Crayons

by P. S. Power

  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 right 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 e
ach 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 red-head 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 the 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.

  Turning to look at her, brown ponytail flapping just a bit in the wind, since the top was down on the convertible, Keeley tried to look curious without being accusing. It was rude to just assume someone wanted to do horrible things to you as a joke, wasn't it? At least until they proved it one way or the other.

  Darla winked at her, a playful smile on her pink lips.

  “Obviously I've been watching you. Don't worry, I just want to make sure I pick good friends, I'm not trying to pick you up or do anything weird. Not too weird. Well, maybe a little...” The girl kept looking out the front of the car with perfect concentration.

  “I do have a guy I want you to “date” for a bit. Gary's boyfriend, Rob. That way they can both get in to the homecoming dance without a lynch mob attacking them. We're still a little provincial here that way, I'm afraid. He's cute though. You'll like him. He likes girls too, so he may even dance with you.”

  Oh.

  “Well... That beats the being left out in the country thing then, doesn't it?” Keeley said without explanation.

  That just got a nod from Darla.

  “Trust me, I wouldn't do that to you anyway. After the way you just got a sixth of the football team suspended for three days and on probation it's pretty clear that no one sane would want to mess with you. I know I like to consider myself pretty sane most days.”

  Keeley felt the color leave her face. Or at least the blood.

  She knew? Already? Keeley stared hard, getting the girl to wink at her again without looking away from the road at all.

  “What? It was obvious. I watched you set the whole thing up. Brilliant in fact. Because of the thing with Maria?”

  From the back seat there was a giggle.

  “What was brilliant?” Hally, the red-head said, her hair whipping around madly.

  “Keeley's poster.” Darla called back loudly, ignoring most of what they were really talking about.

  “Oh, yeah! Hey, um, could you help me do up something for my room? Like a wall montage or something?” The girl said suddenly, sounding confident and like they were friends already.

  Keeley shrugged and turned halfway around just as they pulled into the driveway of the off mint-green single level ranch she shared with her parents.

  “Sure? Why not?”

  Darla grinned.

  “Great, now, everyone on best behavior, we want to liberate Keeley for the weekend, so we need to convince her mom we're not cannibals and won't bring her back missing limbs, or too pregnant.”

  With that the stunning blond that made Keeley more than a little jealous, got out and walked toward the front door like she owned the place.

  If you're in the mood for something different

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  Dead End: A Very Good Man

  (Book one in the Dead End series)

  Chapter One

  Jake's stomach hurt again.

  Not exactly a big mystery as to why. It wasn't real pain, just fear. Terror really. He knew the feeling pretty well now, that tightening low in the belly that turned to cramps about the time he had to go into a house. Every freaking time. Any house now too, even when he wasn't out with his crew hunting, like they were now.

  So at least this time it was probably warranted.

  Some people tried to claim that the fear
was part of the zombie thing, a side effect of whatever took someone from alive to dead and turned them into an animated human shark, eating the living without end, looking for food if they weren't eating.

  Those people were lying to themselves.

  No, the fear was natural and part of anyone still sane enough to realize what was going on, and a few people that weren't. Jake knew that now. Admitted it fully. Lying to yourself just got you killed anymore, didn't it? He was afraid, and it had settled deep into his bones, making him want to run away from what lay past the door in front of him. That couldn't stop him though. Not if they were all going to survive.

  Someone had to make the zombies go away, and if they didn't do it, who would?

  Holding the spear he'd fashioned from an old rake handle, sharpened to a point, but not one too sharp – that made them fragile and the point could shatter – Jake stood in the open front doorway of the little white colored house. Waiting. In front of him he heard her screaming at the top of her lungs. That didn't help the fear at all, Molly doing her job the way she did. In fact, it freaked him out.

  A lot.

  Zombies came to human voices like lazy moths to flame and they positively ran toward screaming. Probably trying to get in on the free meal before the others ate it all. So when the cleaners hunted, they used a screamer. Someone, usually a woman since they screamed better than men, made some noise and got the undead going, headed toward their position, waiting for them in relative safety and comfort. Today they were starting on the front porch, but Molly had insisted on going inside. Alone.

  Again.

  Then, the girl was suicidal, so who could blame her?

  Most people just stuck a gun in their mouths if they wanted out, but her people had been Catholic when it all started, so she didn't believe in just killing herself like a normal person. No, she just courted death instead, hoping that Jesus would call her home or whatever it was they believed.