A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter took me so long to post. Real life got in the way and also, for some reason, this chapter was extremely hard to write. Nevertheless, I hope you still enjoy it!
Chapter Eight: Hidden Away
Natalie had a hard time focusing at school on Wednesday; all she could think about was coming up with ideas for her and Keith's quest. By English class she still hadn't come up with anything. So when Keith sat in the desk next to her a few minutes before class started, she tried to get ideas out of him. But one thing Keith wasn't, was stupid.
"I know what you're trying to do," he started. "I'm not giving you any ideas, so there's no point in asking." He winked at her and then opened his backpack to get his English homework out. She groaned loudly, hoping Keith heard. She knew he did, by the slight smirk that graced his face. She was starting to get really worried: what was going to happen if she arrived at the diner tonight without a list?
Instead of working on the vocabulary assignment they were suppose to work on during class, Natalie concentrated on coming up with some ideas. Halfway through class the only ideas she had come up with were really stupid or really embarrassing. But then Keith left to use the restroom and his backpack was just sitting there and before she gave it too much thought she was opening it and frantically looking for his list to give her some ideas. But the list wasn't there. There were notebooks and random empty Twinkie and beef stick wrappers, but no list. If she hadn't been sneaking into his backpack, she would've told him to clean it.
At nine that night, after she had woken up from a nap, she forced herself to sit at her desk and come up with something, anything. When she was finished, forty-five minutes later, she was surprisingly content with what she had come up with; it what definitely better than her original list, that was for sure.
She arrived at the diner a little after ten to find Keith already there and working on his math homework. "Hey," said Keith as she sat down, "I just have one more problem."
"Okay. No problem." She leaned forward, elbows resting on the table to glance at his homework. They weren't in the same math class, but they did have the same teacher. "You're almost done with that?" she exclaimed, aghast. She had started the homework during lunch, but after spending twenty minutes on one problem, she had gotten mad and given up.
Keith chucked— actually chuckled—but didn't look up. "It's easy."
"For you," said Natalie, sharply. She watched him do the problem, but after a few seconds she got lost and leaned back against the booth. White waiting, her eyes wandered and landed on a piece of paper sticking out of his math textbook. She recognized it after a few seconds. It was their latest math test. She tugged at the test and at the sight of the score, her eyes got wide. On the corner of the paper was a big red 110%. "You got a hundred and ten on the math test?" she said, jealousy floating in her voice.
At this, Keith finally looked up; his eyes were red and had deep purple bags under them. "What?" he asked. She waved the test in front of him. "Oh that. Yeah." He smirked, looking quite proud of himself.
"You got the extra credit question correct?" she exclaimed, flipping through the test to confirm her question. There was not one red mark throughout the entire test.
"Yes, partner. That is how one gets a hundred and ten."
"B-But—" she stuttered. "Mrs. Taylor said only two people in all of her classes got it right. You were one of those two?"
"That would make sense, yes." He chuckled. Again. "Don't sound so surprised." After he said this he went back to his math problem.
"Ugh, that's so not fair," she groaned. Natalie waited until Keith finished his homework and when he closed his textbook a few minutes later she said, while he took a sip of his coffee, "I have a deal for you."
"Shoot," said Keith, looking at her expectantly and mildly curious. "I may be interested."
"It involves Mystery Pie," she added in a singsong voice.
Keith leaned forward, eyes twinkling. "You know Mystery Pie is my weakness. I'm very interested."
Natalie took a deep breath. "If you help me with math—homework and studying for tests—I'll buy you as much Mystery Pie you want."
Keith leaned back against the booth. "Deal."
Natalie smiled; she could tell it reached her eyes. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she gushed.
The corners of Keith's mouth curved into an almost-smile. "You know," he started, "you didn't have to bribe me with pie. I would've helped you anyway."
They ordered pie and more coffee and Keith spent the next hour helping her with her math homework. As soon as they were done, Keith asked through a mouthful of Mystery Pie, "Did you do your homework?"
