Chapter 1

It had been a month since spring break and the Family's week long gig in Las Vegas. It had also been a month since Genny had walked out of his life. Things were finally starting to get back to normal. Reporters were no longer camping out at the school hoping to catch him for a quick interview. Having his new car really helped. If he'd had to walk home, things would have been interesting to say the least.

Laurie didn't mind it either; having Keith drive her to and from school each day. She said it left her more time for homework and rehearsals, but Keith was pretty sure it left her more time for her latest cause. His name was Rick Worth. He was a freshman at San Pueblo Community College. She'd met him when she'd gone with Keith to check out the campus and to get his paperwork for his fall enrollment. They still had two weeks of school left which included finals, but they were definitely in the home stretch.

Keith was looking forward to their summer tour and had been writing new songs furiously trying to give them plenty of new material to excite the fans. He'd used that as his excuse not to start dating anyone new right away. He would never admit it, but he just wanted a little alone time now that Genny was no longer a part of his life. The girls at school hadn't cooled down any since his supposed marriage. In fact, they all thought that he was even more attractive now that they thought he wasn't averse to getting married. Little did they know that marriage was even further in the future now that Keith had gone through the fake ceremony. He no longer had to imagine what it would be like to get married. He'd been there and done that. Now he just wanted to play the field for a long, long time.

It was around 9:00 pm on Thursday night and Keith was in the garage putting the finishing touches on the fix to the bridge of his latest tune that had taken over his brain during his sex education class. Mr. Grisbee had given him a hard time when he'd caught him writing down notes on his pad of paper. Man, that guy really hated him. They'd been watching a dumb movie about STD's and Keith had zoned out in the first few minutes. That's when the fix had struck him. He'd had to write down the hook as quickly as possible or risk losing it to a group of bad actors in a bad scene. Too bad for Mr. Grisbee that no one in the class had thought Keith was doing anything wrong. Most of the kids had tuned out the movie shortly after it started.

Keith stood up from the piano bench and arched his back trying to work the kinks out from having sat for too long. He knew his posture wasn't the greatest while he was creating a new song and he always paid for it with a slight backache.

He glanced around the room to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be before he locked up and headed into the house. As he casually stuck his hands in his front pants pockets, he felt a piece of paper rub against his fingers. He pulled out the paper and read, 'maybe I was wrong about you. Give me a call sometime. Anne'. The note was followed by a phone number. Keith remembered running into Anne in the cafeteria at lunch. They had been going to school together for 12 years and had been friends for several years in grade school, but since he'd started liking girls and she'd started liking boys, she'd always given him the cold shoulder. She'd told him it was because he was too into music for her tastes but Keith thought it had more to do with the fact that he'd gotten the hots for a new girl right about the time Anne starting looking at Keith as more of a boyfriend than a 'boy' friend. She'd also believed all those nasty rumors about Keith's inability to commit to a relationship. She basically believed all of those playboy rumors that had been spread, some by Keith himself, but many by past girlfriends and sometimes jealous ex-boyfriends of said past girlfriends.

Keith wondered idly why Anne had changed her mind. Maybe if he called her and took her out he could ask her and find out.

Was he ready to go on a date again? The answer was a very definite 'Yes'.

He picked up the extension in the garage and dialed the number on the piece of paper. Two quick rings later, a man answered the phone with a grumpy 'hello?'

"Hi, is Anne there?" Keith asked the man on the other end. He could only assume it was Anne's father.

"Who is this? It's kind of late to be calling isn't it?" He huffed into the phone. Before Keith could answer, he could hear Anne on the other end asking her father who it was and a disembodied 'some boy'.

"Hello?" Anne said into the phone after a short time.

"Hi, Anne. It's Keith." Keith answered with a smile on his face. He had high hopes for this call. After all, she'd been the one to make the first move.

"Hi, Keith. I'm glad you called." Anne breathed into the phone. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, you can come to the movies with me tomorrow night….if you're free that is." Keith said only just realizing how bad it was to be asking for a date less than 24 hours in advance.

"I'd like that. What's showing?" She laughed, obviously very pleased that he'd called.

"Actually, I have no idea. I've been so busy this week that I haven't taken the time to look." Keith admitted.

"Well, I hear there's a great double feature at the drive-in. Does that sound alright?" Anne had already seen the movies, but she didn't really plan on seeing much of it anyway.

"Sounds good. I'll pick you up around 8:00." Keith smiled again. He loved going to the drive-in. He never actually got to see any of the movies, but that wasn't his plan.

They both would have laughed had they realized they were thinking much the same thing.

"Perfect. I better go now, my dad's glaring holes in the back of my head. See you then. Bye." Anne said as she rang off.

