"Whoa."

Sophie looked around the Black Swan's headquarters in amazement. She had met them in various places, but never actually been to their base. Now that she was here, she couldn't stop gawking at how homely the place seemed. Memories that were stolen from her came flooding back, many of which were her training here at a very young age with none other than Mr. Forkle. She turned around and took a look at the others who seemed just as shocked as she was, if not more. Her eyes finally landed on Mr. Forkle.

"Any chance you will tell us your real name now?" she asked.

Mr. Forkle shook his head, but he had a mysterious smile on his face, as if he knew something she didn't. He probably did.

"In time," he answered, "Now come along. Your rooms are down this corridor. Don't be so slow! You kids these days..."

Sophie and Biana exchanged curious looks and followed Mr. Forkle down the corridor. After trudging silently down the hallway, they stopped at a white wooden door with a plate on it stating "33A." With a soft creak, Mr. Forkle opened the door. The place looked so much like her bedroom at home; she was barely able to stop the tears of homesickness falling from her eyes. She turned to Biana who was already inside, placing her bags on the floor.

"This is your room," noted Mr. Forkle. He really needn't have stated that due to the pink walls and sparkly purple fan. Biana smiled at Sophie and faintly whispered, "Sparkles make everything better." Of course, Keefe overheard her and rolled his eyes, but Sophie really didn't care. She practically had her bedroom from her old life back, but better! She set down her bags and followed Mr. Forkle down the hallway. He stopped at another room labeled "33B." Opening the door, he gestured for the boys to place their bags down. The room seemed bigger due to the lack of furniture. What replaced the numerous cabinets in the girls' room were gaming consoles. Sophie heard an excited scream from behind her and turned to see Keefe pointing to the main console, which was in clear view from the doorway. He turned to Mr. Forkle and asked, "Is that a 540-console? With virtual bramble programmed on it?"

Mr. Forkle nodded, clearly amused. All three boys ran into the room and each picked up a remote from beside the console.

"Dude this is so awesome! It even has the newest remote!" exclaimed Fitz.

Dex shook his head, "As amazing as this is, I can easily reprogram it to be neurologically controlled. In other words, whatever you think will happen."

"See?" complimented Keefe, patting Dex's shoulder, "The benefits of knowing a Technopath!"

Sophie smiled and began walking towards her room when a voice stopped her.

"You kids get a good night's sleep and meet me in the main hall at 8 am tomorrow morning. I expect all of you to be on time and don't even think of ditching." Mr. Forkle gave Keefe a pointed look when saying this. "This is not Foxfire. Your studies will be more dangerous, yet more crucial. I expect to see you tomorrow."

Sophie and Biana nodded, beginning to walk to their room. Sophie immediately fell onto the bed that seemed so similar to her's and clutched Ella tightly, drifting into a deep sleep.

"Sophie! Wake up! It's already 7:50! We're going to be late! Sophie!"

The voice that woke Sophie up was neither Grady's nor Edaline's. Yesterday's flurry of events came back to her and she hoisted herself up, only to see a completely ready Biana hovering over her.

"I woke up at 7 and got your clothes ready. You seemed really tired yesterday. We have ten minutes," she looked at her watch, "Nine now. Mr. Forkle isn't going to be happy if we're late!"

Still half asleep, Sophie got dressed and ready. She found herself walking out of the door at 7:59. Sprinting downstairs and into the hall, the girls found themselves with a pleasant surprise. There were many tables, all filled with teens and adults eating breakfast. Spotting an empty one, Sophie grabbed some waffles from the long buffet and sat down to eat. After five minutes Fitz, Keefe, and Dex joined her and Biana at the table, all of them stuffing as much food into their mouths as they could. Soon, Mr. Forkle walked over to them.

"As you can see, your training will begin at 8:30 am daily. Fitz and Sophie, follow me for your telepathy training. Keefe, Dex, and Biana, please follow this young man over here. He will take you to your respective training rooms."

Mr. Forkle led Sophie and Fitz down another long corridor into a small room with two chairs and a table pushed against the wall. He gestured to the chairs for them to sit.

"As you know, Fitz and I are the only telepaths that can surpass your blocking, Sophie."

Sophie and Fitz nodded.

"We can surpass your blocking because your subconscious mind trusts us. But that trust can be easily broken and if it penetrates deep enough, we may never be able to pass your blocking again. For that reason, we need to make your trust so strong that it would be difficult to break.

"It would not be easy for me to break your trust since we will not be relying on each other during battle or working very closely together. On the other hand, you and Fitz will be working closely together and relying on each other during battles against the Neverseen. For that reason, we need to build your trust."

That eerily matched what Professor Tiergan had said.

"I have begun by creating an exercise to build upon your trust for each other," stated Mr. Forkle.

The fear in Sophie's eyes was reflected in Fitz's as he asked, "Will it involve sharing secrets?"

Mr. Forkle laughed, "If you are worried about embarrassment, I suggest you tuck that worry away. This exercise will not involve sharing secrets, but it will involve looking at each other's memories and emotions."

Both Sophie and Fitz's eyes widened. Sophie felt her heart pounding in her ears and her palms sweating as Mr. Forkle continued.

"I don't see what the problem is if you both trust each other. Unless... no that's not possible... Is it?"

Now Sophie was just confused. "Is what possible?" she asked.

Mr. Forkle shook his head. "That you both... Oh I wish I had an Empath in here! You kids these days are so confusing!"

"Why can't you bring one in?" pointed out Fitz.

"This is classified training. From what everybody else thinks, you both are learning the same thing as the other Telepaths, just more in depth. But, if what I think is true, that may just be what you end up doing. That, or you must figure out an alternate solution. It may just put your trust in peril!" Mr. Forkle seemed incredibly stressed out as he disclosed all this information. Finally, he seemed to come up with a solution.

"Fitz," Mr. Forkle commanded, "Check Sophie's pulse."

Sophie's face turned fire engine red as Fitz reached out and placed two fingers just below her right ear. Her heart skipped a beat as she noticed his dark brows furrowed in concentration and his teal eyes gleaming in the light of day.

"Um, it's rather fast," observed Fitz, his fingers still on her neck, "And getting faster."

Mr. Forkle looked ready to rip his hair out. The sight would have been funny if Sophie's heart wasn't already beating so fast.

Mr. Forkle took a deep breath. "Do you mind kissing her?" he asked slowly.

Fitz's eyes widened and his fingers dropped. Sophie's heart beat even faster and she froze in shock.

When Fitz replied, he was stammering, "I- um- uh- Are you sure I should answer that in front of her?" He glanced at her, his face as red as her's was.

Unfortunately, Mr. Forkle nodded.

He's going to say 'yes I mind,' thought Sophie. He's going to say yes when I would be glad to not mind and have the most embarrassing moment of my life. To Sophie's surprise, Fitz shook his head.

"I don't mind kissing her at all. In fact, I'll do it right now, if you want."

With that, he leaned forward and pressed his lips on hers, finally stopping Sophie's heart.