Sophie heard him coming down the hall, laughing with his guy friends, before she even saw him. As he passed by, she leaned against her locker, wondering why she couldn't tear her eyes away from him.

She scoffed at herself, shaking her head. She knew why.

He was the boy who broke the rules regardless of the consequences—especially at the Black Swan Academy.

"Whatcha starin' at?" a voice asked from behind Sophie and she jumped, nearly dropping her things.

"Can you please not do that?" Sophie asked her friend, her hand over her rapidly-beating heart.

Marella giggled. "Why not? It's funny."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Not when you're the victim."

"Not when you're the victim," Marella said in a higher pitched tone, mocking Sophie. "You just don't know how to have fun."

Sophie closed her locker after making sure she had the right textbook and notebook. "Um . . . have you seen the school we go to? We're literally fourteen and they're teaching us how to catch the NS."

Marella simply shrugged as they started walking down the hallway—away from Fitz Vacker and his friends—to get to class. "So? Doesn't mean you have to be so uptight, Miss President."

Sophie rolled her eyes again. "My dad isn't the president."

"Pretty dang close to it, though. He literally runs the group who's taking down the 'baddest bad guys out there.'" She said the last part in an exaggerated tone, signifying that's what they've heard over and over since they started at the BSA as pre-schoolers.

"The Black Swan are more than just a group, they're—"

"They're a foundation with deep roots devoted to keeping the world a great place," Marella finished for her, quoting another phrase they had drilled into their heads for as long as they could remember. "And by the way, you never told me what you were doing."

"What do you mean?" Sophie asked, turning a corner.

"I mean when you were staring you-know-who at your locker," Marella said teasingly. "I don't get why you don't just admit it."

Sophie raised an eyebrow, glad her hair could cover the light blush on her cheeks. "Admit what?"

"That you like Keefe Sencen," she said in a sing-song tone, fairly loudly.

Sophie had to bite her lip to keep her from laughing. "Keefe?"

"Oh, so it's not him. Dex, maybe?"

Sophie shook her head no.

"Tam?"

When Sophie, yet again, shook her head, Marella gasped.

"Miss Goody Two-Shoes likes Mister Bad Boy Vacker?"

Sophie's eyes widened when she noticed the heads of other students turn their way, Marella's voice loud enough to be heard at HQ.

"Can you talk any louder?" Sophie scolded in a harsh whisper.

Marella only smirked. "You mean loud enough for them to hear?" She nodded towards somewhere behind Sophie and Sophie wished she could crawl into a hole when she saw, only a few meters away from her, Fitz turned away from them while his three friends smirked and grinned at her.

"You are so obnoxious, Marella," Sophie complained, walking past her to get inside the classroom.

Marella followed behind, grinning. "Thank you."

* * * *

"Bye, Ms. Cadence," Sophie said as she exited her classroom.

"Bye, Sophie," her teacher said back to her, distracted by getting everything ready for her next class.

Sophie looked down at her notebook, trying to remember the things she needs for her next class, when a male voice sounded from directly behind her.

"Hey, Foster, is it?"

Sophie stopped in her tracks, already knowing who it was before she turned around to face him. "Yeah, but I don't go by that, Keefe."

He smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Foster."

Sophie rolled her eyes and started walking away from the blonde teenager.

Keefe laughed at her reaction and then sidled up beside her—despite the fact that his next class was hallways away from hers and he'd be late. "So I heard you liked bad boys."

Sophie scoffed. "Oh, please. The worst you've done is get tardy slips for almost every class at least once or twice a week and not tucking your shirt in."

Sophie stopped and gasped when she realized what she'd done. Keefe only laughed again. "So it's true."

Sophie blushed. "N—no. I don't like anyone like that—especially so-called 'bad boys.'"

"Mhmm," he mumbled along. "Whatever you want to tell yourself, Foster. And by the way, you'd be surprised at how much of a trouble-maker I am."

