Mina was beginning to feel like a prisoner. For some reason Jed and
Rei were acting hyper protective. In the week since the party she hadn't
been able to go anywhere without one or both trailing her like secret
service. She loved her brother and his girlfriend dearly but if they didn't
give her a moment alone she was going to kick them in the face!
Luckily for the two, they reluctantly left for a date before Mina had a chance to test her high kick. She was only able to convince them to leave after swearing north and south that she planned to do nothing more than stay home and watch movies. Jed was suspicious but Rei seemed to sense Mina's frustration and dragged her boyfriend away. Neither saw the fingers Mina had crossed behind her back.
As soon as they were gone Mina dashed upstairs to change. She felt like she was sneaking out on her parents instead of her brother. It probably should have made more sense, but her parents were less than strict.
The least Rei and Jed could do was tell her why they were acting so freaky, but posing the question had only led to them acting even stranger. The long drawn out answer they gave her had been filled with a lot ohs, ums, and ers and left Mina with the vague impression that they were sticking by her for a family life course. And that they were both horrible liars.
She waved enthuasticaly at Lynda and Karen as she entered Rendezvous. She was still a bit pissed at Lynda but truth be told she was also happy at the prospect of spending time with someone who wasn't Rei or Jed. Hell, she'd even welcome Keith at this point.
She gave the club a quick scan, lest thinking about the boy actually summon him. Instead of Keith she saw Jordan. He grinned at her and she happily headed to him.
"It's been awhile."
She pouted. "I know. You didn't show up at my party."
He winced. "I'm so sorry Mina. I couldn't make it."
Mina studied him. "Did Keith have anything to do with it?"
Something flashed across Jordan's face too quickly for Mina to recognize. "He did have a bit to do with it." Before he could elaborate a shifty looking guy inched foreword to tap Jordan on the shoulder. No words were exchanged but somehow a message was communicated.
Jordan turned back to Mina with an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid there's something I need to take care of. I trust I'll find you again before you leave?"
She nodded and with a shrug turned to the dance floor. Before she had a chance to step out onto it, Lynda snagged her.
"Mina," she said, eyes gleaming. "You simply must hear my news." Without waiting for Mina's agreement she dragged her off to the bar.
Shaking her head Mina signaled the bartender for a bottle of water and turned to Lynda. "Well?"
"Keith asked me out!"
Mina was glad that her water hadn't arrived yet. No moment in her life had ever required a spit take more. The last time she'd seen Keith he'd been desperate to escape from Lynda's grasping claws.
Lynda stiffened as Mina did nothing but stare at her with her mouth working helplessly for words. "Keith asked me out. I said yes. Really, Mina it's not too complicated a process to understand even for a blonde."
"It's just a bit of a shock." So was the ache in the pit of her stomach but she'd rather chalk it up to thirst than analyze it.
"How so?" Lynda hissed with narrowed eyes.
"Truth? Keith seems more interested in escaping you than spending time with you." Mina winced at her unexpected candor. She had definitely too much time around Rei and not enough around civilization.
Lynda's eyes narrowed further into slits and her hands curled into fists. "You think he wants you, don't you? Well guess what? You lose. So back off and stop trying to steal him from me!"
Before Mina could begin to respond the bartender arrived with her water. He waved off her money. "No need miss. The guy over there has you covered. If you need anything else let me know."
Mina looked curiously in the direction the bartender pointed and smiled when Jordan lifted his glass to her.
She hopped off the bar stool and turned to face Lynda. "You seem to think we've both been in competition for Keith Taylor but you're wrong. I couldn't care less about high school boys, Keith in particular. Now excuse me while I go thank Jordan for buying me a drink."
She left Lynda fuming.
"That looked interesting?" Jordan wryly remarked as Mina slid onto the seat next to him.
Mina rolled her eyes. "Unbelievably so."
"May I ask what it was about?"
She grinned. "Who is the biggest needle in both our sides?"
"Keith Taylor?" When Mina nodded he let out a sputtering laugh. "What now?"
