Keeley Thomson (Book 3): Mistress of Souls (13 page)

"You're gay? I didn't know... Wow." She looked at Maria and shook her head a bit. "Um... yeah. OK."

Things seemed to get awkward for a moment, but Gary had dealt with the subject once or twice before it seemed and didn't get too flustered.

"Is that a problem? I promise, you can't catch it or anything."

Maria answered though, her mouthpiece giving her a slight lisp.

"No, it's just... Well you and Rob were really close and if you're homosexual then..." She sighed and shook her head a single tear coming to her eye.

"Then he never would have liked me anyway, would he?"

"It..."Gary looked at the girl and actually moved across the room to give her a slightly awkward hug, looming over her, standing as he was.

"We were dating, but it wasn't that serious. He liked girls too and you're really cute. I know that he was pissed when those guys knocked your teeth out. He punched Quince in the head for that one, since he was in charge, being team captain. I don't know how he felt about you other than that, but yeah, it wasn't impossible at all." The whole mood of the room plummeted then.

Finally after a few minutes of silence Barb looked around and stood slowly.

"Let's see about that popcorn to go with the next movie. Do you have an air popper? Less calories for the diet conscious."

The idea got Keeley to go with her and Hally to follow along, watching her fellow cheerleader suspiciously. Barb just acted like it was normal, but it really wasn't. Hally was nice to everyone. She even knew that Barb might have something wrong with her that made her feel that way, but she kept doing it anyway. It was like she couldn't help it or something. It wasn't until the popcorn was fixed in three large bowls, one with cheddar cheese powder on it that smelled great but was probably a furniture disaster waiting to happen that Hally snapped at the other girl.

"I know what you're doing Barb. I won't let you do it." The redhead crossed her arms tightly over her chest and made a slightly pouty face that made her look like a freckled ten year old.

Barb looked half panicked like she was about to be hit, her hands coming up to guard her face.

"What? What am I doing? What's not going to work?"

Hally nearly growled.

"You're trying to steal Keeley from me. I won't let you do it. I saw her first, so back off!"

Chapter seven

Hally blushed as she realized what she said, an almost subliminal thing that most people wouldn't have noticed at all. It was contrasted by the loss of color from Barb who looked pale in the slightly blue fluorescent light. The compact bulbs behind their fixtures hit them with too much UV radiation, but it wasn't enough to hurt anyone in the short term. Doubtless the problem would be fixed in the next generation of products. Keeley could see several ways of doing it already.

"I mean... Steal her as a friend." Hally said it lamely, her voice faltering.

"We aren't dating or anything."

Barb started shaking a little, the confrontation making her stiffen, even as the red haired girl started grabbing the sides of her loose yellow night shirt. Keeley was in normal clothing still, but Darla and Hally had changed already. They were all supposed to, to lend the whole thing a real slumber party air. Barb just stood for a while not saying anything at all, looking suddenly terrified like the other cheerleader was going to physically attack her or something.

"Maybe I should leave? I'm not trying to steal your friend, I just..." She took a deep breath, holding it for a long time, letting it out in a single long gasp nearly a minute later.

"I just wanted to be friends. Not just with Keeley, with everyone. Why does everyone hate me? What did I do?" The tears started then, dripping fast and thickly down the cheeks that had just a bit too much make up on them, mixing with the salt and water.

"I'm..." She rushed out of the room then, making a slight commotion when the door slammed before anyone could follow.

Keeley headed to the door just in time to see the girl's car awkwardly back into the street without her looking and leave a little too fast for comfort. The little tan two-door had a small dent on the passenger's side. It looked old though, like a used starter car, rather than something nice. Rich parents normally got their girls very nice red or yellow vehicles, so a used thing was probably an indication that whatever Barb had going on affected her parents too. Probably why they were so neglectful.

It wasn't a perfect thing at all and Darla looked more than a little angry when the door got shut.

"What happened?" The voice held layers of meaning though, the main one being "what did you do" rather than a simple request for information.

