by P. S. Power
Then she walked away. Slowly. Her hand touching the wall, because as a rule no one walked that close to it. It left a corridor for her to travel in right now. The line was invisible to most people, or at least they acted that way, so she only had to step around one or two guys that leaned in the space, watching the goings on at the center of the hall.
The real mess didn't start until after she was outside, as the six football team members were joined by four others, and they started pushing some of the boys in the hallway, what they were saying Keeley couldn't make out, but it didn't matter, because the whole thing was taking place in front of the principle's office. The first punch came from one of the big guys, a linebacker, who so obviously took steroids that it was almost mean of her to set him up. He triggered into a rage at the accusations people threw at him and couldn't control himself at all. That he hit a tiny fellow about half his weight that wasn't really involved made her wince a little, but it had to be done. Hopefully the kid would be alright. The principle and three teachers tried to jump into the fray, the older man in his reddish brown suit catching an elbow to the eye from one of the football team. Hard.
Classic.
No one deserved it more. It was his failure to call the football team on their actions that set her in motion to begin with. If they'd learned to just walk through the hallway or even slow down on the corners, nothing would have happened here at all. No one had required them to change after the Maria incident though, so they hadn't. Keeley had even talked to the man about it herself, but had a strong sense that he didn't really get what she was going on about. Maybe he'd get it now?
It took a few minutes for things to break up, the whole group of jocks taken into the office along with half a hallway of rather upset students who really hadn't done much of anything at all. A few had been bruised in the “attack” even, the initial one. That would help make sure that the whole thing wasn't just put down to youthful energy or “boys being boys”. That people had the idea it was on purpose in mind already.
No, that had gone away the second the faculty had taken injuries. That part really wasn't anyone's fault, not even the football team's, the adults had gotten in the way after all. If you didn't want to be hit, you really shouldn't jump into the middle of a fight, should you?
OK, it was her fault. She had to own up to that one, didn't she? It had all gone exactly as she'd planned.
As she watched through the large set of nearly floor to ceiling windows she couldn't help but smile a little more. So much so that if Keeley had been watching herself do it, she'd have figured the whole thing out instantly. No one else would though. Most people didn't pay enough attention to her to see that she had any effect on the world at all. She was too... Keeley, for that.
This wasn't justice of course, that was clear. Not even good revenge. Not really, none of the football team had lost teeth over it for instance, but at least they'd pay a little for what they did to Maria, even if they didn't know why. Keeley knew it, so it counted. After a fashion.
The grass was a little spare and weedy under foot, but in Arizona that was only to be expected this time of year. Most times of year. At least the heat wasn't brutal now. When she'd first moved to the area with her parents two months before it had been incredible. Oppressive. Bleak.
She kind of liked it. The desolate landscapes and warmth all the time touched something in her. It was a beautiful place really, filled with life, if you bothered to look for it. Small things that crawled and scuttled mainly, but there was a simple grace to even the smallest of creatures, wasn't there?
That was the odd part really. Back in Washington state everything had been green most of the year where they lived, here is just wasn't. The contrast sent a thrill through her when she thought about it, pointing out the variety of the world. That everything wasn't just the same wherever you went. It felt like magic to her, almost.
Her mom had thought that Keeley would hate it, of course, and her dad didn't really seem to care about anything but his new job, being a bit self-centered like that. The move really hadn't been a bad thing for her. After all, what was she leaving behind? She'd brought her book collection and just tossed the old childhood memorabilia. She didn't need it. After all, Keeley remembered all that stuff, didn't she? She'd lived it. Keeping Mr. Bun-bun the stuffed rabbit was just carrying dead weight and possibly diseases.
Just as she turned to go home, her worn tennis shoes that had small arcane looking swirls in black ink all over them sending up just a tiny puff of dust with each step, a boy crashed into her. On purpose.
The acting wasn't even good. He didn't do it hard though, just a sudden contact that had way too much control for a real accident. It gave him away. A real impact would have taken her most of the way to the ground, given their size differences.
“Oops, sorry.” The tall blond kid said, as if he hadn't seen her at all, even though the small yard had cleared enough that they were the only two people standing in it now.
“No big thing, it happens.” Keeley replied pushing her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose with one finger. It was only the truth after all. People walked, bumped, smashed and hit her at least a few times a week. Most of the time it was because she'd moved in a way that they just couldn't follow, or didn't float out of the way of a pattern that everyone else managed easily without really noticing.
The boy shook his head.
“Sorry, I got distracted by that poster in there, the one on the wall? It's really cool.” He pointed through the window. “Almost makes me want to go to the stupid dance. Almost you understand. As in not really. I probably won't get a choice though. Social obligations and all that.”
It sounded odd. What kind of kid said “social obligations” like that? Well, her, sure, but who else? It sounded like someone else had said the words first and they were being repeated, at a guess.
