"Wake up!" Biana screamed and jumped on the top of the bed, already dressed, barely avoiding accidentally kicking Sophie.

"Biana!" Linh shrieked, caught by surprise—so much that she fell to the floor. "You scared me!"

"Sorry!" Biana giggled and went to help her friend up. "I'm just excited for Matchmaking! It's today!"

Well, she was sure excited. As if the giggles and her jumping on the bed didn't show that. Sophie was about to stretch and get up when she heard a knock on the door.

"Hello? Biana?" Dex called from outside the door, his raspy voice showing evidence that he was still tired.

"Oh, hey Dex. Did I wake you? It's only seven in the morning so . . . ," Biana said rapidly.

"Yeah, can you keep it down?" Dex asked. "I don't need Keefe to be grumpy today, especially since he's probably going to think of a way to get back at me."

"No problem," Biana whispered, applying Dex's wish. "Sophie, Linh hurry up and get dressed. We have to leave at 10:30 and I don't want to be late."

Dex smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem. Anything for a friend." Biana said she wanted Tam to be her number one, yet Sophie couldn't shake the feeling that the other guys she was talking about included Dex.

"Wait, it's only seven?" Sophie asked, turning her head to glance at the digital clock on the nightstand. "We have plenty of time."

"Not when I'm done with you," Biana said in what seemed like an evil way to Sophie.

Sophie looked at the rose gold dress Biana was wearing. It had several patterns and accents of white and actual gold interlaced in various places. Even though it seemed fairly simple by Biana's standards, it was way too fancy for Sophie's taste.

And on the inside, Sophie was begging, Please, please, please let her be joking.

She wasn't joking. After about an hour and a half of playing Dress-Up and applying makeup to Linh, it was Sophie's turn. Linh had a spaghetti-strapped dress that was yellow with lines of riffles going down to her knees. She also had on a pair of white leggings and black flats. Her makeup was well done and Sophie couldn't even begin to describe it because she didn't know the names of all those products.

It took Biana an hour to do Sophie's make-up. She had yellow eyeshadow, which made her honey-brown eyes pop. Her normally straight blonde hair was wavy and she also had some blush on. (Sophie didn't think the blush is needed since she'll probably look as red as a tomato at the Matchmaking Office.) Biana seemed considerate of what the two shy girls liked to wear, and put Sophie in a two-finger strapped white dress/shirt that went halfway down her thighs. Sophie wore black leggings and black flats to go along with her hair and makeup.

Sophie had to admit, Biana worked a miracle because even she, herself, thought she looked good. Biana had a purple dress that went down to her knees, encrusted with shining, silver jewels, and was slightly puffy. Her hair was in a natural-looking, messy bun.

"So, what do you think? I tried to make you look pretty, but at the same time make you feel comfortable," Biana asked, hopefulness and pride glinting in her aquamarine eyes.

"Well, I like it. Just a little too much for me but . . . I think I look good," Linh said with a smile, making Biana's own grow wider.

"Yeah. I like what you did with me too. I just hope I don't look too different to the guys," Sophie said shyly. In truth, she really did want to look extraordinary for one of the guys.

"Yay, I did a good job! Even Sophie isn't complaining that it's too much for her!" Biana exclaimed, marveling at her uncomplaining masterpieces.

Sophie really does usually complain when Biana uses her as a Barbie. "True, that never happens."

The girls left to go join the boys for breakfast. There was a pile of lettuce-looking leaves that tasted like pancakes set on a large plate in the middle of the table.

"So, are you guys excited for today?" Linh asked the boys, though, not really paying attention to them.

"Yeah. This is going to be an ultimate episode of Make Foster Blush after we're done," Keefe teased, smiling.

Sophie rolled her eyes at the thought of, what Keefe had named, Make Foster Blush. "Or we could play a different game. Like Base Quest?"

"Well I'm so excited to see who I get on my list. Probably nobody I know, though," Tam exclaimed with an exaggerated imitation of a girly-girl tone.

"I wonder what kind of questions they'll ask us," Fitz wondered quietly, playing with his food a little before going further in detail. "I mean, one answer could change our lists entirely. What if they don't ask us the important question? Like who, in our opinion, would we want on our list or what kind of personality we want the elf that we might spend the rest of our lives with to have."

Sophie could have sworn Fitz's eyes met hers once while he was talking before quickly looking away.

