A Sophitz oneshot, requested by @SilverBunny27! 

Sophie took a deep breath, steeling herself against the thoughts bombarding her brain. She'd learned a few tricks over the years, but the voices still managed to get through.

She rubbed her temples, wishing she had her airpods. Her teacher had banned them in class, and she'd been too tired to think of any tricks to hide them that morning.

Imagining a wall around her mind, the voices slowly disintegrated in dust, leaving only the grating voice of the teacher, which was honestly almost as bad. Still, there was sweet relief for a second.

Hearing thoughts was not as helpful as one might think, but ever since she was five she'd heard the voices chattering in her brain.

She was a freak.

"Sophie," Dex whispered from next to her. Her adoptive cousin subtly pointed at the teacher, and Sophie lifted her head from its bent position to see Mrs. Roberts glaring at her.

She winced, lifting her head completely and holding her hands above her desk to show she wasn't on her phone. She'd already been caught on it that week, and Mrs. Roberts was always suspicious of apparent "disrespectful activity in class."

Apparently, a student had once set off a stink bomb in her room during class, and they'd never found out who.

That was the rumor, anyway.

It had been a few years ago, before Sophie had arrived at the high school. The juniors and seniors still talked about it reverently, with a touch of awe in their voice at the pandemonium inspired after the first whiff. It even had its own name, one that was only whispered about in the hallways, for no one would ever be able to top such a prank.

A grin curved her lips at the thought, and Mrs. Roberts zeroed in on it. "Anything funny, Miss Foster? Something you'd like to share with the class?"

Sophie struggled to keep a straight face in the eye of the glare she received. "No, I was just thinking about something funny," she said innocently. Dex snorted, and Sophie kicked him under the table without taking her eyes off of the middle-aged woman leveling a death stare at her.

Mrs. Roberts huffed, turning back to the board to continue teaching, and Sophie's head slumped back down again.

She was really tired. Netflix was both a gift and a curse. Especially when one had resolved to go to sleep at midnight every night.

Needless to say, that resolution had lasted exactly one night.

Class finally ended, and Sophie picked up her backpack, swinging it onto her shoulder as she exited the classroom with Dex.

"Were you thinking about that time Roberts tripped and had to grab Kris's shoulder to get her balance? That was pretty priceless," Marella popped her head in between the two. "Or when she was trying to kill a bug with her pencil and it broke and she got angry at the fly?"

Sophie snorted, smacking a giggling Dex on the shoulder. "No, I was thinking about The Great Gulon Incident."

Marella laughed loudly. "Ha, yes, one of my favorite things to imagine in her class. Besides Fitz with his shirt off."

Dex chuckled, but Sophie asked, "Fitz? Who's that?"

Marella looked positively astonished that she didn't know. "Fitz Vacker? You know, the mayor's son? He is a snack, let me tell you. His eyes are just... perfect. I have French with him. You know... the language of romance." She bumped Sophie's shoulder suggestively, and Sophie laughed.

"So, you've seen him in the halls a few times and now he's your weekly crush?"

Marella nodded, unabashed. "Yup! Believe me, if you'd seen him, you would be just as in love as I am."

"In love," Sophie muttered jokingly. "I can just see you in fifty years, sitting in your rocking chair with Fitz by your side as you tell your grandchildren you met in French class. You know, the language of romance."

Dex snorted, saying, "Your love will be a story for the ages, a ballad told to the future generations to restore their faith in humanity."

The cousins laughed, and Marella smacked them both. "Shut up."

Laughter tinkled in the distance, growing louder as the trio rounded a corner and came into view of a large group of people. It seemed like four people were surrounded by a pod, almost followers, who stared at them with adoration.

One of the people in the center looked bored, another milking the attention for all it was worth, another in the middle of shoving the fourth, who looked vaguely uncomfortable with the attention.

Sophie got closer to the group, and their thoughts became too much for her barriers, breaking through to her mind.

Does he like me? Is my hair okay? My shirt is gross I knew it didn't match these shoes but I thought at the time and now it's too late and he'll never like me with these shoes!

These people are so clingy, ugh. I don't want worshippers, I want friends.

She is soooo hot.

Can these people back off? I don't need someone helping me every step of the way. I can carry my own books, thanks.

Maybe I should invite him over. No, too direct. Don't be pushy, be subtle. Flirt with him until he likes you back.

I like the attention I like it I have to like it disappointment it's fine no one can see who I am a failure my mask is up I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine no one knows

Better get to Biology, it's across the school, but I have to carry her backpack all the way!

Her hands automatically moved to her temples as a headache stabbed through her brain, and she closed her eyes to isolate the pain. Picking apart the thoughts moving through her head, she assigned them to the heads they came from and shoved them out of her head. As she did, though... there were eight people there.

So why were there only seven voices?

Every thought process matched up to someone... except one.

"Ohmygod that's him it's him!" Marella hissed, gripping Sophie's hand tightly, but she barely felt it.

The four people in the middle... one of them had a silent mind.

The girl with the blue streak in her hair had very loud thoughts about carrying her own things... not her.

The girl with the chocolate brown hair and the perfect makeup was wishing for an actual friend in her mind... not her.

The boy with the blond hair and ice-blue eyes was... wow, he needed a therapist. But it wasn't him.

But the other boy.

The brunette.