"What?"
"Your homework."
Natalie bit her lip, but tried to make her voice sound more confident than she was. "Oh! That homework. Yes, I did. But I think I could make it better if I had another day…"
Keith took the last bite of pie (his second piece) and after he swallowed said, "Not gonna happen."
She figured. She reluctantly handed him her list, but once he had it said, "I want to read yours first."
"Sure," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He grabbed a crumpled piece of paper from his backpack and he laid it in front of her. She wondered if it had been in his backpack all day and she hadn't it seen it when she had peaked in it earlier.
She spent a few seconds trying to unwrinkle the paper before she read it out loud. "Number one: Go bowling." She looked up at him. "Seriously? You put bowling on your list and you thought my list was—"
"It's not normal bowling."
Natalie narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What is that suppose to mean? What other ways are there to bowl?"
He shrugged again. "You'll find out," was all he said, twinkle in his eyes.
Natalie rolled her eyes and proceeded to read the second item on his list. "Send a package to the jungle." She glared at him. "This is—"
"Awesome," he supplied. Then added, "It's all about imagination, partner."
"Keith, I just—" She stopped herself then, not knowing how to express what she was thinking, but decided to not say anything. She turned her attention back to his list. "Three: Go to an arcade and get enough tokens to buy the biggest stuffed animal." Natalie was silent, before saying, "That is not…bad…"
"Not bad?" he exclaimed. "Don't you want a dog stuffed animal that's bigger than you? It's every kid's dream to win one of those."
"Wasn't mine," said Natalie. Keith looked shocked. "I've never been to an arcade, so maybe that's why."
If possible, Keith look more shocked. "You're kidding!" His eyes got wide. "Never been to an arcade," he mumbled to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Nope."
"I'm glad I put this on my list. You really need to get out more. You're too sheltered."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
He didn't keep up the banter and instead said, with a grin, "Whatever you say, partner."
The fourth item on his list was: win a food-eating contest. "Now that," started Natalie, "I want to see." At the fifth, and last item, Natalie gasped. "No way. Look at the fifth item on my list."
Keith did. "So I guess we both want to find out what's in that Mystery Pie, huh?" Natalie nodded and Keith leaned forward; he was close enough Natalie could smell him. He smelled like fresh soap and cologne and just boy. "I think we're going to need have some serious detective work in the future. We may want to start plotting our plan now." Natalie giggled and Keith grinned back before he sat back down. "Now, it's time for your list."
Unlike Natalie, Keith read the list out loud but didn't comment on each one like she had. Instead, he read them in order without stopping. "One: Take a road trip to Chicago." He nodded in what Natalie hoped was acceptance. "Two: Get a henna tattoo. Three: Sneak into a movie theater." Keith grinned at this one. "And four: Lie in the middle of an intersection." At this, Keith started laughing. Loudly. Natalie stared at him transfixed. The noise was bright and musical and absolutely amazing. It was the most beautiful sound. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because he had never laughed before—really laughed—and it was special because it was rare and unexpected and so so so perfect. His laugh was contagious and suddenly she was laughing too (even though she was pretty sure he was laughing at her).
When Keith got control of himself he choked out, "Did you think just because I'm a guy" — He stopped to take in a deep choked breath— "I wouldn't know you stole that from The Notebook?"
Natalie blushed and knew she looked guilty. "How did you know?
"You've watched The Notebook? It's not even out on DVD yet, you actually went to the theatre and watched it?"
"Guilty," he said. "Guys will do anything to figure out how to get a girl and The Notebook is popular. We never know what good tips it could give."
"Were there any good ones?"
He winked. "Maybe." He folded their lists and placed them carefully in the front pocket of his backpack. "Good list, partner. Good improvement. We have great ideas to start with. Now remember, we can always add stuff to the list if we want."
Natalie smiled. She was actually excited about the quest idea; she wanted to start now. "Are we going to do one tonight?"
