Sophie woke up feeling like someone just ran over her with a truck. Every muscle ached, her head was throbbing, and her throat was drier than the Sahara desert. She rolled over and a tiny bit of the blanket opened up, letting the cool air in. That's when Sophie realized she was freezing, goosebumps spread down her arms and legs. She quickly reached for the edge of the blanket and pulled it back, so it was wrapped around her. For some reason, she just wouldn't stop shaking. She laid there a minute trying to think of what could be wrong when another thought passed her mind.
She immediately stood up, and then almost fell over from the faint feeling in her head. Today she had school, and it started in 15 minutes. Normally Grady or Edaline would have woken her up, but they were gone catching an animal that had escaped yesterday.
She shuffled over to her mirror and stared at her reflection. It only took a second for her to realize she's sick. Her cheeks were flushed, her nose looked like a cherry, and her eyes were all glassy. She pressed a hand to her forehead and realized she was burning up.
Crap. She hated being sick. She always felt like she was weak for not being able to get up and do the normal stuff. She wasn't going to skip school today. It was probably just a cold, and she would feel better, in a few hours.
She slipped on her uniform and then put on an extra large cape on top of it to keep her warm, which didn't work as well as she had hoped it would, it looked absolutely ridiculous, so she threw it back on the ground. She put on some makeup that Biana had left at her house by accident, trying her best to cover up any sign that she was sick.
A few minutes later she was on the way walking through the halls of foxfire, already regretting her decision of leaving the cape.
Walking into her first class, she threw her books down, taking a seat next to Keefe.
“Well hello to you too, Foster” Keefe said with a mock hurt expression on his face.
Sophie just groaned in response.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his typical sarcastic tone turning more serious.
“Mhm, why would I not be?” she questioned, trying her best to play it cool.
“Uh… Just wondering” he said as if trying not to offend her, which was probably for the best because offending an already grumpy Sophie is not something anyone wants to do.
About halfway through the class, she began to shiver again, and she wouldn't stop no matter how hard she tried. Focusing on the lesson became impossible because the only thing she could focus on was how absolutely miserable she felt. Time felt like it was slowing down, and she sighed out loud, knowing she was going to have to survive the rest of a long, long day.
A couple of minutes later, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. She turned her head to see who it was and was met with what has to be the world's most beautiful ice blue eyes.
“Why are you shaking so much? Are you nervous?” Keefe asked her, his concern visible in his eyes.
“No, I'm just a little cold,” she said through chattering teeth, rubbing her arms up and down.
“Go sit in one of the corners, they're all 90 degrees” he said, smirking.
It took Her a second to understand the joke, but when She did, she got severe second hand embarrassment, which was starting to feel more and more normal the more she hung out with Keefe.
“Out of all the time I've known you have told a lot of jokes, and that has to be the worst one” She said, trying to sound less hoarse.
“Okay, yeah maybe it was, but seriously, how are you cold? I'm burning up over here”.
Sophie really wanted to just tell him she was sick, so she could go home and sleep, but she hated looking weak, and she still had that test coming up. She could make it. So instead of saying anything at all, she just shrugged her shoulders.
“Here, take this,” Keefe said, unbuttoning his cape and draping it over her shoulders, which helped a little bit.
She smiled at her boyfriend and pulled the cape a little tighter around herself. Then finally that class was released. Sophie offered Keefe his cape back, but he told her to keep it, which was exactly what she was hoping he would say.
The next few classes began to get slower and slower as they went, until Sophie felt as if time had stopped. She was about to give in, but the stubborn voice in the back of her head told her no.
Finally, lunch came around. She entered the cafeteria and took her usual spot next in between Biana and Keefe. Her massive headache was making her too nauseous to eat. She just sat and listened to the conversation. Keefe draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. Sophie sank into his embrace, leaning her weight on him, thankful for his warmth.
“Why aren't you eating?” he asked her.
“Not hungry” she replied, trying to talk as loud as she could with her aching throat.
“You sure you're okay” he asked, glancing down at her.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” she said expressionless, praying he wouldn't notice.
He raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't ask her again.
“Well if you’re not going to eat that then I will” he said.
She just watched as he pulled her food towards him, but instead of eating it, he just sat there for a second, as if waiting for something.
