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“I’m never going to get used to that, you know,” Amy said. Sophie spun around to see her sister, exactly where she’d promised she’d find her. “The whole you-appearing-in-a-flash-of-light thing. No matter how long I know about it.”
Sophie cracked a smile. “Yeah, well, I could teleport by cracking open the sky if you’d prefer.”
Amy laughed and shook her head. “Nope, I think the flash of light is just fine.” She stepped forward and her smile faded, and Sophie realized she was thinking about whether or not it would be right to hug her.
When they’d lived together, they’d never been close. Once Amy got her memories back, they barely saw each other. The closest they’d ever been was the brief and stressful time when her human parents were being tortured by Vespera for her inhumane experiments. But the second Sophie felt like Amy was thinking about it—even though she was tuning out her thoughts—she stepped forward and completed the motion, wrapping her sister in a hug.
They stayed like that for a moment. Eventually Amy asked, “Are you reading my thoughts?”
“Nope. Putting a lot of effort into not doing that.”
“Then you don’t realize how weird I think it is that I’m catching up to you age-wise,” Amy said, stepping back to look at her again. “I mean, you’re what, twenty?”
“Something like that.”
“And I’m seventeen. Except I’m going to keep getting older, and you’re just going to stay frozen like that forever, right?” Amy tilted her head. “When do elves stop aging?”
“I… have no idea,” Sophie admitted. “But you’re right. I guess you’ll keep getting older.” It was a weird thought. She had always felt it wasn’t too difficult to imagine herself and her sister being basically the same species, but as Amy progressed through a human life cycle and Sophie continued to grow as an elf, it was going to become increasingly clear how different they were—which felt super weird.
“And you just get pointy ears, right?”
“Don’t remind me!” Sophie groaned, though the giggle Amy got from the thought was worth it. She loved seeing her sister smile. “I’m told that’s not for another few thousand years, and that requires me to, you know, survive for a thousand years.” Now that there were fewer people trying to kill her all the time, that would probably be an easier task than it seemed during her teen years, but she still had a knack for ending up in life-threatening situations.
“I can’t even begin to comprehend that,” Amy said, her eyes a little overwhelmed. “A few thousand years. I won’t be around by then.”
It would be a sad thought if Sophie let it, but… it was nature. Fact. And they still had lots of years to catch up and be unconventional sisters. “All the more reason to make the most of the decades we have.”
The smile and nod Amy gave her had a melancholy quality to it, but her gaze quickly brightened when she said, “Well, are we gonna get pastries, or what?”
“Oh absolutely. I need you to show me this place that serves pastries as good as mallowmelt. Note my skepticism.” Sophie was grinning, though, as she followed after Amy.
“I said almost as good as mallowmelt. Note the difference. And I’m getting coffee, too, but that seems like one of those things your silly elf-y diet purity obsession might consider a pollutant.”
“It’s not my obsession,” Sophie pointed out. “I still wouldn’t mind eating a chicken sandwich every now and then. And, um…” This was a moment where it would be nice to be able to communicate with her sister telepathically, but since she couldn’t, she settled for whispering, “you might be careful about calling me elf-y in public in the Forbidden Cities.”
“You might be careful about calling the place I live a ‘Forbidden City’ in public,” Amy countered. “Except for the part where no one’s actually listening or taking anything we say seriously.” That was a nice thing about the human world—people seemed more likely to mind their own business than in the Lost Cities, where anything and everything out of the ordinary immediately drew every eye nearby as though none of them had ever learned the concept of tact. “And if they’re looking at us, it’s because you’re uncannily pretty. Which is not fair, by the way.”
Uncannily was right. There was a reason Sophie had grown allergic to attention and standing out during her younger years. It was easier now that she knew where she belonged and how to get back there and was simply visiting her sister, but she still got a distinct sense of not quite belonging in the human world, despite the nostalgia and easy familiarity of a lot of its aspects. But there was a degree of comfort in its similarity to where she’d grown up despite that.
“Maybe you should get some coffee in that case,” Amy continued. “Maybe some pollutants in your elf-y diet will make you stop looking like you’re about to start glowing.”
“I’m pretty sure the processed sugar will be more than enough for that.” It definitely was interesting, though, hearing an honest human perspective on elvin beauty.
