"Hi. How are you two doing? Sit. We'll make room." Oddly enough half the table just moved two places to the right, as if it was only natural. It kind of was, since they all did things like that every day, but that was normally when one of the head girls on the squad wanted it done. Keeley wasn't one of them, just friends with a few. Gary came and slid into place between her and Becky, his body too large for the space, meaning he pressed up against them both warmly. It was fine, except for the feeling of rage coming off of him still. Less than it had been a few days before, but still there. He tried to look pleasant and turned to Becky, who wasn't one of his close friends.
"Hi. I'm Gary. You're Becky right? Eve and Hally were talking about getting you and Maria to come over this weekend. Kind of a night in. Watch a movie or two, eat too much, that kind of thing. I don't know where we're holding it though. Maybe at Keeley's house?"
Because her mom would love that. Gary knew that too. At least that her mom was OCD and her dad was afraid to let boys within twenty feet of her.
"I'll ask my mom. Um..." Keeley shrugged and looked sad, which she actually felt, a tear coming to her eye for a few seconds.
"My dad left last night. For real. You know, just kind of took off. He's not coming back. I knew it was coming but..." She didn't let herself cry, but had to blot her eyes with a napkin, meaning she'd need to fix her make-up. Again. It was one of the hassles of the stuff. It took constant attention to keep looking nice.
She got up to do that and gestured to her mostly uneaten food.
"Want that Gary? I know you're always hungry. I probably won't be back. Anyone want to come with me?" It was meant to be inclusive, but surprisingly the only one that stood up was Barb the cheerleader. The girl was finished eating anyway, since a bag of carrot sticks wasn't exactly a big meal.
"I will. Need to fix my face too. Later all." She sounded perky and looked it too. Her face was nearly too perfect, giving it a slightly bland look that was attractive while you saw her, but forgettable when you looked away. Her hair was brown and would have been more striking in a slightly richer color, but she came from money, which showed in her clothing and the fact that she'd had a nose job. It was good work, but Keeley could see where it didn't exactly mesh with her other features. That was a Demon thing though, not something most people would get.
They were halfway to the girls restroom and its ever handy mirror before Barb said anything.
"I know you didn't mean me, when you asked if anyone wanted to come, but it's hard being around all that food when I'm trying to lose weight. I mean, we're not really friends or anything..." She stopped talking and held the door for Keeley, who wondered if her next move would be trying to slam it into the back of her head, given that last line. It wouldn't work though, since the door had a heavy, but slow, return bar on it at the top.
"We aren't friends yet because I'm new and we haven't really had time to get to know each other. Problem with being the new girl. Do you want to come to that thing that Gary apparently is putting together at my house?" Why not? Keeley let her arm brush against the girl, half expecting her to be an evil and conniving bitch or something. Really shallow at least.
Instead she was hit with a wave of loneliness and gratitude. Her parents were rich, as Keeley had already figured out, but they were neglectful. So much so that the girl had practically raised herself for years. She was bright enough, but had trouble making close friends. It did tend to show as envy and a bit of cattiness, but it wasn't that bad, Keeley didn't think.
"Really? I mean, Darla doesn't really like me that much, I don't think. It's why she wants you to join the squad, to take my place. Are you sure that no one will mind me being around?" Her voice sounded just a little needy at the edges, but had an overtone of pretty girl snark. That little bit of sarcasm that would allow her to disavow having really meant what she said if Keeley started making fun of her.
"Darla hasn't mentioned not liking you to me at all. She also hasn't tried to get me on the team. Even if she did and I wanted to, which I don't, because I don't have time for it, why do you think it would be you that I replaced? Provided I was good enough to manage it, which isn't assured at all. You're all pretty talented." That was what Darla had told her at least. She'd handpicked the whole team for a reason.
"Sure, but you know, she has favorites. Eve for instance. I mean, I know it's probably just me being jealous, but I kind of thought that they were, you know, together for a while. Hally is kind of the same way. You know, really friendly. Almost like they were too close, you know what I mean?"