Keith shook his head. "Nah, it's late already and we have homework. But tomorrow we will."
The next day, Natalie didn't get to talk to Keith until gym. It was their first day of actual swimming (yesterday was spent going over the lesson plan and the basics). Natalie was glad they actually got to be in the water today.
Keith was standing by himself next to the bleachers; he was only wearing swim trucks. It was hard for Natalie not to stare. It was strange seeing him in almost nothing, since he wore a sweater and the hood of it all the time.
"Hey," she said as she stood next to him.
He seemed strangely nervous and a bit jumpy, but Natalie wasn't sure if she was imagining it. "We're not meeting at the diner tonight," he said casually. His voice seemed calm enough.
"What? Why not?" asked Natalie, not bothering to hide the disappointment from her voice.
"Because," started Keith, "tonight we're going on our first quest. Remember?"
Natalie grinned in excitement. "Which one?"
"You'll find out. I need you to pick me up, though."
"Why?"
"We're going to need a car."
Natalie wondered why he wasn't the one driving if he was the one who knew what they were doing. He did have a truck. She didn't question him, though. "Okay. What time?"
"Eleven."
"Eleven?" repeated Natalie, surprised. Ten was their normal meet-up time.
"Yeah," he confirmed, sounding kind of aggravated with himself. "I need to sleep some before I go out."
Keith did look exhausted—beyond exhausted. He looked worse than he did last night. The bags under his eyes were an even darker purple, almost black, and he looked rather pale. She wondered when he had last gotten more than a few hours of sleep. "Good idea," said Natalie.
"Great," said Keith. "Prepare to have some fun."
As soon as they started their first basic swim exercise (jumping off the diving board), Natalie knew the nervousness she had previously thought had been radiating from Keith had not been made up.
He was fidgeting beside her a lot and seemed to be trying to calm himself down for some reason. "Are you okay?" she asked, giving him a worried look.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He seemed distracted and not himself.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," he said forcefully. "Stop asking me that."
"Okay, I'm sorry. Geez."
Natalie stayed next to Keith just in case, but ten minutes later she had to leave his side to go jump off the diving board. Natalie loved jumping off the diving board; she felt so free.
When it was finally Keith's turn, Natalie watched him closely. He walked slowly to the diving board. When he got to it, he halted. He stood there for a few moments, but before Natalie could wonder why, he placed his hands on a step of the ladder of the diving board and started walking up. He walked up slowly and from where Natalie was standing she swore she could see him shaking and not just his hands, his whole body. Natalie felt her heart pound quickly in her chest when Keith's hands gripped the last step before nearing the diving board, and he froze. This time, though, he didn't move after a few seconds.
People were beginning to realize something was wrong, and they started whispering. Coach Tammy finally spoke up, "Keith, are you all right?"
Keith didn't hear her; it was as if he was in his own world. Natalie wondered what was going on and walked over to where Coach Tammy was now standing by the diving board. From there, Natalie could see Keith was gripping the ladder so tightly his knuckles must've been white and he was taking in deep, ragged breaths.
"Keith," called Coach Tammy again, louder this time. He flinched, but didn't make a sound. "You don't have to jump, please come down." He didn't move. Coach Tammy turned to Natalie. "Can you please go get him for me? I'm afraid he's going to fall."
"Yeah, sure," said Natalie. She was afraid of that, too.
She climbed the ladder, the steps slightly wet, and when she got to the top she carefully maneuvered herself so she was half on the ladder, half hanging off. In this position, she was closer to Keith and could see his face. He was shaking and looked so scared. "Keith," she said quietly, "It's Natalie." She may have been imagining it, but it seemed like he at least semi-registered she was there. "Keith," she said again.
This time, he flinched and some recognition crossed his face. Then, he said, voice choppy, "I-I don't. I don't want-want to go in the water."
"You don't have to," she said gently, "but you need to get off the board, okay?"