"You sure you want to be telling me that? Why are you even talking to me anyways?" she asked, turning around to face him as they reached her locker.

He shrugged and Sophie didn't think it was possible for him to smirk wider—though, she had to admit, he did look pretty good. "Maybe Mister Bad Boy Vacker wants to talk to you, Miss Goody Two-Shoes."

Sophie could physically feel blood rushing to her face as she put in her locker combo and thumbprint. "Yeah? Why is that?"

"Because . . . he wanted tips on . . . being a . . . good kid?" he said, sounding confused himself. "Nevermind. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you."

Sophie raised an eyebrow toward him, slightly confused by his actions. "Why? I highly doubt you even knew who I was before my friend . . . before this morning."

He laughed grabbing a random book from her locker and flipping through it. "Trust me, Foster, everyone knows who you are."

Sophie was confused for a second before she realized that she was the daughter of the man who was putting them through the torture of the BSA. "Okay, so why do you want to suddenly start talking to me now?"

He chuckled. "Because I heard that you like bad boys."

Sophie rolled her eyes and shoved the book Keefe grabbed back into her locker before slamming it shut. "Don't you have class to get to?"

"Nope, I gotta get another tardy slip, y'know, to add onto my bad boy rep."

Sophie wanted to laugh, but instead, she turned Keefe around and pushed him away from her, saying, "Get to class."

"Alright, Foster," he said, winking as he walked backwards so he could still face her. "Whatever you say."

* * * *

"I know how to pick a lock myself, thank you," Sophie heard an irritated voice sound from around the corner.

She peeked around the corner to see Fitz give out an exasperated sigh, leaning against the wall next to the door his friend, Tam, was trying to currently break into. "Yeah? We'd have already been inside if you did."

Tam gave Fitz a glare before going back to his work. "Can't you just hack into their database?"

"already have," Fitz admitted, running a hand through his dark hair. "They don't keep the info we need online, in case they do get hacked."

"They should get a better security system if they're going to keep hard copies then," he said, standing up and opening the previously locked door.

Sophie let out a quiet gasp when she realized it was the door to the headmaster's office—her father's friend's office. Sophie wasn't sure what exactly Fitz and Tam wanted that would be in there, Master Leto wouldn't keep anything important in the school building.

She didn't know what to do. Report it? Talk to them?—Sophie almost laughed as the thought came across her mind, like she'd ever talk to the Fitz Vacker her father wished wasn't part of the Black Swan program.

She heard footsteps approaching from behind and she whirled around to see Master Leto focused on a packet of papers as he was walking down the hall.

Without thinking, Sophie went up to him and, with a smile, enthusiastically—and loudly—said, "Master Leto! Hello."

She saluted him, as was proper greeting for the headmaster of the BSA.

Master Leto looked up from the pages in his hand, seeming surprised for a second. "Miss Foster. Hello. What are you doing here?"

"I—I um . . . needed to talk to you," she said. It was technically true, it was why she was headed for his office in the first place. "About my father."

"Oh. Why don't we talk in my office?" he gestured down the hall, in the direction of his office.

"No, no," Sophie practically shouted a little too quickly, moving so that she was facing towards the hall, and he'd be facing away from the hall the leads to his office. "It's just a quick question. Do you know when he'll visit again? Or when I'll be able to talk to him?"

Master Leto sighed. "I'm sorry, Miss Foster. Your father is a very busy man. I know he misses you, but he's working on an assignment right now, and it'll be awhile before he'll be able to contact you."

Sophie's smile tightened as she tried to hide the disappointment on her face. Her dad was always busy and it was rare if she would see him more than once or twice a year. Sometimes she wouldn't see him at all.

"Oh, okay. Thank you, Master Leto," she said softly, her smile wavering. She was about to say goodbye but then she saw Tam's head quickly peek around the corner and her eyes widened. "One more thing."

"Yes?" he asked.

"Could you possibly move me to a more advanced class? Just any class, really. All of them are really easy right now and I just want a challenge."

