Trust Me - a Sophitz story

Part 3

Chapter 3:

She channeled as she ran, sprinting at top speed to Bianca's room where she could hear that Dex had arrived. "It's about time you guys got down here!" Bianca's chipper voice chirped, but as she turned, and saw Sophie's face, tear-streaked, red, and without any fight left, she said, in a much more serious voice than she had ever used before, "Dex, go find Fitz. Tell him Sophie and I need some girl time," Turning to Sophie she added, "Sit. There. Tell. Me. Everything." Sophie turned, flopped into the chair, and then telekinetically, slammed the door shut, locking it with her thoughts.

Too exhausted to speak, to spill her soul for the second time in a few minutes, Sophie shook her head and, leaning over, her head cradled in her palms, whispered, "I told him. Everything. Can I...?" When Bianca nodded, Sophie reached a shaky hand towards her friend's temple and poured the memory of her epic embarrassment out of her head and into Bianca's with the last of her strength, before collapsing into Bianca's arm, crying.

Shocked beyond comprehension, the only rational speech Bianca was capable of was, "Oh... oh... my.... wow," which hardly counts as rational thought. Still in shock herself, all Sophie could do was nod and cry, hating her weakness over a boy, even if he had amazing, impossible good looks and gorgeous eyes.

"Wonderboy! Wonderboy!! FITZ!!" Dex wandered through the expansive crystal halls of Everglen, being loud, knowing that Alden and Dela were away, and that the only other person nearby had to be the one he had been sent to look for. Finally reaching the beautifully carved door that led to Fitz's room, Dex didn't even bother to knock, but instead burst through the door, ready to yell at Fitz for whatever he had done to reduce Sophie to tears. Dex was ready to burst through and be angry, but he wasn't expecting to find Fitz sitting on the floor, staring at a small purple dinosaur.

For Fitz's part, he reacted remarkably well to Dex bursting in. Fitz looks up and, focusing on Dex's face asked, "How? How was I so blind?"

"I honestly don't know. Why do you think I hated you?"

"You mean..."

"Of course," Dex agreed reluctantly. "How could I not? She was, still is, beautiful and strong and powerful, and yeah, I crushed on her. But she only ever liked you. Even Keefe could tell that. She was so helpless around you, like she didn't know her own name anymore. When you complimented her, she would light up. But we all knew you were oblivious. You were so blind. And now, you might've lost your Cognate."

Fitz sat, blinking, reeling at the plain, uncensored truth Dex laid before him. "All this time... she...?"

"Yeah. Now, go find her. I have a feeling you have a lot to talk about."

Bianca leaned away from Sophie, pushing her friend into a chair and letting her support her own weight. Handing Sophie a handkerchief, she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Wow," she breathed, yet again. "I mean, we all knew you liked him but... it's so much more heartbreaking that he had no idea when I can see it from your perspective."

Recovering enough to think clearly, Sophie said, "I can't believe I'm crying over your brother," more to herself than to Bianca.

But much to her surprise, her friend laughed. "I know. It's unbelievable that he never noticed. Even Dex knew."

Still not trusting her voice to be back to normal, Sophie nodded. "Was I that obvious?"

"Yes. And Keefe is an empath. Will you tell me why he isn't here?"

"Fitz's call, not mine. You should talk to him."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm staying out of the love triangle. Or should we call it a square?"

"Yeah, it's fun to be me."

"Go find him, Sophie. I have a feeling you have a lot to talk about."