3/11/2018

"Wake up Foster," Sophie groaned, swinging her buried arms out of the heavy blanket, accidentally hitting a hard yet soft surface, and was met with an indignant "Hey! That hurt." Forcing herself to open her eyes, she sat up to see Biana leaning casually against her bedpost and Juline sitting on the edge of bed.

"Since when do you call me Foster?" Sophie mumbled to Biana.

"I dunno. What, Keefe can call you Foster and we can't?" She teased, a knowing smile on her face. Sophie mentally facepalmed, inwardly groaning.

"Just not used to it." She answered. Biana pouted at her response.

"Whatever," Biana blinked before crossing her arms and asking, "Do you know how long you've been asleep?"

"Umm... no." Her raised eyebrows changed focus to Juline.

"Three days." Juline patted her leg from underneath the covers. "You've been asleep for three days." Sophie's jaw dropped.

"You. Have. Been. Asleeee-" Biana spoke slowly, enunciating every syllable before Sophie interrupted.

"I. Can. Teee-." She mocked her.

"Don't cut me off, sweetie. That's rude." Biana gave her sweetest smile. Sophie internally facepalmed.

"Hypocrite," Sophie muttered under her breath.

"I am not a hypocrite!" Her head stung.

"Ow! What was that for?" Sophie rubbed her poor head. "And you say I'm rude..." Sophie rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Sorry I hit you on the head." Biana rolled her eyes.

"Do this to Fitz or Keefe or your boyfriend, not me." Sophie shooed Biana away.

"Sheesh. I'm going to Atlantis. Bye!" Biana shut the door.

"Okay," Sophie started to Juline. "What's going on?"

"Well... we weren't that worried about you being asleep for so long as you had endured much... but everybody else is fully healed and recovered." Juline smiled.

"Even Keefe's..." Sophie grimaced. She didn't exactly like the word "stab" when it came to people she cared about.

She nodded. "For sure."

Sophie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay then. Thanks for the info. How's Foxfire?" Sophie asked, a bit worriedly.

"They're... recovering. You won't have school for a little while. Still in construction and rebuilding."

"Well, at least some sort of progress is going on." Juline tensed slightly, her jaw frozen, her hands shaking ever so slightly.

"There was another attack." Sophie finished.

Juline sighed, clearly exasperated. Her eyeballs made her look even more like Edaline.

"There was. We have no idea what they're even doing at this point. We don't know what caused this upbringing of attacks, of war." Something had to have triggered some switch, put the Neverseen on high alert, made a war. Sophie furrowed her eyebrows. Without any place to start, they would be getting nowhere. Like always.

"So you met up with the Neverseen, right?" Juline raised her eyebrows as Sophie sighed.

"I hate Keefe Sencen."

"Don't we all? No, I'm just kidding..." Juline shrugged.

"I wasn't." She mumbled.

"You met up with them." It wasn't a question anymore.

"I did." She responded at last.

"Why?" That tiny word might have been the very turning, pivotal moment, where even Sophie herself didn't know why. Why did she do it? Why would- why should she do that?

"I don't know! I don't know."

After several long minutes of silence, Juline got up off the bed and told Sophie, "We'll find out sooner or later. Bye."

The door was shut.

Sophie sighed, and curled up a little more into the blanket.

"Sophie!' Banging on her door echoed throughout the room.

"Yeah?"

A worried Dex, Fitz, and Tam barrelled into the room, each wearing their own worried expressions.

"What happened?"

"I-it-it-it's Biana."