Hey everyone! Got a new story for you. I thought of this one sort of while I was writing my last one. Don't know where it will wind up, but for now the gang's in 12th grade, um, doing some Shakespeare… Little bit of "friendly" kissing in the works. A lot of pheely awkwardness, of course. Hope you enjoy. PS. this is not related to my other stories.
The Kiss
Chapter 1
"Quick and Painless"
Phil Diffy walked through the front doors of H.G. Wells Jr./Sr. High School. Keely was waiting for him on a bench inside. When she saw Phil, she smiled sweetly and his heart melted. Again. For the millionth time. Like a scoop of ice cream.
How does she do it? Phil wondered. He smiled back at her and walked over to where she sat. Keely cocked her head to the side, grinning up at him.
"Hey, mister," she said.
"Hey, Keels," Phil said. He felt a bit awkward. I really need to not feel like this, he thought, looking at Keely. It's just not right to feel like this about her. She's practically like a sister. "You ready for the big scene?" Phil was referring to the scene he and Keely had prepared for their theater test. Instead of a normal written test, Mr. Messerschmitt paired everyone up and had the couples draw scenes from Shakespeare plays out of a hat. Phil and Keely were working together on a part from Hamlet, when Hamlet talks to the ghost-version of his murdered father, the king. Keely was portraying the ghost, while Phil got to be Prince Hamlet.
"Yeah, I guess," Keely said. "But I wish we'd gotten a better play. I really hate being a guy," Phil nodded in agreement. "But I can't wait to see Via and Owen's Romeo and Juliet."
Phil laughed. "No kidding," he said. Via had been hiding her crush on Owen for the better part of a year, but when she pulled a scene from Shakespeare's most romantic play out of the hat, she'd nearly lost all control. The scene required a kiss. On stage in front of everyone. "Not exactly how I pictured telling Owen I like him," Via had said to Phil and Keely the day the scene assignments had been made. The two had practiced the dialogue every day after school, but had been skipping the kiss, despite objections from Owen. "We'll just do it spontaneously, Owen," Via kept insisting.
"I mean, Phil, I'd die if I had to kiss someone in front of the entire class," Keely said. "Can you imagine?"
"Uh, no, I uh, guess not," Phil said. But in truth, he could definitely imagine kissing a certain someone in front of the class. Hell, he thought, I'd kiss her in front of my parents. In front of the world. "If only…"
"If only what?" Keely said, looking at Phil.
"Huh? I said that out loud?" Phil asked.
"Uh, yeah, Phil," Keely said.
"Um, you know, if only I could remember all my lines, I, um, think we'd get an A on this scene thing," Phil said, desperately trying to cover up his real thoughts. If only I had to guts to tell her… I think I'm in love with her.
The theater class met in the school auditorium, and as Phil and Keely wandered in, a little bit late, all the other students turned and stared. Some even giggled.
"Um, Keels, why's everyone staring at us?" Phil asked with a nervous laugh. He grabbed Keely's elbow. She loved it when he did that.
"Beats me. I was gonna ask you the same thing," Keely said. "I just hope we don't have to go first."
"Well, Mr. Diffy, Miss Teslow, I'm positively elated that you have decided to join us this morning," Mr. Messerschmitt, who was standing center stage, said to them as they sat down in the front row. The other students kept staring and snickering. Keely saw Owen and Via a few seats down. Via was pale and looking at her feet. She glanced up quickly and with a panicky expression mouthed "I'm sorry" to Keely, who was understandably confused. Owen, in typical fashion, was giggling along with the rest of the class.
"Sorry we're late," Phil said, standing and motioning to Mr. Messerschmitt, apparently having missed out on the exchange between Keely and Via.
"I daresay you will be sorry, Mr. Diffy. Something has—ahem—come up, and seeing as you and Miss Teslow are the last pair in class today, you have won the Grand Prize," Mr. Messerschmitt said, twisting the end of his mustache with two fingers.
Keely perked up and smiled. "Grand Prize?" she asked.
Phil, on the other hand, knew that if it was one of Messerschmitt's Grand Prizes, then there was absolutely nothing grand about it at all. Phil was certain he and Keely were in for it. Whatever it was. "Yes, sir, um, what's the Grand Prize?" Phil asked.
