Though Sophie felt a little more alive after that revelation, numbness still ate away at her, savoring each bite, slowly and agonizingly, not that she could really feel it.
But some things did change.
She started noticing time change a bit more.
She started to feel getting up and ready for school.
She started to feel the pulsing movement in her legs and the burning sensation as she strode around the enormous campus of the prestigious school named after a fungus.
Hell, she could even feel the outside breeze blowing gently on her cheeks!
She felt a little bit...better.
But just a little bit.
Numbness was still counting down the days, awaiting the final moment of consumption.
Although she had become somewhat aware, she had yet to unlock normalcy.
She still avoided her friends.
Still barely spoke.
Still had no emotion in her words.
But this was progress...right?
Walking through the campus of Foxfire felt a tinge more familiar than it had recently for Sophie.
She could feel her legs carrying her. The weight of her satchel slung across her shoulder. The pleasant wind current dancing merrily along her rosy cheeks. Today felt more like one foot in front of the other, rather than nothing at all. But, she had yet to regain the confidence and willpower to continue life as it used to be. So she focused on the ground, counting her steps.
1,2,3,4...Sophie made it all the way to 724 before she lost count and reached her locker.
As she went to lick her locker strip, she noticed something in her peripheral vision.
A tall man, with dark hair slicked back from what looked like some ten hundred pounds of gel, and a pristine suit. He seemed to be brushing at particularly nothing in attempt to get off any dust particles (which were positively nowhere to be seen) off his suit currently.
Magnate Leto.
One of the last, if not the last person Sophie wanted to see right now. Dread coursed through her every vein, causing her to slouch a bit lower. But, hey, emotions right? Progress.
He was leaning against a corner, which was covering him deep in shadows.
Either he was trying to hide from Sophie or wanted her to approach him to inquire his rather questionable stance and current position. Both ways, he seemed to want some reaction.
And whatever it was, Sophie was not giving it to him.
So she absent mindedly licked her locker strip, pretending to not even notice his presence, and she was quick to stuff away all of her thoughts, thinking of only gray headspace in case he tried to invade her privacy.
Apparently he was, because he made some sort of an annoyed groan noise, which sounded both like a squeal and a growl at the same time somehow.
Sophie felt a tingle of a smirk, but it disappeared as fast as the idea had formed. Record speed.
But she knew some part of her had found a time pass. Making life hard for others seemed to be something she could excel at. And that might very well become a normal thing for her.
She shuffled through her locker some more, focusing on her books, and pretending to dig through them for something.
She could practically feel Leto's gaze on her, watching her like a hawk. He wouldn't let her walk away. She was destined to be stuck there forever, if that's what she had to do to prevent him from approaching her. Not that it would even work well. She just needed to make life hard for him.
But just as she had a feeling that would be her future, a group of particularly chaotic and loud prodigies walked straight past her, blocking Sophie from Magnate Leto's line of vision. She knew an opportunity when she saw one, so she took that one to slip away (along with a seven foot tall goblin who made that pretty difficult) and practically melt into the shadows of the hallway, strolling smoothly towards her next class.
But something else happened too.
Something different.
When she turned away, she had smirked.
~ I know this was short so this and part three and being published at the same time! They were originally going to be in the same chapter, but I decided to split them up. Enjoy! 💕 ~
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Finding Keefe (Sokeefe)
Fantasy* STORY CURRENTLY DISCONTINUED * Was on hiatus for a while - will most likely be discontinued unless I ever decide to pick it up again, which is rare. Sorry! ~ This story is a different plot line based at the beginning of Stellarlune ~ Sophie had ne...
