𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐈 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 + sokeefe and horror

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗: the second letter

Keefe's days became even brighter when Moexii was with him.

She was smiley and friendly, and hilarious. She agreed with him about everything. She even told her about a hilarious prank she pulled at her old school, releasing a bunch of verminions into the halls. Which was why she got expelled, and why she'd been home-schooled for a while.

But, despite how happy he was, he felt increasingly guilty. He was no closer to finding Sophie, and now, in addition to that, it felt like he was cheating on her. 

Which was ridiculous. Probably.

But every time he spent more than a minute talking to Moexii, he felt guilty and his insides wriggled with worms, which made it hard to enjoy her hilarious jokes, or the candy she always brought to school.

"Hey, loser." Moexii greeted as she stepped into Keefe's house.

The guilty thought crossed Keefe's mind again, and he felt a surge of panic at his own stupidity for inviting her to his house.

"Hey, Moe." Keefe said weakly, trying to put on a smile.

Moexii glared at him - she hated being called Moe, which is why Keefe spent positively the rest of their time together calling her Moe.

"Do we have any snacks?" Moexii asked. "I'm starving."

Keefe tossed her a pack of butterblasts, and she grinned. "You're the best."

As Keefe felt his insides wriggling around, Moexii turned to look outside the window.

"Dang, Keefie, your house is gorgeous!" She said, surveying the white sand beaches. "Can we go outside?"

Keefe nodded, barely able to talk because he thought he might vomit. 

The second Moexii touched her toes on the sand, she shouted happily and bolted towards the waves, leaving the butterblasts on the deck.

"MOEXII!" Keefe shouted, but it was too late.

She plunged into the sparkling blue waves and came up, whooping with joy. "COME ON!" She shouted to him. "THE WATER'S PERFECT!"

Keefe cautiously approached the waves, which surprised him. Usually, he would've been the one diving in. The second he put a toe in the water, Moexii grabbed his hand and dragged him in. Then, with surprising delicacy, she dunked him.

He came up sputtering, his hair dripping with water. He was shocked for a moment - but then, grinning, he leaped at Moexii.

She sidestepped deftly, and he plunged back into another teal wave. But instead of coming up, he plunged toward the clear water, grabbed Moexii's ankle, and then surfaced.

Moexii came up seconds later, looking furious. "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" She cried angrily.

Keefe felt waves of guilt pound him. "I'm so sorry -"

But it was a trick. She lunged at him, knocking him back into a wave. When came up, she was grinning from ear to ear.

"DECEPTION!" She crowed.

Moexii suddenly stopped and turned to look at the horizon. "Woah! What are those?"

Keefe turned to find sleek, gray-black animals diving as the pink sun set. They were huge, and had a small fin at the top. They were leaping gracefully from wave to wave in a delicate way that Keefe thought Moexii could replicate.

Wait - this was one of those human things that Sophie told him about...

"They're dolphins!" Keefe said brightly. "Look at them! They're gorgeous!"

Moexii smiled, her eyes glittering, and in that moment, she reminded him so much of Sophie that his heart ached. Against his will, his eyes started tearing up.

"What's wrong?" Moexii asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Keefe whispered. "I'm fine."

---

Twenty minutes later, they were wrapped in towels and eating more candy as the sun set on the horizon.

"Well..." Moexii finally took off her towel and grabbed her bag. "It was really awesome seeing you, Keefe, but I have to head home."

"Okay, bye." Keefe said, bleary-eyed. "I'll see you on Monday."

Moexii waved and grinned, then headed out the front door. 

Keefe felt a prickle of uneasiness, but he didn't realize why until after he'd showered and changed. For one thing, Moexii hadn't gone to the Leapmaster. She'd gone out his door. And second, lying on the table in crisp white paper, was a large envelope.