banished, love, and everything in between

Chapter One

Linh's POV:

I thought I'd never get to experience the human ways. Yet here I was, standing with my seven friends standing on a hill, looking out at the Washington Monument. Sophie had taught us the basics in English and the council gave us translation books.

There was so much to do. We needed to buy and settle in apartments. Sophie told us we needed to shop for stuff. Keefe wanted E.L.Fudges really badly. I just wanted to get a dog. And a cat. Tam wouldn't enjoy it. Dex wanted to get a thingy they call a chromebook. Tam wanted sunglasses. Marella wanted a heating pad thingy. Fitz wanted a ball cap. Biana wanted a long nap. Sophie wanted Keefe.

We went to the dollar tree to get the E.L.Fudges, sunglasses, heating pad, and the ball cap. Sadly, the dollar store could not promise Sophie a soulmate with ice blue eyes. And they didn't have any pets. I kept telling Sophie to go for it, but she insisted on wanting the soulmate mark to show.

She didn't want to break the rules. I understood. But wasn't love the kind of thing that you would break any rules for? I guess I wouldn't really know. I've never really fallen for anyone. For all I knew, I'd end up soulmateless. I was already scorned for being a twin.

"What else do we need to do sophie?" Fitz asked with a smile. My heart did a thump, aaarrrggg, Why is this happening he likes Sophie. Stop it heart!!!!

"We need to get a newspaper and find apartments available for all of us." Sophie grabs a newspaper out of a weird box with a door. We were all looking over her shoulder trying to help and Fitz and I accidently touched our cheeks. We pulled away immediately and I blushed like crazy. Wait! Why is he blushing? He liked Sophie, right? He couldn't possibly like me, a twin, that would make the Vacker legacy end with him. He wouldn't do that, would he? Ugh now I sounded like Biana.

Biana's POV:

My eyes didn't miss one thing. I saw it when Linh and my brother accidentally bumped into each other and blushed. I'd have to annoy Fitz over it. He deserved it. Then a more disturbing thought filled my head. What if they didn't become soulmates? You could still find someone attractive even if they weren't your soulmate. I pulled the silver-tipped girl aside later that day.

"Do you like my brother?" That sounded more like a threat than a question. Linh's cheeks heated up.

"I-I don't know. I've never really liked anyone before."

"That's fine, I just happened to notice what happened earlier with Fitz." Biana tried to get Linh to blush again. It worked. "Yeah, that was an accident." Linh was blushing like crazy now.

Fitz was making his way over to us, "Hey guys, we found apartments big enough for all of us, and Sophie said we have to go now in order to get there before dark," now Linh was really blushing, "Ok were coming."

Time Skip to the Apartments

We walked up to the desk and Sophie asked the guy behind the counter, "Excuse us, we'd like 4 rooms please."

The guy behind the counter, Steve, that's his name, checked the computer and looked up at us, "I'm sorry, we only have 3 rooms."

Um this is not going as planned, "But the newspaper said you had 5 rooms!" Sophie pointed out, "I'm sorry, we fill up fast especially during the beginning of the school year." Oh school, not looking forward to human school. Sophie looked worried, "Ok just give us a sec to figure this out." Steve nodded his head. Sophie pulled us away, "So how do you want to split this?"

"I already call Sophie! I told her yesterday!!" I exclaimed. Sophie nodded with a smile.

"Two rooms will have to have three people in them." Dex observed. He still wanted his chrome book and had stayed silent most of the time.

After some arguing, they figured out:

Room 1 - Biana, Sophie, Marella

Room 2 -Linh, Tam

Room 3 -Dex, Fitz, Keefe

We, or Sophie, went back to Steve and set up the rent. Soon enough, we had keys in our hands and lugged our meager luggage up to our rooms. Then we all went to room 2 to discuss what they will do next. "Can we get my chromebook now?" Dex began to get antsy.

"Can we also get clothes, the human clothes that the council gave us are sooooo last season." I gestured at my clothes as if it were the most obvious thing "Ok, I think the best place would be Walmart " Sophie started out the door "Just remember to grab your credit card!!"

In Walmart

"So, where are the chromebooks, Sophie?" Is that really what he cares about? "Sophie, Sophie, what about the clothes?" We better do clothes first. "Chill, guys okay, CHILL." Sophie rubbed her temples, "Let's all go off in our different directions and meet at the checkout in no more than 30 minutes. There are labels if you get lost."

I saw the clothes section nearby. There were a couple cute tops and a few summery dresses that I picked out. Once I had picked out what I wanted, I went back over to the checkout area. Credit cards made no sense. It seemed like Keefe had already checked out as well and had bought food, snacks, lots of hair supplies, and more food.

"Is that all really necessary Keefe?" I rolled my eyes. He grinned. "Of course it is. I need to try every kind of human food there is. And my hair still needs to look good. Nothing is going to change that." I rolled my eyes again, but inside, I was starting to think I wouldn't mind being in the human world. 

Banished, Love, and everything in between

 Prologue

Sophie's POV:

Elves shifted nervously in fine velvet seats. The Council had one last telepathic conversation. I shared a glance at my friends across the row from the seats of the Tribunal hall.

"We have come to a consensus." Emery's voice called out. I felt the urge to pull out my eyelashes. I did it a few times.

"Because of the recent Neverseen attacks in the Lost Cities it is most imperitable to leave the Lost Cities and go into hiding in the Forbidden Cities. The ancients will have to stay here because of their acumious ears that would give away that we are something else. They also might still have a chance to defeat them since they're ancients." Emery glanced at me for a second with scorn. WHAT?? We're leaving the Lost Cities? I looked at my friends and they were just as shocked as me. "The evacuation will start tomorrow."

No one argued. They all knew what the Neverseen could do. Thousands had fallen from battles, miscalculated tricks, and untruthful promises from the Neverseen. No one was safe. And of the rest that hadn't died, half of them were on the Neverseen's side. The Black Swan's plan wasn't strong enough. I wasn't strong enough.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, the Council had made the right choice. As strong as the Neverseen had gotten, they still wouldn't go to the Forbidden Cities. Maybe they did before, but now something was scaring them away.

"You will organize yourself by last name to receive the city in the Forbidden Cities you will stay in. We will spread out so no one suspects us."

Ruewen, ugh I'd have to wait a while. No one dared to say a word as they made their way to the Councillor's area after the Tribunal.

"Sophie Foster." We'd gotten to the front of the line. They didn't really acknowledge Grady and Edaline. Well, I was the girl with 5 powers. Apparently 5 powers wasn't enough.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this. With all of your other friends, you will be going to Washington DC. Stay safe." They handed us credit cards, fake paperwork, and an English language book. I also saw other language books for different countries. I laughed to myself at the last one.

Keefe looked uncomfortable standing alone in the line. Cassius had disappeared two months ago, leaving him by himself.

"Hey, we're all in this together Keefe." I said as I walked past him.

Tam and Linh stood in the line as well.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Linh said softly. Tam nodded grimly.

The Vacker family was farther back. Fitz smiled at me, but I ignored him and hugged Biana.

"We're getting an apartment together wherever we end up being." Biana exclaimed to me.

I smiled, "You betcha Biana."

We would live through this. We'd survive. I'd survived in the human world for 12 years on my own, how bad could it be with friends? And I was on the verge of 16. Maybe I'd find my soulmate along the way.