"Bye." Keith echoed as he hung up the phone. He turned back to grab the sheet music off the piano and turning off the lights headed into the house.

Keith walked into the dark kitchen and through the swinging door into the living room. There he found Laurie at the desk doing some homework and his Mom sitting on the couch reading a book. "Hi, honey. Done with the new song?" Shirley asked as he took a seat next to her on the couch. Laurie turned around to catch his answer.

"The music and arrangement sides of it, yeah. I have to work on the lyrics, but it's almost done." Keith said with a smile.

"Which one is this?" Shirley asked always interested in his latest project.

"Well, actually this is the one I started in Vegas. I was having some trouble with the bridge and the lyrics. Now the bridge is done." Keith said not catching the look passed between Laurie and his Mom. They were both concerned that Keith had seemed to hide himself away since all of the intrigue involving Genny's family. They knew the reporters following him everywhere had made things less than comfortable for quite a while, but they had thought by now he'd have thrown his hat back into the ring, so to speak.

"When do we get to hear it?" Laurie asked as she stood up and walked over to join the conversation.

"Maybe Saturday, when we practice. If I'm satisfied with it by then. But then again, I won't have much time to work on it before then, so maybe not for a while yet." Keith talked as he ran through his schedule in his head. With school and a date tomorrow, he wouldn't have time to finish it. But, maybe if he stayed up late tonight he could get it done. Then again, that would make him tired for his date tomorrow night. It was a good problem to have. A date keeping him from finishing the new song. He could deal with that.

"No time to work on it tomorrow?" Laurie asked archly.

"Nope, I've got a date." Keith admitted not really looking up.

Shirley and Laurie exchanged very satisfied smiles.

"It's about time, brother dear." Laurie said as she came over to sit on the arm of the couch right next to Keith.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Keith looked up at her in surprise.

"Nothing." Laurie just smiled smugly.

"No, seriously. What do you mean by 'it's about time'?" Keith really wanted to know.

"Oh come on, Keith. You haven't been on a date in a month. That's like Hugh Hefner not having a party for more than a week. It's unheard of." Laurie teased.

"Laurie, stop teasing your brother." Shirley admonished lightly. "I think it's wonderful that you're getting back into the swing of things."

"You two are too much." Keith said as he got up. "But, I love ya anyway."

He bent over to kiss his mother's cheek and kissed Laurie on the top of the head as he passed by her on his way upstairs. "I'm gonna go work on the lyrics in my room. Goodnight."

They both turned to watch him walk up the stairs. "Don't stay up too late." Shirley called after him.

Keith just waved his hand over his shoulder.

xoxo

"Do you think he's going out with Anne?" Shirley asked Laurie.

"I hope so. It took a lot of fancy talking on my part to get her to realize that Keith isn't the playboy she thought." Laurie said with a look of fake exhaustion on her face.

"So, tell me why you chose Anne?" Shirley smiled at her daughters antics.

"They have a history. They used to be pretty good friends. Plus she's very smart and very pretty. Not normally Keith's type. Well, the pretty part is, but not the smart." Laurie joked. "I'm hoping that she has enough in common with Genny but enough that's different so he doesn't think about Genny while he's with her."

"That's a tall order." Shirley frowned.

"Well, physically they have almost nothing in common. Genny has short hair and green eyes. Anne has long black hair and dark brown eyes. So long as Keith's eyes are open, he won't get them confused." Laurie smirked

"What about when his eyes are closed?" Shirley joked back.

"That could be a problem. Knowing my dear brother, he'll spend most of the night with his eyes closed while they…..well you get my drift." Laurie had forgotten about that possibility.

"Hmmm, yes, that could be a problem." Shirley agreed but hoped for the best.

xoxo

Keith ran the brush through his hair and glanced at the clock. 7:45, he better get a move on if he didn't want to be late picking Anne up for their date. Good thing she didn't live too far away he thought as he grabbed his jacket from the bed and walked out of the room. He ran into Laurie in the hallway who gave him the once over look.

"Do I pass muster?" Keith asked sarcastically.

"Well, you could do with a haircut, but otherwise you're presentable." Laurie winked at Keith and continued, "Who's the lucky girl? You never said last night."

"Anne D'Angelo. Why?" Keith looked at her suspiciously.

"Not normally your type is she?" Laurie pointed out so Keith wouldn't realize she'd had a hand in this set up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Keith continued to watch her closely.

"Isn't she a little on the……oh, I don't know, intellectual side for you?" Laurie teased.

"I CAN carry on an intelligent conversation, you know." Keith gave his pat answer to Laurie's usual teasing regarding the intelligence of Keith's dates. She thought he dated only dummies; something about smart people being able to see through his act. What act, he'd like to know. He was pretty up front about most things.

