The Foxfire Chronicles- Comrades and Classmates

Chapter 36- A Series of Realizations

            Hi, guys! It has been a long time, but I'm so glad to be back. This is going to be the extra-long finale to this book, and I hope that everyone enjoys!

Sophie buzzed with excitement. Today was the day! She had been looking forward to her one-on-one time with Fitz all week, and the day was finally here. After putting an unusually long amount of thought into her clothing, she had finally decided on wearing a red top, since Biana was always telling her how much the color complimented her eyes. Her heart pulsed, with nervous excitement. For all the times she'd been in a group hanging out with Fitz, she'd never really gotten a great chance to get to know him in a more private setting. 

          She convinced Grady to drop her off, hastily saying that the point was to work on her drama club role as a stage manager (Heaven forbid a repeat of the incident with Keefe). Reluctantly, he agreed, and Sophie was dropped off at the Vacker's large golden gates. She walked up their lane, slowly making her way through the expansive property, and getting more and more flushed the closer she got. When she knocked on the doorbell, Della opened it with her trademark beautiful smile.

         "Hello, Sophie." Della said, gesturing her in. "Biana's gone, but Fitz is upstairs waiting for your help." Sophie thanked her, and stepped in, fully enjoying the feeling of their warm house. It was such a relief to be out of the biting cold that told her winter was slowly creeping closer, bringing with it a whole host of things to worry about. The play was coming up, the end of semester, and  . . . the dance. Which she was not thinking of. Nope, no way, no how. Shaking her head and leaving her thoughts behind, she clambered up the stairs anxiously.

         "Sophie?" Fitz called, and her heart fluttered just a bit. She followed the sound of his voice into the Vacker game room, where she'd played with her friends countless times. 

          "Hey!" She said, smiling. She wanted to say more, but realized she didn't really know what to talk about. Awkwardly, she added, "So . . . do you want to do lines now, or .. . ?" Thankfully he just nodded and waved a packet.

         "Got 'em right here. How about we start from scene 3? It's my first one." He said grinning. Sophie smiled back and nodded, tenitively taking the packet and sitting across from him on a bean bag chair. Sophie smiled as she scanned the lines, seeing that she'd have to read Keefe's part. A warmth spread through her, and she almost laughed, imagining his ridiculous additions to the part. With a start she realized that Fitz was looking at her expectantly. Sophie shook her head.

       "Right, sorry." she said, smiling. She cleared her throat and performed her best Keefe impression; "Okay, servant? Yeah. You. Can you come over here and give me a massage? All this hard work signing papers is draining." She waved her hand dramatically, and Fitz gave her antics a little chuckle. Then he gave his own line perfectly, never loosing his scarily accurate British accent.

          As a matter of fact, as the two continued Sophie realized that Fitz didn't really even need her help. His memory of each line seemed impeccable, reciting each piece of diologue word for word, and Sophie slowly began to wonder if this meeting was really ever about the play practice. She expected to feel the familiar sensation of butterflies at the thought, but instead she felt only surprise and a fair bit of nerves. She quickly shoved the unsettling feelings aside and continued on, reading for each part. It seemed that her memory must have been better than she had thought, because she didn't even need the lines for most of the roles. It had happened without her even having realized it, because she had spent so much of her time listening to those lines being performed. 

         Finally the two finished, and when Fitz stood, Sophie followed suit. "Well, thanks for having me over," she said smiling at Fitz, "But I think I should probably head home. Grady will be expecting me since . . . you know."