I showed up again the next night after an incredibly boring day at school. It had been canceled since Sophie and Fitz's little incident, Dame Alina claiming she needed time off for 'mental healing caused by traumatic events.'

Today was the first day back and was terrible without Sophie. Granted, the entire year of school so far, I've been without her and Dex, but now that I know her? I wouldn't admit it, but my day would've been a whole lot better with her. That's why I was so excited when climbing the tree in her backyard and jumping through her open window.

"Good evening, Foster." I exclaimed to announce my presence, sauntering into her room.

"Shut the fudge up." She mumbled from where she was laying face down on her bed.

"You good?" I laughed as she shot me a glare and crude hand gesture.

"What does it look like? It's too bright, too loud. I feel like I'm hungover." She groaned.

"How would you know what being hungover feels like?" She lifted her head only long enough to glare at me before stuffing it back in her pillow.

"Alright, someone's feeling feisty today. I guess it's a good thing I brought snacks!" That did the trick. She bolted up to a sitting position, swayed for a moment, then steadied herself.

"Gimmie!" She shouted as she launched up, falling to the ground before accomplishing anything.

"Woah, Foster... I don't think you should be standing." I was disgusted by the amount of concern I was showing, but I didn't care because something was wrong with Foster.

"I'm fine." She grunted, shoving my hand away and standing on her own. The beautiful blonde wobbled for a bit so I put my hand on her arm to steady her.

"Just sit down, okay?" I led her to the bed and sat down next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. With my other hand, I reached into my bag and pulled out candy, chips, and strawberries. I know what you readers are probably thinking, Keefe Sencen? Strawberries? That's way too romantic for such a tough guy. I have to say, I agree with you. But... it's Sophie and I wanted something special for her even though I met her half a week ago.

Her tiny gremlin hands snatched the Nerds Cluster from the pile. She tore the bag open with her teeth and devoured the entire thing in less than two seconds. Meanwhile, I stared at her in shock and astonishment. She was actually my dream girl.

Right after my beautiful Foster finished her candy, she fell asleep on my shoulder. I squealed so loud I was scared I woke her, until I realized that even tripping over everything in her room or her rat barking at me with the volume of a dog couldn't wake her up.

I pulled out a blanket and fell asleep on the floor, staring up at her peaceful face until my eyes grew too heavy to keep open.

"Keeeeeeefeeeeeeeee." A melodic voice rang out in my dreams. "Wake up or else my rat will fart on youuuuuuuu." She sang. What angel was invading my mind with her beautiful words?

The most putrid smell invaded next and I awoke, coughing and shuddering from the terrible gas that was just released.

"What is that smell?" I gagged, ready to vomit. "It smells worse than Ro's burps!"

"It's Iggy!" Sophie giggled while holding the stinky rat closer to my face. He sniffed and licked my nose.

"Get that smelly rat away from me." The blonde angel frowned as she pulled that rodent away from my face and to her's. She kissed it on the nose then sat him on her lap, petting his head.

"Don't listen to what that mean boy says. He's a little delusional after his fall from-"

She said the window at the same time I said heaven with a smirk and a wink. Sophie set Iggy on the ground so she could shove me.

"Get out." She groaned.

"But why?" I drew out to the two words to last several seconds.

"Because you need to get back home before your parents, maids, or bodyguard realize you're gone, and before my parents hear us. Now leave." When I still refused to get up she shoved me. "Go."

Although one might think she seriously wanted me gone, I could see the corners of her lips quirked up in a small smile. What? No, why would I be delusional. Nope. Definitely not.

I stood up, saluted my beautiful Foster, then leaped out the window, falling to my death a second time. A bunch of dust and mud puffed up with my fall.

Darn it, it rained. I thought. Now I know what you might be thinking, doesn't it always rain on your adorable little not-so-little island off the coast of Britain?  Yes. Yes it does. That doesn't mean a boy can't dream.

I saw Sophie's gorgeous face peeking out the window as she slightly giggled at my misfortunes. What I didn't see was a spiteful ginger staring out the neighbor's window with binoculars... Just kidding. Maybe. To be honest, I don't even know if he knew about our midnight escapades or not. I wouldn't be surprised, given that we weren't being real sneaky. At least Grady didn't find out.

After Sophie waved goodbye and went back into her room, I blew a discreet kiss to her.

"See you later, Foster." I sighed as I began my walk back to the castle.

There wasn't any school the next day, so I had to wait until the late hours of night to see her.

"Howdy Foster." I greeted as I jumped from the tree to the window.

A grumble was all the reply I got. When I looked to where the horrid noise came from, I saw a shivering Sophie curled up on her bed.

She had buried herself under, from what I could see, at least nine blankets, to the point where she was cocooned. Her skin was pale, which differed from her usual sun kissed complexion. I could also see a green tint.

"Woah, you're not looking too good. What happened?" I was almost disgusted by the amount of concern in my voice. I knew it never helped to have people fawning over you when you're sick, but I couldn't help it. Especially since Foster was the sick person.

When she tried to respond, all of her words jumbled up. It sounded a little something like "Ioneloguht." After asking her to repeat, it cleared up to "I don't feel so good."

"Do you know why? Is it just sickness or something more?" I asked.

"I dunno. They gave me some new painkillers." Her voice was starting to slur and get quieter.

"Okay they're clearly doing something bad." I paused, wondering what I should do. If I went to get help, her parents and Dex would murder me. If I didn't get help, something bad could happen to her and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she got hurt. I decided to see what I could do to help.

I propped her up with her pillows and turned on her light. She squinted her eyes and continued to shiver. I put my hand to her forehead only to immediately retract it. She was burning up! Her eyes also looked super foggy and she was sweating.

"Sophie, can you do something for me?" She nodded, eyes half-lidded. "I need you to use your phone and send a text to your parents or Dex, whoever would notice the notification, and tell them what's up. I would do it myself but i don't know your password or your style of text. Can you do that for me?" She nodded again, tucking herself further into her blankets.

I grabbed her phone from the nightstand and gave it to her. She typed in her password. Her eyes shut all the way after clicking on Dex's contact. Before she could start typing, her eyes rolled back in her head and she started seizing.

I cursed. "Foster! Sophie please, oh my god what do I do?" I grabbed her phone from the place it had fallen on her lap and sent Dex a quick message. Less than five seconds later he was standing beside me and hovering over Sophie.

"You've gotta leave, Grady can't know you were here." As I fell out the window, his eyes told me Grady wasn't the one I should be scared of. I quickly ran back to the palace, knowing I wouldn't get any sleep due to the worry for Sophie flooding my mind.

Hello all my beautiful readers! I am so sorry it's been taking me so long on these chapters! I explained this to some of you already but I am in my first year of high school and between marching band and volleyball plus actual school I haven't had much free time. But I'm back and I finally got this chapter done. I'm hoping I'll be able to get back on track and start writing more chapters soon. Again, i'm so sorry for the long wait and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Love you all!

Avery, out ->

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