"Sophie," Mr. Forkle said in a low voice, awkwardly scratching his neck. For some reason, he had come to Havenfield in the middle of the night, accompanied by all my friends. Linh, Tam, Dex, Biana, Fitz, and Keefe flanked his side.

Dammit. This would totally mess up my non-existent sleep schedule.

I raised an eyebrow at my friends, silently mouthing, "What's up?"

They all shrugged. They seemed to know as much as I did. It had to be something urgent.

"When I unlocked your enhancing, I may have accidentally unlocked something else. Something that, back then, I was sure you would never have to face," Mr. Forkle sighed. He swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing up and down. "Another ability."

That was straightforward, to say the least.

My eyes widened. My friends all gasped, staring at Mr. Forkle with wide eyes. I couldn't believe it. Another one? This had to be some kind of joke. My heart began to beat much faster than it had five seconds ago.

It's a joke. Please say it's a joke.

"I'm sorry. I know you aren't eager to have another responsibility on your shoulders, but I accidentally unlocked it when I unlocked your enhancing. If I don't fully unlock this ability, you may... umm, explode. Or become emotionless," He warned.

I definitely did not want to explode, or become emotionless. So, I nodded. "I... I'm fine with another ability," I assured him.

I couldn't bear to look at him while I lied, so I turned my head slightly to the side and closely monitored my friend's reactions instead.

Tam and Fitz seemed deep in thought, probably trying to guess what my new ability was going to be. Their eyes seemed far away in another world.

Dex, Linh, and Biana's eyebrows were all furrowed, and they were staring worriedly at me, analyzing how I was handling the news like how I was analyzing them.

Keefe's reaction was the most worrying. He seemed to be frozen, lost in his own thoughts. But unlike Fitz and Tam, he didn't seem to be trying to guess what my new ability was. His eyes weren't far away; they were trapped in a nightmare.

His brow was furrowed, but unlike Dex, Linh, and Biana, he didn't seem to be worried. He seemed to be...

Horrified?

♡ 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚙 ♡

Keefe's pov

This was bad. Like, really, really bad. I had successfully avoided any contact with Foster for about two weeks now, ignoring her calls and refusing to visit her.

It seemed cruel of me, I know. But it was better this way.

Unfortunately, my plan to avoid Foster was thwarted by Mr. Forkle. He had asked me to help her control her empath abilities, or whatever. And then I did the stupidest thing ever. I agreed.

But that wasn't the point. The point was, I had to be in the same room with her, and let her practice reading my emotions.

What could go wrong?

Ro had wisely decided to stay at the Shores of Solace and had wished me good luck when I left.

I took a deep breath and timidly knocked on her bedroom door before I could turn back and run away. Seconds ticked by, but it felt like eternity. I waited patiently, inhaling uneven shallow breaths and trying to calm myself dow.

Keefe, chill. She was going to find out about it one day. The sooner it's over, the better.

That was a crappy way to assure myself, but I decided to roll with it.

"Keefe?" Foster slowly opened the door.

She looked as adorable as always, but now the circles under her eyes were 10 shades darker than usual. Her blonde hair was tied up in a loose, messy ponytail, and it seemed to be missing its usual shine. She was dressed in a comfortable-looking hoodie and grey sweatpants, though she looked far from comfortable.

She stiffened at the sight of me.

Her eyes looked dead. They were devoid of any emotion, with no sign of life in them. They were blank, like a doll's eyes.

It was creepy, to say the least.

"Foster!" I exclaimed, forcing a cheerful grin. My hands reached out to hug her but froze midway, leaving me in an awkward zombie position. I was definitely not going to touch her.

Foster didn't seem to notice; her eyes were focused on mine.

"What do you want?" She asked coldly, leaning against the door frame. She crossed her arms, glaring at me through narrowed eyes.

I carefully pushed past her, strolling into her room before she could shut the door on me. Her room looked as neat as usual. The only thing that was different was her unmade bed.

Everything else seemed to be where I had last seen it, even down to the position of the pencils on her desk. It was unnerving, as though the only thing she had touched in this room for the past two weeks was her bed.

"Mr. Forkle wanted me to teach you to control your new ability, and I agreed because," I explained, hesitating slightly before giving her the reason. "I wanted to see you," I admitted, slowly turning around to face her.

