Adorable

Chapter 13 | New Rules

A/N The song has nothing to do with the chapter just the titles...

Sophie rolled out of bed earlier than usual, having gotten barely any sleep. Her mind was on an endless replay of the moment Grady had burst in the door on her and Keefe's kiss. He had been furious (no surprise there) but surprisingly restrained. He hadn't murdered Keefe, anyway- just sent him home. And his chewing-out was much more tolerable than she'd feared... even if he had grounded her for two weeks. But he had also promised to continue the conversation... and Sophie wasn't looking forward to that.

So Sophie got ready for school and went downstairs reluctantly. Edaline threw her a sympathetic look and conjured up her breakfast. Grady came in a minute later and sat across the table, staring at her. Sophie avoided his gaze- but then decided to get it over with.

"Look, Dad... we shouldn't have been doing... that..."

"No, you shouldn't have." he interrupted, then waited for her to finish.

"And I should've told you he was here..."

"Yes."

"But... I don't really understand what the problem is."

"That makes two of us!" Edaline cut in. "They were just hanging out, Grady." Then she looked at Sophie. "Is it official?" She gave Sophie One Of Those Smiles.

Sophie hesitated. She had wanted this conversation to go differently, but there was no point denying it any longer. "Well... yes. Keefe and I are... dating."

Grady looked like he wanted to yell and lock her in her room, but Edaline placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "We support your decision, Sophie, and trust you to know your boundaries."

"Yes, mom."

"BUT." Grady cut in forcefully. "There will be ground rules you need to follow. Don't you groan at me, young lady, we did the same thing with Jolie. Rule one: you may only visit each other's' houses in broad daylight when your mother, I, Sandor, or Lord Cassius are present."

Sophie opened her mouth to protest, but Grady continued. "Rule two: At school, you will go to all your classes and stay in view of other people. I also highly suggest you pay attention to your other friends." he said suggestively. "It may be easy to forget about them with a... with a..."

"With a boyfriend." Edaline finished when it seemed Grady couldn't. "It will be hard to focus on your other relationships, but it is worth it."

"And the third rule." Grady finished. "NO kissing where I can see it."

Sophie blushed and hid behind her hair. This was going well.

"And now that we've sufficiently embarrassed Sophie, let's let her get to school before she's late."

Grady seemed reluctant to end the conversation. "Fine. But come straight home after school."

"Yes, Dad." And Sophie got up and hurried to the Leapmaster, forgetting about her untouched breakfast.

*****

Sophie stepped off the Leapmaster into the halls of Foxfire, scanning the halls for Keefe immediately. She spotted him leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for her. She decided to have a little fun, pulling up the hood of her cloak and slipping through the crowds to his other side. Then she popped out of the group of swarming prodigies, laying her chin on her shoulder while he was still faced away from her.

Keefe laughed, and turned around to face her. "Tricky Foster." She wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled him closer.

"You got me in trouble." she accused playfully.

"Did I now? Wouldn't be the first time."

"Or the last."

"Fair enough. How bad is it?"

"Ugh, I'm grounded for two weeks. And I have a whole new set of rules. Get this: we're only allowed to go to each other's houses in the middle of the day under Grady's direct supervision!" she complained.

"Yeah, sorry Grady, but that ain't gonna happen." Keefe laughed.

"It had better! Who knows what he'll do if we break the rules? And I'm supposed to 'pay attention to my other friends.'"

"Hmm... I'm guessing there's more?"

"No sneaking off at school. And definitely no kissing where Grady can see." she smirked.

Keefe pretended to look around, raising one hand to his brow, then leaned back down to her so that their foreheads and noses touched. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer. "I don't see Grady." he whispered.

"Me neither." she whispered back, suppressing a giggle. "And Edaline called you my boyfriend, and the word 'dating' came up several times so..." she trailed off, staring into his beautiful blue eyes."

"Did it, now? So... I have permission?"

"Do you need it?"

"Not a bit. But it's nice to have it." And he tilted his head, letting their lips meet softly. Sophie pushed herself up on her tiptoes, her arms still around his shoulders. She kissed him back, realizing with a start that it was completely official. Keefe was her boyfriend. And it was a good thing, because... well, you don't kiss someone like this who isn't your boyfriend.

Sophie smiled against the kiss despite herself. Keefe noticed and pulled away slightly to look her in the eyes. "Enjoying this?" He smirked.

She didn't answer, instead putting her hands behind his head and pulling him back down into another long kiss.

They were interrupted by someone clearing their throat near the Leapmasters.

"Uh... just wanted to let you know orientation is over." Dex said awkwardly.

"Over!?" Sophie looked at her watch and groaned. "Grady is going to kill me. I think he would consider this ditching a class."

"No worries, Foster. Dexy won't tell... right?" he looked at Dex for confirmation.

"Uh... no. No worries there." He started to walk away, then turned. "By the way... and Sophie, I never thought I'd say this to you, but... you guys are pretty cute together." He turned again, but threw one last thing over his shoulder. "Biana made me say that." Then he hurried away, leaving Sophie blushing and Keefe cracking up.

"Did you hear that, Foster? We have Dizznacker's approval!"

Then Sophie laughed too. "I really need to get to class. See you at lunch, Keefe."

"Bye, Miss F." He gave her a quick kiss before disappearing down the hallway.

Sophie sighed as she made her way to her class. Barely an hour since Grady's warnings, and she'd already broken the rules.

Her classes weren't incredibly interesting, and Sandor slept through most of them. Sophie was mostly just waiting until lunchtime, where she would be officially together with Keefe. And this was the twins' day at Foxfire, so she had that to look forward to.

When she grabbed her tray and went to find her friends, she hesitated. As usual, Biana was in between her brother and Dex. Linh was sitting next to Fitz, and Keefe was on Biana's other side. Sophie froze, about to slip into the chair left, in between Keefe and Dex. But she wasn't able to move. Her eyes were glued on Fitz and Linh... who were kissing.