After Lodestar

Back to Foxfire

(A/N): I know it's been a really long time since I last updated, but I've been pretty busy dealing with Christmas. And today is New Year's Eve, so I thought: "Why not? I'll start writing chapter number four and see where it gets me."  So with no further ado, enjoy!

Two weeks have gone by since the day I found out my human family had been kidnapped. Despite the trauma of it all, I've been able to somewhat calm down with frequent visits by Keefe and some awkward telepathy practices with Fitz. Right now, at this moment, however, I am solely focused on the pot of dread boiling furiously away in the pit of my stomach. Today I go back to school. It's been bad enough having to return from the Black Swan, especially when everyone knows about it. But after last month's happenings, I'd be surprised if anyone gave me anything nicer than a hateful glare. Of course, how can I blame them?

Just last month, the Neverseen's long-plotted attack officially became successful when the leaders of each of the intelligent species were put in severe danger while in hospitality of the elves, which definitely won't give us the benefit of the doubt. Once again, we were deceived by the Neverseen and luckily, only one life was lost.
     And of course, that life was Mr. Forkle's.
     "Hey Sophie, Dex is here!" I hear Edaline's voice, bringing me out of my reminiscing. Swiftly, I brush through my blonde hair with my fingers and let it fall down my back, realizing that it's almost at my waist. "Alright, Sophie, it doesn't matter what everyone will say. You can do this," I whisper to myself quietly. After double-checking my appearance in the mirror, I rush downstairs to find Dex waiting in the massive living room. He's wearing the Level four Foxfire uniform and definitely looks a lot better than I do in my skirt and vest. His strawberry blonde hair frames his perfect elvin features and his friendly periwinkle eyes only benefit the handsome image. Despite everything we've been through, I'm still thankful beyond words to have such an amazing best friend. "Hey, Dex," I greet him happily. As long as I have him with me, I think I'll be okay today. "Hey. You ready to face the terror that is school?" I scoff and he walks over and gives me a quick hug. We walk up the stairs to the Leapmaster and I yell, "Foxfire!" Immediately, the feathers of warmth pull us away to reaveal the beautiful campus, with its glass building reflecting the sun's rays and illuminating the whole School like the glowing fungus that shares its name.
We don't see the rest of our group anywhere and make our way to the Level four hallway. And then the whispering starts.

     She was there.

     Did you hear what happened?

     Why was she at the meeting?

     She didn't deserve to be there.

     It's probably her fault, she's a freak after
     all.

     Ouch. That last one hurts. But I promised myself I wouldn't be affected by the opinions of people who have no idea what actually happened, who have to idea what was lost that day, and what I went through to try and fail at getting it back. I sigh out loud.

