Seventeen | Soulmate AU | ✔

31 | Teenage Sass

thought i'd give y'all a double update while i had the time. hopefully this makes your monday a little better...and makes up for all of the updates i've previously missed.

fun fact: this story was originally going to be told in only keefe's point of view, but then i changed it as i figured there was a lot around sophie too.

how do you guys like the new cover? all credit goes to skimmilk11, and i'm honestly so honored that they made me so many covers. i love the set that i got, and i'll definitely be using at least one more. i'll be displaying all of the covers i've got at the end of the story, including the rest of the set that you might not get to see on the front.

"Sophie!" Another call comes from downstairs and I fumble with my jeans, pulling them on as the last thing I need to do and grabbing my things in haste. My feet hit the stairs like blocks of wood colliding, loud and untactful. At the bottom, I slide into one of the bar stools at our small bar where there's a steaming set of eggs and toast.

She had to be at the Healing Center in fifteen minutes and she wasn't even halfway done with her morning routine.

Both of her parents made their ways around the kitchen, Edaline making her morning coffee and Grady sitting down and shoveling down breakfast whilst skimming the daily paper. The scene was ridiculously normal, something that put her at ease. Judging from the two plates by the sink, Amy had already eaten.

The downstairs was the heart of our house, always thrumming with life.

Grady put the newspaper down when he realized that she was sitting a foot away from him. He was 'adorably oblivious' sometimes to his surroundings, as so put by his wife. He frowned. "I know my cooking is good, but you don't need to eat that fast," he teased.

Edaline glared at him from the other side of the kitchen, her steaming cup of coffee in hand seemingly matching her thoughts about his words. She pursed her lips, but didn't comment, making her way out the kitchen to finish her morning routine.

"There's only fifteen minutes left to get ready," I tell him through a mouthful of food, then realize that it comes out all distorted by the eggs in my mouth. I crunch on toast. I swallow.

He ignores me, starting to flip back through the newspaper. He stops on a page. "There's this interesting news article that made the paper today, kiddo. Something about humans' ears evolving into points gradually."

"What? Like elves?" I snort at the ridiculous idea. "Yeah, sure. You know what they say about fake news these days, don't you?"

Grady looks at me, wide-eyed. He frowns at his paper, his eyes landing on a certain section. "But there's factual evidence! It says here that a study done by Harvard University found that human ears are slowly evolving into points. Professor Donwell theorizes that it's because people get so much water stuck in their ears these days."

"Sure," I say sarcastically.

"Teenage sass, geez," he mutters under his breath. "What did I do to deserve this?"

I give him a half-hearted glare.

"You aren't even this sassy with me when I make my that boy remarks!" he defends.

"Maybe I should start," I muse, stroking my chin exaggeratedly. "What is it that you have against him anyways?"

"Well, let's see...one, he's a boy, two, he's your soulmate, three, he likes you, four, he's a gentleman, five, he's already been in this house five times and you've only known him for a bit, six –"

I cut him off. "You do realize that I'm going to have to grow up someday, right?"

"Growing old isn't an option. Growing up is. Facts," he sasses me triumphantly.

"Gross," I wrinkle my nose.

"When I found your mother for the first time and we started talking, I didn't move nearly as fast with her as you kids do these days," Grady says, folding his arms.

"That's not true."

He slumps in defeat. "You're right, it's not." He sits back up. "But that doesn't mean I like it when he comes around."

"He has a name. Besides, he's going to be in our family for a long time," I say confidently, finishing the last of the food on my plate and bringing it to the sink to set aside. I go back for my orange juice.

"What, you can't get rid of him?"

"Not even if I tried," I say with a grin, gulping down the last of my juice.

"Ah, shame." Grady says, finishing his breakfast and bringing his things to the sink the way I did. "I...guess I'll start being more open-minded, but that doesn't mean I won't hesitate to break him the moment he breaks your heart."

I know this is the most I'll get out of him, and I smile. "Thanks," I say, giving him a Sophie-sized hug.

"Yeah, yeah. Five minutes until we have to go."

"Oh, shoot," I squeal, jumping out of his embrace and sprinting for the stairs. I completely lost track of time.