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 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 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.