"You seem like you know who you want to be on your Matchmaking list," Keefe said with a smirk. Fitz must've kicked him under the table because the next thing he said exclaimed was, "Ow! That hurt!"

"What hurt?" Fitz asked, sounding a little too innocent.

"Nothing," Keefe dragged out, smiling before Fitz began giggling uncontrollably after a few seconds.

"Stop!" Fitz managed to choke out.

"Fine," Keefe grumbled, though he was smiling.

"Oh, so you finally found where Fitz is ticklish?" Biana asked, laughing.

"I've known for a while. I just decided to exploit it now," Keefe responded.

"Thanks a lot," Fitz grumbled, his face bright red.

"Fitz is ticklish?" Sophie asked curiously. This will be good to know for a truth or dare game.

"No," Fitz said at the same time that Biana and Keefe exclaimed, "Yes!"

"Well, now we all know." Sophie smiled mischievously.

Fitz groaned. You wouldn't use that against me, would you?

Sophie was surprised at hearing his voice inside her head for the first time in a while. Regardless, with a smile, she asked him, How well do you think you know me?

Well enough that you probably will, Fitz transmitted, his smile widening though he didn't want it to.

Keefe groaned. "Are you two done staring at each other and having secret conversations yet?"

"Uhh . . ." Sophie and Fitz, both, turned bright red at Keefe's little comment, and everybody laughed.

"Maybe we should get going. It's already ten and we don't want to be late," Biana said, stopping her friend and her brother from any more embarrassment.

"Yeah, and Keefe, could I talk to you for a sec?" Fitz asked. "In private," he added when Keefe didn't move.

"Oh no, I'm in trouble aren't I?" Keefe said, getting up, though he didn't really sound worried.

"You're always in trouble," Fitz grumbled, standing up, and everyone chuckled.

"I'm proud to admit that that is a true fact," Keefe said. And with that, he and Fitz left the room.

The remaining five elves helped clean up the breakfast table. A few minutes later, Fitz and Keefe returned, both of them smiling and laughing.

"Ready to go?" Biana asked, bouncing up and down.

* * *

They arrived at the Matchmaking office. It was a large, multi-story building, with the words "Matchmaking" written in large, golden, swooping letters. The building itself was a lavender color with rubies surrounding the edges and windows.

The first floor had a spacious lobby, with some other elves, a little older than their age, waiting to get their matchmaking scroll, sitting on some large and comfortable-looking couches. There was a large staircase with golden banisters heading up to the second floor. There were beautiful, delicate-looking wind chimes, cut out of what appeared to be rubies, hanging near the large windows. On the ceiling, a beautiful purple flower grew from a hanging pot. When the seven had first arrived, Tam had glanced at the flower and muttered something under his breath that wasn't exactly pleasant.

Sophie was tempted to say something similar when she saw Stina. Even though they weren't enemies, the two weren't friends either. After working together to stop the Neverseen, they had started getting along again before Sophie found out that Stina was the one Fitz was dating now.

They constantly gave each other dirty looks in the hallways but acted nice in front of the staff and parents. Thankfully, Stina hadn't spotted Sophie yet . . . But Sophie felt a pang in her chest when she saw Fitz walking over to her.

Sophie looked away when she saw Stina give Fitz a hug, wanting to ignore what was happening. Sophie's mood lifted when she saw Marella, even if she was sitting next to Stina. Once Marella had helped the Black Swan bring down the Neverseen with her ability, she took time and space away from them to take care of her mom; evidently, resulting in Marella and Sophie splitting ways, save for a few waves when they passed by each other in the hallways at Foxfire.

About half an hour later, right at 10:30, a woman came down the stairs with a clipboard in her hand. She had blonde hair in a tight bun, and a simple red gown. She was fairly tall.

"Will Tam Song, Linh Song, Dex Dizznee, Keefe Sencen, Fitz Vacker, Biana Vacker and Sophie Foster please follow me," the woman kindly said. The seven elves got up from the comfortable couches and headed towards the stairs.

That was when Stina noticed Sophie and gave her a stink eye to which Sophie returned a sweet—but extremely fake—smile.

Once they reached the second level, Sophie took in the appearance of the floor. It looked similar to the first, except there were small offices with a desk and two chairs, one chair behind the desk, and another in front.

"We will be separating you so that you can all have your privacy when answering the questions we ask you. That way we won't have to worry about you feeling embarrassed, scared, or nervous in front of your friends and answer honestly, which will help us confirm the accuracy of the list we've already made for you." The woman smiled and led the seven into separate rooms. The woman was the same person that was going to survey Sophie.

