Part 1: Meetings & Greetings
Aura Thundera deonii@yahoo.com
Well, I finally gave in to the Plot Bunnies that I had been trying so very hard to ignore. I was bitten by a fluffy-haired little Keith bunny that just wouldn't go away until I wrote this. I admit, I was shocked to discover that absolutely no Partridge Family fan fiction existed that I could find. It seems that there aren't any PF authors besides me! Please, if you are a PF author (especially of Keith romances!) post your story!
Okay, so I hit writer's block on this one-bigtime. Some of it is hand-drafted on paper and hasn't been typed yet, but mostly I'm running into trouble because I've been busy, and well, I haven't seen the show in over a year. And let's face it, I can remember trivial stuff, but the spirit and the characterizations just aren't quite right. I need a reference point for this stuff--I need to see the show. This probably won't be finished until some TV station airs it. (Curse you, UPN 9! Curse you, UPN 57! Get up off your fat butts and get me SGN!)
Cabe's name is pronounced Kayb-one syllable.
The Partridges are the property of Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems. The
lyrics to the song "I Think I Love You" (appearing in italics in part 2)
are by Tony Romeo and are the property of Columbia Pictures. No profit
is being made from their use.
People drifted in, filling in the seats around Cabe. Mary Callahan, Cabe's new next-door neighbor, was in the seat in front of Cabe. At least something was going right on this rotten day. Mary was the only friend that Cabe had managed to make in the four days that she'd been in San Pueblo so far.
Cabe gasped. The most gorgeous boy that she had ever seen in her life had just walked into the room. Cabe turned and poked Mary.
"Who's that?" Cabe whispered to Mary, pointing at the boy.
"Him?" Mary asked. "That's just Keith Partridge. His family works as a rock band. He'll notice you real fast--you're new and good-looking. He's dated or made a pass at every single girl in the senior class. He definitely likes girls."
Keith took the seat next to Cabe. Cabe allowed her eyes to roam over Keith's face and body. He was small, not much bigger than Cabe--just the right height for kissing. Keith had long brown hair, cut in a cute, fluffy shag. He was wearing a light blue shirt with the collar unbuttoned to show a string of white puka shells.
Keith turned to look at Cabe and gave her a wink out of one dark-fringed hazel eye. He then turned back around and began to pay attention to the algebra teacher. Cabe felt a silly grin cross her face.
Mary had American History next too. She met up with Cabe outside the algebra room, moments after the bell had rung. Mary grabbed Cabe's arm.
"You've gone loony over Keith Partridge!" Mary said.
"No, I haven't. He's just very good-looking, that's all," Cabe said defensively. "Did you see that he winked at me?" Cabe was enthusiastic.
"You say that you don't have a case on Keith," Mary said scoffingly, and grabbed Cabe's notebook. "The big heart with 'Keith' written in it that you drew on your algebra notes tells me otherwise."
Cabe blushed. "Could we go to the history room? I've got no clue where the 400 rooms are. I know 200's are on the second floor, that's easy."
"They're in the wing out back," Mary said. "C'mon, it's not that far. And I really need to introduce you to a real boy at lunch. One who will go steady with you."
"What do you have against Keith?" Cabe asked as she pulled open the door of the room. "He's cute, he seems so nice, and you said that he even sings."
"You really have gone loony for Keith Partridge," Mary said, with a shake of her head. "You're hopeless, you know that? He's never gone out with a girl for more than a few months at a time."
Lunch rolled around, and Mary disappeared on Cabe. Cabe was left to contemplate her lunch, which was a pile of forlorn spaghetti oozing watery pink sauce.
"I see no one warned you about the spaghetti," said a male voice from behind Cabe.
Cabe whirled around, a few noodles hanging out of her mouth. Keith was standing behind her, looking just as gorgeous as before.
"Is this seat taken?" he asked, indicating the spot where Mary had been sitting before.
Cabe gulped the pasta in her mouth, trying desperately not to feel like such an idiot. Great, Cabe throught. The cutest guy on earth, and I greet him with spaghetti hanging out of my mouth. "You can sit there," she said, after taking a few moments to compose herself. "I don't know where Mary went."