Wonderful.

Before she could say anything Hally started crying and moved into the blonde head cheerleader, holding her tightly, mumbling an explanation that was pretty close to accurate.

"I'm sorry! I just didn't want her to take Keeley away from us." There was enough noise that Sherry came out of her office to look at them, but wisely didn't ask if everything was alright.

There was a soft feeling of guilt for having let it happen, but that was silly so Keeley focused and made it go away, replacing it with a sense of calm logic instead.

"OK. Not perfect at all. Barb will be alright though. We should all make a point of being kinder to her. She doesn't have a lot of friends and she tries really hard. As for you Hally..." A single accusing finger was pointed, making the girl duck her head.

"Be nice to people. I know she makes you uncomfortable, but you know it isn't really anything she's doing or can help. She didn't do anything and you came at her like a stripper about to steal your father away or something. You know better." She did too. A fine thread of anger started then and Keels decided to leave it, even letting it show on her face. It wasn't some boiling thing, but Hally had to know that she'd been in the wrong or she'd have no reason to change later.

"I'm sorry..." More tears came then as Darla started petting her hair. Everyone else just looked uncomfortable.

After a bit they started the next movie, which was a schlocky horror thing that proposed ways to get rid of your neighbor if they were a Vampire. Instead of working on any kind of sensible peace treaty or agreement it ended up with a pitched battle using sharpened crosses. The fact that the Vampire would have easily slaughtered the "hunters" got glossed over without mention. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it though, even Hally, who recovered easily enough, though she still looked guilty when she caught Keeley glancing at her.

The funny thing with the movie, which was nearly a comedy, was that the rest of the girls actually seemed scared. Not Darla, who didn't even bother pretending it was anything other than a joke to her, but Maria looked ready to actually start shivering, even though it was a toasty seventy-three in the room. Becky was at least trying to pretend to be brave and Eve kept subtly looking at the doors and windows. Then Vampires coming in the night was a real thing for her.

It had happened before.

They didn't discuss the Barb situation at all, just drinking soda and watching the movie. It put a damper on the fun of the evening and kind of made Keeley want to bail on the whole thing. She couldn't though and worked to change her mood, since that kind of thing was contagious.

"So, what next?" She made her voice happy, trying to seem like it wasn't fake.

"Next," Gary spoke softly looking at the clock on the wall, "I leave so that no one's parents think I was busy having sex with all of you the whole evening. Which makes no sense... We couldn't have done stuff at nine in the evening? I mean really. Curfews are kind of dumb, aren't they? Even the ones I set for myself, but that's the plan." He stood easily and handed out hugs, but hesitated when he got to Hally.

"Seriously Hal, Barb isn't bad or anything. There's no reason she can't hang with us. OK, she tries a little hard and isn't the easiest person in the world to love, but being different shouldn't mean we hate her." He said it as if he knew all about being hated for just being who he was.

Something that everyone got, even Hally.

"I know. I... just don't like her! She's bad somehow. I know it's not anything she's done. I just... I'll try to be better. I promise."

It wasn't a great statement but did earn her a hug from Gary who picked her up a little to do it. He was pretty strong and larger than any of them.

Then he made a point to hug Maria and Becky too, as if they were part of the crew already. He was good at being inclusive that way.

After he left Keeley was pretty much at loose ends. It was an oversight, but she hadn't really thought about the get-together at all. What should they do? After a few seconds she shrugged.

"Let's make brownies." It was something to do and got Eve to jump up quickly enough.

"My favorite. I almost never get to bake. I'm all over this. Do you have a box mix?" She grinned, knowing that saying that would make Darla wince, but the fact was that boxed brownies were just as good as ones made from scratch.

Plus they really did have the mix in the cupboard. Sherry could cook and bake, but didn't have Darla's aversion to short-cuts in the process. Eve did a good job of it, which meant that she and Becky were able to man the kitchen while Hally chatted with Maria. Everyone else having something to do, Darla got dragged into Keel's bedroom.