"Oh really? I didn't think you spent much time talking at all on your dates." At Keith's cross look she continued, "Well, that's what the rumors say anyway."

"You can't believe everything you hear. You, Laurie Partridge, should know that as well as anyone." Keith reminded her as he finally pushed past her, not only done with this conversation but realizing that he was going to be late if he didn't leave soon.

"Hey, Keith!" Laurie grabbed his arm as he walked by. "I was only kidding."

Keith turned around as soon as she grabbed his arm and noticed the contrite look on her face. "I know." He sighed heavily, "I guess I'm just a little touchy yet after all the recent rumors and stories going around about me and….well, you know what I mean."

Keith hadn't uttered Genny's name since they'd been back. That couldn't be a good sign, could it?

"I know. Sorry." Laurie apologized again. She really was sorry for bringing up a sore subject right before a date. "Have fun."

"That's the plan." Keith said as he headed down the stairs.

"Mom! I'm leaving. See you later." Keith yelled as he headed to the front door.

Shirley popped her head out of the kitchen and said, "Have fun!"

What was it with everybody telling him to have fun? Didn't he always?

xoxo

Keith got lucky when he picked Anne up for their date. Her father wasn't home from a late business meeting so he'd only met her mother who had been very nice to him. He hoped it was a good omen for the whole evening.

Anne had been cool about driving with the top down. She'd said that she loved feeling the wind in her hair. She simply pulled out a rubber band and pulled her hair back in a no nonsense ponytail. Completely unconcerned if it would mess up the curls she had painstakingly styled before Keith had picked her up.

They talked non-stop to the theatre about school and how excited they both were to be almost done with high school. They talked about teachers they shared and classes they had in common. They didn't share any actual classroom time as many of Anne's classes were advanced college prep courses, but they did share some teachers. And, of course, they both had sex education just during different periods.

Keith said some not so flattering things about Mr. Grisbee and Anne could only laugh at the comparison between Keith's least liked teacher and a walrus.

They pulled into a parking space in the back row and Keith asked if she wanted anything from the concession stand.

"Sure, but maybe just a coke or a root beer. I don't need anything to eat. My Mom's a great cook and she's always telling me to eat more. If I don't watch it, I won't be able to do anything but waddle up to get my diploma." Anne said with a smile.

"Well, you sure don't look like you eat very much." Keith told her running his eyes over her svelte figure. Now that he really checked her out, she was quite the knockout. She'd worn a short skirt and a tight low-cut sweater. What he could see of her body, and believe me he could see quite a bit of it, looked fantastic to him. He couldn't ever remember seeing her in anything so fetching at school. Normally she hid her body behind clothes that were much less revealing.

"Well, thanks, but I wasn't exactly fishing for a compliment. And, believe me, that look you just gave me was a compliment." Anne said as she took the time to look Keith over from head to toe herself. He didn't need to know that she had gone shopping right after school because nothing she currently had in her closet was good enough for a date with Keith Partridge.

Keith noticed her looking, spread his arms out to the side and teased. "Like what you see?"

"Ha, you already know that you look your normal gorgeous self." Anne grinned right back at him.

"Well, how would the stunning lady like to accompany the good looking guy to the concession stand and pick out her beverage of choice?" Keith joked back.

"You're on." She said as she opened her door and got out.

Keith grabbed her hand as they walked in companionable silence. Why hadn't he ever asked her out before? Oh, right. She'd always looked at him like he was a piece of gum on the bottom of her shoe. He'd have to find out what had changed her mind, but not while they were mingling with the rest of the kids who were at the concession stand. He'd wait until they were back in the car.

They ran into several of Keith's friends who were quite surprised to see him with Anne. Though very pretty, Anne was not considered to be one of the more popular girls. She didn't date much mostly because guys were intimidated by her intelligence and outspoken nature. She was going to graduate as the class valedictorian unless she flunked all of her finals in a couple of weeks. It was common knowledge that she'd been accepted at Harvard and was going to become a lawyer. She couldn't stand the girls who played dumb just to get dates with the athletes and other popular boys in school. She had a plan for her future and it did not include trying to be popular. So what was she doing with Keith Partridge the MOST popular guy in school?

The guys looked at Keith as if he was crazy for putting himself through a date they were sure could only be boring. The girls looked on with jealousy and wondered idly what Anne had that they didn't. They refused to see that she was a knock-out to look at and that she could hold a conversation with just about anyone.

Anne noticed the looks and just smiled. She knew this would happen. People would question what Keith was doing with the class nerd. Well, so far things were going very well and she'd been pleasantly surprised at how much fun she was having. Keith, for all of his popularity, was no dummy. And, besides that, he made her laugh.

