Chapter Two

Sophie sat in her kitchen eating a small breakfast when her first friend arrived, and she looked over her shoulder to see a disheveled Dex walking in. "Hey," she greeted, continuing to eat. "Do you want any?" 

"It's fine, I ate before I got here," he declined. "Am I early?" He looked at the empty house being that usually he was late. 

She shook her head, smiling. "No, everyone should be getting here soon. Keefe stayed late last night so I know that he's going to be at least ten minutes late." 

"Keefe stayed late, huh?" Dex smirked. 

Sophie rolled her eyes, but her head was down hiding a small blush. "Shut up," she retorted. "He ate dinner with my family and then I was showing him Iggy's new dye job. It looks amazing, by the way." 

Dex nodded, grinning while he said, "I only do the best for Iggy."

"So, is there any specific person you want on your list?" Sophie questioned before quickly finished off her food. 

She dropped her bowl in the sink as Dex said, "I mean, not really. I'm not in a relationship right now and there's really no one I'm into right now." He shrugged. "It's all good. Besides, you know that the matchmaking scrolls isn't something I especially scream out to support with my parents and all." Sophie nodded in acknowledgment as she walked over to where he was sitting on the couch and sat beside him. "What about you, Soph? Anyone specifically you want to see on that list." 

"You mean besides me?" Keefe stated as he walked through the doors with Fitz and Biana walking in right behind him. 

She looked to Fitz. Are you two cool? 

He shrugged. We talked outside, it's why we're kind of late. 

She gave him a satisfied smile as Keefe said, "Oh come on, you two can find another time to flirt." 

Fitz and Sophie shared knowing smiles before Fitz said, "Shut up, doofus." 

"Oh no, I've been attacked," Keefe stated sarcastically. After his statement was finished, Sophie's retort was cut off by Linh, Tam, and Marella walking through the doors. 

"Sorry we're late, I wanted to say goodbye to my mom," Marella apologized for the three as they made their way to a seat. 

"It's all good, everyone is as close to being on time as ever," Sophie replied. "So, are you guys ready?" 

Everyone nodded nervously. She found herself fiddling with the scroll that was placed in her hand by Dex. It was especially daunting knowing that the person she truly wanted to be on the scroll was sitting only a few feet away from her. "So, on the count of three maybe?" Linh chimed in. 

"That' sounds reasonable," Fitz replied, smiling at her. 

Sophie looked at all her friends and the way they all looked at each other. Sophie had no doubt that if her friends weren't relying on lists, most of their significant others would be picked from this group with each other. She didn't know who to who, most of them didn't really mention feelings with each other, but she knew that it was a thing. 

She also knew that with the lists their group could possibly grow. Maybe someone would find a person on their list they like that's not in the friend group. She frowned thinking about it. Their group had been just this small group of friends since Marella found out she was a pyrokinetic. The group had stuck together through thick and thin, they had survived literally death together, and the thought of someone new being added who hadn't been there for everything was weird. The thought that the dynamic of everything would change with these lists made her frown. 

"Okay," Keefe was the one to finally break the tension filled silence. "Okay, who wants to do the honors of counting?" They all looked at each other and when no one volunteered Keefe finally said, "Fine, stupid question. I guess I'll do it."

Sophie found herself wanting to be anywhere but in a bundle with her friends as she read through her potential husbands, but it was too late as Keefe finally reached the number three. Everyone started to glance through their scrolls, and she noticed some of them humming with appreciation. 

Sophie found herself not wanting to look at the top and starting from the bottom. Names of people she hadn't even met before appeared, and she saw the names of some people particularly older than her. She knew age gaps for elves was normal, but the thought of marrying someone that was old enough to be her father was a huge no-no for her. She continued to look, noting the names of people she knew were her age that she wasn't particularly against being with. 

"How is everyone's lists going so far?" Dex asked. Everyone looked at him and he frowned. "Sorry, stupid question. I'll let you all finish." 

"Wait, Sophie, are you looking from bottom up too?" Linh asked, her head tilted towards her own list which was opened the same way as Sophie's. 

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, wanted to save the best for last or something like that," she stated. Linh acknowledged her statement with a nod before going back to reading, which Sophie noticed everyone else had already done. 

She started to look through her list to help finish when Biana let out a loud, "Done!" 

"Well I'm not so shut up," Fitz replied, still scanning. Biana rolled her eyes at him but looked through her list once more, as if double checking. 

Sophie found herself blocking her friends out as she had finally reached her top ten. She took in a shaky breath, especially since the name she was scanning for had not appeared yet. She looked at number ten and frowned at the fact Tam was there. While it made since he was on her list, it still startled her to see him there since she had never once thought that Tam would be someone she'd be with. It had also startled her to see a name so familiar, it made the list seem more real in a way. 

Her numbers nine, eight, and seven were randoms and she was quite shocked when Fitz came in at number six. She had almost forgotten he was a contender for her list with the fact they had already agreed they would not be getting together. It showed how much the people in charge of the scrolls didn't know their personal lives. It showed how impersonal these lists were, and why Sophie was secretly not a fan of them in the first place. 

Her five and four were people she had seen around while she was going to Foxfire, but that wasn't what mattered. Her eyes looked at number three and she found herself wanting to raise a fist to the air in achievement, but she knew that would not be the best thing to do. She all but ignored her top two places, because there wasn't anyone that matter now that her eyes rested on the name most important. Keefe Sencen. 

She looked up and her eyes landed on him. She knew she would be on his list now. She just didn't know where. That's when she realized he started from top to bottom, meaning he had already passed her. He already knew, and she knew that for certain when he looked up and his eyes met hers. They both smiled at each other. 

Marella groaned. "Well, one thing for certain is this was a bust."

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chapter questions

1. who do you want to ship together 

2. there's no ashla in this book (i miss writing her though) but there can be another outsider if you want. is there any person in this group you want to see bring in an outsider from their matchmaking scroll?

3. did you miss me writing? cause i know i missed me writing lmao