He didn't speak only gave a curt nod. He didn't make any move to start making his way down, though. After a few second of waiting, Natalie couldn't handle it anymore and said, "I'm going to help you down, okay?" She grabbed one of his ankles and guided it to the next step. She did this one foot at a time. It was a slow process. At some steps, Keith was gripping the railing so tightly she had to pry his fingers off so he could move down. When they finally got to the bottom, almost ten minutes later, Keith collapsed onto his back, still shaking violently and taking in deep, ragged breaths.
Coach Tammy kneeled down next to Natalie. "Keith, can you tell me what's wrong?" He didn't answer.
"What's wrong with him?" a redheaded student asked, sounding scared.
"I think he's having a panic attack," said Coach Tammy. She turned to the girl who had just spoken. "Amy, can you please go get the nurse?" The girl nodded and quickly ran out of the gym. Coach Tammy glanced at the rest of the students standing around Keith, and said, "Everyone can leave class early; Keith doesn't need you all watching." She had to say this three times before everyone finally listened.
Natalie had never been around someone who was having a panic attack, so she wasn't sure what to do. Nothing she said to Keith broke him from the attack; he didn't really seem to understand what was going on. So she finally settled with saying, "It's okay. Just breathe."
Nurse Patricia arrived five minutes later, Amy following close behind. The nurse sat Keith up—he resisted at first, but it didn't last long. She talked quietly to him, too quietly, and Natalie couldn't hear what she was saying. She wished she could, though, because whatever she was saying did seem to calm Keith down.
"Is he getter better?" asked Natalie. "He's okay, right?"
"He'll be fine after the attack passes," said Nurse Patricia. "Just shaken up, probably. I'm just not sure how long that will take. I'm going to take him to my office and call his parents to pick him up." Patricia looked over to Coach Tammy. "If you could get his stuff and bring it to me, I'd appreciate it."
And in a blink of an eye everyone was gone, leaving Natalie alone with only her thoughts and heart pounding, which left her breathless.
Natalie changed as fast as she could, but it was still twenty minutes before she was walking down the school halls to the nurse's office. When she got there, the door was closed so she peered through the small window into the room. She felt guilty eavesdropping like this, but she needed to make sure Keith was okay.
Melissa was already in the office and was talking to both Coach Tammy and the nurse. Keith was sitting in a chair a few feet away from them looking better than he had earlier, but still very shaken. She stared at him, eye fixed, until he stood up and then Natalie took off before he could see her.
That night, Natalie parked on the street near Keith's house exactly five minutes to eleven. She peered at the house through the shadows, but didn't see Keith. She waited. By eleven fifteen, she started getting worried and checked her phone to see if Keith had texted her that he was running late.
Nothing.
She texted him, but after five minutes and no response she contemplated going home. But she couldn't drive away. At eleven-thirty, she quietly got out of her car and walked up the driveway. Having watched Bailey a lot, she knew the layout of Melissa's house and had a good guess on which room was Keith's, since he had mentioned his room was in the basement.
Walking to the side, she kneeled down and peered through the window. It was dark except for a small light on the nightstand. It was enough light for her to see Keith's form on the bed. He was sprawled on his back, only a sheet covering him and Bailey was lying on his chest, his body moving up and down with Keith's breaths. They were both dead asleep.
Natalie wondered if she should wake him. She knew Keith needed to sleep, but she also knew Keith. And she knew he would be pissed if she didn't wake him. So, she lifted her hand and lightly knocked on the window, tensing at the sound—the knock seemed to echo in the night.
The knocking woke Bailey immediately and he jumped off Keith and ran to the window, jumping on the windowsill. He opened his mouth and let out a low, menacing bark. "Oh, shit," whispered Natalie. Bailey was going to wake up the entire house.
Luckily, Keith woke up, bolting into a sitting position, after Bailey barked again. He looked beyond confused, but thankfully it only took him a few seconds to process what was going on and then he was out of bed and opening his window. "Partner?" he said while yawning.