Keeley did. It was true enough with Hally, since the redhead was one of those people that tended to develop a bit of a crush on anyone that was nice to her. Eve... Well, she just wanted attention and would pretty much do whatever anyone wanted as long as she got it. It made what Elis had done even worse, because honestly, Eve would have slept with him if he'd just taken the time to chat with her for a while. It wasn't a mentally healthy thing, but it was the truth.
Still, Barb was trying to imply something untrue. That Darla was filling the team with her girlfriends.
"I can see how it might seem like that, but I don't think it is. They're all just friends. I mean you too. You're always with them." That was true for school. Not everywhere else though. Barb obviously knew the difference.
"Not really. I wish I was... Well, this make-up needs to be done." She got to work and in a few seconds had her face well blended. It looked smooth, but again, too much so.
Keeley did her own eye make up again, thinking the whole time.
"Hey, do you want to do something later? I was going to grab Hally and her mom and go house shopping. I'm looking to pick up something. Mrs. York is a real estate agent. I can't promise it will be either fruitful or exciting, but it can't hurt to have your opinion. Just remember I'm looking for a fixer upper. You know, shopping on a budget."
Barb nodded a bit too happily.
"I can meet with you after Cheerleading practice? I can drive, if you want? I have a car." It was almost a bribe, as if she had to have a reason to go or something. Keeley shook her head.
"I have Darla's van. It will probably seat more. We can leave your car at my house, or yours if you want. Or you can follow along, but my way will save gas. We'll get dinner out. My treat." Why not, the girl hardly ate anyway, so it wouldn't cost a lot.
"That sounds fun." She really seemed to mean it too.
That kind of made Keeley feel a little sad for her. Still, she'd come around as soon as she got a little more attention. The weird part there was that she wasn't managing it already on her own. It wasn't impossible for a good looking person to have trouble with people, but the girl wasn't shy or anything like that. She should have had people, especially boys, lined up to go out with her, hanging around constantly and all that.
She tried to analyze it for a while after they parted, but couldn't figure it out at all. There was clearly something wrong there, but it wasn't affecting her at all.
It wasn't until later that she got it. It was from Hally's reaction though, as she settled into the van's real leather seat as Keeley mentioned needing to wait for Barb.
"Oh." The cute redhead wrinkled her nose ever so slightly.
"I suppose. I... I don't really like her very much." It was so strange Keeley actually stared at the girl for a few seconds and just watched her closely. Hally liked everyone. It was pretty much her go to move in life.
She wrinkled her nose again, which was the real clue. It took a few seconds of deep thought, but the idea was in the deep records that she could access. They weren't really in her head, thankfully, but kind of floated around her all the time. Barb's problem had to do with pheromones. Not everyone could sense them, but about eighty percent of people could. Demons like her didn't, unless they grew a specific organ for it, that took advanced shape shifting ability though and Keeley hadn't really even started practicing that yet. She needed to, but hadn't gotten around to it.
The thing there was that people mistakenly thought pheromones were always good. That they always attracted positive attention. There were a dozen or more kinds in humans though. Some that made people seem interesting to the opposite sex, one that corresponded almost exclusively to leadership and being in power and a few others that helped with group cohesion without directly helping the individual at all.
There was also one that some people gave off that simply made them seem undesirable to other people. It was a protective thing no doubt, meant to prevent rape by causing less interest in the individual, but if that got stuck on, pumping out lots of the stuff all the time, that person would be hated pretty easily. Even if they were nice and good looking.
Yeah, that could lead to problems.
The trick then would be in neutralizing it. There were lots of ways to do that, but Keeley needed time to go through them and find what one would work best for the situation. Not that it was her job or anything. Barb was kind of one of Darla's people. Maybe she wanted her to feel unloved and hated? If so it was kind of mean, but that was the life of a Demon. Just because they did bad things sometimes didn't mean they didn't have a reason.
Still, she could try, right?