     "Don't worry, Sophie, soon enough they'll have something else to gossip about. Besides, it's not like they actually know what happened," Dex tells me reassuringly. "I know, but it's still sad to see how much they're kept in the dark about it. Especially when they take it out on me because I just happened to be there. When do you think the Council will give the announcement about Mr. Forkle?"
When an important elf dies, the Council sends out a scroll to every family's doorstep. Within the scrolls, the family is given information on the planting of the elf's Wanderling. To celebrate the ceased person's life, a piece of their DNA is imbedded in a single seed, which will grow into a tree obtaining physical traits of that person. I guess mourning a person's death is easier if their grave stone is a colorful plant.
Dex looks deep in thought for a few moments and I appreciate how hard he's trying to give me an honest answer. "Honestly, they can't wait too much longer because the people will start demanding answers. But they won't rush into an explanation because it's obvious that they can't tell everyone exactly what happened. They need to bend the truth at the least, or just call it a freak accident." I nod my head at his reasoning. We reach our lockers and I peer at my DNA strip suspiciously, praying that Elwin wasn't allowed to pick the flavor.
Elwin, the school's physician, is notorious for choosing the worst possible flavors to make the locker's DNA strips. When I first came here, Dex warned me to be weary when licking the strips because Elwin had previously flavored them horrendous things like 'fart' or 'burnt hair'. I shiver at the thought and gingerly give my strip the tiniest lick possible, only to recoil with a disapproving squeak as the taste of expired soup overwhelms my senses. I hear deep laughter behind me and turn to see a handsome boy with disheveled hair and mischievously gleaming eyes walking up to us. "I take it you just discovered the week's delicious new flavor," he tells me, more as a statement than a question. I shove him in the shoulder and fight off the slight blush rising t my cheeks. Of course that  proves to be quite impossible when Fitz and Biana join us. Biana looks stunning as always, her thick brown hair cascading in waves down her back and her bright real eyes sparkling with the morning sun. Of course Fitz just has to look like a model, thanks to his broad shoulders and tall frame, not to mention the perfect Vacker features that definitely didn't surpass him.
"Hey guys," I greet them, smiling at the fact that we somehow always manage to find each other in this giant building. Biana immediately tackles me with a hug and squeals in excitement, causing me laugh. Her happiness really is contagious. "How are you holding up, Sophie?" I look up and see a slight crease forming between Fitz's brows. Looking around at everyone else, it's clear that they all share his concern. Sighing, I fold my arms and shrug. And giving my best attempt at a unconcerned expression, I tell them: "Of course. It's true that a lot's happened and I know that I worried everyone a little after the attack, but I promise I'm fine." Everyone buys it except for Keefe, which doesn't surprise me at all. He always could see right through my lies, and I doubt he even needs to be an Empath to do it.
     The bell rings, signaling that we have to go to class. I grab my books out of my open locker and close it, sighing once again as I make my way down the hallway. I feel a tap on my right shoulder and turn to see who it is, but am only greeted by empty space and soft snickering to my left. Swirling around, I glare at an amused Keefe and proceed to speed-walk to my class in hopes of shaking him off. "Oh come on Foster, I was just kidding," he laughs and apparently doesn't mind my hostile reaction one bit. "You should know by now that you can't out-walk the Keefster. If anything, you should be honored to be in my presence!"
     Cue to eye roll.
     Yet as always, I can't help but laugh at his ridiculousness. "Okay, well maybe you should know by now that I have to get to class and have no time for annoying boys," I tell him.
To no one's surprise whatsoever, he continues walking beside me and I see his signature smirk starting to surface. Uh oh. The smirk means trouble. "But I thought you love annoying boys!" Again, time to bring out the eye roll. "You're impossible."
      We reach my first class and I turn to say goodbye to him. But before I can form an entire word, I feel his arms wrap around me as he pulls me closer. I just stand there for half a second before realizing that I should probably hug him back. I put my arms around his back and try to ignore the fact that my face is most likely going to melt right off any moment. He then leans in and whispers into my ear, "bye, Sophie." We pull out of the hug and I stare at him, somehow not quite able to look away from his icy blue eyes.
     This reminds me of when we were standing just outside of the Sanctuary, waiting for the Council to arrive. I had asked them to set Silveny and Greyfell free, knowing that they were no longer safe from the Neverseen within our custody. I had wanted Keefe to come along because I knew that he was going through a rough time coping with the loss of his mother, and it seemed like it might cheer him up a little. (Which obviously didn't work, judging by the fact that he thereafter joined the Neverseen). But before our privacy ran out, he had given me his mother's necklace and by doing so, stepped so close to me that our boots were touching and I could see the snowflakes peppering his perfect eyelashes. It makes me blush just thinking about it.
     I break our eye contact and look at my shoes. Smooth, Sophie. Real smooth. "See you next period," he tells me in a perfectly calm voice and winks as he walks away. I watch his back recede into the crowd of students and admittedly stand there for a while longer. Then, I finally get a grip and walk into the classroom, where my Mentor is patiently sitting at her desk, staring at me intently with a hint of amusement she can't quite hide.

     It's official, Sophie Foster's face is melting off.

(A/N): Okay, so I admit that it took me a while to write this chapter. But it was mostly because of the fact that school's starting up again and I have to deal with my horrible Physics teacher as well as Softball tryouts, which start soon. But despite these annoying delays, I'm still pretty satisfied with this chapter and hope you liked it!