"Hi," she said brightly. He wasn't wearing a hoodie again; he was dressed in only a white t-shirt and black sweatpants that hung low on his hips.
"What are you—Oh, shit. What time is it?" He turned around to glance at the clock on his nightstand. "Shit," he said as he turned back around to face her. "I'm sorry. I must've slept through my alarm."
"It's okay," said Natalie. "I'm sorry I woke you. Are you sure you want to hang out tonight? We can do the quest tomorrow and you can go back to sleep."
"No," he said quickly. "No, I've slept enough." He didn't look like he had.
"Great," said Natalie. "Uh, are you ready to go?"
"Yeah," he said. "Let me change first."
"Okay, I'll wait." She stood up and less than five minutes later, Keith crawled through his window himself. He did it expertly.
"So, that's how you sneak out, huh?"
"Yup," he grinned, looking extremely proud of himself. He grabbed two backpacks by his window that Natalie hadn't noticed. As they turned to leave, Natalie glanced inside Keith's bedroom one last time to see that Bailey had made himself comfortable on the ledge. "It looks like you're Bailey's new favorite person. Does he sleep there all night?"
"He waits for me for some reason," he answered, shrugging as he picked up the bags. They looked heavy. "He sleeps in my bed with me when I'm there."
"That's adorable." Keith followed her to her car, but before he could walk to the passenger side she stopped him. "Hey, Keith?"
"Yeah?" He adjusted the bags and she felt bad because they did look really heavy.
She bit her lip. "Are you okay?"
Even though it was dark and he was wearing his hat she could tell he blushed. He turned his head away from her. "I'm fine."
"You sure? You really freaked me out today."
Surprisingly, he looked at her. "Sorry."
"So," started Natalie. "Are you scared of water or…"
He shrugged. "Guess so."
"Why? Can you not swim?" She knew he was embarrassed and probably really didn't want to talk about this, but the need to know was overpowering.
He was quiet for a long time and Natalie was surprised she he actually answered. "Can I swim? I guess…No. I…there was an accident once…and I almost drown. Haven't swum since."
"Oh. I'm sorry." For some reason she wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know how. Not without hugging him or something and she knew that would freak him out.
"It's all right," he said. "Uh, these bags are really heavy. Can we—"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." She watched him until he disappeared into her car.
"What are in the bags?" asked Natalie. "Bowling balls?"
"How'd you guess?" asked Keith.
"Lucky guess," she smiled. He leaned over and unzipped one of his backpacks. All she saw was his profile, which was mostly hidden by the hood of his sweater; she could see was his long eyelashes, sweeping against the top of his cheeks. "Why do you always wear the hood of your sweater? I mean, you even wear in it I gym unless it's swi—" She stopped herself, not wanting to mention swimming when he already seemed embarrassed enough.
Keith almost dropped one of the bowling balls on his foot at the unexpected question. "What?" he asked.
Natalie knew he had heard what she had asked but she asked again. He was silent for a while before he said, "I-I dunno. I just like it I guess." Natalie knew by the tone of his voice he knew exactly why he wore it. He sat there for a few seconds, not moving, but then suddenly he hesitantly lifted his hand and took the hood off. He turned to look at her. "Better?" he asked; he looked confident enough, with that crooked grin he was giving, but she sensed some hesitation behind his eyes.
"Better," she whispered. She stared at his hair for a few seconds, unable to speak. It was messy, some ends of it sticking up, and looked so soft. She had to physically prevent herself from lifting her hand and running her fingers through it. She knew it wasn't a good sign to be thinking these things about Keith when she had Raff, but she couldn't help. And right now, she couldn't bring herself to care. Finally, she found her voice and said, "It's nice to actually see your whole face." Keith didn't respond to this, and instead lifted one bowling ball out of one of the bags—there were at least eight total. "Uh, unless you asked some other people to join us, we only need two."