"Oh Mr. Diffy, your friend over here, Via, has brought with her this morning a note from her doctor that states, and I quote, 'due to an outbreak of mononucleosis my patient cannot, under any circumstances, participate in any school project that involves kissing.'" Mr. Messerschmitt then took a deep breath. "You may be wondering, Mr. Diffy, how Via's illness has caused you and Miss Teslow to be today's Grand Prize recipients?"
"Um, yeah. Yes, sir," Phil mumbled. He was beginning to sweat. He glanced over at Keely. She gave him a worried expression that mirrored his own.
"Via, our Juliet, cannot kiss Owen, our Romeo, because of her 'disease' as it were, thus you and Miss Teslow have been nominated, by me, to replace those two actors," Messerschmitt said, pausing and glaring at Phil, waiting for a response.
"We have to be Romeo and Juliet instead of Owen and Via because Via's got mono?" Phil asked. "That's it?"
"That's it. Owen and Via will take over your roles as the Ghost and Hamlet. I will give you three days to prepare your scene, and I will expect it on Thursday. Complete"—Messerschmitt cleared his throat loudly—"With The Kiss."
Phil gulped. He glanced down at Keely. Keely was slumped down so low in her chair the top of her head was level with the armrests. "Um, can I ask one quick question?" Phil asked.
"Go ahead, Mr. Diffy," Mr. Messerschmitt said, again twisting his mustache.
"Why us?" Phil asked.
"Why you?" Messerschmitt mocked. Phil nodded. "You were tardy."
"Oh," said Phil, "Right." He sat back down. He looked at Keely. "Um, Keels… sorry about this…" he whispered to her. Keely just stared at him motionless, face blazing. Phil's heart erupted. He was already nervous. The class giggled. Messerschmitt clapped his hands to bring them all to attention and the first group climbed on the stage to perform Sopranos-style version of Macbeth. Phil couldn't focus on the play. He could only focus on the fact that in three days time he was going to be up on that stage kissing Keely Teslow. In front of everyone.
"I'm so sorry, guys," Via said to Phil and Keely in the hallway after theater. Phil and Keely were having trouble looking at one another. "When I told Messerschmitt I was sick I had no idea he'd take us out of Romeo and Juliet. I thought he'd just take the kiss out… And when he said the last two people to the class would take the parts and I looked around and realized you two were the only ones missing…"
"It's okay, Via," Phil said. "We know it wasn't on purpose. I'm really sorry you're sick and everything. That sucks." He glanced at Keely and smiled a sort of half smile. "You know, it won't be so bad, Keels."
"It won't be so bad? Phil, are you serious?" Keely said, stopping in the middle of the crowded hallway and facing Phil. "I can't kiss you. We're friends. You're my friend boy. I'm your friend girl. Guy pal, gal pal. That's all."
Via was beginning to feel awkward. She didn't want to get in this middle of this weird unrequited-love spat between her two best friends. Via, Owen, the entire world, practically, knew how Phil and Keely felt about each other. But Via hated being in the middle of it all and had abandoned all hope of matchmaking after a plot that involved locking the two up in a janitor's closet had backfired last fall during their junior year, sending Owen to the emergency room because he accidentally poured bleach down his pants. You can lead a horse to water, she thought, but you can't make it drink… "Um, guys, I'm just gonna go," she said before scooting away from Phil and Keely as quickly as her legs could carry her.
Phil watched Via run away. "Keels, I mean, it's a school project. There's nothing we can do about it." He said and tried to smile. "It won't be so bad. I won't bite. Promise." But the look Keely was giving him was disconcerting. He had thought that maybe, just maybe, Keely might be interested in him as something more than a friend. But now she was acting so put-off by the idea of kissing him that he didn't think that was even a remote possibility. "What, Keely? Do I totally disgust you or something?" Phil said. He was a little hurt that she was taking it this way.
"No, Phil, of course not… it's just…" she started. She looked away. "I mean, people, you know, might think…"
"What? That we're a couple?" Phil asked, sputtering. "You don't want people to think we're a couple? Is that what this is about?"