"So, Sophie Elizabeth Ruewen-Foster, you have quite a long name," the woman said with a warm smile, getting settled in the chair behind the desk. "My name is Alliana."

"You have a pretty name," Sophie said, sitting down in the open chair.

"Thank you. You know how this works, right? We ask you questions and you answer them as honestly and thoroughly as possible. Then we find possible bachelors based on those answers," Alliana explained.

"Yeah, my friends explained it to me," Sophie replied nervously, putting her hands intertwined on her lap to keep her from tugging on her eyelashes.

"Excellent. Let's get started, shall we?" She looked down at the clipboard, which now lay on the desk, and a pen in her hand.

"First question, what qualities do you want in an elf?" she asked.

Sophie thought back to what she wrote on the packet. "Someone who can be honest with me. Who doesn't get worried that one little flaw will get in the way of our relationship. Someone who will always stay with me no matter what, and someone who loves me and can trust me." Sophie could feel her cheeks warming at her cheesy answer.

"That's a really nice answer," Alliana said. "I usually get something like 'someone who is really handsome.'"

She finished writing a quick check mark before proceeding. "Alright, next question. What are your best qualities? This is to help us match you with someone who wants the qualities that you have."

"I think my best qualities are that I'm trustworthy. I can listen to someone's problem and help them solve it, they don't have to worry about me spilling secrets. I also think that looks don't matter much. The beauty people need to see is on the inside, not the outside. I want to help others more than I want to help myself. I will do almost anything possible to make someone happy."

Sophie had to clasp her hands really tightly to keep her from doing her nervous habit. These questions are pretty easy since she could remember what she wrote on the packet.

"I can tell that's the kind of person you are," Alliana said with something in her tone as she smiled and wrote down another checkmark. "Third question, you might not really like this based on what you said before but, what traits do you look for in an elf?"

"Um . . . anything, really, is fine with me. I don't really pay attention to looks."

Alliana wrote another checkmark before chuckling shortly. "I can feel your anxiety from over here."

"Y—you can?"

"Yes. I'm an empath—and you have strong emotions. Strong emotions are a very good thing in a relationship," Alliana responded. "I can tell you already have an elf that you want to be with."

"Doesn't everyone?" Sophie asked, not wanting to give a straightforward answer. "Besides, isn't that what we're here for? To find matches that are really good for us based on what we want, not specifically who we want?"

"That is very true." Alliana wrote a quick note in the margin.

This went on for what felt like forever, when in reality, it was just a few minutes. Alliana would ask questions that were on the packet that elves most commonly change their answers to, and Sophie would answer as best and honestly as she could.

* * *

"Okay, that's it for today. Thank you for coming here, and may your matches be elves you'll like."

Sophie felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders at the sound of those words, relieved that the interview process was finally over.

The two of them both got up from their chairs, and Alliana shook Sophie's hand as a parting gesture. When they both walked out, Alliana said, "Looks like your friends aren't done, yet. You can just wait by the stairs until they're finished."

Sophie smiled, and said a "Thank you" before walking to the golden staircase to wait for the rest of her friends.

Sophie watched as Alliana called for Marella and Stina, both of whom glanced at Sophie as they walked by her at the top of the staircase. Stina glared while Marella gave an apologetic smile for her friend.

Sophie got lost in her thoughts for a few minutes while waiting. Finally, both Linh and Biana came out of their offices, and walked over to their friend.

"Sophie, how'd it go?" Linh asked.

Sophie shrugged. "I think it went fine. But the whole time, I was wondering if I changed one answer, how my results would change. Or if I didn't answer the best I could, or if there was something—"

"It's just you want to know if what you said could have ruined your chance of being with who you want," Biana interrupted, though, concluding Sophie's thoughts perfectly.

Sophie smiled. "Exactly—not that I have anyone specific in mind."

"I think mine went well. I answered the millions of questions as best as I could," Linh said.

"Same for me," Biana answered. "Sophie, how long have you been waiting out here?"

"A few minutes," Sophie answered honestly. "I answered them pretty quickly since I just remembered what I wrote on the packet. And none of my answers really changed."

Out of one of the doors opening, Sophie heard Fitz and the elf interviewing him laughing as they walked out.

Sophie's stomach performed an Olympic-Gold Medalist worthy gymnastics routine as Fitz said bye to him and walked over to the girls.