Mina leaned foreword. "Lynda and Keith are dating. How that boring bit of information nearly started a cat fight is beyond me."
Jordan's eyes narrowed speculatively. "Wait a second. You're telling me that Keith is dating her?"
"Yep."
"It's just that- never mind."
Mina tilted her head. "What?"
"It thought that he was interested in you."
She couldn't help but laugh. "Oh no! I don't think he even likes me all that much. At the most he's indifferent."
"Really?" Jordan's eyes searched out Lynda in the crowd and held. "Interesting. Very interesting."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Okay class, settle down. Today we're going to be working with some dangerous chemicals. I cannot stress enough the importance of following the directions specifically." Mrs. Pataki instructed as the students shuffled to their lab seats.
Melvin hurried to sit beside Mina.
"I don't know if I told you but I had a wonderful time at your party."
He had in fact mentioned this already. Six time to be precise.
Mina smiled wanly at Melvin and replied with what had become her standard response. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself Melvin. Now we'd better get started. We don't want to fall behind the rest of the class, do we?"
Melvin beamed at her attentiveness to study and trotted off to get the supplies.
Mina used Melvin's absence and subsequent silence as an opportunity to observe Keith and Lynda. They certainly didn't seem a couple. Lynda was whispering something into his ear which seemed rather chummy, but Keith looked more annoyed than enthralled. Maybe annoyance was just his natural expression. Mina laughed out loud at the thought and Keith's eyes shot towards the sound.
The smile slid off her face as she found herself subject to Keith's intense gaze. After what seemed like an eternity he quirked an eyebrow and granted her a half smile.
"Mina?"
Blushing for reasons she couldn't explain, Mina jerked her gaze away from Keith to Melvin. He was holding the supplies they needed and studying her with a slight frown.
"Oh good, you have everything. Let's get started."
"Is Keith Taylor bothering you again?" He set the supplies on the table and grabbed Mina's closest hand. "Don't worry Mina. I'll give him a stern talking to after class."
Mina blanched and gently tugged her hand from his grip. "Keith wasn't bothering me."
"I want you to know that there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, Mina."
"I appreciate that Melvin, but there's no need for you to go to such lengths. If there was ever any trouble that I couldn't handle Jed would step in." Because Mina was focused on sorting their supplies and not Melvin's face she missed the grimace at the mention of her brother.
The assignment was a relatively simple one, requiring the students to do little more than measure and mix. They wouldn't even have to fire up the bunsene burner
Melvin would not let Mina brush the topic off. "I admire you more than any other girl I've meet."
Mina concentrated on her measurements rather than Melvin. She didn't think of it as ignoring him so much as doing her required class work. Someone had to.
"And I was wondering if you'd be my girlfriend."
Mina's had froze in the process of picking up a beaker. "I'm sorry Melvin, what did you say?"
"I asked you to be my girlfriend."
That was she was afraid of. She pretended to concentrate on the experiment while she fumbled for a reasonable excuse. My aunt was mauled by an angry hippo and I'm in mourning rarely worked these days.
With a resolved sigh she dumped the entire contents of beaker A into the solution and swiveled her stool to face Melvin.
"I so sorry Melvin, but you see.the thing is.umm.I already have a boyfriend! It's true! But you wouldn't know about him because.he's in college. And his name is Jordan! So, I'm sorry but I do appreciate the offer. I hope-"
She halted her babbling when she realized that Melvin was not looking at her, rather the solution behind her with a look of horrified fascination written across her face.
She sniffed and made an unpleasant face as she turned behind her and saw the solution bubbling over the container at a furious rate, sparking as it did so. With a shriek she jumped out of her seat. "Oh my god, it's going to blow! Everybody run!"
"Mina it's not explosive though the smell will probably never go away." Mrs. Pataki cursed under her breath as the sprinkler system came in response to the noxious cloud of smoke Mina's experiment created. "Class please exit the room in an orderly fashion," This said with a pointed look in Mina's direction. "and wait for me in the library. I'll find a janitor."