“At least you don’t have the intense blue-eyed stare all your friends have.”
“Yeah, everyone say thank you horse DNA,” Sophie said sardonically.
Amy led her into a cute shop, which had a sign in sparkly purple swirling lettering that read, Sugar Straw Cafe. “If you like the pastry I said was almost as good as mallowmelt, you’ll have to bring that friend of yours here. The one who loves sparkles.”
She was right—Biana would adore the decor, even if the building wasn’t constructed as ornately as places in the Lost Cities.
Amy was apparently a regular at this cafe, because the barista recognized her. “Katelyn!” she said brightly. “Usual order?”
“Yep,” Amy confirmed. “Oh, and my friend too. I’m paying for us both.”
Sophie vowed to find a way to pay her back, and then some. They didn’t exactly take lusters at cafes in the Forbidden Cities, so it made sense for Amy to cover her on her credit card, but Sophie objectively had more money, and there was no way she was actually letting Amy use what she’d earned working at Rita’s Ice to cover her. “I think…” Sophie scanned the menu. It all looked really good, and the setting was nostalgic. She wanted to try everything. “Can I have a lemonade and the strawberry cream cheese danish?”
The barista nodded as she added it to the order. “That’s a total of $24.17.”
That was way more expensive than Sophie remembered it.
“I know,” Amy muttered when she saw the way Sophie was looking at her. “Inflation has been killer.” She swiped her card, and she and the barista exchanged bright smiles. Around a minute and a half later, she handed Amy some kind of dessert coffee beverage and a peach muffin, and gave Sophie her lemonade and pastry.
They sat at a small table by the window, allowing Sophie to look out the window thoughtfully, watching the species she’d grown up with go about their days in a culture that used to be so natural to her. She took a bite. “Hm. This is definitely above-average as far as pastry treats go, but I’m pretty loyal to mallowmelt.”
“That’s why I said almost,” Amy reminded her.
Sophie smiled and took another bite. “Okay, I’ll give you that. It’s pretty spectacular.”
“It’s a private cafe. My—friend’s mom started the place.”
Sophie raised an eyebrow. “Your what?”
“My friend’s mom.”
“You hesitated before saying friend.”
“No I didn’t.”
“Yes you did.”
“No I didn’t!”
“I have a photographic memory,” Sophie reminded her. She smirked knowingly. “Either you can tell me what you almost said, or I’ll have to assume you’re talking about a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a crush of some kind.”
“Stop it! I do not have a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend.”
“Crush?”
“Are you listening to my thoughts?”
“No, I’m just a big sister who isn’t dumb.”
Amy groaned. “Is this how you felt when I kept needling you about all your boyfriends?”
“I had zero boyfriends at the time, for your information, and yes. You brought this on yourself. Now come on, spill.” Sophie was partially pushing because she felt like she needed to make up for lost older sibling time, but she was also genuinely interested in knowing more about the people in Amy’s life. She was so removed from it. She barely knew who her friends were, besides a girl named Samantha who she’d mentioned a few times and a boy named Anthony. “Is it Samantha or Anthony?”
“Those are just the only two names you’ve ever heard me say.”
“Is it?”
Amy rolled her eyes. “No!”
“Then come on, tell me!” When her sister kept glaring at her, she added more sincerely, “Come on. I barely know anything about your life.”
That was what got her to relent. “Okay, fine, if you must know, I have a crush on a boy.” She lowered her voice and looked around like someone might be listening—granted, if this was his mom’s cafe, that could be a valid concern. “His name is Noah.”
Sophie matched her hushed tone, grinning as she asked quietly, “What’s he look like?”
“He’s…” She sighed. “I know you and I aren’t technically genetically related, but we must have the same disease, cause he’s blond.”
Sophie almost spat out her drink—not because there was anything appalling about liking blond boys, as Amy seemed to apparently think, but because of the wording. “Amy!”
“He doesn’t have your boyfriend’s goofy blue-eyed stare though. His eyes are green and super dreamy,” Amy said, taking on a sort of silly grin. Then her face dropped and she threatened, “You will never reveal that I used that phrase to describe a boy’s eyes ever.”