"Hey," he said with a wide grin, leaning against the railing next to Sophie.

"Hi," Sophie managed to choke out, looking in the other direction afterwards in an attempt to ignore any awkward tension.

Biana cleared her throat before proceeding to say, "So, you seem to be having a good time in there."

Fitz shrugged. "Yeah, Alkrin was just telling me about when he got his list and how his gala went really bad when this one girl got really jealous she wasn't on his list, and she ended up crashing it."

"Hmm . . ." Linh mumbles. "You know, that's probably how your gala will go."

"Maybe," he says, and Sophie's heart flutters at the thought of him having a gala for his Matchmaking Scroll—and wondering if she'll be invited to it.

The four of them chatted briefly as Tam, Keefe, and Dex finished their session and joined the group.

When Dex, the last to finish by a few seconds, joined them, he asked, "You guys ready to go?"

* * *

They went back to Everglen and had some lunch. It was a vegetable that tasted like fried chicken. After they ate, they decided that they should play Base Quest.

"I call Foster for my team!" Keefe called.

"How about we play boys versus girls?" Sophie suggested.

"But that's not fair! You'll win," Keefe complained.

"You've got Tam's shadow power, Dex's technopath skills—with his skill, I'm sure he could rig some kind of locater by using twigs—and Fitz's and my cognate relationship," Sophie pointed out.

"What about me? Am I a piece of molding cheese or something?" Keefe muttered. "I can sense your emotions and be able to tell if you're nearby you know. I don't think you and Fitz's relationship will help us win either."

Sophie, as well as Linh and Biana, gave their complaining friend a pointed look. Though Sophie had to admit she did get a little distracted with how good Keefe looked, even if he was whining. "Exactly. It's even."

Eventually, he gave in and said, "Fine, I'm a nice person so I'll let you do boys versus girls."

The girls cheered and high-fived before heading off, beginning the first round of the game.

After four games of Base Quest, the boys get tired of losing to the obviously superior girls.

They decided to head inside and eat the dinner Della had made for them. There were no leftovers, which the boys were pleased with.

The teenagers headed into the living room once they're done eating. Sophie sat on the long couch closest to the hallway, and Biana and Linh sat next to her, getting comfortable. The boys sat on the other couch across from them.

"How about we play Truth or Dare again since we still have awhile before we need to go to sleep." Keefe suggested.

Everybody agreed. Sophie noticed Dex's slight hesitance, figuring that Keefe would get his revenge tonight.

"Excellent, I'll go first." Keefe said with a mischievous grin. "Dex, truth or dare?"

Dex looked really nervous as he stuttered, "Truth."

Keefe smirked. "On a scale of one to ten, how much do you want a girl in this room to be number one on your Matchmaking list?"

"Wait, we agreed to no Matchmaking truth or dares!" Sophie protested, sitting up completely straight, partially for Dex, but mostly for herself. She knew that Biana and Linh would do anything to try to somehow get Sophie and Fitz back together.

"No, last night you said—" Keefe mimicked Sophie's voice perfectly "—'Only if it doesn't involve anything to do with Matchmaking. That's the only way I want to play tonight."

"Ugh," Sophie groaned, leaning back down and folding her arms, knowing she can't argue with someone with photographic memory. No wonder he was so compliant with Sophie's condition the previous night. "You're right. Are you going to become a lawyer now?"

"A lawyer?" Keefe questioned.

"Never mind," Sophie muttered under her breath.

"So, Dex, you still have to answer the question," Keefe reminded Dex.

"Um . . . well I don't really know who I want as my number one," Dex claimed.

Sophie didn't have to be a telepath to know what Keefe was going to say next.

"You can't lie to an empath."

If Sophie had a U.S. Dollar for every time she has heard that. . . .

"I know I can't lie to an empath, that doesn't mean I'm lying right now," Dex replied with confidence.

Sophie's eyebrow perked up. That was a good response.

"Well, you still have to answer, one to ten, remember?" Keefe reminded Dex after rolling his eyes.

"Right," Dex started. "I guess I'll go with a four, I want my number one to at least be someone I know."

"Riiiiiight, one being you want someone in this room to be number one on your list the most." Keefe's trademark smirk appeared on his face. Poor Dex, this is the second time he's been tricked in Truth or Dare. Though, Sophie had to admit, there were much worse ways Keefe could've gotten his revenge.

"I really hate this game," Dex muttered, rubbing his eyes with a disappointed and defeated expression. He looked back up, and his gaze landed on Linh. "Linh, truth or dare?"