"This isn't normal bowling. C'mon, I've got directions. Just drive."
They ended up in front of someone's house. "What are we doing here?" she asked.
He handed her a blue and white ball, the colors swirling together, which had the name Patsy carved on it. He had one as well, a purple one with some white to it, which had the name Cosmo on it. "How did you get the name carved on these?"
"A man never discloses his secrets. "
"Fine," sighed Natalie. "So where are we exactly?"
"This is Walt's house."
"Walt?"
Keith rolled his eyes and said, "Uh, does chemistry ring any bells?"
Natalie's eyes got wide. "What are we doing in front of Walt's house? Geez, Keith!"
"Bowling," he replied curtly.
Natalie glanced between her and Keith's ball. "You mean we're going to just leave these balls on his front porch?"
"You caught on!" exclaimed Keith, patting her back. "Good job, partner."
"I really don't think this is a good idea."
Keith glared at her and said, "Just think, years from now you'll have big huge family and you're gonna want to share stories and one of those stories will be you put a bowling ball on your chemistry teacher's front porch." He grinned and finished with, "And his name was Walt."
"I refuse."
Keith laughed and quickly jumped out her car, not even attempting to be quiet. She was certain he did this just to annoy her. She watched as he walked up the driveway and then placed the bowling ball on the porch railing. Natalie tensed, expecting it to fall and wake Mr. Miles and his whole family up, but it didn't.
Natalie bounced her leg impatiently, waiting for Keith to come back to the car, but he didn't. Instead, he leaned against the porch and stared at her. She knew what he was doing. He wasn't going to come back to the car until she participated.
"If we get caught," she hissed, a minute later, trying to keep her voice low but loud enough he could hear her as she walked up the driveway, bowling ball in hand. "I'm telling them you kidnapped me and forced me to do this."
He laughed.
Natalie glanced around the front yard, and finally decided on placing the ball in the middle of the grass. "There, happy?"
"Good first start. You'll get better with practice," he said, walking back to the car.
He was right, after four houses in total, Natalie got braver and actually started having fun (she had even enjoyed putting one Raff's front porch; although, that was after much pressure from Keith).
When they ran out of bowling balls, Natalie drove to a small drive thru that sold only donuts and coffee. They parked near the drive thru and were quiet as they ate, but then, suddenly, Natalie said, "Hey, Keith?"
"Hmmm?" He had just taken a huge bite of his donut; his lips were covered in powdered sugar.
"Can I ask you something? Why are you staying with your aunt? I know the first day you said you didn't have anyone else to stay with." What she really wanted to ask was, Where are your parents? He instantly froze at the question, and she knew she had overstepped. "I'm-I'm sorry. You don't need to answer that. I was just being stupid. I just want to…." I just want to get to know you, she wanted to add. I want to know everything.
He surprised her when he answered her. "No," he said, voice soft and very unlike him. "It's okay. Um…" He turned his head away from her and stared out the window. She wanted to know what he was thinking.
After a few minutes she whispered, "Keith?"
He didn't turn around to face her. "My parents aren't here."
"What?" she gasped. "What do you mean?"
"I-I mean they…" It was like he didn't know how to form what he wanted to say. "They're gone. I mean they—they're traveling. Yeah, traveling. Abroad. So they couldn't take me with them so..."
"Oh," she said. "Were they gone when you got into your accident?"
He took another bite of his donut, and Natalie could tell he had a hard time swallowing it. "Yeah, you could say that."
"Were you planning on coming to live with Melissa anyway?"
Finally, he turned to face her, his eyes shining. "Yeah, I was going to drive out here. But then she—she freaked and you know the rest."
Natalie had so many questions now. More than before, that was for sure. She wanted to know everything about this incredible, amazing, beautiful boy. But it seemed like he kept so many secrets hidden away from her, and would only give her a glimpse of himself if she asked. "How long are they going to be gone?" Strangely, Natalie felt sadness fill her at the thought of Keith leaving in a few months. She hadn't known him for very long, but she couldn't imagine nights—life—without him.