Mina stood frozen in place as her classmates filed past her. Why was it that whenever it was most needed, that hole never appeared to open and swallow her whole?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh darling, I'm so please you could finally make it to dinner. I realize you must be terribly busy with your father's re-election campaign!" Mrs. Hathaway gushed over mashed potatoes and slightly overcooked lamb. After weeks of trying, she had finally cajoled Jed into bringing his girlfriend over for a meal. The only thing that could have pleased her more was if Rei's father had come as well. Wouldn't the ladies at the garden club simply seethe with envy if she had their state senator over for dinner?
Jed glared furiously at his mother for mentioning Rei's father. It was the only condition set down in stone before he agreed to subject Rei to his parents.
Rei sighed as she picked at her salad. "Actually my father and I haven't seen each other since the Christmas before last. Though seeing as it is an election year, I suppose I'll be summoned to his home during the holidays to pose and preen for the press."
Meredith gaped at the girl before breaking to peals of laughter. "You had me going for a moment there! You've quite a talent for dry whit, dear."
"Darling, that's enough about Rei's father." James Hathaway cut in before Meredith could launch anymore inquires. "Rei might begin to think you only invited her over to fish for information about her father."
Both Jed and Rei gave him grateful looks.
Meredith bristled. "Of course she wouldn't think such a thing! She understands that I'm only taking an interest in her. Don't you Rei?"
Rei smiled politely at her hostess but said nothing.
James changed the subject before his wife could dig in any further. "How was school today? Did anything exciting happen?"
Rei and Jed both glanced at Mina, the burst out laughing.
Mina, who had been off in her own world, was brought rudely back to reality. Blushing bright red, she glared at her brother and his girlfriend which succeeded in making them laugh even harder.
Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway exchanged puzzled looks.
"What's so funny?" Mrs. Hathaway asked.
"Ask Mina." Jed managed as he brought himself under control. Though he wasn't laughing anymore, he found it impossible to prevent his lips from twitching.
Mina mumbled.
"What was that dear?"
"I was distracted during chemistry and boggled my experiment." She summarized.
Jed wasn't willing to leave it at that. "She started screaming for the class to duck and cover because she thought it was going to explode."
Mina glared at her brother, he never knew when to let sleeping dogs play dead.
Jed was still talking. "And they had to evacuate the entire science wing because the smell was so awful the lab room can't be used for a week!"
Meredith gaped at he daughter. "What on earth were you do distracted by!?"
"My lab partner, Melvin was asking me out on a date." Mina admitted sheepishly.
"There are better ways to turn down a guy, sis." Jed hooted from across the table.
"Melvin Collins?" Her mother asked with a predatory gleam in her eyes.
Miserable, Mina nodded.
Meredith almost leapt out of her seat. "Mina darling, that's wonderful! Do you know who his father is?! Do you know how much he brings in a year?! I couldn't be more proud unless you hooked Brain Taylor's son!"
Mina was appalled by her mother's behavior, especially in front of Rei. "It doesn't matter, I turned him down."
"Turned him down? No! You'll just have to call him up and tell him you made a mistake."
"No thank you Mom. I don't want to date Melvin."
"It doesn't matter what you want, darling. Think of your future!"
"Mo-om! Please! I already explained that it will be years before I even entertain the notion of marriage."
Mr. Hathaway nodded in a agreement. "As well you should. Dear," He addressed his wife. "Perhaps it's best you drop the topic. It is, after all, Mina's life."
"And anyway," Rei spoke up. "It's already too late. I heard that Melvin asked Serena's friend Molly out after lunch."
Mrs. Hathaway sniffed and didn't say another word.
"I hope you don't think too badly of Mom. She doesn't mean to come off as an 18th century social climber. But she married my dad when she was really young and they built the practice out of nothing. She doesn't understand that neither Jed nor I have any intention of getting married young or for money."
Jed groaned. "Half of the time I don't think she understands how outrageous she sounds."
"So, I guess that means you're not dating me for my father's money?" Rei asked Jed teasingly.
He caught on. "No, only for your car."
