"Sophie? Did you hear anything that I just said?" A deep voice asked.

The deep, accented voice of her crush and sort-of boyfriend, Fitz Vacker.

Sophie' s cheeks flushed pink. "Uh.... no. I didn't. I'm sorry." She'd been thinking about the horrifying moment when the words Sophie Foster is Unmatchable appeared in front of her face.

She hadn't told anyone yet. Not even Fitz.

Yet another secret she was hiding.

The only people who knew were her parents, Juji and Brisa, and herself. No one else knew.

"It's fine," he gave her his sparkly, movie star smile. "I was just saying that we should find a day for all of us to play base quest."

"Oh!" She brightened up. "That would be great."

"It will definitely have to be a weekday," Dex put in. "I'm busy on the weekends." He was still working at Widgetmoor with Tinker making new weapons and technology.

"Oh, and not Wednesdays or Fridays," Biana added. "Wraith still wants to work with me on my vanishing."

"Tuesdays don't work for me," Linh added quietly. She always worked with Wylie to help Prentice get his strength back.

Keefe shrugged. "I can't come over any day. Dad's still doing the stupid exercises with me."

Sophie sighed. All of her friends were always busy lately. While she sat around worrying about being unmatchable and whether or not her boyfriend would want to stay with her after he found out. And that whole Cognate-trust thing.

Fitz sighed as well. "Ok.... well, Mondays or Thursdays then. And maybe you could sneak away?" He asked Keefe hopefully. The two weren't as close as they used to be, but Keefe was still Fitz's friend.

"I'll try," he glanced at Sophie.

Sophie reached for Fitz's hand. The two were best friends, but it was obvious they had a secret conflict between themselves, which may or may not have to do with Sophie.

Her cheeks warmed when she felt Fitz's fingers entwine with her's.

Are you ok? His voice blew through her conscience like a gentle breeze.

She gave a small nod. I'd like to talk later though if that's ok.

He frowned slightly but nodded, squeezing her hand gently. He turned back to their friends, who were staring at them, Keefe glaring noticeably.

"So, how has everything been with you guys?" Sophie asked, changing the subject.

Everyone responded with 'good' or 'fine'.

Awkward.

"So, Sophie," Biana said. "You never told us what happened at the Match Making Center." The youngest Vacker looked excited. She wouldn't be able to sign up for a list until a few months later. "Was it fun? Cool? Scary?"

"Oh... um.... I was really nervous," she mumbled awkwardly. "And it was kind of creepy."

"I guess that's how you could describe it," Fitz chuckled in agreement.

"Did it take long?" Biana asked.

"It felt like it did," Sophie answered. "But it really didn't."

It took longer than it would for other elves.

Probably because if her freaky horse genes.

And she couldn't even be matched!

"You ok there, Foster?" Keefe asked, waving his hand in front of his face like he always did when Sophie's emotions changed. "Because that was a really sudden mood shift. You aren't-"

"Stop. Ok, Keefe? I just don't feel comfortable sharing this. You know how I feel about matchmaking." She stood from her spot.

Fitz still held her hand. "Sophie, please calm down."

"No. I just... I need some fresh air, ok?" She let go of his hand, hurrying out of the cafeteria. She noticed that everyone was watching her.

What a great day so far, isn't it? She thought ad she rushed out of the school.

A/N: So that was rushed because I was trying to post a chapter. It will definitely get better and I will probably fix this. Hopefully you like it for now :)