Sophitz Forever

Chapter Seven

Sophie sighed as she opened her bedroom door. Now was actually the time. Cognate training. And it was time to spill some secrets. One of them not even being hers. Oh, well, it was bound to happen sometime soon.

Fitz grinned at Sophie to try to calm her down, but Sophie still felt as if her nerves had just a too-large injection of caffeine. She sat down on the floor, and waited for Fitz to join her. When he sat down, she took a deep breath. Just as she was about to speak, Fitz silenced her by saying,

"Sophie, I can tell how uncomfortable you are. So I made a deal with myself. I'll tell you my secret first. I'm the man."

Sophie felt a huge bout of relief, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking Stereotype. All the way. She smiled at Fitz gratefully. He looked at her and blushed. "Ok, are you ready?"

Sophie nodded and opened her mind. As she felt his mind enter hers, she couldn't help but feeling embarrassed at the slight glimpses of her thoughts that he must be seeing. Fitz said,

Ok. I don't know how to say this, Sophie. But...for the longest time...

Sophie's nerves tingled more.

I have had this feeling...

Sophie couldn't breathe.

Sophie, I'm just going to say it straight out.

Sophie couldn't look up.

Sophie, I'm in love. With Linh Song.

Sophie felt like fainting. It was as if a piece of glass had hit her in her most vulnerable part and stayed there. She couldn't breathe, her lungs were rebelling against her, she was dying...

She looked at Fitz. His face was red and nervous-looking as if waiting for her reaction. And Sophie knew that she was obligated to give one. Ok. That's great.

Sophie didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him her secret now! Not when she knew this about him. He looked at her expectantly and waited for her to elaborate or spill her secret.

Sophie looked at Fitz, really looked at him, for once without blushing. She had nowhere to go, nothing to say. What could she say? After this? This...this... revelation?

All Sophie knew was one thing. She had to tell Fitz about Linh.

Hey. That's great! Her voice sounded half-hearted, even if it was in her head. I suppose I should tell you what Linh was telling me today before Keefe's...incident. She likes you too. Sophie couldn't bear to look at Fitz, now when he was so surely smiling and feeling like the luckiest guy alive. Fitz said in her head, That's great! Thanks for telling me. So, Sophie. A secret for a secret. Sophie knew what he meant. She had to tell him what her secret was.

She couldn't. There was only one way out.

She had to lie. To her Cognate. The person she was supposed to trust and tell everything to.

Ok. This isn't an easy thing to confess. And you can't tell anyone. Fitz, I like Keefe Sencen.

Sophie felt a strange sensation of happiness as she said it. Why was she so happy? She looked at Fitz, who was smiling strangely. He said, Great. I understand why that was so hard to tell me all this time. I mean, we are best buddies. But I promise I won't tell him. Hearing Fitz say "best buddies" made Sophie want to crack up. The strange happiness was still a part of her. But she did her best to keep a straight face and gave a small smile in gratitude to Fitz.

Ok. Now that that's over, what should we do now?

Fitz sighed. I have to tell you something else. And you can't ever tell anyone that I told you this. Sophie promised mentally, knowing that Fitz could hear it. Ok. Keefe likes you back. Sophie wanted to laugh again. Was today going to be nothing but confessions of who liked who? It was very coincidental, but she shut up and didn't know what to think. Keefe Sencen liked...her? No, it was always Biana! How could Sophie compete with Biana? Then again, how could she compete with Linh? Of course Fitz liked her. It was so obvious. Linh was right, and Sophie was wrong again.

Sophie said mentally, Can we go back downstairs? Please?

She couldn't stand to be alone with Fitz anymore. Fitz nodded and followed her downstairs. Sophie got to the landing, but she couldn't face Linh or Keefe. Not now. But she had to. Fitz was looking at her strangely, so she walked into the living room. The first thing she saw was Keefe mussing up his hair as usual, and when he saw her, he laughed.

"Foster, what were you doing up there with Wonderboy? Your emotions are literally calling me." All of a sudden, Keefe's face changed. Sophie groaned inwardly as he realized what had gone through them. She was feeling too much embarrassment being around him. Of course he would guess, even if it was a lie. Keefe looked at Fitz, and Fitz nodded.

Keefe looked at Sophie and grinned. "Sophie, when do you want to go to dinner?"

Sophie was about to die. Biana was about to kill her.