A Light in the Dark (A Sotam story)

Confusion.

Sophie's POV

So maybe breaking up with Fitz wasn't a good idea? Sophie didn't know! Her head hurt from all the doubts and questions. After last night's fight, she said they were done, and he said good.

 But it hurt. 

She had ended it! Why does it hurt so much?! Maybe it was the fact that he didn't seem to care, that he supported the idea? Ugh, Sophie needed to call Keefe, He always cheers her up. 

Turns out, Keefe doesn't always cheer her up. 

He made things worse! Sophie called him, but when he answered his background was blurred and it was very loud on his end. 

He said, "Sorry Sophie, I have to go, call you later, don't worry I'm safe, bye!" 

Since when did he call her Sophie?! Way to make a girl worry. 

Sophie stuffed her head into her pillow with a groan, Why did life have to be so complicated?!

"Sophie?"

Sophie looked up to find Edaline walking over, she seemed concerned. 

Just what Sophie needed... an Edaline interrogation. 

Edaline laughed as Sophie hid her face again: "Sophie, I'm not here to force you to share anything. I just wanted to tell you that you should get ready for school, and I made Calla's starkflower stew."

Sophie sat up, "starkflower stew?" 

Edaline smiled, "Get dressed and come downstairs." Then she left. 

Sophie definitely needed Calla's stew. A couple of weeks ago Sophie shared the recipe with her mom but didn't expect Edaline to catch on so quickly. 

She put on her foxfire uniform and stepped in front of Vertina. Vertina would probably distract Sophie from her mind for a little while. 

Vertina appeared and gave Sophie a once-over. She sighed, "Okay, obviously, you need a little makeup, I mean look at those shadows under your eyes, did you even sleep at all? And what is going on with your hair? Not to mention-" 

Sophie rolled her eyes, "Just tell me what to do."

After ten minutes of following Vertina's careful instructions, she was pleasantly surprised with the results. She still looked like the same Sophie but...bolder.   Her dark circles disappeared, her skin had a shimmery glow to it, and her eyes were especially pretty thanks to the gold eyeliner and eyeshadow Vertina suggested. 

She thanked Vertina, which was something she never thought she'd say, and walked to the kitchen. 

Edaline was already sitting down and eating her soup, Sophie sat across from her and took a bite. It tasted deep and earthy and reminded her of Calla, it wasn't the exact same but it was close. It warmed her up and gave her hope. 

Sophie drained her bowl and asked, "How did you make this so good on your first try?!"  

Edaline smiled, "I had a little help from Flori." Sophie glanced around the kitchen in search of the tiny gnome. "Flori took some of the stew to share with the other gnomes who live here," Edaline explained, "so just Nebuti will be your bodyguard today." 

Sophie mentally slapped herself, how could she be worrying about her silly little boy problems when other things were going on?

Ro and Bo were both in the ogre city for the ogre queen's funeral, aka Ro's mom! Sophie never met the queen and she didn't even know the queen's name! It didn't matter anyway, it was an event strictly for ogres only. Not even the council was invited to attend. 

Tarina, her troll bodyguard, was busy preparing to become empress of Marintrylla after Empress Pernille was banished to prison. 

While, Sandor and Grizel were in Gildingham preparing for their wedding, where Sophie, her friends, and their parents were all invited too. 

So yeah, her bodyguards are pretty low at the moment. 

She finished eating, grabbed her bag, and gave her teeth a quick brush before jogging to the leap master. All the anxiety was coming back but Sophie gritted her teeth and told herself, She will be fine. She would say sorry to Fitz. 

"Foxfire!" 

Sophie scanned the area as she made her way to her locker and even though she told herself she'd apologize to Fitz, she was trying to avoid him. 

She licked the DNA panel on her locker and it clicked open. She was a little disappointed that she didn't find a gift from Fitz. 

She dumped her bag in and grabbed her books for Elementalism. 

What she needed was Keefe, he would come and try to 'cheer her up' while she'd pretend she was 'bothered' by his jokes but actually, she would be glad that he was talking to her while he forced all drama out of her. 

But he was nowhere to be seen. 

She started walking down the long hallways that all looked the same in search of the Elementalism room.  She ended up crashing into Biana, who didn't look so good. 

Biana's mascara was smudged from held-back tears, her uniform was wrinkled, and she kept sniffling. 

"Biana," Sophie asked, "Are you okay?"

Biana looked up and started sobbing, "No, I am not okay. I just broke Tam's heart but I had to...I'm a councilor now. I think I made the wrong call and now he's ignoring me but then Dex comes up to me and I start feeling butterflies but then I feel guilty and ashamed! I'm a councillor and I just broke Tam's heart! What am I supposed to do?!" 

Sophie grabbed Biana's shoulder, "Woah, Back the t-rex up! One, you're a councillor?! Two, you broke Tam's heart?! Three, You like Dex?!"

Biana sniffled, "Yeah, I replaced Ramira. The council didn't announce it yet. I thought I could handle the responsibility, but now... I don't know! I might like Dex but I also broke Tam's heart because I became a councillor!" 

Sophie gave Biana a huge hug and told her, "I can't fix your problems, but I can support you no matter what. If you want to resign, tell the council you tried but can't handle the responsibility. I'm sure Tam will get over it, and if you like Dex, then go ahead. But just know, I support you one hundred percent." 

Biana smiled, full of determination. "Thanks, Sophie. I'm gonna go figure things out and stop being a baby about it!" 

Sophie didn't even have time to ask when and how Biana became a councilor because she ran off. She continued to walk down the hall, the bell was going to ring any minute and she'd be late. But then, she didn't care anymore because she saw something that crushed her heart into tiny pieces. 

Fitz, with Lihn by his side, his arm wrapped around her. 

Sophie sucked in a breath and ordered herself to stay calm, she would not cry in the middle of the hallway. But this meant her relationship with Fitz was officially over. There was no going back. 

She ran.

Sophie ran into the closest bathroom and slammed the door shut, locking it behind her. 

Then she sank to the cold floor. Fitz had already gotten over her, that was..shocking. 

She buried her face in her hands and sobbed until she couldn't no more. 

If Fitz didn't like her anymore, she would move on too. She had plenty of options, better options.