Seventeen | Soulmate AU | ✔

28 | Normality

i hope you guys have an amazing thanksgiving and have had an amazing halloween. that goes for diwali also, for those of you that celebrate that. don't forget to check out the halloween bonus chapter in my oneshot book (called You Can't Burn Ashes). If you're lazy, just scroll a bit on my newsfeed (underneath the conversation tab on my profile) and you'll find the exact page linked.

for all of you that are students (all of you i bet) i hope you hang in there until the end of the school year. i'm feeling a little bit worn down & i bet some of you are too. we'll get through this, together x

vote & comment if you like the chapter. feedback is always appreciated.

Keefe slips his arm through the crook of mine, tugging me along, gently. "C'mon, they'll love you."

"You don't know that," I shoot back, my eyes narrow. I can't help that a smile plays onto my lips, though. It's sweet that he's reassuring me. I'm hypersensitive to his skin touching mine.

"Biana's going to be over the moon that another girl is in the group," he tells me, his tone fading to something less content for a moment. I decide not to ask, instead sliding my hand down to his, lacing our jumbled heap of fingers together and squeezing.

Who would've thought that Keefe had so many layers? It astounds me, the more I get to know him. There's so much hidden under his jokes and smirks.

We approach the group, and I try to let go of his hand, my cheeks flushing red as I realize that they've witnessed the entire thing from a distance. Keefe doesn't let me let go, instead gripping my hand harder to his own.

"Hey, guys," he says, smirking.

"Coach is going to kill you today during practice, Sencen," one of the boys in the group says, looking up. I recognize him. He's the one with a reputation as a player.

"Don't remind me," Keefe says with a small groan.

"Why?" I ask quietly.

The boy he was talking to turns to me, his eyes raking over my figure in a way that makes me slightly uncomfortable. I feel like I'm being examined. Not necessarily in a bad way, but in a way that makes you wonder how many flaws everyone else sees. He looks like a jock, same as Keefe, but after Keefe I'm not so sure to think there's not much else to him. He and Keefe seem close, and he seems more observant than you would take him for originally.

He is very attractive, but something about him unnerves me slightly. I think that it might be his eyes. They're green, but rather dull. There's something haunting about the look he pulls off, and it makes me wonder what it is that he's gone through.

"You don't know?" he laughs, jerking his thumb towards Keefe. "This kid skipped practice because you called him."

I let go of Keefe's hand this time, folding my arms over my chest. "Is that true?"

"You're more important to me than practice?" he offers a wide grin in response. It's hard to be even slightly mad at that.

"You didn't have to do that," I say, wrinkling my nose. "I don't want you to get in trouble."

"Please, he gets in trouble enough as it is," a new voice chimes in from the side. I turn to see a girl with the same green eyes as the guy we were talking to. They're easily siblings, with attractive features and smooth skin. She, however, does not have the look in his eyes that her brother does. There's something different about her that throws me off instead. Maybe it's the fact that she's more gorgeous than anyone deserves to be.

"I'm Biana," she introduces, without a full smile. Her eyes shine with interest. "I'm that half-wit's sister, in case you couldn't tell."

"I can tell," I say, looking to Keefe for assurance. He flashes me a smile. A small smile flits across mine. "Who's the 'half-wit'?" I use air quotes.

"Fitz," Keefe tells me. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce you. Fitz, bud, buddy, best friend – let me introduce you to Sophie Foster the one and only, my soulmate, my new best friend."

I almost snort, but I refrain from doing so.

"I figured," Fitz nods coolly, tucking his hands into his pockets. He doesn't offer anything else.

The few other people in the group look up, the fact that I'm Keefe's soulmate catching their attention. There's a pair of twins with dark hair and fair skin. One has red tips that stand out in particular. The other has silver tips. Another girl in the group has lavender purple hair with streaks of darker violet. The group itself makes a statement. It's certainly not necessarily what I thought that a popular group would look like if I pictured one.

"Hi, I'm Linh," one of the twins says, her silver tips bouncing as she turns her head to toss her hair over her shoulder. She talks quietly, softly. She seems nice.

"Tam," her twin greets, his tone curt and short. He goes breaks away from the small group he was in with Linh and the girl with purple dyed hair to reach for Biana, where he sits down next to her and pulls her close to him. They must be soulmates.

The one girl left in the group openly stares at me. "It's Marella," she says finally, holding out her hand for a fist bump. I oblige, smiling at her. Her hand lands on her hip, her form naturally betraying her seemingly sassy personality. I can tell that she's not someone I want to mess with right off the bat.

"I'm Sophie," I say, not sure what else to do. I send Keefe a helpless look, to which he just looped a lazy arm around my waist.

Luckily, the bell rang after he did so, saving me from socializing more. Unfortunately, though, it was too late for my red cheeks.

Keefe nudges me, and we say goodbye, leaving for class.

I feel awkward going into to the familiar building. I feel as though I've been absent from school and everything school stands for. My eyes have been opened in so many ways, my life's problems bigger than school.

I walk through the entire school day in a similar haze. I missed the routine that the place brought with it, the normality.

It was right after school that I finally caught up to Dex for the first time in a long time.

"Dex!" He turned at his name, waiting for me to catch up with him.

"Hi, hey," I greeted, slowing down so that I was beside him.

"Long time no see," he nods, giving me a smile. "How are you feeling?"

I pause as I think it over. "I'm okay."

"Can I come over to yours?" he asks, and that's all it takes for everything to feel like it usually does.

My eyes fly to his. "Of course," I breathe.