She Was Lost But Now She's Found

Ditching Spots

Sophie started to relax against Keefe's shoulder. And he let her, until he saw her hand.

"Foster your hand!" He shouted, grabbing it to inspect closer. "It's completely roasted! Why did you let me show off my fantastic talents when you should've been getting treated?" He said, his bravado a little less shaky than yesterday. Maybe he was really starting to believe it.

She sighed and snatched her hand away. "I spilt metal purifying chemicals on it. Don't worry, it doesn't do anything beside burn and look nasty. I was going to see Elwin after I gathered my thoughts in here. Clearly I got a little distracted." She smirked at Keefe, who smiled. And then he dragged her out of the classroom to Elwin.

"Elwin?" Keefe shouted as they arrived to the Healing Center. "I, an honorable student, found the Lady Foster wandering the halls, and thought to myself, WWKD? That's What Would Keefe Do, by the way, and so I decided to escort-" he was cut off by Elwin, who strode through the door and clamped his hand over Keefe's mouth.

"Keefe!" He whisper-shouted. "What are you doing?!"

Keefe took a step back from Elwin's hand and said, "I was bringing Foster to you because she managed to burn her hand-without a fire." He smirked as she blushed.

"Oh my, well let's see it Miss Foster." He slid on his glasses as she held her hand out for him to see. "Lucky for you, I have the perfect ointment for that," he called over his shoulder as he strode back into the Center. "Well, come on!"

Sophie and Keefe both scrambled to follow Elwin inside.

They found him muttering to himself while looking through his extensive collection of bottles and tubes. "Here!" He turned and handed what looked like a tube of toothpaste to Sophie. "Rub this on your burn every night for about a week or so until it fades, okay?" She nodded. He turned to Keefe. "Keep her out of trouble, okay?"

He nodded and mock-saluted Elwin. "Of course!" With that he threw his arm around Sophie's shoulder and they walked out.

"Wait! Will you both be needing passes for your classes? Oh that rhymed! But seriously."

"What a fantastic idea, my kind sir!" Keefe said happily. He walked back in to retrieve the passes from Elwin. "Thank you!" He waved and handed Sophie her pass.

"Thanks." She muttered, debating whether to tell him that she wasn't allowed to return to chemistry.

"Where are we headed, Foster?" Keefe asked, clearly not wanting to head to his own class.

"Well, um..." she trailed off.

Keefe started laughing. "Wait. Are you banished from chemistry?" He doubled over from laughter.

Sophie turned so he wouldn't see her blush. "Yes," she sighed.

He continued laughing. "Nice, nice. How about we stall until the last minute of class and I go in with the pass and walk right back out?"

Her face twisted. "No Keefe! You have to get to class!"

"There you go again, being all logical," he grumbled. "Too bad I already made up my mind." He checked his watch. "Eh we have time. How would you like to see the best ditching spot on campus?" He started pulling her towards the door before she could respond.

"Wait-Keefe! I gotta respond!" She shouted.

"I'm only listening if the answer is yes!" He said back happily. She could tell he was excited about what he was going to show her.

She rolled her eyes. "Uh fine. Yes. But this is the last time you get away with not asking me."

"Yes Foster." He responded obediently. Keefe continued to lead her until they reached the tree line. He winked at her and dramatically swept the branches. To unveil more branches. He led her along a seemingly random path through the trees until they reached a point where Keefe stopped. "For real this time." He said and winked again, clearing the branches another time.

She gasped as the full force of the scene hit her. It was breathtaking. Smooth stones marked a path across bubbling stream that ran past a huge weeping willow that shaded a small variety of flowers along its roots. Soft grass spread out across the small area, which as a whole looked like it had been carved out of a fairytale-Biana and Linh had told her all about those. "Wow," she breathed.

Keefe beamed. "I know right! This was one of the only things my dad did right. He showed me this after my freshman orientation-made me memorize the path. It took like two hours of memorization before he decided to actually show me this. He calls it Willowmist.
Something about the mist and the water and the trees...I don't know I didn't pay attention." He laughed.

Sophie continued staring at the area in wonder. It was so beautiful. She saw Keefe bit his lip out of the corner of her eye. "So do you like it?"

She turned to smile at him. "This is awesome!" He smiled back at her, obviously relieved.

"You'll think twice about refusing my ditching offers now huh?" He smirked, and Sophie rolled her eyes and walked into the small clearing. Everywhere she looked was something new to take her breath away.

Sophie didn't know it, but Keefe never even glanced at Willowmist. He was distracted by something much more amazing.

That ending was a little weak but I really needed update. This chapter started with me addressing the burn and ended with this...:) enjoy!
QOTD: What would you name your house if you had to? Mine would probably be Pinewood because we have these huge pine trees and a pretty big wooden deck.