No Matter What

Sophie

"Well, I think my work here is done." Said a tiny voice. Virtina, Sophie's most-of-the-time unhelpful mirror, had finally done something right (or so she claimed). Sophie's hair was now tied up in the most elaborate braid she had ever seen. She was wearing an extremely fitted bright red gown, with tiny rubies embedded into the bodice. She had to admit, it was kind of gorgeous.

Sophie wasn't proud, but all of it had been either Vertina's or Biana's idea, and Sophie had found that she new nothing at all about how to look "Presentable to Keefe" as Biana had said. Sophie thought it was a bit over the top, but for once she agreed with her fashionista friend. She did want to look presentable. 

Honestly, she didn't know how to feel about the whole going-on-a-date-with-keefe thing. Part of her was thrilled, but a tiny voice in the back of her mind said, What if Fitz finds out that I'm going out with Keefe? What if he doesn't like it? What if he never talks to me again? What if-- No. This was what she wanted. She didn't care what he thought. But--no. She was doing this for her. If Fitz never talked to her again, his loss. She knew that if he couldn't deal with her being unmatchable, or keeping secrets from him, then it wasn't going to work. It was time to start over.

"Earth to Sophie," said Biana, who had been mixing the "perfect color of lips for Sophie" with her at-home-lip-gloss-kit. "Did you hear what I just said?"

"Oh, sorry, what was that?"

Biana rolled her eyes in a friendly sort of way, and said, "I said the lip gloss is ready. Why don't you come over here, so I can test it." Sophie wobbled over in her too high heels, nearly breaking an ankle on her way. 

"Are these really necessary?" she asked.

"Of course! Did you really think you were gong in those? " She pointed to the muddy boots in the corner. Truthfully, Sophie had been planning to wear them. She thought her dress would cover the dirt. Biana grabbed Sophie's chin, and before she could pull away, swiped her lip with a sticky gloss. "Oh, wow. That is PERFECT! I really am a genious. Virtina, what do you think?"

She turned Sophie around so she was looking in the mirror. Virtina gasped. "What?" said Sophie. "Is it bad?" Virtina just kept on staring, so Sophie looked at her reflection and gasped too. "Wow is right. How did you do that?"

The gloss was  perfect. It matched the dress so well she couldn't take her eyes off it. But it wasn't too over the top. It was the best combination of shimmery and subtle, bright and pale. "I think I'm going to need more of this." 

"Good thing i wrote down all the measurements. I'll have mom make it by tomorrow. And you better wear it every other day, ok? No more basic. We are going full on GLAM!"

"I don't know about that," said Sophie, though she secretly promised herself she would  dress less basic. "Anyways, I should probably get going. It's almost time!" Gosh,, she hoped this wasn't another oh Keefe's pranks. But, then again, he had looked pretty sincere about it...

She went outside, immediately running into Grady. Great, she thought. This is going to be interesting.

"Young lady, where do you think you're going?"

"Umm... Somewhere?" She said.

"Grady, let her be," said Edaline from behind Sophie's dad. "She probably has a good reason for being so nicely dressed for once. And is that.........makeup? Well, seems like you've been hanging around Biana a bit to much." She said with a laugh.

"You're not meeting up with some boy, are you?"

Sophie blushed fiercely. "Of course not!" 

But then Keefe materialized next to Grady and said, "Am I missing something?"

"Oh no. Not that boy. You know you--" Edaline cut him off.

"Well, I hope you two have a nice evening," she said, dragging Grady, glaring intensely at Keefe, into the house.

"Sooooooo... do you want to get going, Foster? Or are you gonna keep looking at me like that?"

"Um, let's go. I don't want to stay here too long, 'cuz Grady is going to KILL me if I'm out past midnight. 

"When you said you knew just the place," said Keefe, "this was not what I was expecting." They were looking out on San Francisco Bay, which normally would have been the perfect place for a sunset picnic on the beach. Unfortunately, at the moment, it was not. There were mosquitoes everywhere, and the air was so polluted Sophie could barely breath. When she had come here with her human family years ago, she thought it was the most magical place in the world. Apparently not. 

"Do you have any idea where to go that's not here?" She croaked through the cigarette smoke. "This is almost as bad as the time when I bottled Everblaze."

"Yeah, could you please teleport us out of here?"

"Ok, hold on tight."

"You know I will, Foster! Do you think I wanna fall to my death?"

"Oh, we won't be falling."

"Wha--?" He was cut off by Sophie sprinting full speed down the beach. As she accelerated, she gathered all her adrenaline and mixed it with the buzzing in her mind. Once she had enough, she shoved it all out and BOOM! Thunder shook the waves as they hurtled into the void.

"Where to?" She asked. Then a memory tugged at her brain. A lush meadow of wildflowers, crisp, clean, air brushing against her face. It was one of Silveny's shared memories, but she had a clear picture in her head. 

Thunder crashed again, and they tumbled out of the void. Sophie looked up and gasped. It was the most beautiful place she had ever seen, which was saying a lot. They were on the top of a lush mountain, probably somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. All around them, clouds brushed the side of the mountain. The sun was just going down, making the sky blue and pink all around them.

Sophie had always wondered what it would look like to be on top of a sunset. She knew now. She realized that she was still clutching Keefe's hand and quickly let go. He reached up as if to touch the sky, then looked at Sophie and smiled. Not a smirk, but an actual, sincere, smile. She hadn't seen one of those since...

Her thoughts were cut short by her stomach growling insistantly, and she remembered how incredibly starving she was. "Um, you brought food, right?" Said Keefe. Luckily, Sophie hadn't forgotten about that. 

Earlier, Edaline had packed a basket of Sophie's favourite desserts. "Do you really think I could have forgotten?" She said jokingly. "I never ate lunch, so that I could eat all of this. He chuckled, and reached into the basket. He came out with a giant piece of mallowmelt, and proceeded to stuff his face. 

Sophie laughed, and reached for a ripplefluff. As they ate, it slowly became less of an awkward first date, and more of just being friends. As the sun set, at least for Sophie, everything was calm.