Keeley nodded, waiting for him to finish talking so she could go away without hurting his feelings. He hadn't been rude to her, other than the initial impact, and really, the fact that he'd stopped and said more than a few words was half amazing, wasn't it? Small talk wasn't her thing though. Normally she'd have been more impressed, since the guy was good looking and him stopping to talk to her might mean he liked her or something, especially with the phony “bumping into” her thing. But this guy, strong and tall, kind of buff for a high school student and better looking than ninety-seven percent of the men in the world, was obviously gay. Oh, he looked butch and strong, but his face, around the mouth and eyes locked into a pattern that showed his interest wasn't in women. Subtle, but there.
“I'm Gary. Gary Turks. Um, pleased to meet you?” He held out his right hand to shake, which meant contact.
Keeley hated contact.
This was the difficult part for her. The connection. Because when she touched him, she'd know him, and she really didn't want to. The ticking pressure of society started to hammer into her mind then, an almost thick and visceral thing, trying to force her to conform and return the handshake. Erg. After a few seconds she put her own out, but couldn't quite make herself take the hand. Gary had no problem finishing the move though.
He was gregarious and friendly after all. That was written all over him as well.
They locked, his strong, slightly callused hands around hers. The roughness came from weight lifting by the pattern, that and some kind of swinging movement, an object held in his hand, a baseball bat? No. From the slightly scuffed look of his knuckles it was probably martial arts related. Repeated impacts against a bag or board for that. Harder core than most people bothered with. So someone that had a real reason to learn to fight and knew it. The rest of the information hit her like a flood, a shocking cold water bath that made her want to shiver a bit.
The father that didn't want a gay son, so pushed him into sports, auto-mechanics, carpentry and was generally a jerk, trying to “toughen him up”. As if that would change who he was attracted to? The mother that loved him, but didn't understand that his father wasn't righ
t all the time. The secret boyfriends and “camp outs” that he'd gone on the last summer, doing a lot more than a guy this young should have, with some men that were old enough to be arrested for it if it were found out. Creepy.
Also, not her business. She'd learned not to hold much against people a long time before. You had to, when what you knew wasn't exactly gotten by normal means.
Keeley pulled her hand away calmly. It took a bit of work, but not too much. Gary being with a bunch of old guys wasn't even close to the worst thing she'd ever picked up.
The rest of the information sat in her head, or around it really, if the feeling could be trusted, waiting for her to access it at need. He wasn't a bad kind of person, but he'd walked into her on purpose. He had an agenda. A real plan. The second part of which should appear in...
Keeley turned and saw the girl walking up to them, also blond. So good looking that the word glorious came to mind, light curls around her face as if arranged by a professional. She wore make-up, but it was perfect, just a hint of blush on the cheek, a tiny bit of red to the lip. Not meant to make her look hot, just smooth and shiny. After all, she wasn't trying to attract a boy right now was she? No, she wanted to get Keeley's attention. It was so obvious it practically screamed her intent.
Keeley lifted her eyebrows at the girl, who just smiled at her warmly in return. It was really bizarre.
The why of the whole thing didn't come across from Gary at all. He didn't know overly, just that he was supposed to stop Keeley from leaving and be ready to follow the good looking girl's lead.
Darla Gibson. The head cheerleader.
Keeley sighed. There was no good reason for the girl to be showing interest in her. None at all. That probably meant the reason was bad, didn't it?
Wonderful.
“Gary!” The bubbly and perky girl shouted as she jogged over, energy springing from her steps as if she mainlined caffeine or something. That or something stronger. It wasn't normal, that was for sure.
“Great, I've been looking for you. Practice has been called off for today, do you want to hang out?” The girl didn't ignore Keeley, but didn't stare either. It was a carefully managed approach. Masterful even. Freaky.
Unless Keeley was just wrong. She didn't know everything and while she normally got things right, that didn't mean perfect by any means. Maybe she was just making up a story to fit the situation? That was something everyone did all the time she knew. A part of how the mind worked. She wasn't free of that kind of thing either.
The blond girl's very short cheerleaders skirt and form fitting top were in blue and orange, two colors that shouldn't have worked together, and didn't. They were the definition of clashing colors, second only to green and red in effect. On her it still looked good, which didn't make sense. Keeley pushed her thick turtle shell colored glasses up her nose with one finger again as she considered all this. The girl, Darla, was too perfect.
Even the other cheerleaders couldn't compete. Keeley could tell, because two of them stood behind the team captain, watching, as if they were muggers, or street people come to beg from them.
“Oh, that sounds cool. My dad will love to hear I'm dating the captain of the cheer leading squad. If you come over later and make out with me in front of him I'll give you a cookie.”
They laughed, all of them, which confirmed Keeley's impression of the boy. Not only gay, but it wasn't some big secret, not if this group all knew. So just from the jerk dad? It made sense. Adults didn't talk to high school students as a rule in day to day life, so it might even work until Gary left home. It seemed like a lot of work to her, since the relationship there was pretty much doomed anyway, since homophobes rarely changed, but if it made life easier for now, that might make it worth doing.
The blond smiled winningly. Kind of a go to move from the little Keeley had seen of her.
