the prom queen

chapter six

s o p h i e   f o s t e r

"shut up." she snapped. "i do not like you!" sophie yelled, trying to get her message across but keefes chanting was just too loud. sophie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. why were boys like this? keefe grinned triumphantly and sophie started marching away. "get over yourself!" she threw her hands in the air and smacked him right in the face with the back of her hand.
sophie's eyes widened as she heard keefe say "ouch" and take a few steps back. she turned in embarrassment and cringed. "ohmigawd i'm so sorry. i suck. i'm sorry. did i say that already? does it hurt? do you need ice? i can run back in and get some." she rambled.
keefe chuckled and rubbed his cheek. "relax foster i'm fine." sophie still felt really bad. she looked at his car and sighed.
"alright i'll go."
"go where?"
"i'll let you drive me home."
keefe beamed and opened the passengers door to his car. while sophie slid in, keefe ran to the other side and buckled into his seat. once they were both settled, he started the car engine and with a RUMBLE in reply they were ready to go. it had taken sophie half an hour to walk to eternalia so it should only take them ten to fifteen minutes to get back. "do you like ice cream? i know this great-
"keefe why are you doing this?" she sighed. the guilt from hitting him had washed away once she was brought back to her thoughts. nothing had changed between them.
"why not?"
"not a real answer. just tell me the truth. is your senior project about what social outcasts-"
"hey, don't call yourself that." keefe reached over and put a hand on her knee, sending shivers down her spine, and made it very hard for her to focus.
trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach she rolled her eyes and continued. "it's the truth and we both know it." sophie looked down and stared at his hand again. "people like you don't mix with people like me."
keefe put his hand back on the wheel, clearing her mind of the clouds that came with his electrifying touch. "i don't know. maybe I've had enough of "my people" lately." he looked away and sophie understood perfectly who he was referring to. feeling a strange need to comfort him, sophie put a hand on his shoulder -wow she hadn't realized how muscular he was before- focus sophie focus she thought. he stared right back at her with his ice blue eyes. they weren't cold and harsh as she had seen before, but rather soft with a hint of hurt behind them.
"i saw what happened with biana today. i'm sorry."
"don't be. i'm not." he shrugged and focused, averting his eyes to the road ahead of him.
"so, what now? you dropped the barbie doll for the social pariah?"
he smirked to lighten the mood and said "only if you change your style. like drop those boots. i can't be seen with you otherwise."
sophie knew he wasn't trying to hurt her feelings but it felt like a punch to the gut. the way she dressed was her decision, and he clearly didn't understand the importance of her black combat boots that she'd worn to school every day.
sophie looked down at her shoes and frowned. "nice, keefe. real nice. are you always this shallow?" she was thankful they had arrived at her house as he tried to take her hand.
"sophie i'm-" she slammed the car door before he could finish and ran into her house in tears. sophie locked the door so he couldn't follow her inside and ran past her confused foster parents. stomping up the stairs, she tore off her boots and threw them into her closet in her room. she shouldn't be the one feeling embarrassed it should be him, that awful, snobby, entitled brat. tears were dripping down her face and her nose was stuffed up from crying. she threw herself onto her bed and hung her head down the side. feeling all the blood rush to her head she somersaulted backwards and landed on the ground. ouch. sophie wasn't sure what hurt more. falling or the memories she was trying to forget.
laying on the floor looking around, sophie glanced under her bed and reached for the hot pink shoe box she swore she was never going to open. she pulled herself up and crisscrossed her legs. when the top was taken off, memories flooded in. the ones she didn't want to think about, the ones she did want to think about, and ones she'd forgotten. looking through photos and keepsakes from her old family made her smile, laugh, cry, and mourn. sophie never had gotten closure over what happened with her family and she was surprised how this was actually helping her.
hearing a knock at her door, sophie put away the photos and keepsakes then stuffed the shoebox back under the bed. "come in." she sniffled. in came edaline, no grady though, sophie hadn't really spent much time with just one of her foster parents before so she was a little wary when grady didn't follow her in. edaline sat dow beside sophie in a very ladylike manner. instead of crossing her legs she simply laid them to her side in a v formation. edaline set a box of tissues down in front of sophie and started rubbing her back.
sophie hung her head but turned in the direction edaline was sitting and gave her a weak smile. "i don't want to talk about it."
"we don't have to." she assured her. "i just wanted to let you know he came back." sophie couldn't help but smile. stop it. why was she happy about this? he made fun of her style, the boots that meant the world to her, and said how she was barely more important than tacos.