“Who would I tell?” Sophie reminded her.
Amy shrugged. “Fair enough. Anyway, he plays the trumpet—”
“You like a band kid?”
“I like a marching band kid. Who’s going to UPenn next year for engineering.”
Sophie giggled. “Aw, that’s adorable!”
Amy blushed. “Stop it.”
“Is he nerdy?”
“He’s going to UPenn and he’s in the marching band,” Amy repeated.
“So that’s a yes.” The mention of college reminded her that this was a big year for Amy. “Okay, I’m not done grilling you about blond Noah yet”—Amy groaned—“but that actually reminds me to ask: do you know where you’re going to college?”
“I haven’t decided,” Amy admitted. “I want to study linguistics, and I got into University of Rochester—”
“Wow!”
“I know, but it’s kind of far. University of Illinois has a good program too and is a little closer, and I know mom and dad would prefer that.” Based on what Sophie remembered about them, that made sense. “But University of Rochester has underground tunnels for walking around when it’s snowy, so you know, it’s a hard choice.”
Sophie raised an eyebrow. “It was the tunnels that won you over?”
“And the linguistics program,” Amy defended. “And the squash. They have good squash there.”
“Do you play squash?”
“No, but guys who play squash are hot.”
“Does blond Noah play squash?”
“I thought we were supposed to be discussing my academic achievements,” Amy whined, which Sophie took as a yes.
Even so, Amy made a good point, and Sophie pivoted. “We are. Do you want to play squash?”
Amy shrugged. “I wouldn’t be opposed to learning. And if you bring up blond Noah—ugh, I can’t believe you have me calling him that!” She put her head in her hands. “You’re the worst.”
“I’m your big sister. That’s my job.”
Amy gave another groan, but when she looked up, she was smiling. “That’s fair. I did give you a lot of little sister trouble when we were kids.”
“And I have years of big-sistering to make up for.”
“That’s true. Okay, fine, we can talk more about blond Noah later, okay? When we’re not, you know…” she lowered her voice again. “In his family’s cafe.”
“More than fair,” Sophie agreed. “So, University of Rochester?”
“I’m leaning towards it,” Amy admitted. “It’s outside the radius my parents set for how far away I was allowed to go, though, so I’m trying to be really well-behaved and get great grades so I have an extra edge when I’m bargaining with them to let me go far.”
“What triggered the interest in linguistics?”
“I don’t know. I just find it interesting, I guess—though I do have a theory it might have something to do with the whole fantastical language that’s just implanted in my brain,” Amy said with a pointed look.
“Hey, don’t look at me. I didn’t implant anything in your brain.”
“I know. But it might have something to do with that. I don’t know. I think it’s cool, though, so it’s currently the plan—though of course, everyone’s always reminding me every seven seconds that most people change their majors and I probably will too.” Amy rolled her eyes. “In my opinion, that’s a great reason for me to go to UR where all the programs are good and they offer lots of customizable multiple major options, but you know. Protective parents to convince, and all.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I really hope you get to go,” Sophie offered.
“Any chance you could get your dad to do Jedi mind tricks on my parents and make them stop being too protective to let me go to school in New York?”
Sophie cracked up. “Implying that Grady is in favor of parents being less protective of their children?” Not to mention implying he would ever use his ability for anything other than making people who threatened Sophie punch themselves in the face.
“Okay. Fair,” Amy said, joining in her laughter. At the familiar sound of a straw reaching the bottom of a drink, she remarked, “You liked the lemonade?”
“Very much,” Sophie agreed, taking off the plastic lid to drink the final drops. “Since we’re done with our pastries, do you want to go on a walk? You know… a setting outside the cafe?” She raised her eyebrow in a way she hoped communicated I will be asking you to tell me EVERYTHING about blond Noah.
Amy sighed and shook her head, but she stood and gestured for Sophie to follow her. “You know, I’m complaining a lot, but it is pretty nice getting to have a sister every once in a while.”
There was something sad about the every once in a while in that statement, but Sophie chose not to dwell on it. “It really is,” she agreed. “I’m… really glad you get to remember.”
Amy met her eyes with the most genuine expression they’d shared since Sophie had first lightleaped to meet her that day. “I am too.”