How I Fell in Love (#3 How I Fell in Love Trilogy)

Merry Christmas, Mr. Sencen

"Keefe! What are you doing here?" Sophie whispered, dumbfounded. She slapped herself halfheartedly to make sure she was awake. 

Keefe grinned at her, or at least she assumed that was what he was doing. Sophie darted to the desk, where she always kept her Hello Kitty flashlight. She turned the faded beam's rays onto the window. 

Sure enough, Keefe was there, grinning like a maniac. 

"Miss me Foster?" He asked, climbing into her room. 

"Shh!" Sophie quieted harshly. "What's going on?" 

"I got a plane ticket from Oliver's parents for Christmas." Keefe closed the window behind him. 

"I can't have you in here!" Sophie stage whispered. As much as she had yearned for Keefe to come home, she could not have her parents find out he was in her room in the middle of the night. 

Hurt flashed in Keefe's eyes. He turned from her and walked back towards the window. "I understand. I'll... see you tomorrow, maybe. Or later today." He re-opened the window. Sophie moved the where he was and grabbed his arm. 

"Keefe," Sophie paused in her sentence. Keefe had grown taller. Sophie noticed she had to crane her neck even further just to see his lips twist into a spiritless smirk. 

"What?" 

"I..." Sophie wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a fierce hug. She grunted when he reciprocated, nearly squeezing all the breath from her lungs. 

"Uh, Foster." 

"Yeah?" 

"Could you turn off the flashlight? It's burning my eyes." 

Sophie switched it off quickly. "I'm sorry you can't stay, but my parents would be furious." 

"Yeah, I know how that is." 

"Oh yeah, how did that go?" Sophie asked, remembering Keefe's parent trouble. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Sophie crossed her arms. 

"You've visited them, right?" 

"Not lately..." 

"Keefe! You haven't even been home yet?" 

"Why would I go see them when they didn't even want me back?" Keefe's face took on an ugly expression. "I'm not going to go see them when they haven't even had the energy to check in on me."  

Sophie nodded. From what she'd seen of Keefe's parents, they looked pretty unapologetic about shipping Keefe off to another country. She'd seen them leaving for parties nearly every weekend, and they often hosted parties on Friday afternoons. 

"I can't force you to do anything, but I think you should at least notify them that you're here... even if it's right before you go back." 

Keefe threw her a sideways glance. "Actually Foster... I'm not going back." 

"Mmm-hmm. Wait WHAT?" Sophie grabbed Keefe's shoulders. "What do you mean you're not going back?" 

Keefe moved his hands over Sophie's and moved them off his shoulders. "I'm not going back as in I'm never going to journey back to the place where the students all cry, 'God save the Queen!' when they realize they're late to class." 

Sophie blinked slowly, and felt quite stupid for not understanding Keefe's seemingly senseless explanation. 

"I'm going to live here and make my own way." Keefe said, a shake reverberating in his voice, as if he was nervous. 

Sophie crossed the room to sit on her bed. "But Keefe, what are you going to do? Your parents are going to be livid, and dropping out of college could be something you're going to regret. I mean, your parents are paying for your education! Once you drop out of London, they probably won't offer you the same deal." 

Keefe shrugged. "I'm good at winging it, Foster." 

"You can't just 'wing' life! You need to plan and save and work hard!" Sophie argued, frustrated. She felt tears threatening to spill out, though she didn't know why she was so worked up. Sophie dropped her head into her hands. 

Something warm draped over her shoulders. An arm. 

"I'm sorry I upset you, and I'm even sadder that you don't believe I can make it on my own." Keefe softly spoke. 

"No, it's not that." Sophie objected. Keefe hugged her once, and then just as quickly as it came, Keefe's arm vanished. 

It was about five minutes before Sophie realized Keefe had left. 

                                                                                                 *  *  * 

Christmas vacation passed slowly, dragging its feet like a petulant child. 

"Keefe? It's Sophie...I'm so sorry...please call me." 

The phone went straight to voicemail, just like the last 50 times. 

Sophie kept quiet about Keefe's visit. She couldn't bring herself to share news that maybe Keefe wanted a secret. They would find out soon anyway.   

                                                                                       *  *  * 

Sophie watched from a window as Mr. Sencen examined his mail, cocking his head at an eggshell colored envelope with a poinsettia stamp. He quickly tore the letter open, and Sophie could see his lips moving as he read the words. She ducked behind the curtain as Mr. Sencen looked up for a moment, blinking rapidly. Sophie turned away as fat tears dripped down her own cheeks. 

A similar eggshell letter lay on the ground, rips tearing across the front. Sophie wiped her nose and left the room, leaving abandoned letter behind.   

I'm sorry I'm updating again so late. It's very painful when you realize your characters are still in Christmas vacation. Anyway, I'm hoping to give you all at least another chapter just in case I disappear off the face of the earth again.