"Hally? Um, Barb is different. Human, but she has a condition that makes you feel like that. Kind of like Balthias and his fear? It would be really nice if you could try and work through that and be nice to her. She can't shut it off on her own. It really isn't fair. She's really nice, if you give her a chance." Keeley left it at that, hoping it would help.
Also that Darla wouldn't be ticked over it.
The other girl approached the van carefully as if expecting them to take off without her or something. Keeley hopped out to talk, knowing it would be more reassuring.
"There you are. Do you want to lead or follow? We can go by my house... Really we should, I want to see if my mom wants to go too. Is that alright? She might be a little sad right now."
"That's good for me. I can follow along." Again it sounded a lot more hesitant than it should have. Like she feared it was a trick.
Hally got out too and waved.
"I'll ride with Barb. That way she can't get lost. Not that she would with the way you drive Keels." Turning to Barb she smiled, which actually managed to look genuinely happy.
"Follows the speed limit perfectly all the time. Kind of like Darla. I don't drive yet. I want to get a license, but my parents didn't want me to. That might be different now though. Anyway, is that a good plan? I mean it's alright if you don't want me."
Barb seemed confused but pointed the way to her car and managed to follow along well enough. It wasn't a long trip to her house or anything and they got both vehicles in place easily enough. The house was quiet inside, but the lights were on. Listening hard she caught the sound of activity in her mother's work room. It was where she did floral designs for people. There were several voices chattering gently.
"Mom? I'm home. I brought people with me." Something about the situation was setting her nerves on edge. Too much was happening to be a coincidence. Possibly at least.
Keeley got ready to fight, slowing time around her, trying to make herself strong and fast, just in case it was needed. Hally didn't notice, but Barb suddenly looked scared. It showed a lot more perception than an average person should have. Abused people were sometimes hyper sensitive like that though.
They walked out of the room together, all three of them. Eve, Clara and her mother. After looking at them for what seemed a long time Keeley let herself relax back toward normal. It was a strange crew, but not one that was dangerous. She smiled and moved in to hand out hugs. It was a little over the top, but everyone took one without being weirded out, so that was good enough.
"Is everything alright?" Keeley asked it lightly and looked at Clara first, then Eve. If something was wrong the Hsreth had to answer her, but Eve would try if she could manage it at all.
Clara nodded.
"Indeed. I told young Eve that I needed to find a new florist to work with for some of my engagements, and she directed me to Sherry here. What luck, her being someone so close to people I already know. We were just arranging three large events and working out that your mother can handle other kinds of decorations as well. It's enough work that Eve managed to wrangle herself a position I think. They're both already on the Halloween job, so I don't even have to pay them for it. It's a wonderful thing." She seemed almost giddy about the idea, though it wasn't the money that did it.
No, Keeley could tell it had to do with the way the house looked. It was perfect. The Hsreth loved that, didn't they? It would be a bit like a child walking into a room made all of candy.
She just looked at each of them and tried to seem happy. She was, but you had to let people know that as well. After a few seconds she introduced Barb, holding her hand on the girls shoulder. Nothing much came at first, but after a second a flood of information came through. She was a little nervous meeting everyone and feared that Eve didn't like her either, but the black haired girl actually bounded across the room, almost skipping.
"Barb!" She got a half hug and an arm left around her. She didn't seem uncomfortable about it or anything, so Keeley continued waving to her mother and Clara.
"Barb, this is my mother, Sherry and our friend Clara. Clara, you know everyone else I think, right?"
"Oh, sure and I do. Your girl Rebekah described them to me perfectly. So good to meet you all in person though. Well, if it's allowed, I should be back to work. Unless you have need of me here?"
Keeley simply shrugged.
"Not unless you'd like to go house hunting with us? We're going to be spending a few hours doing that." Maybe more, but that got left unsaid. What did she know about looking for homes?
"Oh? I might have some insight there. It's not too far from what I do after all." The Hsreth didn't elaborate, but it was just the truth. Her kind knew about things like that.