by P. S. Power
“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.
