One Word | A Kotlc Fanfiction | Human Au

Second Chances

Briiingggg! The sharp sound of the warning bell pierced Sophie's ears, abruptly dragging her out of her thoughts and prompting her to hurry inside Foxfire. Pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes, Sophie glanced nervously around the school. She had been at this school for a full week, but she still wasn't used to the perfect students that filled the hallways, or the magazine worthy looking rooms that were evenly spaced out.

As she walked to her locker, she suppressed a shudder when it reminded her of her first day at Firefox. After being humiliated in front of two impossibly cute boys, she had ran away from them and into the school (seriously, what was she thinking?) and got lost. The maze of hallways all looked the same; clean, long, and lined with silver lockers, and the only way she finally found the front desk was when a freshman boy named Jensi, took pity on her and took her there. The rest of the day was as expected. She didn't try to talk to anyone, and no one tried to talk to her. There were stares and whispers when she was forced to introduce herself at the front of the classrooms, and she ate lunch in the bathroom. (Luckily, she was introduced to the library, and she found out that you were allowed to eat lunch in there).

And apparently, to top it all off, Stina and Biana officially hated Sophie. The first day, Sophie found out that both girls were in her grade, and most of her classes. Biana, she later learned, was the girl on the first day at the bus, the one that told her to move out of her seat. They both seemed to have a particular hatred for Sophie, and she didn't know why.

So by the end of the week, Sophie was tired of it all. Tired of the students that answered all the questions right and never acted out, tired of all the whispers and aimed stares, and most of all, tired of not talking to anyone. The bus hadn't been any better. She had officially become Marella's bus seat partner (at least she assumed that) because every day, there was an empty seat next to the miniature girl, and she always sat there.

As Sophie entered the building, she saw an abnormally large group of girls crowded by a locker. By the looks of it, it was probably normal for this behavior because everyone else just ignored them and walked around them. Sophie eyed the group suspiciously, and her eyes narrowed when she saw a flash of chocolate brown hair and teal eyes.

And last but not least, the 'Vacker gang'. The most cliche, popular clique that everyone wanted to be a part of. It consisted of 5 people: Fitz Vacker, the 'golden-prince-like' boy that every girl has had a crush on at least once. Keefe Sencen, the hot jokester that had all the girls fainting. Tam Song, the mysterious brooding kid that still had a fair amount of admirers, despite his sarcastic personality. Biana Vacker, the 'queen' of the school that had all the boys falling for her perfect face. And Linh Vacker, probably the most tolerable of them all- the nice, sweet, and innocent one.

Sophie had known all about them by the end of the week. How could she not? Fitz and Keefe were apparently the two boys that had met her outside of the school on the first day. Plus, it would be a miracle to miss all the people that stared at their group whenever they entered a room. And that is one main reason that Sophie avoided them. They were popular. Pretty. Famous. Perfect. Everything she was not. Hurrying down the hallway, she passed the large cluster of people, making sure to avoid contact with anyone.

Putting her stuff in her locker, she saw the hallways, just full seconds ago, suddenly empty, and sighed under her breath. Now she was late.

"Excuse me," A somewhat deep voice called out. Sophie continued going, only caring about getting to class before the teacher got there. But she stilled when she felt someone tap her shoulder, slowly turning around.

In front of her stood Keefe. The boy that stood up for her from Stina even though she ran away. The boy she was too scared to approach ever since she almost cried in front of him. The boy that had given her a feeling of dread whenever she saw him because of all their past interactions.

Brown eyes wide, Sophie stared at him. He stood right in front of her, icy blue eyes staring back at her. And they were alone. In a hallway. With no witnesses.

"Uh-I-If this is a-about that day-" Sophie spluttered, her face turning red from staring at him for so long.

"I don't think we've met before."

Huh? What was he doing? What's going on?

"What are you talking ab-" Keefe stuck out his hand.

"Hi." Keefe stared into her eyes as if waiting for her. Sophie moved her head to stare at his hand. What was going on? Was this a prank? She took a minuscule step back, eyes still trained on the hand. In all honesty, he had very nice hands. They looked soft and clean with long and slender fingers. But Sophie was still confused.

"My name is Keefe. I think I'd like to be friends with you," Sophie's eyes widened. Nobody had talked to her for the past week. Why would someone ranked so high like him talk to the new girl? There was no one around. Just Keefe and her. And he was talking to her.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, not knowing if he would respond or not.

"I'm trying to make a new friend," he said. Still staring at her with those mesmerizing icy blue eyes. Still offering his hand.

Why? Sophie didn't know what took over her, but suddenly she felt herself slowly and cautiously reaching forward to take his hand. Waiting for him to pull it back and yell it was a prank. To get her back for running away from him so many times. But he didn't. He still stood there. Still offered his hand. And when Sophie finally grasped his hand, she almost gasped. His hand was what it looked like; soft and warm, and enveloped her hand with a safeness that Sophie hadn't felt since she got there. It almost felt like an apology. Both of them were apologizing. Staring into his eyes, Sophie felt heat curl up her cheeks, and she ducked her head.

And finally, she whispered back a timid "Hi,"