Keith, for his part, completely ignored all of the whispers that followed them as they walked through the pre-movie crowd back to the car, drinks in hand. He was used to being stared at and watched like a hawk. He just watched Anne to make sure that she was doing alright with all of the speculation that was following them. "You alright?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Anne looked at Keith surprised.

"Well, we are the topic of probably 90 percent of the conversations around here." Keith pointed out.

"Oh, you noticed that too?" Anne grinned back.

"In my profession, you get used to being talked about." Keith admitted a little sadly.

"They're just jealous you know." Anne told him.

"I know all of the guys are jealous of my gorgeous date, but what in the world do the girls have to be jealous about?" Keith feigned surprise.

Anne laughed so hard she had to stop walking.

"What is so funny?" Keith asked surprised at her reaction. He thought it was a bit much for the corny line he'd thrown out.

"Well, I have to admit, I'm laughing at myself." At Keith's questioning glance she continued, "I was so sure that you had changed into a vain, pampered teen idol. Just like all the magazines say you are."

"You read them?" Keith asked surprised again. "You do realize that most of the people writing those stories take one comment that I made and then make up a whole story behind it that has no basis in reality."

"I do now. Oh, Keith, I'm sorry that my perception of you was clouded by my own ignorance." Anne apologized.

"Wow, something the class valedictorian doesn't know." Keith said in mock surprise.

"Hey, no fair. I'm coming clean here and apologizing for thinking the worst about you without really knowing you." Anne admitted. "I guess I should have realized that you wouldn't have changed that much from when we were kids. That you'd be more like Laurie than the Romeo that the school rumor mill had painted."

"You're friends with Laurie?" Keith asked all of a sudden suspicious about Anne's approaching him for a date.

"I wouldn't say friends, but I've seen her around school. She's always very nice and friendly. I'm not sure why I thought you'd have changed when she hasn't." Anne was feeling awful about the direction their conversation had taken. "Can we just forget this whole topic? We, or at least I, was having a great time before we brought up this subject."

"Done." Keith said not sure that he still wasn't missing something, but agreeable to her terms as he'd been having a great time too. He just hated talking about his celebrity status with a girlfriend. Invariably they brought up groupies and past girlfriends and those subjects never ended well.

xoxo

They hadn't been back in the car for ten minutes when full night fell and the movie started to roll. The speaker that Keith had hooked to the window blared to life causing both of them to jump. Whoever had used it before them must have been almost completely deaf. Keith quickly reached over to turn it down to a more manageable level.

"Better?" He asked after looking at Anne.

"Not quite." She reached over Keith making sure her breasts came in contact with Keith's arm and chest. She twisted the volume knob completely off and then slowly turned to face him while still leaning across him.

Keith's eyebrows became lost in his long hair as they ascended to a higher level. "There, that's better." Anne smiled directly into his face.

Her actions had the desired effect. Keith reached up his left hand to bury them in her recently released dark locks and pulled her into a soft tentative kiss. He wanted to make sure he wasn't reading her signals wrong.

Anne's left arm began to shake from the stress of holding most of her weight not to mention the emotions that were soon zinging through her body as Keith held the kiss. Her right arm fell from the speaker knob and landed high on Keith's left thigh. As Keith ran his tongue over her bottom lip, Anne's hand jerked involuntarily and ended up as a vise grip a little closer to something he held near and dear than made Keith comfortable. He jerked back and quickly lowered his hand to still hers. He accidentally ended up tugging on her hair quite hard as his fingers pulled through a snarl on their way out of the long curls.

"Ouch." Anne yipped as her head was jerked to the side. Her hand tightened even further causing Keith to squirm. He finally got his hand down to hers and gently pried her fingers open gaining instant relief.

"Sorry, your grip was just a little too strong, there." Keith apologized for hurting her.

Anne quickly pulled back in embarrassment. "No, I'm the one who's sorry."

Anne sat back in her seat and primly folded her hands in her lap. Her eyes stayed glued to her hands as she slowly wrung them together.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Keith asked noticing her almost complete withdrawal. He'd only been trying to protect himself from pain. He hadn't meant to put a stop to their play.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not very good at……well, that." She said as she flipped a hand in his direction. Had she been looking up she'd have been embarrassed even more; she'd almost clocked Keith in the nose with her gesture.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Keith smiled gently at the fall of dark hair that hid her face from him.

"You wouldn't?" Anne looked up hopefully.

"Uh-uh. In fact, it was a very nice start. What do you say we try again?" Keith suggested with a smile.

Anne just nodded as her eyes fell to his advancing lips. A shiver went through her just before their lips met.