Chapter Text
"Sophie!"
"Soph! Run!"
"No!"
The last thing Sophie Foster heard was the shouts of her friends. She saw Keefe's face turn sickly pale. She saw Maruca form a force shield around her. The shield spluttered out. She saw Lady Gisela's triumphant smile. Then, all she saw was light. The searing light burnt her eyes, so she squeezed them shut, but nothing helped. The light was ripping her apart. Pain ripped through her and-
Nirvana blasted at top volume through Sophie's earbuds as her brown eyes flashed open. Dinosaur exhibits were dotted around the wide room, and she was lurking on the edge of a group of teenagers much bigger and much rowdier than she was. That's when it hits her. Not in a pleasant way, either. It hits her like how she'd imagine getting hit by a truck. Somehow, she went back to the day she met Fitz. "Miss Foster!" Mr. Sweeney's nasal voice sliced through her music as he ripped her earbuds out. He dangled them in front of her face with the energy of a man who just uncovered a horrific crime and was determined to hand out an adequate punishment. However, Sophie barely noticed this due to the thoughts slicing into her brain. She'd forgotten how loud human thoughts were. "Have you decided that you're too smart to pay attention to this information?"
'Yes, Mr. Sweeney.' - The side of her that had learnt way too much from Keefe and Ro whispered. But, she knew that was a one-way ticket to detention.
“No, Mr. Sweeney." Sophie almost didn't recognise her voice. It sounded so much younger and softer.
"Since you've decided you're above this lecture, why don't you give it?" He pointed to the lambeosaurus in the middle of the room. "Explain to the class how the lambeosaurus differs from the other dinosaurs we've studied."
Sophie almost wanted to laugh as she recited facts about the lambeosaurus. Living at an animal preserve had clearly paid off in some twisted way, because she definitely knew her animals. Actually, it was just yesterday that she helped Grady and Edaline with Havenfield's new lambeosaurus! Thinking of her adoptive parents sent a wave of sadness washing over her when she realised how long it would take before they saw her as their daughter again.
"Except for the feathers, correct." Mr. Sweeney seemed drawn between sour and slightly smug that their resident child prodigy had finally messed up. "Know-it-all." He grumbled as he led the class into the next room.
"Nice job, superfreak!" Garwin Chang spat as he shoved past her. "Maybe they'll write another article about you. 'Child prodigy teaches class about lame-o-saurus!" Sophie remembered that Garwin was super bitter that he was rejected from Yale while Sophie had been offered a full scholarship and shrugged the harsh comment off. Even if her parents would let her, she wouldn't be going to Yale anyway. Her eyes scanned the museum, and she spotted an all too familiar boy reading her latest newspaper appearance.
Fitz.
Right on cue, Fitz looked up at her. Sophie shuffled from foot to foot. Fitz was definitely cuter than all of the boys in her class, but she felt none of the butterflies she'd felt around him for most of her time in the lost cities. Did that mean whatever feelings had happened between them were over? Fitz walked up to her and flashed a bright smile. Sophie bit her lip. She'd missed this, how simple things had been between them before matchmaking and crushes got in the way.
“Is this you?”