"You know this isn't going to work." Sophie said, though she really didn't care. 

"I know, but at least it's destructive." Her partner replied, the sound of hands rubbing on jeans filling the air. The single light, produced by a measly mini flashlight, was flicked off by Sophie. 

"This is a really bad idea," Sophie mumbled, realizing that she cared more than she admitted to herself. "I mean, it wasn't even a bad breakup. I think I'd actually feel really horrible about doing this, so let's just abandon this and go inside."  

"We're too deep," Her shadowy companion muttered. Sophie squinted to see what was happening, but since there wasn't even a moon out tonight, she could only make out silhouettes. 

"Heh-heh. Let's do some damage." Tam grunted as he hefted a jar of preserved garlic. 

"I really don't see why the garlic is necessary." Sophie mused. 

"It isn't, but I can't just leave the house looking normal. Linh would get suspicious."  

"Oookay." Sophie struck a match and put it under the soft wood shavings that she'd brought out with her. Lucky for Sophie and Tam, the Ruewen's fire pit was already well established, so the fire didn't need much coaxing. 

"The picture." Tam held out a hand expectantly, eyes still fixed on the growing flame. Sophie fished a crumpled picture of her, Biana, Fitz, and Keefe from her pocket. 

"I could only find a group picture." Sophie lied. Actually, she had a very nice photo of just her and Fitz, but she hadn't wanted to part with it yet (Of course, this sentiment probably defeated the purpose the "purge" Tam was putting on, but Sophie was too stubborn).  

"Now, we throw your tormentor's picture into the flame, symbolizing your feelings towards him." 

"Hot and steamy?" Sophie said drily. She briefly saw the whites of Tam's eyes illuminated in the shifting firelight; that was probably an eye roll. Or he was having a seizure? 

Night makes everything much scarier.  

Sophie tossed the picture into the fire, watching the flames lick at the edges. She glimpsed Fitz's cheery smile before the image was folded into ashes, irreparably gone. 

"And now, with the absence of your plight, comes new growth. I advise taking up knitting." 

"WHAT?" Sophie was shaken out of her musings by Tam's strange closing words. He smirked at her. 

"Just a test. I have to go now; Linh made me promise to watch Stranger Things with her." He plastered on a grimace that was most likely an attempt at a cheerful smile. 

"It's gonna be great." He ground out, gritting his teeth to maintain the "smile." 

"Have fun," Sophie waved, although he had already disappeared into the night. 

                                                                                    *  *  * 

It was nice laying under the stars. After Tam had departed, Sophie had decided to stay out a little longer, bringing out a few niceties to make it more comfortable. 

"And Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii, will always looovee youuu," Sophie sang. She could bet money Whitney Houston was turning over in her grave at the awful attempt Sophie called singing. 

Sophie propped herself onto an elbow and grabbed her phone, scrolling through songs. She finally selected Meant to Be, from Teen Beach, a movie she had been obsessed with back in the day. 

"When it's meant to be..." Sophie trailed off. "Wow, this is really pathetic."  

"It's not that bad. You could be singing the Frozen soundtrack." Keefe said aloofly, walking over to where Sophie was on the grass. 

Sophie shot up, red racing across her face like storm clouds across a sky. The stars twinkled, reminding Sophie that it was dark enough for her traitorous face to be hidden. 

"What are you doing here Keefe?" Sophie stage whispered. Something inside of her wanted to preserve the tranquility of the night. 

"Uh, joining the pity party? I'm the king of late night one person parties, so I thought I'd give you some pointers." He picked up her phone. 

"Tip number one: you need music that makes you happy, not wistful." He instructed, his fingers dancing across the phone's screen. Sophie smiled at the scene: Keefe's hair illuminated a shocked white by the phone's light, blue eyes electric with excitement, maybe a bit of blush on his cheeks, but that was probably Sophie's overactive imagination. 

Island in the Sun began to play, a song Sophie only knew from Aquamarine, another childhood favorite.  

Keefe began to sway back and forth, grinning at her boyishly. "Tip two: dancing. One does not simply get over a weirdo like Fitz without dancing." 

"You heard?" 

"When you're a neighbor to one side and the best friend to the other, it's easy to figure things out." He offered her a hand up. "But we're on an island in the sun now. We don't think about these things." 

Sophie smiled shyly and accepted his hand up. He pulled her to her feet so forcefully that she crashed into him. 

"No need to throw yourself at me." Keefe joked. 

"Haha, so funny." Sophie steadied herself by grabbing his shoulders. She smiled to herself, ducking her head to avoid Keefe's eyes. To be honest, this was the happiest she'd been since... a long time. Maybe even before she dated Fitz, as odd as that sounded. 

They swayed back and forth until the song ended, both content to simply be in the moment. 

Keefe didn't put another song on. Instead, he sat down in the grass, patting the grass beside him. Sophie sat down, a little disappointed he didn't want to dance anymore. 

"Do you need to talk about it?" 

Sophie had been asked that by at least three people: her mom, Biana, even Dex. But this felt different; maybe now she was ready, or perhaps Keefe was the only one she felt she could talk to. 

"Yeah, that'd be nice." 

                                                                                                   *  *  *

"It just, it felt wrong." Sophie summed up, after five minutes of fumbling with words, hand motions, and 'can I start over?'" 

Keefe nodded, for once looking solemn. It was really weird. Sophie spread out like a starfish on the grass. Something was bothering her. Sophie scrunched up her eyes, trying to figure out if she left a stove on or if she forgot to feed Iggy. 

"I think this has been the happiest I've been in a long time." Sophie confessed, voicing her earlier thoughts. 

"Really?" Keefe turned his head to look at her. 

"Yeah." Sophie replied, feeling with all her heart the absolute truth of the statement. 

Sorry that was such a long break between chapters! 

I think there will be one more chapter after this, then we'll move on to a new book, which will probably start in August :) 

Question of the Week: Do any of you have movie traditions? 

My sister and I are trying to make some, so we have something to look forward to as the year progresses. We always watch Merry Kissmass on the first day of Christmas vacation (love that movie) and all of the other Christmas movies we watch over the break. In the summer, we watch Teen Beach and the live-action Cinderella. Not sure what to do for Fall and Spring though. Any suggestions?