"Mary Callahan?" Keith replied, slipping easily into Mary's vacated seat. "She was over talking to some of the football players. Something about the new girl--I think she may have been trying to set one of them up with you."
"Great," Cabe muttered. "I'm Cabe McAllister, by the way. My family just moved here from Pennsylvania. I want to go back home."
"My name's Keith Partridge, but seeing as how you're with Mary, she probably already told you that," Keith replied. "You look lonely. Do you miss your friends?"
"Of course!" Cabe replied. "I hate this place. I am supposed to be at home, with all my relatives living down the block, and applying to Penn State. I sent a letter to my grandmother yesterday, asking if I could live with her for the rest of the year, so I meet the residency requirement. I want to stay at home, with all my friends."
"You've got Mary, and I'm sure that you could make plenty of other friends here," Keith said.
"Mary is the only friend that I've made here so far," Cabe said, "and she's proven very good at driving me nuts. She thinks that I desperately need the best possible man that can be had here. She'll make a good housewife someday, but that's about all."
Keith smiled, revealing very cute dimples. "You would probably get along with my sister Laurie really well. She's a bit of a feminist too."
"How many brothers and sisters do you have?" Cabe asked. "I always wanted some younger siblings, but I'm an only child. My parents had enough trouble raising me, I guess."
Keith rolled his eyes. "I have four. And count yourself lucky--brothers and sisters are a pain." He tuned away from Cabe and pushed part of his hair aside to reveal that one of the long curling locks had been cut off. "Danny did that. He was cutting off my hair and selling it to little girls who had crushes on me for awhile."
Cabe tried to stifle her laugh, because she could tell that it wasn't funny to Keith, but she couldn't keep it in. Slowly, Keith began to smile too.
"Really, I guess you're right," Keith said. "I really do love my family. Including Danny. Hey, how would you like to come over to my house and have dinner with my family tonight?"
"Could I?" Cabe asked, surprised. "We haven't unpacked any of the pots and pans yet, and I am so sick of Kentucky Fried Chicken."
"Sure you can," Keith replied. "We've always got room for someone else. I live at 698 Sycamore Lane--do you have a car? Mine is broken."
"I drove my convertible here from Pennsylvania," Cabe said. "I didn't want to leave it at my aunt's house. But 698 is right down the street. I live at 360. I can walk it."
"I'll walk up for you then," Keith said. "So your parents can meet me and everything. I assume that they'll be wanting to meet me before they let you go anywhere. I'll be there at five, okay?"
Cabe nodded and shoveled in another bite of spaghetti. Keith munched at his sandwich in friendly silence.
"Hey Cabe!" Mary yelled. "Mike agreed to go out with you for tacos tonight. I figured that'd be okay with you--your father's been bringing home fried chicken every night."
"I've already got a date for tonight, Mary," Cabe said, smiling as she turned towards Mary. "Keith said that I could have dinner with his family."
"Are you nuts?" Mary asked. "Mike is the most popular guy in the school! Besides, you don't want to go out with Keith- -he's a womanizer!"
Keith was hurt, Cabe could tell. He muttered something about not wanting to wreck Cabe's friendship with Mary and started to get up. Cabe grabbed Keith's hand and yanked him down.
"I will not break my date with Keith," Cabe said. "That's only fair to Keith, seeing as how I already agreed to have dinner with his family."
"Have it your way," Mary stalked off.
Cabe wasn't sure how she made it through the day. She was in a happy haze. Cabe ran home at the end of the day, excited to tell her family about Keith. She banged the front door open and tossed her bookbag into a nearby pile of boxes.
Tara, Cabe's mother, was in the kitchen, looking for a lost set of spatterware pans. Cabe had a feeling that they were actually in one of the unopened boxes in the hall.
"Mom, you'll never guess what happened today," Cabe
said excitedly, "I met the best guy ever! His name is Keith
Partridge, and he lives right down the street. And, he invited
me over to his family's house for dinner tonight! He's walking here
to pick me up at five."