"Understandable." Rei conceded as she took Jed's hand and smile reassuringly at Mina. "Actually I kind of liked your mom. She had the exact same goals for you two that my father's friends have for their children. Only your mom is forthcoming about it."
Jed squeezed her hand. "I asked her not to bother you about your father. I'm sorry she didn't listen."
Rei smiled. "At least now you know I won't break if he's mentioned."
"Thanks for the save at dinner, by the way." Mina spoke up before Jed and Rei could spiral into mush mode.
Rei blinked. "Actually it's true. And according to Serena they're 'totally in love' whatever that means."
"You see Rei, love is an emotion-"
Rei swatted at her boyfriend. "I get the concept."
Mina beamed. "Well you know what they say!"
Rei and Jed exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of what was in store.
"If you love something set it free and hope it never comes back."
Rei grinned at Jed. "It does make sense, especially in reference to Melvin!"
He nodded with a severely repressed smile.
Mina frowned in confusion. "I have no idea what you two find amusing. Please tell me you two haven't developed some sort of couple speak."
Rei snorted. "There is no (nor will there ever be) couple code between your brother and I. Pigs will fly, hell will freeze, and J. Lo. will stop claiming to be down with the Hispanic community before you catch me doing anything so sickening."
"But chickpea!" Jed declared in mock distress.
Rei rolled her eyes. "You see what I have to put up with?"
Mina smiled. "You're preaching to the church bells, Rei. I've dealt with him my entire life."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mina and Rei nervously entered the party. Sure, they'd been to parties before, but those were high school parties. This.this was a college party.
They'd driven three hours to look at the campus of Northern University. Because Rei's cousin Cassie was a student and jumped at the opportunity to show her little cousin and her friend around, the girls were allowed to visit sans parents. Thus affording the girls a real college experience.
The girls had already had a tour of the campus and been told what to avoid- Eastern Dining Hall and Jackson Dormitory ("Some really freaky stuff goes down there!")- and now Cassie was taking them to a frat party. Even Rei, who claimed to hate parties and the drunk morons who attended them, seemed excited.
Inside the living room had been made into a dance floor by pushing all the furniture against the wall and adding a strobe light. Two guys stood behind a bar that looked suspiciously like a bookcase. Cassie pushed Rei and Mina to the bar and handed them two plastic cups filled with coke and cheap rum. The she shoved them towards the dance floor and in the tradition of loving cousins everywhere, abandoned them. Rei scowled after her cousin as she and Mina were besieged with willing dance partners.
It was a sad reflection upon currant society that a girl couldn't dance alone without a male taking it as an invitation to grind himself against her backside, but such was the state of the world. Mina found it easy enough to step away from the offenders, further into the crowd. Rei wasn't satisfied with the retreat scenario and instead took it upon herself to punish the boys by inventing a painful dance technique. Whenever a male tried to hump her in the name of dancing she began to move her arms in rhythm to the music, swing her arms foreword and moving her elbows back into the guy's gut at full speed.
Mina smirked as Rei demolished the forth guy. When she turned away from her friend, she found herself facing a cute, blond guy.
"Care to dance?" He asked with a shy smiled that revealed a dimple in his left cheek.
She nodded and easily moved into her arms. His name was Brent, he was a freshman, and apparently one of the few guys at the party who was polite enough to ask for a dance. He seemed like a nice guy and so she stayed in his arms for the next few songs.
Well into their fifth song Brent ceased to be fun. His fingers shifted from her hips and began to work their way under her shirt to trail up her back. In shock, her eyes darted to his face and she found him grinning down at her, the dimple no longer so endearing.
"You're so pretty, do you know that?"
For some reason, Mina couldn't find her voice or even a violent reaction as he trailed his fingers from her back to her stomach.
He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "I think we should take this somewhere more private. There's a bathroom upstairs."
The possibility as being sized up as a 'bathroom fuck' snapped Mina back to herself. "Do the words jailbait mean anything to you?"
On cue, he pulled his hands from her waist as though he'd been burned. "What?"