Say no, please say no, Sophie begged in her mind. Sure, the classes did seem a little too easy for her, but the projects and homework still took a bit of time to complete if she wanted to give her best effort. And she enjoyed having a little time to herself, needing a break every once in a while.

Sophie saw Tam and Fitz sneak into a janitor's closet in the hall she was currently in, her plan of distraction working in helping them.

Master Leto chuckled. "You were always a very bright child, Miss Foster. I'll see what I can do, but I think it'd be good for your fellow peers if you stuck with them, maybe they'd learn from you."

Sophie smiled. "Thank you."

She bowed, said her good-bye, and turned around to leave.

What did I just do? she asked herself. Why did I just do that?

* * * *

"No! No more excuses, Mister Vacker." Sophie recognized the harsh tone as Master Leto's.

She brought out of her thoughts of what she did the previous day—the only thing that's been on her mind—and allowed herself a quick glance through the small crack in the open door to a random classroom she heard the voice coming from as she was passing by and saw Fitz sitting—lazily—at a desk while Master Leto scolded him.

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me. Check the cameras."

"I would, but I have a feeling you changed the feed, making yourself seem like you had a valid alibi."

Fitz's eyes widened, but a small—very small—grin still appeared. "Huh . . . The Black Swan Academy, the most prestigious private school in the world, and they're worried that a student hacked into their system."

Sophie could hear the exasperated sigh Master Leto let out even from out in the hall.

"You realize I can expel you, yes?"

Fitz's smug grin grew as he leaned forward in his chair. "Can? More like won't. Wouldn't want bad publicity, especially considering who my parents are, would you? A shame one of the two only students you can't reprimand just happens to be your greatest headache, huh?"

One of the two, Sophie repeated in her mind. She knew exactly who the other student he was talking about was.

"It won't matter who your parents are or aren't, Mister Vacker. This is your final warning or else."

Fitz got up from the desk, wrapping on of his backpack straps around his shoulder. "Hmm . . . wonder how many more final warnings I'll get."

"This is your last warning, Vacker."

Fitz chuckled as he reached the door, turning around to face Master Leto before exiting—and this was when Sophie realized that Fitz would see her once he opens the door completely and she quickly started walking towards the library. But she could still hear his last words before he opened the door.

"Better make it a grand final act, then."

When he walked out, Sophie couldn't help but glance back at him. He saw her looking and they shared brief eye-contact. He gave her a small grin and a short greeting nod before heading down the opposite direction from her.

Sophie quickly looked away, her cheeks a lovely shade of pink, and started walking again, ignoring the strange feeling in her chest.

* * * *

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Marella asked from across the bed from Sophie.

Sophie was supposedly reading a book but her thoughts kept wandering off to thinking about Fitz Vacker and she wasn't even looking at her book anymore. Until Marella snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Stuff."

Marella scoffed. "Specific. . . ."

"I know, right? I think I explained too much," Sophie said sarcastically with a smile before sitting up. More honestly, she answered, "I don't know. I guess I miss my dad."

It was technically the truth.

Marella nodded her head. "Fair enough. Have you talked to Master Leto yet?"

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, yesterday. He said it'll be awhile before I can even talk to him."

Marella gave Sophie a half frown. "That sucks. You know, you should just storm to headquarters and demand them to let you see your dad."

Sophie laughed. "I think they'd find that more adorable than demanding coming from me."

Marella laughed too and shrugged. "True. You need to toughen up."

"Nah, I'm good with being the perfect little child," Sophie said before getting up off the bed.

"Where're you going?" Marella asked her dormmate.

"Out for a walk."

"'Kay. Don't miss dinner." 

*~*~*~*
Written: 6/15/18
Edited: N/A
Words: 2,301

Whoa, that's kind of long  and this was barely half of what I had originally planned . . . But I wanted to upload what I had already written. What are your thoughts so far?

Thank you for reading.
~Nuela <3