“Great! Not a problem. Keeley... do you want to come? Kind of having a sleep-over tonight. No game this week, it seems like the football team has to forfeit for some reason. Not that those losers would have won anyway. Trying to run a shotgun defense is the stupidest thing I ever heard of... What the coach is thinking I don't know. That's not even a viable option... Anyway, we can stop by your house first if you want and I'll chat up your mom about it?” The girl didn't seem to want to give Keeley a chance to say no. Presenting things in a rapid fire fashion, without giving her a chance to do anything but go along with it?
That was suspicious.
Friends weren't an area that she had a lot of experience with. She'd had a few, back when she was younger, the last in the fourth grade. Since then she'd mainly just let the idea go. Most people didn't notice her overly and she was too busy to bother with them. Who had time to hang out when there was a whole world to explore?
Of course people were part of the world too... at least she'd heard a rumor to that effect, on TV. A few times.
Still, this had the feeling of a set up. A trick or prank. If she went she'd probably end up being left naked and drunk in a park or abandoned a hundred miles from home. Maybe beaten. You really couldn't trust bored cheerleaders, could you? For one thing, how did Darla even know her name? The other way around made sense, they talked about her over the speakers in the morning announcements at least three times a week. Keeley only had one class with her, and they didn't sit near each other there at all.
“Eve, Hally? This is Keeley, she's new this year. I know her from math class, sort of. Good student, not stuck on herself and she made that killer poster for homecoming, so talented and showing real school spirit even though she's new here. If we met her earlier we could have gotten her on the squad with us.” The girl pointed through the glass at the poster, a small and rather charming grin on her face.
The black haired, and probably too cute girl, Eve, nodded. Her hair was short and sporty and she looked like her grandmother was Latino. Lineage left a mark on form, even if most people didn't see it all the time. It worked, leaving her face just soft enough not to look mannish even though Eve was pretty lean. She wasn't the tallest one in the group, Darla was by nearly two inches, but she was still about five-seven, the same as Keeley.
“That's... Awesome. That poster is better than anything I've ever seen here. People just keep stopping to stare at it. Are you planning to do that for all the dances? If so we should coordinate with you, because I'm betting that a lot more people will be going now. We need to make sure the dance meets up with the hype.” The girl actually seemed excited by the prospect.
So did the coppery redhead with light skin next to her. Hally. Her look was different, but kind of fresh and happy seeming. Like a puppy. Excited by everything.
“Oooh, good point. I wonder if we could get the budget increased? I'd love a live band, if they don't suck. Even a professional D.J. would be good. Last year we got the A.V. Club and... Well, it wasn't stellar. I had to go home and look up who Barry Manillo was. It made me sad.”
Darla nodded, and turned suddenly, walking away. Everyone else followed her instantly, as if tied to her with string. Keeley held out longer, but the girl just tossed her hair a little and looked over her shoulder.
“Everyone riding with me? I don't know if you drove yourself Keeley...” She said as if it were just natural that anyone else would have a car. Because you know, people just gave those out on the street corner.
Keeley was torn. It wasn't that she hated people or didn't want friends, she really did, but a barefoot walk back from the middle of a desert would suck. Should she take the chance or not? Finally she started walking along too. Deciding that the normal thing to do would be giving in to peer pressure. Gary, if nothing else, seemed like a nice guy. Not all rapey or anything. Unfortunately not all into making out with her either, but she really didn't think he'd let them do anything bad to her.
The parking lot was half empty already, since no one wanted to wait around for too long after school. They had to dodge a few cars and a few horns got beeped at them. Not to get them to move, but to get t
he cheerleader's attention. They all waved and smiled at people.
A few girls even called out to Gary. It was interesting to watch. Couldn't they see that the boy wasn't their type? It was written all over his face and the way he held himself after all. Maybe they thought they could change him? Like that worked.
When they got to the little red sports car, just big enough for four, Darla gestured to the front seat. Looking at Keeley winningly.
“You can sit up front. Passenger seat... unless you want to drive?” She said sounding genuine about it. She even held the keys out.
It was a stick shift, and Keeley could drive it, even had her license in her pocket, but everyone else looked uneasy for some reason. Panicked even. A little unfairly, but then they didn't know her. They didn't even know if she knew how to open a car door yet.
“I'll pass, just to keep everyone else from having a fit, I think. Maybe later though? This looks like it would be fun to drive.”
“It is. We'll do that tomorrow then, if we have time, after we dump the chickens in the back or distract them with nick-nacks. OK, everyone pile in on Gary and see if you can't change his sexual orientation for him. It will make his dad happy.” She laughed and so did Gary, but the other two kind of did have to squeeze in with him. If you didn't know better you'd think Gary was a real player, which, if Keeley got the gist of things, was the plan. Other guys were certainly giving him envious looks as Darla pulled out of the parking lot carefully.
The car was smooth, the engine so quiet it could barely be heard at all and she drove perfectly. Not just well, but following the law to the letter. It was the same way Keeley drove herself, so it got her attention. Signaling for each lane change and driving exactly the speed limit, until she hit elm street, where she slowed to twenty-seven miles per hour, which let her drive without hitting any red or yellow lights at all after the first stop. Timed lights. She hadn't asked how to get to Keeley's house, but was driving there by the fastest route.
Because that wasn't suspicious at all.