“Okay, get up” he said to Sophie without even touching her food.
“What? Why?” she asked, though she had a feeling what it was.
He didn't answer. Instead, he gently grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her from her seat. Which was a little too fast for her considering she was sick, and she swayed a little bit, causing Keefe to only grow more concerned. Once she was steady, he led her out into the hallway.
“Okay what is wrong with my Mysterious Miss F, because I know that you would not just let me steal your food like that” Keefe said, taking a step back and tilting his head to the side examining her.
“Nothing is wrong, I'm fine, I promise,” she said, crossing her fingers behind her back.
He narrowed his eyes at her, “Fine, I believe you. Now give me a hug and I will leave you alone”
She shuffled forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and a second she felt his arms snake around her waist. When he stood up all the way, her toes were just barely brushing the floor. After a second, he put her back down on the floor and leaned back a bit, holding her at arm's length.
“Okay, we need to get back to lunch before someone catches us out here” he said, leaning forward and kissing her forehead.
Sophie realized her mistake the second Keefe jumped back from her.
“Sophie, you're burning up!,” he said, placing a hand to her forehead. “C'mon, we're going to Elwin”.
“Keefe, please don't take me to Elwin, I'm fine, I swear”.
“Sophie no one's going to think you're weak for being sick,” he said as if he read her mind, “it happens to everyone. You already do so much on your own, please just let me help you”.
Sophie sighed and slowly nodded. She still didn't really want to, but Keefe seemed so desperate, and how do you say no to him.
He took her hand and began leading her towards the healing center. They didn't talk much on the walk there. Sophie spent most of the time in silence, wondering how she ended up with someone as amazing as Keefe.
A little later, they arrived at the healing center.
Elwin looked up from his desk and looked completely unfazed at the sight of them two walking in.
“Well look who it is, the two most popular students at the healing center” he sighed.
“It's Sophie's fault, she was the one that has gone the whole school day sick and has tried to hide it from everyone” he said pointing a finger at Sophie.
Talk about betrayal.
Elwin frowned. “Go lay down over there and I'll be there in a second, also you're trying to hide it has earned you a talk with me when you get better”
If she didn't feel like she had just been stomped on by an elephant, then she would have done a lot more than just glare at Keefe.
She shuffled over to the bed. It felt like she was in heaven, finally getting to lay down. She closed her eyes for a few seconds soaking up the feeling. When she opened her eyes again she saw Keefe over by Elwin’s elixirs. He picked up a bottle with an ugly green colored sludge inside and shoved it into his pocket, a second later he grabbed a few more and did the same.
“I saw that” Elwin said, gathering his stuff and walking over to Sophie’s cot.
Keefe spun around, so he was facing Elwin and Sophie with a shocked expression on his face.
“How? You were facing the other direction” he said, not even trying to hide the shock in his voice.
“I didn't actually see it, I just had a feeling you were stealing them” he said handing Sophie a bottle of youth which gulped down in seconds.
“Oh come on, how am I supposed to get revenge on Ro now?”
“I don't know, but those elixirs could potentially save someone's life”
“Based on the ingredients they’ll do just the opposite” he said, feigning a gag.
“Just put them back,” Elwin grumbled.
Keefe frowned, but complied and put the elixir back onto the shelf.
Elwin gave Sophie a quick checkup and gave her lots of funny tasting elixirs, when he came to the conclusion.
“You have the flu, which is extremely rare for elves, but then again you're Sophie so anything is possible. We don't have an elixir made specifically for the flu, but I can give you pain medicine. You should be better in about two or three days” he said as he handed Sophie the small bottles filled with a dark purple liquid.
Sophie slowly got down off the bed, and turned to Keefe.
“Can we go to your house please? Grady and Edaline are away right now” she asked.
He nodded, and they light leaped back to his house.
After a not so fun ride on the vortinator they reached Keefe's room. Within seconds Sophie was sprawled out across his bed half asleep.
Keefe chuckled behind her, but she was too tired to care. She felt keefe tug her boots off then plop down on the bed beside her. His arms wrapped around her waist holding her tight to his chest.
Just as she was about to fall asleep she heard him whisper to her “I love you”