"I choose truth. I don't want to do something ridiculous," Linh replied quietly.

Biana smiled and turned to Sophie, quietly whispering in her ear, "I think Linh's blushing."

A smile grew on Sophie's lips as well as she patiently waited for Dex to ask his question. Tam raised his eyebrows at the girls in a questioning manner.

"Okaaay," Dex dragged out, thinking of a truth. "What are you most nervous about when you get your Matchmaking Scroll?"

"Um . . . I think that, depending on who we get, it could tear apart our friendships," Linh shyly replied.

Sophie was unhappy to find herself agreeing with her friend. She didn't want a piece of paper to really mean so much, it could really break apart her friendships—especially after everything they went through with the Neverseen and almost dying and past attempts at relationships.

"Biana, truth or dare?" Linh asked Biana, wanting to quickly move on.

"Dare, I don't think you can make me do anything bad," Biana chirped.

"I dare you to wash off all of your makeup."

Sophie had to stifle a laugh as Biana went slack-jawed. For Biana, washing her makeup off is almost as bad as Keefe getting his hair ruined.

"Okay, nevermind then. I guess you could make me do something bad."

Everyone's eyes were on Biana as she got up, and went to the bathroom. A few moments of silence went by as the sound of the sink being turned on down the hall sounded through the living room. Sophie's eyes moved to the pattern on the carpet. But she could have sworn she saw Fitz look at her for a split second. So instead she moved her gaze to elsewhere in the room—and it happened to land on Keefe. Sophie definitely could not deny how much more attractive Keefe had gotten in the past few years and the thought of it made her cheeks tingle with warmth so she decided to look down at the carpet again, hoping Keefe couldn't sense her emotions from across the room.

Biana finally came back, covering her face with her hands. "Okay, I'm going to—ahh!"

Sophie had to catch Biana from falling face first into the carpet when she accidentally bumped into the glass table in the middle of the room. The few moments of panic caused Biana to stop covering her face.

"Wow, you did wash your makeup off, right?" Keefe asked, his cheeks turning a slight pink after he realized what he said. Fitz gave him a questioning glare.

Biana blushed, looking away from the one who complimented her. "Yeah, most of it probably already rubbed off since it's almost the end of the day." Sophie noticed how Dex was still glancing at her natural face.

"So, Fitz, truth or dare?" Biana asked, taking her seat on the couch—without tripping. Sophie couldn't help but feel relieved; during the time they've been playing Truth or Dare, nobody has asked her.

"Dare, I'm pretty sure we don't have left-overs, right?" Fitz answered.

Biana smiled. "Don't worry, your dare doesn't involve food." Sophie remembered the previous night, when Biana changed her dare because Matchmaking dares weren't allowed. "I dare you to kiss the elf you want to be your number one."

Sophie's eyebrows rose at the thought and she felt her chest tighten. Even though Fitz and her had broken up a while ago after barely being in a relationship in the first place, the thought of him with someone else still hurt her a little bit. She had liked Fitz for so long only for it to not work out . . . she hadn't been sure if she wanted to try again with him or move on for good. But with him being in a new relationship, Sophie knew she waited too long trying to figure out her emotions.

"What if she isn't here?" Fitz asked, his jaw ticking. Keefe looked confused while Biana's smile faded.

Sophie felt her heart deflate even more, and she had to keep her head held high rather than sulking down. She knew Fitz didn't like her—he was in a new relationship—but she still had a slim hope that, possibly, he might have wanted to try things again.

"Um . . . then you have to call her on your imparter and tell her," Biana answered, stuttering slightly in her confusion.

Fitz hesitated before getting up, gulping. He slowly walked in the direction of the hallway, probably to get his imparter—which was in his room.

Sophie kept her gaze forward on the carpet as he walked by her. That was when Sophie became confused—if Fitz was dating Stina, then obviously he would want Stina to be his number one.

So why had Biana made that his dare?

As he was about to leave the room, he paused for a second. Sophie could hear him exhale, before muttering extremely quietly to himself, "Screw it."

He turned to face towards the girls, and in a second, bent down, gently placing his hand on Sophie's cheek to turn her face to face him, before he completed his dare, and placed his lips on Sophie's own.

~*~

Sophitz/Fitzphie shippers, you happy about that ending? :)

Song: Charli XCX - "Boys"

Thanks, lovelies! -Nuela <3
Edited by EllenH2006