"No idea. Years, maybe." He rubbed his face with his hand and it was then Natalie realized how upset she had made him. Even if he didn't voice this, she could tell by his actions.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay." He took a sip of coffee and then said, voice choppy, uneven. "But can we maybe stop talking about this?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm sorry I brought it up." He grinned at her to let her know it was okay, before turning his attention back to his window. He was much quieter than he had been minutes before.
While they sat there finishing their food, Natalie thought of Keith and wondered how his parents could leave their kid like that.
"His parents are traveling abroad?" exclaimed Brooke. They were getting ready for swim practice but were taking their time, as it didn't start for another half hour.
"Yup. That's why he's living with Melissa." Natalie hadn't seen Keith during gym today, and wondered if he had been excused from the class for the next two weeks until they had finished their swim lesson. She had seen him in her other classes and he hadn't mentioned it, but she figured he probably didn't like talking about it.
Brooke looked thoughtful as she brushed her hair into a ponytail. "Where?"
"I didn't ask him. He asked to stop talking about it, so I didn't get to ask him too many questions."
"Oh he did?" Natalie nodded. "So," started Brooke hesitantly, "You believe him?"
"What do you mean?"
Brooke shrugged, placing her brush and her regular clothes into her locker. "I dunno. It seems really strange that his parents would travel abroad now. Why didn't they wait two more years, when Keith's in college? And plus, if they had the trip planned why didn't Keith move here sooner so he could start the school year at the same time as everyone else?"
"I don't know…" said murmured Natalie. "It does seem a little weird when you talk about it like that."
"Plus," added Brooke. "He seems really sad."
"Well, I would be sad if my parents left," defended Natalie.
"Yeah, I know," added Brooke quickly. "But I don't know…there's just something deep about his sadness. Who knows. I'm probably" —loud voices were heard, cutting Brooke off— "What was that?" she asked.
"No idea," said Natalie. "Probably stupid boys playing in the pool again. If you're ready, let's just go now and kick them out." They grabbed their stuff and headed out to the pool.
As soon as Natalie saw Raff and his gang of friends, laughing, she felt dread fill her and she looked to the pool to see what they were laughing at.
Keith.
He was frantically trying to swim to the ledge, but he was panicking so much he was only managing to choke on water, causing himself to cough and not make any progress. Remembering their conversation from yesterday, she knew he couldn't swim and ran to the edge of the pool and jumped in.
Natalie was a good swimmer, great even, but she had never had the experience of trying to rescue someone who was having a panic attack and almost drowning. As soon as she managed to grab onto one of Keith's arms, he fought—arms flaying and almost hitting her in the face. "Keith," she said, "it's okay."
He was freaking out so much he didn't pay attention to her and Natalie finally got a hold of his waist and began dragging him toward the ledge of the pool. It was hard work, he wouldn't stop squirming, and he was heavy with the added weight of his backpack he was still wearing. When they got to the edge of the pool and Keith gripped the side, he seemed to calm down a little. With Brooke's help, Natalie was able to lift him over the side of the pool.
He coughed, chest heaving, and Natalie just stayed by him; luckily, he didn't seem to be having a panic attack like he had a few days ago, which she was thankful for. After five minutes, he finally stopped coughing and, albeit a little shaky, stood up. Other than being soaking wet, he looked okay.
"Are you okay?" asked Brooke and Natalie at the same time.
"I'm great," he said sarcastically. "Just splendid. This has been a great day." His voice was dry and hoarse from all of the choking and coughing.
"What happened?" asked Natalie, standing up as well.
"You might want to ask your boyfriend," spat Keith, nodding toward Raff and his friends who were walking over to them. Now that Keith was out of the water and he wasn't in danger of dying, the concern Natalie had seen on Raff's friend's faces right before she had jumped in to save Keith was now replaced with smugness and contempt.