Mina smiled sweetly at him, giving the appearance of a menacing bunny. "I'm only seventeen."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Oh. And has that routine ever worked on a girl? I just can't see any girl jumping up and saying 'The bathroom! That's ever so romantic. Let's go stranger!' And you aren't even that cute." She stopped her tirade when she realized that Brent had slipped away in the middle of her rant.
"On to older pastures, I suppose."
Brent's departure seemed to signal the return of the butt grinders and Mina felt absolutely no shame in fleeing the dance floor. It just didn't seem fair that this was her first college party. She'd expected it to be.well in hindsight she didn't know what she'd really expected. But it certainly hadn't been a party so much like the ones she attended regularly, only with no breakables in sight.
She found Rei in the corner, deep in conversation with a tall guy who's back was to her.
With a grin she sidled up to Rei, always willing to jab at the girl's temper. "Does your boyfriend allow you to hit on strange men?"
"Her boyfriend would string me up inside out if Rei were hitting on me. In as act of mercy she wasn't."
Rei smirked up at him, and Mina looked at his face for the first time.
"Keith." Why did this always happen to her? Would she have to spend the rest of her life craning her head upwards to avoid starting conversations with Keith without knowing who he was. And why did he always show up wherever she went. Couldn't a girl drive three hours away from home without running into him? "I didn't realize you'd be here."
"I could say the same of you two. As it turns out, my cousin also attends this university."
"His name isn't Brent is it?" Because that would just make her night perfect.
Keith stared blankly at her. "No, why?"
She had a flashback to Keith's reaction the last time he found out about a guy hitting on her. "No reason."
"Keith's been protecting me from the scary dancers." Rei put in.
"Actually, I've been protecting them. I caught sight of Rei doing her elbow jab dance and decided to save the male population here."
Mina looked skeptically up at Keith. "That's you story then?"
Keith shrugged. "Sure. Also my cousin abandoned me and the women here are aggressive to the point of terror."
Mina shared a smirk with Rei. "Aww, poor Keith is afraid of the ladies! So you came to Rei for protection?"
Rather than get all stiff and angry as Mina expected, Keith grinned. "Naturally. Rei's scary!"
Mina couldn't help but laugh when Rei responded to Keith's comment with a exaggerated scary face. When she realized that she was getting comfortable with the situation she knew she had to do something, anything to get out of there.
"Actually Rei, I hunted you down to see if you were ready to leave. I have a bit of a headache."
It was as if Keith could tell how desperately she wanted to get away from him. "I was just about to head out of here too. Would you two be interested in ditching this party and finding an open restaurant? My treat."
Because Rei was normally a good friend, one who silently checked to make sure Mina was comfortable with situations, Mina was shocked when Rei quickly agreed. "I'd cheerfully follow Satan to an N*Sync concert if it meant leaving this place."
Mina silently cursed the fates. They'd had it out for her since they stranded her at Keith's party. And now she couldn't even count on Rei to bail her out. Oh no, Rei actually seemed to be pushing her towards the boy!
She blinked and realized that both Keith and Rei were staring intensely at her, waiting for an answer.
"Umm."
Rei rolled her eyes. "Blonde."
Mina glared at her friend and Keith chose the moment to test his persuasive skills.
"Surely you won't turn down a free meal."
If she didn't know better (and really she did) she would have sworn that Keith's eyes were filled with poorly suppressed humor. As if he knew that she hated him and assumed she'd allow his presence to ruin a perfect opportunity to escape the party. Well, she'd show him!
Turning her smile onto megawatt, she beamed at him. "Why don't you and Rei get your car and I'll tell her cousin that we're leaving." She left to find Cassie with the satisfaction of knowing she left Keith blinking in her wake.
Keith Taylor had started a war in the eighth grade, whether he knew it or not. When they were face to face tiny battles were waged. True there had been a truce or two along the way, but this weekend would be no such occurrence.
He thought he'd won by purposely making her uncomfortable with his presence, luring her friend over to his side. Yes, that was his game.