she looked up and asked "what did he say?"
"well he knocked on the door, introduced himself, which really wasn't necessary from the rant you went on when you came home from school, asked to see you, i said you had too much homework, he told me to tell you he was sorry, and gave me your phone." edaline explained.
"ugh of course i left it in his car." she grumbled. edaline returned her phone and sophie tossed it onto her bed. "edaline i overreacted and i don't know what to do. he was teasing me but i don't think he knew why i always wear the same boots everyday and maybe, just maybe, he isn't the arrogant monster i make him out to be."
"honey that takes a lot to admit. i'm proud of you. you're turning into a beautiful independent woman and i couldn't ask for a better daughter. and you're going to be a yale woman soon. with everything that happened, you're doing better than anybody else who could've been put into this situation." edalines talk left her all warm and smiling inside. did she say daughter? she'd been with her foster parents for almost a year now and it meant a lot to sophie that edaline referred to her as her daughter. sophie put her arms around edaline and laid her head on her shoulder. she couldn't ask for a better mom either.
"as much as i love this hug, you still need to finish up some homework if you want to keep your spot at yale." sophie groaned but she knew she was right. edaline kissed the top of her head and left sophie to her homework. she pulled out her english folder and stared at the paper keefe was "helping" her with earlier. sophie hated to admit that she needed his help. there wasn't anything else she could think to add or take out but according to her teacher it still needed some work. she took it to her desk when she heard a ding! from her bed. sophie reached over and grabbed her phone, easily getting distracted from the task at hand.
hottest hottie alive <3 : hey
me : who is this?
hottest hottie alive <3 : keefe
me : that's not what my phone says
hottest hottie alive <3 : wonder what my contact name's under ;)
me : and here i thought you were going to apologize
hottest hottie alive <3 : i know i'm sorry
me : it's fine
hottest hottie alive <3 : it's not tho. i was an ass and wasn't thinking what i said might hurt you
me : i appreciate it. thanks keefe.
hottest hottie alive <3 : night foster :)
me : goodnight
and for some reason i don't change his name, she thought. sophie was a little sensitive when it came to her past and knew she had some explaining to do. she just didn't think over the phone was the right time to do it. what keefe had said in the car about how he was tired of hanging out with "his kind of people" really touched her. she was still a little nervous that he was playing her for some bet but he sounded pretty genuine earlier. and he hadn't stood her up at eternalia either like she thought he would. keefe looked fiiiiiine in a suit and tie. sophie didn't even realize her face was heating up just thinking about him. why was she turning into such a...girl.
focusing back on her homework she remembered that she was struggling with making any edits to her paper. that's when she got an idea.
me : so we didn't get much done at the library today and i have to hand in an edited draft of my paper for tomorrow. think you could help?
hottest hottie alive <3 : oh so now you need my help?
me : c'mon you owe me
hottest hottie alive <3 : magic words?
me : please?
hottest hottie alive <3 : not the right words but i'll take it. just send it to my email - keefesencen@foxfireacademy.org
me : THANK YOUUU!!
hottest hottie alive <3 : don't thank me yet
she knew she probably should check and make sure keefe wasn't deleting her whole essay but sophie was too tired to. turning off her lamp, she slipped into bed, still fully clothed, and turned on her alarm clock.
the next morning sophie woke up to the unfamiliar and deep voice in the kitchen. she got dressed in her grey hoodie and black leggings, roughly brushed her hair into a frizz, but stopped when she would usually put on her black boots. keefe had made fun of them last night, and even though he apologized, she still felt a little insecure about wearing them. which surprised sophie because she never really cared about what other people thought before. deciding to stay true to herself, she dug into her messy closet to retrieve the boots she had thrown in yesterday.
sophie came clomping down the stairs with her combat boots and carried her heavy backpack on her shoulders when she realized how dark it was outside. she had to get up at 7:45 then she would leave at 8:05 to get to school at 8:15. it was never this dark at 7. she was staring at the rising sun when a blur of blonde hair appeared in front of her. "um..why are you in my house?"
"edaline invited me. plus it wouldn't hurt to go over your paper once before dr.dugray sees it." keefe said with a cheeky smile. she wanted to slap that smile right off his face for how early he had woken her up. all thoughts stopped when she took a whiff of what was cooking in the kitchen. sophie flew right by keefe and into the kitchen where edaline was making her famous dessert, mallowmelt. she was too busy drooling over the mouth watering cake to be mad at her foster mom for inviting keefe over. "i can't decide if i want to yell or kiss you."