Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-43347423-20200111144721/@comment-43347423-20200215175604

Chapter Nineteen

'''“I think we need to talk to Glimmer, er, Jolie?” Biana suggested. '''

'''Sophie, Dex, Stina, and Wylie were also under the Panakes tree’s leaves having a Team Valiant meeting. They’d decided it had been long overdue.'''

'''Wylie nodded. “Yeah. We need to figure out what the Neverseen’s next move will be before they can strike.”'''

'''Sophie pulled an eyelash out. “Okay, who wants to do that?” Sophie definitely didn’t.'''

“Maybe me and Biana?” Dex suggested.

'''“Sure,” Biana agreed, beaming at Dex happily. Sophie wondered if Biana was just being friendly or if there was something more there. After all, Biana had told her she liked Dex and Tam…'''

'''Sophie nodded. “Okay, sounds good. What are the rest of us gonna do, then?”'''

'''“Well, maybe you should talk to Mr. Forkle,” Stina suggested. “Didn’t he pretty much predict that the Neverseen’s next scheme had to do with the dwarves last time? You should see what he has to say.”'''

'''“That’s a great idea,” Sophie agreed. “I’ll do that.”'''

'''“I wonder if maybe I should see how Linh and Marella’s abilities are working together,” Wylie said. “It seems like they could get really powerful, and we want to have power on our side. Plus, if Linh can learn how to deal with Pyrokinetics…” He didn’t need to say how nice that would be.'''

'''“Actually, I wonder if Sophie should go,” Biana said. Sophie noticed, with a sly smile, that Biana’s hand was now in Dex’s.'''

“What do you mean?” Sophie asked.

'''Biana sighed. “You have your enhancing and it can pass along abilities. I feel like that might be helpful to them in some way - don’t you?”'''

'''“That’s a good point,” Sophie replied. “But I think Wylie should come to, and that means that-”'''

'''“I’ve got Forkle duty,” Stina interrupted. “I know.”'''

'''“You cool with that?” Dex asked, drawing attention to his and Biana’s intertwined fingers. Miraculously, Stina didn’t say anything. “Mr. Forkle can get pretty frustrating.”'''

'''“I know,” Stina said. “But I’ve got this.”'''

Dex nodded, and it was settled.

'''“Okay, so, let’s all check in here, same time tomorrow?” Sophie suggested. Tomorrow they didn’t have school, a blessing. '''

Everyone nodded, and Sophie started to go inside while the rest of her friends leaped away

Except… one of them didn’t.

“Hey, Sophie!” Dex called.

'''Sophie turned around. “Dex?”'''

“Can I talk to you real quick?”

'''Sophie jogged back towards him. “Sure. What do you want to talk to me about?”'''

“You know what.”

'''And Sophie had an idea, but she didn’t want to guess it in case it wasn’t and then they actually did have to talk about it. “No I don’t.”'''

'''Dex raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure you do-but whatever. Keefe.”'''

Sophie blushed at what he was implying.

'''Dex smirked, and it was somewhat strange to see innocent Dex with a smirk across his face, but at the same time also kind of hilarious. “I just want you to know that if he ever does anything to hurt you I will personally punch him with one of my sucker punches. But I support you as long as he doesn’t do that.”'''

“Thanks,” Sophie said, her blush warming to what was, once again, just a happy blush.

'''Then neither of them knew what to say, and for a second Sophie thought Dex was going to light leap away. After all, the sun was starting to set over the beautiful light blue ocean, turning the multicolored Panakes leaves gold and yellow and orange.'''

But when he didn’t, Sophie questioned, “What about you and Biana?”

'''Dex’s face instantly turned bright red. “I don’t know.”'''

“You don’t know?” Sophie asked, and she felt what might’ve been a smirk on her lips.

'''“I don’t know,” Dex agreed. “Like, sometimes, I think she likes me, but other times, her and Tam…”'''

'''Sophie raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. “But do you like her?”'''

“Um,” Dex said, “Kind of?”

'''“Okay, that’s a yes,” Sophie said. “Which is adorable!”'''

“Can we please not talk about this?”

'''“Fine,” Sophie said. “I guess I should probably head to bed.”'''

“Me too,” Dex agreed, and he lifted his home crystal from the necklace around his neck, holding it up to the fading light before he glittered away.

Sophie started to walk back inside, calling, “I’m gonna take a shower!” to her parents.

'''When she stepped into the rainbow streams and pulled the shower curtain aside, she couldn’t help but replay her day in her mind. Mainly, she replayed looking through Keefe’s notebooks, the drawings of her, and of course, when he’d kissed her…'''

'''When they’d done their homework, neither of them had made any advances, which Sophie had been okay with. She was half-sure her brain had short-circuited from just one kiss. Keefe had needed help, as usual, although Sophie knew he was smart enough to have done it on his own. He either hadn’t listened in class (very likely) or he’d just wanted Sophie’s help. Sophie wondered if the latter wasn’t just as likely.'''

'''She needed to stop by Tiergan’s house the next day to check in with Wylie and Linh and see if Marella could come over and they could experiment with their abilities. Sophie’s mind ran through possible outcomes. Maybe she could give them both the other’s power and they’d understand each other better. Yeah, that was a good idea. '''

'''What about Dex and Biana? They were a cute couple for sure. But did Biana still like Tam? Because it seemed like Tam might’ve liked Jolie, which was really weird to think about, considering Jolie was over thirty. But then again, Alden was about 100 years older than Della, so maybe it wasn’t all that weird in the Elvin world, after all.'''

But that didn’t get rid of the idea “Tam-likes-my-biological-mom.”

That idea was kind of too weird for Sophie to process.

'''But back to Dex and Biana… it would be kind of ironic if they got married, Sophie realized. Dex had told Sophie that he didn’t think he was going to register for the match, and if he didn’t and Biana still married him, she’d be facing what Fitz had been too scared to face for Sophie.'''

Did that make Biana a better person than him?

'''Sophie felt bad for having the thought. Of course it didn’t. It just meant that Biana was a bit more dedicated and that she was more willing to stick out from the group and cared about honor less.'''

Did it mean that Biana and Dex had a better romantic relationship than Fitz and Sophie?

'''Probably, if Biana even did marry Dex and he hadn’t registered. But that was a lot of assumptions. And it didn’t really matter, anyway; Sophie wasn’t dating Fitz anymore. She was dating Keefe, and Keefe had already promised he’d do that for her if it came to it.'''

'''Which… it probably would. Sophie never, ever, ever wanted to find out her biological dad, or anyone else who claimed to be related to her. It was all too weird. And she’d never really wanted to do matchmaking, anyways, and now that she didn’t have to…'''

She hoped she never found out her biological father.