Keeper of the Lost Cities- Deathgrip

Wait. What?

"Iggy, help me!" Sophie moaned, burying her face in her mountain of pillows. "I don't know what to doooooo..."

"He probably doesn't like you. Not with that shirt. Seriously? Imps? You've pretty much written across your forehead that you're not willing to make an effort for him, so why would he care about you?" A small voice chirped in. Vertina. 

"Shut uuup," Sophie whined. "He said he likes it. Not that it matters." She said the last part in a whisper. 

Iggy chose this moment to let out an earth-shaking burp, just to make matters worse. "Iggy!" Sophie gasped. She lifted her amazing shirt to her face and stuffed her face into it, inhaling that scent instead of the poisonous bomb that Iggy just detonated. A very bright neon orange Iggy. Ro had probably asked Dex to do that to match her nails. That put a small smile on Sophie's face. Her mind wandered back to her encounter with Lady Gisela. She should probably tell somebody. How was she able to focus on silly feelings when the Neverseen was literally trying to take over the world?! Uhhhhhhh. She should call her friends. Tell them that Keefe is awake. Yes. That would take her mind off everything and it was being productive. Win-win. Sophie looked around her massive room for her imparter and spotted it by Iggy's cage. "Ugh. It's too far. Maybe later."

* * *

"Hail Biana Vacker," Sophie said, twenty minutes later, holding up her imparter to her mouth. 

 A few seconds later, Biana clicked onto the little screen, looking well put together, per usual. "Sophie! How are- oh." She took in Sophie's rumpled, tear-stained face and paused. "Sophie? Are you okay?" 

Sophie had forgotten what she looked like. Oops. She wiped quickly at her face. "No, no. I'm okay. I just wanted to tell you that Keefe is awake. Yay!" She said halfheartedly. 

Biana smiled, although a confused look was still on her face. "That's great! But then, what's bothering you?" 

"Nothing!" Sophie said, a little too quickly. "I'm fine. I should probably let you go. I have to tell the others." 

Biana frowned. "Ookay.  But I'm coming over later, and you're going to tell me. So you better use this time constructing a real convincing lie." 

A tight knot formed again in Sophie's stomach and she gave a weak smile. "I'm telling you, I'm fine." 

Biana just shook her head and ended the call. Sophie sighed and decided to take a leap of faith before she called the rest of her friends. "Vertina?" She asked in a small voice. 

Vertina popped up in the corner of the body length mirror in the corner of Sophie's room. "Yes?" She asked in an annoyed tone. 

"Umm... can you help me look less... sad?" Sophie mumbled uncomfortably. 

Vertina brightened and if she had hands, Sophie could swear she heard a little clap of joy. "Omigod, seriously?!"

"Yeah."

"Okay, so grab that brush over there," Vertina nodded towards the golden brush on her table. After fifteen minutes, Sophie felt less like Vertina was making her look presentable and more like she was prepping her for a ball. 

"Um, I think that's enough, I just didn't want to look like I had been crying!" Sophie cut in, while Vertina guided her through putting on shimmery gloss on her lips. 

She sighed. "Maybe I should just be happy you let me go this far.

Sophie nodded and reached for her imparter again, but not before looking in the mirror. Her eyes widened. Woah, Vertina sure did know what she was doing. Sophie didn't look like she was crying, to say the least. A snarky smile lit up Vertina's face. "You like? I know, I do have great makeup advice." 

Sophie turned her mirror around before Vertina could bug her anymore and then, spoke into her imparter. "Hail Fitzroy Vacker." 

Fitz immediately answered. "Hi, Sophie!" 

"Hey," Sophie replied. "I have some news for you!"

Fitz did a double-take and squinted at her face. "Um, did you hang out with Biana or something? You look good. Not that you don't normally!" Fitz said trying to recover. Sophie heard a snort come from somebody that sounded suspiciously like Vertina. She rolled her eyes, which felt heavier with the makeup.

"It's fine Fitz. I just wanted to tell you that Keefe woke up." 

Fitz flushed a little. "Oh. That's great."

 Sophie frowned at his unenthusiastic reaction. "Fitz, what's wrong? Aren't you two best friends? You haven't really visited at all and you don't seem happy."

Fitz ran a hand through his dark hair and his eyes darkened a little. "It's fine Sophie. Don't push this." Then, he hung up. 

Wait. What?