"So I guess the rumors are true, pansy boy can't swim," said Raff, mirth present in his voice.
"Fuck. You," said Keith, his voice laced with venom. He pushed passed Raff, Natalie was glad to see it caused Raff to stumble.
When Keith had disappeared into the boys' locker room Natalie turned to Raff, fuming, "What the hell did you do?" she hissed. "Push him in?"
"Maybe." Raff actually winked at her. "The whole thing was hilarious if you ask me."
"You. Are. An. Asshole," she growled. She couldn't even look at Raff right now. She turned to Brooke. "Can you tell Coach Tammy I won't be here for practice?" She knew she shouldn't skip as they had their first swim meet in two days, but she had to make sure Keith was okay.
"Sure," she said. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to check on Keith and see if he needs a ride home. He's missed the bus by now."
"Okay, I'll tell her. Call me."
Natalie pushed passed Raff like Keith had, quickly making her way to the girls' locker room. She changed quickly, not bothering to dry off or fix her hair. When she emerged, less than five minutes later, she didn't see Keith walking down the halls and was pretty sure she hadn't missed him. And ten minutes later, Keith stormed out of the locker room; he didn't even see Natalie standing there.
"Keith!" she called, running to catch up to him. He didn't stop walking. "Keith, stop!" This time he slowed down enough for her to catch up to him. "Hi," she said when she fell into step next to him.
"Are you okay?"
He stopped walking. "I'm fine," he growled.
"Are you sure?"
"Can you just stop? I'm pretty fucking embarrassed right now and really don't need you down my throat about it, okay?"
"Okay." She bit her lip before she asked, "Why were you in the pool area any way?"
He glanced outside where it was snowing heavily; the world sparkling white. "I wanted to ask for a ride," he said softly. "I forgot to ask earlier and now that I'm excused from gym." He stopped suddenly, as if he realized what he had admitted, but seemed relieved she didn't question him and continued, "I wanted to see if I waited until after you finished practice you could take me to my aunt's. I wasn't prepared for this weather today. I didn't bring a coat." He wasn't wearing his regular clothes now; instead, he had changed into his gym clothes, just a simple white t-shirt and shorts. The only evidence he had been in the water was his hair was still wet.
"I thought you took the bus," said Natalie.
He shook his head. "Na, I've been walking." Natalie knew she must have looked confused because he added, "I—after the accident I haven't really drove much. Or at all."
"Oh," she said softly. "And the answer to your question is, yes. I'll take you home."
"Thanks," he said, grinning at her. But she couldn't be fooled. It was the fakest grin she had ever seen him give.
Keith didn't talk to whole way home, which wasn't a surprise to Natalie. She figured he had to be beyond embarrassed. Plus, even in the short distance to her car, he had been only in shorts and t-shirt and shivered most of the way home.
As soon as they arrived at his house, he unbuckled his seatbelt as if he was desperate to get away from her. "I think I'm just going to stay in tonight, if that's okay." The car was still freezing and his breath made a white cloud, like smoke.
Natalie felt disappointment fill her, but she didn't let him see. "That's fine. Get some sleep, okay?"
"Yeah, I'll try." He grabbed his wet backpack off the floor, and Natalie frowned; she didn't want to know how much stuff of his had been ruined from the water.
Suddenly, an idea came to Natalie. "Hey, if you want I could start picking you up on mornings I don't have swim practice, and the same goes with after school."
"Really?" he asked, sounding hopeful. She nodded. "That would be great, thanks." He opened his door finally and Natalie snow blew inside. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Definitely. See ya," she said. As she watched him walk into his house, a thought struck her. She had a number six to add to her quest list.
Teach Keith how to swim.
A/N: I feel really bad because of what I made Keith go through in this chapter, but it was important for the plot of the story—I promise! Thanks to thegoodgirldoll and aleja1 for their ideas on what they thought would be on Natalie's and Keith's quest list, (I'll try to incorporate some of them into the story)!
