence on him.

Keefe groaned. Tam sulked. Biana facepalmed. Linh put on the sweetest smile, but anyone could tell it was fake. Everyone else echoed Keefe. Fitz was confused.

"Why do you hate Alvar?" he asked. No one said anything.

"Is Anna still with him?" Marella asked, her voice sassy as usual.

"I don't know. We can ask him later." Fitz replied, confusion still lacing his words. This was going to be a very, very long week.

~Time Skip(The Weekend)~

"Alvar! Hi!" Linh waved sweetly. Alvar grinned weakly, and grimaced. Sophie frowned. Anna was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Alvar?" she said as she walked onto the Vackers' lawn.

"Yeah, umm...Sophie?" he forgot her name. Again.

"Where's Anna?" Sophie blurted. Alvar cringed.

"We broke up," he said emotionlessly.

"Oh."

"But now, there's Maya," he said, and a brunette girl came from inside the house.

"Hi! You must be Sophie," she said with disgust. Sophie just smiled and ran back to her friends, playing on the grass. Keefe wrapped his arms around Sophie, hugging her from behind. She squealed when he closed her eyes with one hand and led her around the yard with the other. The excited squeals from everyone else was enough to make this a great day.

~ Time Skip (A few hours later) ~

Lying on the couch, snuggled up against Keefe and all her friends, Sophie smiled to herself. They were watching Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson. Who didn't love the girl who acted as Hermione for ten years? Just when the movie started, Alvar took Maya upstairs and a door slammed. Keefe seemed worried, since Alden and Della weren't home. Who would trust Alvar with a bunch of fifth graders? Sophie sang along with everyone in the movie, not minding the quirky looks everyone gave her. The movie sped along, the sounds of crunching muffled.

"Or as I like to call it, the only wing," Lumiere said, the music flowing with his voice.