With startling teal blue eyes.

His mind was empty. She couldn't hear a single word.

Her headache flared as the voices crescendoed, and she instinctively blocked out the rest of the voices in her head, leaving only the chatter that everyone else heard.

But the boy with the teal blue eyes.

"See, what did I tell you?" Marella squeezed Sophie's arm. "Can't take your eyes off him, he's sooo hot. Just look at those eyes!"

Sophie realized she'd been staring, and tore her eyes away. "That's Fitz Vacker?"

"Yes! And his sister Biana, her best friend Maruca, and Fitz's best friend Keefe."

"Huh," Sophie said slowly. Maybe he had some sort of blocking, but while some people seemed to have stronger blocking that made their voices fainter, Fitz's was entirely silent, not a single whisper. She couldn't hear a thing, and she'd never experienced that before.

Suddenly, Fitz looked straight at her, and instead of instinctively looking away as she always did in these situations, Sophie held his gaze, and he muttered something to his friends before taking a step towards her, slow and deliberate.

Another step, and Marella noticed, whisper screaming in Sophie's ear, "He's coming this way probably to talk to me about french class and oh my god he's getting closer he's even hotter from closer up-"

And then he was standing in front of Sophie, and she was lost in his eyes, and his were trained on her face. Until they weren't, and they swept over her body quickly, giving Sophie the feeling he was tucking away information for future use.

"Hey." Just one word. His voice was smooth and deep, and Marella practically swooned next to her as soon as he said the word. She seemed to understand he was speaking to Sophie, however, and stayed silent.

"Hi," Sophie responded, not having any words.

"Can we talk? Somewhere private?" Fitz asked. Slowly. Hesitantly. 

Sophie blinked in surprise but nodded in acquiescence. They stepped into an empty hallway, and Fitz opened his mouth, then closed it again.

As if he didn't know what to say. Sophie guessed this wasn't a very common experience in his life.

So she blurted out the question that was on her mind. Subtly, of course, she didn't want him to think she was insane. "Have you noticed anything strange about me? Compared to other people?"

Okay, maybe not the most subtle thing to say. But social skills were definitely not her forte, especially with hot guys who had silent minds and wanted to talk to her, not her flirty best friend with the braids in her hair.

His eyes widened with shock, and for a second she thought he was going to think she was crazy, but instead, he said, "I have, actually." Fitz eyed her. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, pausing. He took a deep breath, and said, "Something about your mind."

Did he know she could read minds? Is that how he blocked her? Was her secret about to be exposed? And by the mayor's son, no less?

It was her turn to hesitate, before nodding and mustering up the courage to say, "Yes. You... you too."

"By which I mean. Your mind is. Quiet." Fitz closed his eyes as if he was afraid of her reaction. Which he should be, she supposed. "Unlike everyone else's."

The words didn't register at first. 

She was a freak; one of a kind, alone, unique, whatever you wanted to call it. In short, there was no one like her. She could read minds, but no one else could.

Until now.

Why on earth would he tell her, a girl he'd never even interacted with, just because she may or may not be special too?

Maybe this was all some sort of trick to make her confess. Or a prank.

But if he was legit... she had to know.

"Yours too. I... can't hear it," she almost whispered.

His eyes widened. His hand ran through his hair, and he seemed speechless for a minute.

Their eyes met.

"What does this mean?" Sophie murmured, mostly to herself.

"Just to be clear. You can... read minds?"

She'd said the words out loud before, to herself. Just to hear that they were real. But hearing the words from someone else's lips... she couldn't stop the jump in her stomach or the nervous tingling that ran down her limbs at the sound.

After ten years of keeping it hidden. Ten years of hiding her headache, pretending she couldn't hear the insults people thought and the judgements people made. Ten years of putting a mask over her face whenever someone made a rude comment or swore in their head or even sad something funny and she couldn't react.

Ten years.

And now there was someone like her.

"Yes. You can too?"

He nodded. Sophie was sure the shocked look on her face matched his, only his probably looked a zillion times better, his lips falling open in an O as his eyebrows rose  above his sparkling teal eyes and-

What was she thinking about again?

Oh, yes, her world being turned upside down.

"What now?" Fitz managed, the words clipped and disorderly.

Sophie hesitated. "We can hang out, later. If you... if you want. You can come over or we can meet up or something. Only if you want it's completely okay if you're busy or you don't want to or-" God, she was flubbing this up- "But I'd like to know more and everything," She finished weakly.

Luckily, Fitz smiled. And his smile flashed at her like a movie stars, perfect in every way. It made Sophie's knees wobble a bit, and she ordered them to shut up and stay standing, because the last thing she needed was to collapse and crack her head open.

"After school?" Fitz suggested. "The coffee shop across the street? I can meet you at the flagpole, if that's okay with you."

This was completely a friendly meet up, of course.

Unfortunately.

But that was plenty, especially since she was finally gong to get her answers.

So she nodded, saying, "I'll be there."

And when Fitz's smile turned soft, she knew that it was the best decision she'd ever made.

Wow, so this turned out sLiGhTlY longer than I thought it would-

If you'd like a part two, comment below! If only one person wants a part two, I'll consider it, if more than one, then definitely!

In a part two there would be more fluff and they would actually get together, most likely. 

Anyway, comment/vote if you liked it! I'll be posting the next oneshot soon enough!