Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-43347423-20200111144721/@comment-43347423-20200201163006

Chapter Fourteen

“You’re my… what?”

Sophie must’ve repeated the question ten times already.

Because this didn’t make sense.

Oralie was her mom.

Not Jolie.

“I’m your mother,” Jolie repeated. “Why else do you think we look so much alike?”

“But Oralie’s my mom,” Sophie said, still not understanding. “She said she wasn’t, but then her Empath tell told me that she was.”

“As far as she knows, she might be,” Jolie said. “But why would Mr. Forkle pick an Empath? He specifically didn’t want you to be one. Plus, she’s a councillor. Mr. Forkle would never do that.”

But there were more pieces that didn’t make sense.

“But Mr. Forkle told me you weren’t my mom!”

“Yeah, and he told Oralie she was. Do you honestly think he wouldn’t lie to protect you?”

Sophie didn’t want to admit it, but it made sense. “But you were supposed to be dead when they, um,” Sophie faltered, and she turned a little pink, “made me!”

“I was,” Jolie agreed. “But I wasn’t. The Neverseen faked my death, but I also told the Black Swan that I was still alive. When Brant pretended to kill me, I was still halfway between the lines. I was for quite a while, actually. I finally cemented my decision between the two groups when Brant died. I thought that if it was a cause that he was willing to die for, it must have been worth it. I still love him. But I never fully cut ties with the Black Swan. I switched from being a double agent for the Black Swan to being a double agent for the Neverseen. And I only came back to your side because I saw my own daughter performing incredible feats for what she wanted the world to be like.”

After that information load, Sophie wasn’t sure what to say.

She didn’t hate Jolie like she’d hated Oralie when she found out about her.

She’d never even known Jolie.

And… it made sense. Except for one thing.

“But Mr. Forkle refused to tell me who you were,” Sophie finally asked. “If you were supposed to be dead, I should have been allowed to know who you were.”

“But that might not work for two reasons,” Jolie said, sitting down on the couch. “One: it could have been because your father was the problem.”

Sophie interrupted her. “Wait, you know who my dad is?”

Jolie sighed. “No. All I’m saying is that it’s possible that they can’t tell you because he’s famous or something. But the other thing is, even though everyone thought I was dead, I wasn’t. If I ever decided to come back to the world, that would have made it a million times harder for me.”

“But how do I know that Mr. Forkle didn’t lie to you too?” Sophie asked. If he’d lied to Oralie, who knew how many people he’d lied to?

Jolie gestured to her mirror. “Does that lie?”

She had a point. They were practically twins.

Sophie sat down on the couch and put her head in her hands. “This is so weird.”

“Tell me about it,” Jolie agreed. “You were never supposed to be adopted by my parents. The Vackers were supposed to adopt you.”

Sophie nodded. Someone had told her this before, although she wasn’t sure who. Probably Mr. Forkle.

Then the bell rang, interrupting their conversation.

“We’d better get to class,” Jolie said.

Sophie nodded mutely and stumbled towards her telepathy session with Tiergan and Fitz. When she arrived, Fitz was already there, tapping his toe impatiently, but he didn’t look angry. Just worried.

“Where were you?” he asked. “We couldn’t find you at your locker or at orientation!”

“Sorry,” Sophie said, stumbling over her words. She was still shaken up over the new Jolie revelations. “I was talking to Glimmer because I told Grady and Edaline who she was and thought she should know that I’d told them.”

She didn’t say any more than that. She hoped he wouldn’t put any pieces together like he had last time with Oralie…

“Oh,” Fitz said, his face softening. “That sounds like it must’ve been a weird conversation.”

“It was.”

Fitz’s expression turned a bit darker as he changed the subject and asked, “So, um, what’s the deal with you and Keefe?”

Sophie didn’t say anything.

“Sorry, that came out wrong,” Fitz apologized. And it sounded sincere. “I just want to know because you guys are my best friends and I’m just wondering if there’s anything between you I should know about. I promise I won’t stop you or do anything bad if there is. I just… want to know.”

And he sounded a little envious. But he was trying so hard, so Sophie told him, madly blushing, “Um, kind of…? There’s nothing official yet, but when I healed him I had to tell him how much I loved him and needed him for him to come back, and I realized it was true, and he told me he felt the same way. But there’s no official dates planned, and we haven’t decided anything yet…”

Fitz smiled, and it didn’t even look forced. “That’s so great! I’m happy for you guys.” The last part sounded a little faked, but Sophie was okay with it.

She reached over and hugged him. “Thank you.”

They were interrupted when Tiergan walked into the room, late, as he often seemed to be.

“Hi?” he said in an almost patronizing tone.

They pulled apart, and neither of them were red. They were friends now, just friends, and nothing more.

And it felt so good to get everything off her chest and move on from Fitz.

She now understood why she’d liked him when she was younger. He was handsome and he was the one who’d showed her the elvin world. Where she belonged. He’d been kind to her.

But Keefe? Even though he never brought her to the elvin world, Keefe was always there for her. In her one of her first hours of need at Foxfire, he showed her the way to the healing center. He kept detention light and funny. When Alden’s mind had broken, he’d helped her. He’d supported her when she’d thought Jolie was her mom, awkward. But he’d gone to her when he needed help when they were living in Alluveterre, and Sophie had been happy to return the favor for all of his help. He’d make mistakes and joined the Neverseen, but Sophie had forgiven him for that. He had messed up, but he’d realized his mistake and promised never to do it again. And even the times when he had, like when they were at Ravagog and when they were in Loamnore, it was to protect Sophie. Keefe had helped her when Lumenaria fell. He’d seen Mr. Forkle die at her side, and he’d supported her through it. He’d made her feel better when she’d felt hopeless for her parents. Actually, he’d done that more than just then. His jokes had been her savior too many times to count. But then he’d helped her through her parents’ washings ad Alvar’s trial. He’d told Fitz to stop yelling at her after it. He’d shown up and kept her sane when her and Fitz were on bed rest after Umber had attacked them. He’d accepted and supported her relationship with Fitz even though he’d liked her because it made the two of them happy. And then when it hadn’t, Keefe had been right there for her, ready to help her in any way he could. He helped her work through her unmatchable status, her ability healing (again), and now, he’d come back from a broken mind just because she loved him and he loved her back.

She understood why she liked Keefe. Who wouldn’t?

Sophie!

Wait, if Fitz was transmitting into her mind…

Sophie sighed. You just heard every single thing I thought, didn’t you?

Yep, Fitz agreed, grinning.