Шеннон Мессенджер - Keeper of the Lost Cities

Sophie nudged his arm, pulled a package from her satchel—the Disneyland watch she’d been wearing when she moved to the Lost Cities. She figured he’d get a kick out of that—and dropped it in.

He grinned, flashing his dimples. “I slipped your present in before you got here.” His eyes dropped to his feet. “I hope you like it.”

“I’ll love it. Just let me drop off Biana’s gift and we’ll go to the cafeteria.”

“Ugh—why did you buy Biana a present?”

“She’s my friend.”

“Yeah, and like a month ago you guys hated each other.”

“That was a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah, well . . . I don’t trust her. I don’t think you should either. Why would she reach out to you for—”

Sophie shushed him as Biana entered the atrium, followed by Maruca. They looked like they were talking, but when Sophie got closer she realized they were arguing.

Biana bit her lip. “Oh, hey, Sophie.”

Maruca glared at Biana.

Sophie cleared her throat. “Sorry. I just wanted to drop this off.” She handed Biana a pink box—the charm bracelet she’d bought her—and turned to leave.

“Wait.” Biana pulled out a slim purple parcel and handed it to Sophie. “You’re coming over for dinner tonight, right?”

“Of course. I can’t wait! Well . . . I’ll see you later,” Sophie said, wondering why Maruca was glaring at her. Then again, so was Dex. “What?” she asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

“You’re going over there for dinner?” He said something else too, but the chiming bells drowned him out.

Sophie froze.

The bells signaled the start of parent-Mentor conferences. Which meant Grady and Edaline were finding out right now if she was going to stay at Foxfire.

DEX DRAGGED HER TO THEcelebration feast in the cafeteria, but Sophie couldn’t relax—even surrounded by friends.

The bells chimed every twenty minutes. Four had already passed, which meant in twenty minutes Grady and Edaline would know if she’d failed alchemy. Her palms were so damp she struggled to unwrap her presents.

“What do we have here?” Keefe asked, snatching a red box from her thinking cap. He was definitely back to his old self without his father around. He glanced at the card and cracked up. “‘Dear Sophie. I really enjoyed our dance, and I hope we can do it again sometime. Love , Valin.’”

Her face burned as everyone at the table laughed—even Fitz.

“Who’s Valin?” Dex asked.

“Vice president of the Sophie Foster Fan Club. Don’t worry, I’m president, so I’ll take care of her.” He winked as he tossed the present back to her. “Go on. Open it.”

There didn’t seem to be a way to avoid it, so she tore off the paper, wishing she could disappear when she unwrapped a bracelet of little heart charms.

Keefe cracked up again. “Aw, Foster has a boyfriend.”

“She does not!” Dex snapped. “You don’t, right?”

She shook her head so hard her brain rattled.

“I’m just teasing—sheesh.” Keefe nudged Dex’s arm, then grinned at Sophie. “Interesting.”

“What?” Dex asked.

“Which one’s your gift, Dex?” Sophie interrupted. She didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what Keefe was going to tease Dex about.

Dex glared at Keefe as he grabbed a small package wrapped in plain white paper and handed it to Sophie. “Sorry, we didn’t have any ribbon.”

“Please, I still can’t believe you made me something.” She tore through the paper and gasped. “My iPod.” She tapped the screen and the gadget sprang to life.

“Yeah.” He pointed to a green rectangle about the size of his fingernail set into the back. “It’s solar powered now, and it has a speaker in case you don’t want to use those ear thingies.”

She stared at Dex for a minute, so amazed she wanted to hug him. She knew Keefe would have a field day, though, so she fought the urge. “This is amazing, Dex. How did you do it?”

He shrugged, pink coloring his cheeks.

“Well, thank you. Best. Gift. Ever.”

“I dunno,” Keefe interrupted. “You haven’t opened mine yet.”

She bit her lip, a little afraid of what Keefe might give her. “Which one’s yours?”

“Your hat was overflowing, so it’s waiting in your locker.”

“How did you get in my locker?”

“I have my methods.”

She shook her head in disbelief as Marella shoved a box wrapped with crooked green paper into her hands. “Open mine next.”

Marella gave her a variety pack of flavored air, plus she got a ton of candy from prodigies she barely knew. Biana gave her a set of edible lip glosses, and Jensi gave her a speckled spider snapper—a plant that fed off spiders. Clearly, he didn’t know how to shop for girls.

The only real disappointment was Fitz’s gift. He gave her a riddler—a pen that only writes the words of a riddle until someone writes the correct answer. It was kind of cool, except he also gave one to everyone else. She’d spent forever trying to find him something personal, settling on a miniature Albertosaurus covered in deep violet feathers. She knew it was silly, but it reminded her of the day they met, and in the card she thanked him for showing her what dinosaurs really looked like.

Fitz giving her a fancy pen—especially the same fancy pen he gave everyone else—made it seem like he hadn’t thought about her at all. But maybe he hadn’t. He’d hardly looked at her gift when he opened it, too distracted by the tunic Keefe gave him, which had i know what you’re thinking—and you should be ashamed of yourself embroidered across the front. She tried not to let that bother her.

The doors burst open and parents streamed in. Sophie couldn’t breathe as she scanned the faces, desperate to find Grady and Edaline.

Dex squeezed her shoulder and told her it would be okay no matter what, but she barely heard him. She’d found Grady and Edaline, and their faces were unreadable as they searched the room, not seeing her as she shoved toward them. She was halfway there before she locked eyes with Grady. A huge grin lit up his face.

“You passed,” he shouted over the crowd.

A hysterical laugh erupted from her lips as she ran the rest of the way and threw her arms around them. When her brain caught up, she wondered if she’d crossed a line, but their arms wrapped around her, and when they let her go their eyes were misty.

“I really passed?” she asked, needing to hear it again. “Even alchemy?”

“You got a seventy-nine on your purification. Still room for improvement, but within passing range.”

She squealed, hugging them again.

Grady grinned. “I’m sensing you’re happy about this.”

She laughed so hard tears streamed down her face, but she didn’t care. She passed! She could stay at Foxfire. Sure, she still had to face Bronte and the Council in five months about permanent enrollment, but right now she was going to celebrate.

She raced back to the table and threw her arms around Dex. “I couldn’t have done this without you.” His face was tomato red when she let go, and she couldn’t help giggling.

Everyone congratulated her—except Keefe, who leaned in and whispered, “Told you so,” when his dad wasn’t looking. All her friends had passed their exams. In fact, it looked like most of the school had. A few parents had to comfort sobbing prodigies, but everyone else was tossing confetti and partying. Unfortunately, that included Stina.

Her face twisted into a sneer when she noticed Sophie celebrating. Then she rolled her eyes and stomped away. Sophie giggled.

She wanted to stay for the party, but she could tell Grady and Edaline were a little overwhelmed. She ran back to the atrium to pick up Keefe’s gift, so she would be ready to go home. Inside her locker she found a giant box of mood candy, a small black cube, and a note: