UNLOCKED, kotlc

Chapter 14

Sophie didn't remember much after that.

Elwin offered her a pink sedative and a few Bottles of Youth, but Sophie immediately turned them down.  She was vaguely aware of Fitz hailing his parents and asking if Sophie could stay the night with Biana, and Della and Alden instantly agreeing.

She only gathered a few things from her room and stuffed them in her purple backpack that she'd saved from he Forbidden Cities; some clothes, toiletries, and Ella.

The thing that made her stop in her tracks was when Keefe, Dex, and Linh decided to stay over too for one mega Black Swan sleepover.  That mixture might've been okay, but when Tam finally convinced Elwin to let him out of the Healing Center for the night, accompanied with a satchel full of elixers...

This can only end badly, Sophie thought.

But the images of Keefe and Tam arguing, Linh splashing water on their heads, Biana flirting relentlessly with Dex all while trying to convince Sophie to let her give her a makeover, made Sophie feel slightly better.

But only a little bit.

_________

"Black Swan Sleepover!" Biana squealed as Linh and Tam finally arrived.

Sophie grinned slightly, sinking onto the bed as she swung her backpack onto the bedside table.

"First things first," Biana added, and Sophie knew before she even said it what her request would be.  "Makeovers!"

"Oooh, that would be fun," Ro mused from the other side of the room.  To Keefe, she added, "Wouldn't it be fun to see your girl all dressed up?"

If Keefe could smack people with emotions, he would've- or if he'd learned how to control his Shade-y powers, which he didn't, since he'd manifested hours ago.

"Nope," Sophie insisted.

"Please?" Biana said, the playfulness leaving her tone and Sophie realized that this must also be hard for her too.  She remembered how devastated she'd been when Alden's mind broke- surely this couldn't be any more different to Biana.

"Okay," Sophie relented, and then almost immediately regretted it when Biana perked up again and led her over to the bathroom.  She caught the boys giving each other uncertain stares, which was exactly how she felt.

"Okay, I picked out a dress for you already," Biana said pointing to the dress that lay hanging on a rail.  It had a red fitted top, and matching red mesh overlapping a thick layer of deep red velvet.  

Sophie wanted to gag- which she did.

"Oh, it'll look great on you," Biana said, sensing her uneasiness.  "Change in there."

When Sophie came out, fumbling with the zipper, Biana gasped.  "You look amazing!   Let's do hair now, okay?"

Biana curled her hair into an intricate updo, topping it off with a feathery red hairclip and some makeup that Biana announced, "brought out the golden flecks" in her eyes

When Sophie headed out the door, Keefe, Dex, and Fitz all stood up at the same time, gaping, and then looked at each other awkwardly and scrambled to sit down again.  Linh and Biana giggled behind her and Tam rolled his eyes, shadows covering his face like he refused to see anymore of it.

Sophie wanted to smear the makeup of her face, trash the frilly gown, and change back into her much more comfortable plain black legging, boots, and utterly boring tunic, which were just the way she liked it.  But the way Keefe was staring at her made her heart flutter nervously and her cheeks warm underneath the layers and layers of blush...

"Okay, game time!" Dex interrupted her thoughts, standing up and carefully placing the gears and gadgets he was fiddling with on the floor as he faced the rest of them.

Tam raised his eyebrows, the shadows leaving his face like he was thinking, this could get interesting, which Sophie had no doubt it could.

"I vote base quest!" Keefe added, and then eyed Sophie.  "And I want Foster on my team."

"Any particular reason why?" Biana asked playfully, vanishing and reappearing in front of Keefe as she bopped him on the nose.

"Uh, yeah.  'Cause she always wins.  And also because my good looks mixed with her-"

"And let's not let him finish the sentence, agreed?" Fitz cut in, and most of Sophie agreed, though part of her was curious what Keefe was going to say...

"So Base Quest..." Linh said, a ball of water hovering cautiosly over her head as her eyes darted around the room like she wasn't sure which boy to throw it at.

"Yeah," Sophie said, feeling really dumb with her one-word answers.

"Okay, team time!" Dex shouted, breaking the ice.  "There's an odd number so..."

"I vote Tammy boy stays out of it!" Keefe volunteered instantly.

"Because you don't want me to beat you?" Tam retorted.

"Nope," Linh cut in, actually dumping water on their heads. "Because you still have a concussion and unless you want to bang your head into another tree-"

"Another?" Keefe and Fitz said, cracking up.

Before a fight could break out, Sophie said, "Me, Keefe, and Biana on one team, Dex, Fitz, and Linh on the other."

"Works for me," Keefe said, flashing Sophie a grin that was way to handsome for his own good.

Sophie's mind spun as she thought for probably the gazillionth time- This can only end badly.