Fallin' For You-Part 2

EIGHTEEN

"What do you mean we're going to sail that ourselves?" Fitz asked glaring at the little white boat that was definitely less than romantic.

"Just what I said," Alvar said, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you and Sophie want to live happily ever after, you have to work well together. Duh! So this will test how much you trust each other. You'll sail for a couple hours, and then come back. If both or one of you is all angry by the time you return—you know your relationship will die."

"That was a little harsh," Sophie said, looking from the boat, and then to Fitz. "Why don't we just do it Fitz? It's sounds a little fun,"

Fitz sighed. "Alright,"

Alvar smiled. "Great! Now both of you need to give me your phones,"

"What?" Sophie and Fitz both said, staring wide-eyed at Alvar.

"You heard me," He said, holding out his hand. "It's so you can't call for help,"

Both Sophie and Fitz rolled their eyes before handing Alvar their phone.

Alvar put their phones in his pockets before saying, "Now, get in the boat—then you're on your own."

Sophie smiled as she and Fitz got in the boat. Alvar, from behind them, pushed the boat into the water.

"Good luck!" He called out to them.

§§§

"I feel like we've been out here for three hours," Fitz said as they stared at the abundance of ocean all around them.

Sophie sighed. "Nope—it's only been one hour,"

It actually hadn't been hard to boat out into the ocean. They'd both used the oars to guide them through the water, but now they had nothing to do in the middle of the ocean.

Sophie did her best to go over and sit next to Fitz without falling on her face. "What're we going to do?" She asked, looking at him.

Fitz sighed. "I don't know,"

Sophie thought for a second, and then she had an idea. "Well—Alvar said that this was to prove that we trusted each other, and I kind of don't want either of us to go back in a bad mood—so how about we tell each other just random facts about ourselves."

Fitz smiled. "Alright," He said. "But you have to go first since I told you that stuff on the plane."

Sophie rolled her eyes, but a smile was on her lips. "Fine—um...I was born in Florida, then when Grady and Edaline adopted me, we lived in New York, and then I moved to California."

Fitz nodded. "How old were you when they adopted you?"

"I was three," Sophie said. "And it was the best day of my life—even if I don't remember it,"

"That's really cool," Fitz said with a smile.

"Okay—now it's your turn,"

Fitz sighed, thinking for a minute before a smile spread across his face. "Don't take this the wrong way," He told her. "But when I first saw you in the atrium, I thought you were going to be like Biana,"

Sophie squinted her eyes at Fitz. "What do you mean?"

Fitz laughed. "I thought you were going to be all pink and frills and 'I'm cooler than everyone else'."

Sophie laughed with him. "What changed your mind?" She asked.

Fitz smiled. "When we were doing the jump-rope contest and when you said: 'Actually rocket science isn't that hard'. That's when I definitely knew you were not like Biana—because Biana would never say anything like that."

Sophie laughed. "Alright, my turn." Then Sophie proceeded to tell Fitz about the Gordy the Clown Story.

"Honestly, I don't blame you," He said with a small chuckle. "If I was four years old and that happened to me—I would've ran away screaming,"

"Yeah," Sophie said with a smile, then she remembered something. "Hey, I have a question,"

"What?"

"Grady wanted to know, by the way, but what're you allergic to?" She asked, trying to keep the laugh out of her mouth.

Fitz smiled. "Um...I'm actually deathly allergic to hairy caterpillars."

"Really?" Sophie asked, trying not to laugh. "Like, they can kill you?"

"If I touch them, yes," He said nodding.

They talked about allergies for a good while before they got on the topic of allergy jokes, and then just jokes.

"Do you think it's been two hours yet?" Sophie asked, still laughing from the last joke.

Fitz caught his breath. "I think so,"

Sophie nodded, before grabbing the oar. But when she swung the oar around, it hit Fitz on the back of the head and he fell over the edge of the boat. 

"Oh my word!" Sophie exclaimed, not thinking as she dropped the oar and dove into the water.

When Sophie opened her eyes it was a little foggy, but she could still kind of see, and she saw Fitz trying to swim up to the surface. Sophie swam down to him and tried her best to help him up to the surface. When both emerged they took a deep breath before bursting into laughter.

"I'm so sorry," She said, a laugh still in her voice. "Are you alright?" Sophie placed her hand on the back of his head and cringed when he grimaced.

Fitz shook his head. "I'm fine—it was just a...shock,"

They both began laughing again, and it only stopped when Fitz said, "Look! It's a beach,"

Sophie turned to see where he was pointing and, sure enough, there was a beach only about 100 feet away from them.

They both breathed a sigh a relief before getting back in the boat and guiding it to shore. When they'd gotten there, they walked until they found at map, and they only happened to be five minutes from the Vacker's beach house.

So Fitz hailed a taxi and drove to the beach house. Fitz happened to have some money in his pocket, but it was soggy, so the taxi-man didn't charge them.

They were about to walk inside, but then Sophie saw them down at the beach. "They're over there," She said, pointing to them.

Alden and Della were talking to each other in beach chairs, and Biana and Alvar were playing catch with a small dodge-ball. But all that stopped when they noticed the two of them.

"You guys look like you had...fun," Biana said, blinking at their wet clothes.

And Sophie and Fitz shared a look before bursting into laughter.