She was still glaring at me, but now I could see some emotion in her eyes. It was sorrow. Sadness started radiating off of her. However, underneath the sadness, there was still a thin layer of the familiar emotion that gave me hope.

Wait. Could she feel my emotions without any contact, too?

She probably couldn't. If she could, she would have immediately stopped this angry charade and tried to comfort me, being the angel that she was, even though I was the one who had created this mess in the first place.

"See me? After avoiding me for two weeks?" She asked hysterically. Her left eyes started twitching, and she walked two steps closer to me.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, staring at her straight in the eyes. Doubt radiated off of her this time.

"No, Keefe, you're not! You always do this! You always do something stupid and then show up, all sad and looking like you regret everything, and I forgive you, and then you do it all over again!" She shouted.

Her eyes seemed alive now, but I would have almost preferred them not to be. They were wild and crazy.

"I'm sorry," I repeated in a low voice, stepping closer to her. We were about a meter away from each other now.

Teras burned in my eyes and my heart ached for me to explain everything to her, but I couldn't. I would rather fight the Neverseen a thousand times than let her know my secret.

"No, you're not! Tomorrow you're probably gonna go back to ignoring me, or do another stupid thing!" She screeched, even more hysterical now. Her eyes were unfocused, but there seemed t be an angry fire in them.

It was like something broke inside of me. Like I finally snapped.

"I'm sorry!" I bellowed.

I covered my mouth and stumbled back until I hit the wall. I had never, ever shouted at Sophie Foster before. Sure, she had shouted at me, but she had a good reason to. I didn't. It felt like something between us was broken, like it could never be repaired no matter how many times I apologized.

I felt my heart crumble in my chest when I felt Foster's emotions. There was a bit of sorrow, but mostly it was wave after wave of hopelessness and regret.

Why regret? This was my fault. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. There was an invisible barrier between us now, unbreakable and unforgiving.

"Prove it," She hissed, crossing her arms. She probably wanted to look menacing, but she looked more like an angry cupcake. "Prove you're sorry."

I knew what she wanted me to do, but I couldn't do it. If I did, our friendship would be ruined beyond repair.

But even if I didn't, our friendship and trust would still crumble. It was a lose-lose situation, I just couldn't win.

Ugh.

I clenched my fist and dug my nails hard into my palm, closing my eyes and wishing I could escape this cursed situation. But I couldn't. When my eyes opened again, I was still in her room, and hate still radiated off of Foster.

So, I decided to do something I was good at. Extremely good at. Being dumb.

"How?" I asked in an innocent tone, tilting my head to the side and staring curiously at her. She couldn't be mad at me for that, right?

"You know how. You're just too cowardly to do it," She growled, taking a few steps closer to me. Okay, well, maybe she could.

Once again, we were about a meter apart. But this time, I couldn't back away from her. Too bad I didn't have a bazillion abilities like her and couldn't magically become a phaser.

"I'm sorry! I'll do whatever you want, just please, forgive me!" I begged, now desperate. I know, Keefe Sencen did not usually beg, (I usually used my awesome persuading skills to charm everyone because I'm amazing), but this was my last resort. She shook her head, glaring at me without blinking.

"Please," I whispered. She shook her head again.

So I did the dumbest thing ever.

I stepped forward, my legs like jelly. Foster slowly held her hand out to me. I gulped. Before I could back out, I grabbed her hand and clasped it over mine.

It was an overwhelming variety of emotions. Hatred, sorrow, regret, and hopelessness, which quickly became shock and surprise.

Then there was a whole emotional rollercoaster where Foster experienced every single emotion possible.

Finally, there was only love, shock, and regret left. No more sorrow and sadness.

Foster's eyes were wide and she stared at me, not letting go of my hand.

"I... I'm sorry, I didn't know, I thought you hated me..." She breathed. Tears welled in her eyes, which were no longer wild. Instead, they were surprisingly calm.

And then she said the words that changed everything.

"I love you, too."

most dramatic chapter ever, but sokeefe happens, so it's fine

And did you see shannon's instagram post? BOOK 9 IS COMING OUT IN FALL 2022 AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

love you guys more than sophie loves mallowmelt, byeee!