"Now what? This is close to a fiasco. I should have short circuited Hally, warned her not to do anything like that. I didn't even notice her gearing up for it though. Sloppy of me. What do girls do at slumber parties anyway? I've only been to one before and we accidently summoned a ghost and then got into a tiff with a djin and a Lesser Demon. I mean, I could have Balthias stop by I suppose, but..." It wasn't a serious suggestion, but it earned her a head nod.

"Normal girl things you mean? Well we can do each other's hair and nails, manicures and what not. I've been meaning to mention that Keels, your cuticles are a mess. Then I believe the tradition right now involves magazine quizzes and talking about boys that everyone is interested in dating. I don't suppose you have one of those right now? Other than Steve I mean. Be a bit much to talk about her brother in front of Hally however." She dead panned the line, but raised her eyebrows after a few seconds to show she was kidding.

Keeley grinned.

"What? He's cute. Give him ten years and he'll be a major musical talent with women hanging off each arm. To answer the question though, not really. I just haven't been that focused on boys lately. They still tend to avoid me a little. I don't exactly go out of my way to be high profile. At least as far as dating is concerned." The thing on the news had gotten her some looks, but that was just notoriety. It had pretty much faded at school already.

Darla patted her on the back and then moved to the closet, selecting a long cotton shirt for her to wear and a cute pair of striped panties. That got her to raise an eyebrow of her own, but she got the idea. A good impression was a constant thing. If there were people to impress you wanted to do your best, even with friends, because it would influence how they thought about you later, even if they didn't notice it at the time. The fact was, lounging on the floor in a shirt, she was going to be flashing the room at times. So attractive undergarments.

"Don't worry about it, just listen to everyone and try to come up with something that sounds right when they finally pin you down."

They made ice-cream sundaes using the warm brownies as a base, which turned them into little chocolate bricks as they cooled, but the fudge sauce Darla made helped a bit there. Then she grabbed her half-sister and sat her down, working over her nails with a slightly professional air. Darla had skills after all. Keeley tried to pay attention, since half the things she was doing to her were totally new as far as she could tell. Pressing on the cuticles after soaking her fingers? Who would have thought?

Becky and Maria were put into similar positions, Eve grabbing Becky first and Hally giggling as she touched her tiny partners arm.

"Sugar high!"

They did indeed chat while working, and it was just as distressing and awkward as Keeley had feared it would be. Everyone had guys to talk about, but she
really
hadn't been noticing anyone in particular. Not that way. She thought about it for a minute while everyone talked, Hally having mentioned that she and Gavin had made out the night before. It wasn't something that was unknown to her, having lived the memories the last time she'd touched the girl, but it made her a little uneasy hearing about it out loud. She eased that part of things back, trying to keep herself happy and attentive the whole time.

It was Eve that turned on her. Traitor that she was.

Short black hair bobbing a bit she smiled, a large and toothy thing that held a little too much interest for comfort.

"What about you Keelzebub? Have an eye on anyone? Maybe a certain football team captain? I noticed you talking to him in the hall the other day. Quince is a catch. I wouldn't mind doing him again myself." She was name dropping for the new girls, who seemed shocked at the information.

Eve wasn't a virgin though and had probably been with more guys that month than the rest of them had in the previous year. Including Darla possibly, unless she'd been to a few orgies without mentioning it to the others. Which was possible. Demon morality just wasn't the same as human, which was something that she knew well. Being the same way she couldn't exactly judge, now could she? But for the moment she was a sixteen year old human girl. She made sure that no one could easily read her mind again. It would give her away as different to a certain class of being, but that wouldn't matter in the main.

"Quince? Thank you no. He's OK, but was trying to set me up with his brother. Daryl? You remember him right? Goes to Wilson? Entirely creepy? Even his own brother warned me not to date him, and how bad do you have to be for that to happen?" She watched as Darla carefully applied French tips to her nails.