My One and Only [A Sokeefe Story]

Chapter 5

By the end of the day, Keefe was completely back to normal. Or, more or less so. He was joking around and skipping classes left in right. Sophie took that as a good, but slightly annoying sign. Nevertheless, Sophie was glad Keefe was alright, but was still intrigued by Keefe's streak situation.

Right as Sophie was about to head on the bus late that afternoon, she saw Keefe running up to her.

"Keefe? What are you doing here?" she asked.

A few moments after catching his breath, Keefe replied, "I just came to say that I wanted to have a talk with you. About, you know..." He glanced down at the ground.

She got the message clear enough. "Alright, when are you planning on having this conversation?"

Smirking, Keefe grabbed my arm. "Right about now." He dragged me off the bus and towards his car.

"KEEFE! This is considered kidnapping! Unhand me this instant!" Sophie shouted. That didn't help.

Keefe glanced over his shoulder at me. "It's not kidnapping if I asked you were ok with it."

"I never said I was okay with this!"

"Sorry Foster, but I just worked up the guts to tell you what's going on and I don't want to have to wait."

Sophie groaned. "Fine."

When they got in his car, Sophie once again hopped in the passenger seat. "Ok. Are you... are you ready to talk about it?"

Keefe sighed. "If I wasn't, I probably wouldn't have called you over. So... I guess I am."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of us quite willing to start what I supposed would be a very personal conversation.

Finally, after a minute or two, Keefe reached up and parted his hair, just enough so a streak of colour could peek out.

Sophie gasped. That... couldn't be, could it? "Keefe..." She wasn't sure what to say. Her brain had stopped forming words. All she could do was stare helplessly at Keefe's streak.

It was pitch black.

"Keefe..." Sophie managed. "I'm so sorry. What happened?"

Shaking his head, Keefe answered, "I don't know."

Sophie cocked her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"It's been like this ever since I was born. I don't know what happened. My guess was that they were probably stillborn." He twiddled his thumbs in his lap, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. His gaze shifted to Sophie, and he studied her, as if curious to see what her reaction would be.

Reaching her hand up to her hair, she whispered, "Two can play at that game I guess. You already know. I don't have a streak."

Keefe mumbled something, but it was inaudible to Sophie.

"Did you say something?"

"Fos- Sophie, you're so lucky."

'What?' she thought. "What do you mean?"

Keefe stared at her, his ice blue eyes serious. "People spend their whole lives hunting for a soulmate, just because they have a streak. People are satisfied with what they could have and only want what's fated." He shook his head. "They don't get it. You're so lucky not to have a streak Sophie. You're not bound by any fate."

Sophie just stared in awe at him. Her mouth was hanging open slightly as she processed his words. "Wouldn't that mean that you're also lucky?"

A weak smile spread across Keefe's face. "I guess... but I'm forever bound to know that my soulmate's gone. It's different. You're entirely free. I just... lucked out at birth."

As they started the drive home, Sophie was quiet. She had never thought about the idea of soulmates that much, but after talking with Keefe, she realized he was right. Soulmates did chain someone to a life of endless searching... endless heartbreak, and for Keefe... just emptiness.