"That's it. Exactly," Keely said, crossing her arms. "No, Phil Diffy, I don't want people to think we're a couple. Kissing you would be"—Keely glanced around the hallway trying to think of the right word—"insane. Just totally insane." Phil couldn't tell if Keely was angry or… Is she embarrassed? he wondered. It almost looked as though she was about to cry. Her cheeks had reddened and her eyes were bright and wet. To Phil, she looked incredible, even if she was mad at him. It was worse, in fact, when Keely got mad. Anger brought out something in her face that alarmed Phil, not because he was afraid of her being angry with him, but because this passion inside her bubbled up to the surface and made her beautiful and made him want her more. These were the moments that were so frustrating for Phil. He wanted to yell back at her but he also wanted to kiss her like crazy. Face it, Phil. When Keely's mad it's a huge turn on. But, of course he had to play it off. You don't want to look like the idiot you really are.
"Well I don't want to do it either, Keely," Phil said. It broke his heart to say it because it was a lie. "But the fact of the matter is that it doesn't make any difference what we want. We have no choice. So, unless you get sick like Via, I'm kissing you. On Thursday morning. Get over it."
Keely looked at Phil. A little vein popped out on his temple and she had the urge to kiss him there, on that tender part of his face, to grab his arms and wrap them around her waist, but she didn't, of course. Just friends. "Whatever, Phil. I guess I don't see how you can be so cool with this… I mean, it's just… we…" She didn't know how to say what she was thinking. We have been sort of skirting the issue of us, Phil. Don't you get it?
"We what, Keels?" Phil asked. He tried to look annoyed. Keely's face softened. She was gorgeous no matter what emotion. A thought flashed into Phil's mind. This always happened. A little daydream of Keely jumping on him, kissing him all over, unbuckling his belt… Stop it, Phil. God you're a perv, he told himself.
"I mean," Keely said quietly, her eyes lingering on Phil's for a moment before they both looked at opposite ends of the hall. "We're really close, Phil, you know?" Keely had her own set of flashes of Phil. Phil with his shirt off smiling at her, beckoning her up the stairs to his bedroom. She pinched shut her eyes and tried to block it out.
"Yeah," Phil said, still trying to act as though he didn't care.
"And, well, kissing you might… feel"—awesome, she thought—"weird," Keely said, opening her eyes and staring at someone's discarded, flattened Red Bull can on the floor.
Phil took a deep breath and put his hands on Keely's shoulders. God, he loved her and he hated how he couldn't say anything. It was torture. She looked at him now, her forehead wrinkled in worry, biting her lip. She was so sweet. So sincere. Phil caved in and he smiled. "It'll be okay, Keels," Phil said. "We'll just make it quick and painless. Totally friendly. Not weird. Just a couple of friends. A little tiny kiss. I've heard I'm pretty good at it, actually."
That's what I'm afraid of, Keely thought. She smiled. "Okay, okay. You're right. Quick and painless. Itty-bitty. Won't even feel it," she said. But she knew she would. They both knew.
"Okay, well, um, maybe we should get together this afternoon and look at the lines?" Phil offered.
"Yeah," Keely agreed, nodding. "I'll get the pages from Via. Want to go to your house?"
"Well, everyone will be there… Curtis, Pim, Mom, Dad…" Phil said. "We're not exactly ready for an audience yet, are we?"
"Right. Um, well, my mom gets home from work around five, so that gives us a little time alone," Keely said. "So, my house? Right after school?"
"Sounds like a plan, Juliet," Phil said. He looked at his watch and rolled his eyes. "Great. Late for calculus. Again. I wonder who Hackett will make me kiss in there."
Keely giggled a little too flirtily. He called me Juliet. Do I call him Romeo? Um… she thought. "Yeah, see you at lunch… Romeo." She gulped and waved awkwardly. Phil laughed and turned to walk to his next class. Keely watched him go. Just before he walked through the classroom door, Phil glanced back at her and winked. Keely's heart raced. "Oh my God," she said, leaning against a row of lockers. "What have I gotten myself into?"