--sophie foster--

It was supposed to be a normal sleepover at Everglen, but when spending time with two Vackers, nothing was ever too normal.

I had packed my bags for a one-week sleepover with my friends. I remembered racing to the human world to buy enough cute clothes to last a lifetime. I didn't want to admit to myself who I was dressing up for to myself. Nevertheless, as I handed the cashier a stack of rainbow dollar bills and a ready-to-burst bag of red oversized sweaters, black skirts, and a pair of Doc Martens as a cherry on top, I felt my face heat up when she raised her eyebrows at me. Even though I refrained from reading her mind, something told me she wasn't giving me sideways smirks because of the rainbow cash.

Of course, at some point, I had to stop my mind from overanalyzing the color of the money I was handing out to pay for my new clothes. My face was going to explode if my mind kept up its annoying antics.

Shutting down my overthinking as much as I could, I whisked away to Everglen in the early summer morning, letting the tickling sensation of feathers across my body carry me away.

Everglen glittered in the rose-tinted dawn, a sparkly crystal (oh god, Sophie, don't think about sparkles right now) laid on top of a soft pink tablecloth. The trees smelled of fresh pine and the smell of blueberry pie danced around in the background the farther up the path I came.

"How long does it take to put on a shoe?" a crisp accent muttered to himself as I came in. Teal eyes lit up with joy as a tall, muscular boy in an apron looked up from an open book.

"Sophie!" Fitz greeted cheerfully. He was sitting on a wooden stool next to a started oven- its window golden with the warmth of a pie baking behind the door- with a book held carefully in his hands: Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuinston. "Don't mind Biana, she's just being a pain in the ass."

I chuckled, sitting down on the part of the (impressively large) Everglen kitchen counter that wasn't covered in flour. "How so?"

Fitz rolled his eyes, setting his book down on the part of the counter that was, unfortunately, flour-coated. "Something about her hair not curling enough and her cuticles being bulky." He looked up to the ceiling and glared. "Your toenails are fine, Bi! Just stop worrying!"

I shook my head in amusement as an agitated voice barreled out swear words from somewhere on the second floor. Fitz groaned.

"I'm nervous too, and I'm not freaking out over a rogue strand of hair!" Fitz yelled up to the ceiling again. I raised my eyebrows.

"Why are you nervous?" I questioned. Fitz dwindled his thumbs and looked down.

"Love life problems," he chuckled anxiously. I laughed.

"That makes two of us," I said, getting off the kitchen counter and taking out a human carton of Strawberry Lemonade. I poured two drinks in two of the cut crystal glasses my friends and I usually used for alcohol. Oh well. There's a first time for everything.

"Cheers?" I offered a glass of the cool pink liquid to Fitz. He shrugged, and tapped his glass against mine.

"Cheers." Just as Fitz and I downed our glasses, the clacking of heels coming down stairs announced Biana's presence.

Get yourself together, I scolded myself, preparing for her entrance. Her brother is literally right next to you.

But how could I contain myself when Biana came downstairs wearing that?

Biana's curly dark hair fell down her shoulders and back like strands of silk. Her intense teal gaze was almost enough to distract me from the lavender dress she wore, and her legs-

Yeah, I was definitely staring. I could faintly hear Fitz sigh behind me, as if watching me interact with his sister was physically causing him pain.

Biana blinked at me, directing my gaze back up to her face. A wave of guilt washed over me as she shuffled her feet uncomfortably. Urgh, I'm such an idiot!

She grinned after a couple seconds, which made me have to restraint every nerve in my body from letting out a sigh of relief.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer," Biana teased, striking a pose that forced me to look away while I still could.

"No thanks," I mumbled, looking down at my feet and twirling my hair with my fingers. Even without looking at Fitz, I could sense his eyes were rolled up to the ceiling.

"I'm gonna go," he offered grumpily, sliding the pie- pies, I saw once the two desserts were in his hands- out of the oven. "No pie for you two."

"Wait!" Biana scrambled after Fitz, grabbing one of the pies and shoving her hand inside it. Fitz shrieked and clutched the untouched pie with disgust.

"Ugh, Bi, are you serious right now?" Fitz screeched. Biana's hand was coated in indigo jelly with crumbs of pie crust scattered across her hand. Biana shoved her hand inside her mouth, no remorse.

"Fuck you," Fitz said with good-natured exasperation. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to change into something more...appropriate." He exchanged glances with Biana, making me raise my eyebrows.

"I think you look fine." I gestured to his pink sweater over a collared shirt and black jeans. He shuffled his feet.

"Yeah, but... well, let's just say we have a surprise for everyone once they all arrive." Biana shooed him up the stairs to his room, then came back downstairs to me. Only then did I realize that we were totally alone for at least until the next person showed up.

"So, what's this surprise Fitz is talking about?" I had to ask. Biana smirked.

"Didn't you hear him? You get to know when everyone else gets here," Biana teased, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm bored though," I whined, sitting back onto the kitchen counter and folding my leg over the other. "Couldn't you be any more dramatic?"

Biana shrugged. "I could be. I simply chose not to. If I had a meter to measure the levels of my theatrics, we'd be on, uh, I don't know- a six?"

"Out of ten?"

Biana grinned. "More like twenty." I whined again, then stopped myself.

"Sorry I forgot to put on the makeup you gave me last week," I apologized. "I forgot this time. Was too busy shopping for clothes."

Biana's grin softened. "Hey, don't be sorry. I think you look great anyday." I simply couldn't look her in the eye as she said that, sure my cheeks were a dusty rose. "Some people simply don't need makeup to look like a supermodel. You are one of those people."

I turned my face forward to look her in the eye. "And you aren't?"

"Well-"

Ding dong!

The doorbell to Everglen rang and Biana hurried over to the door. I sighed, jumping off the kitchen counter and following after the sound of heels clacking against the crystal floor.