She'd show him. She was determined to pretend that he didn't bother her a lick, even if it killed her. She's smile until her face hurt, hell she'd even laugh at his jokes provided he made any. Come to think of it she'd never actually heard him make a joke. It was entirely possible that he was without a sense of humor, or worse yet, limited to 'knock knock' jokes.
With a shudder she found Cassie and told her the modified plan. Cassie waved her off and Mina stepped outside just in time to see Keith's car pull up to the curb.
"I saved you the front seat." Rei chirped from the back, proving to Mina that she was a traitor of the worst sort. First Melvin, now this.
"What's open this time of night?" Keith asked.
"Waffle House." Rei suggested, sounding like a six year old does about McDonald's.
Mina twisted in her seat to look back at Rei. "The food there is so greasy! Not to mention the sketchy setting."
"Uh-huh. Hash browns, yum!"
Mina squinted through the darkness at Rei. "How was it possible for you to get plastered in the ten minutes I was away?"
Rei sniffed. "I'll have you know this is the cumulative effort *hic* of two hours!"
"And the four shots of tequila on your way out the door." Keith pointed out dryly.
"And that." Rei agreed cheerfully. Suddenly she lunged foreword in her seat to turn up Keith's radio. "I love this song!" And she began to sing 'The Joker' at the top of her lungs mercifully on pitch.
Mina crossed her arms and slumped into her seat. Not only was Rei a traitor, she was a deserter. Hell, if Mina was lucky Rei wouldn't make kissy noises at her and Keith over the table.
Keith noticed Mina's pouting and leaned over at the next light to be heard over the radio and Rei.
"Look on the bright side. Your brother found a worse drunk than him!"
Mina looked out her window so Keith wouldn't see the tiny smile that graced her face.
It was only 1:00 AM and the college crowd had yet to stagger out of the parties and bars in search of late night food. The trio claimed a booth by a window with little difficultly. The only other customers were a group of teenagers and two men in leather jackets with a black duffle bag at their feet.
A tired, somewhat grumpy waitress, whose nametag read Belinda shuffled over to take their order. Rei happily ordered her coveted hash browns and Mina chose to stick with a Coke.
After Belinda slouched away Keith raised an eyebrow at Mina.
"Please tell me you're not one of those girls who refuses to eat anything but rabbit food."
"Rabbit food?"
"You know, a steady diet of carrots, lettuce, and maybe the occasional stalk of celery."
Rei, who had fought and lost a vicious battle with Mina over the last stale donut in Cassie's room, snorted.
Mina stuck her tongue out at Rei before turning her attention to Keith. "Hardly. I'm just not used to eating this early in the day." She turned towards Keith confidently. "To tell you the truth, I just wanted to get out of that party."
With a grin Keith countered Mina's move by moving forward so that their noses were almost touching across the table. "Not the promise of my dazzling company, then?"
All that Mina could see was his eyes, and dammit they were filled with a amusement. To see humor there, to have witnessed the easy grin he flashed her and Rei.it was entirely unlike the Keith Taylor she had come to expect. It was so easy to forget the rigid, unforgiving, cold boy she knew back home.
When she realized that she was unconsciously moving closer into his gaze she slammed herself awkwardly back into her seat
Keith colored slightly. "Guess not." He muttered.
Mina glanced beside her to see if Rei had witnessed the exchange only to find the space beside her empty. Mina looked back to Keith in alarm. "Should we go look for her? I just got a mental image of her hitching a ride back home with a trucker named Bob on a drunken lark."
Keith glanced out the window. "I don't think you need to worry. I don't see any Mack trucks in the parking lot."
Mina glared at the boy across from her, both for his lack of concern and his uncharacteristic display of good humor.
His hands raised in self defense. "I'm sure she'll show up soon. She seemed pretty set on her hash browns."
Mina was about to bolt out of her seat and scream Rei's name in the parking lot, when the missing girl calmly slid back into the booth seat.
"Mina was about to send out a search party."
Rei rolled her eyes. "I was gone for all of three minutes." In a mimic of Mina's earlier pose, Rei draped herself across the table towards Keith, as if imparting a grave secret. "Hathaways are worriers."
"I am not!" Mina protested.
Keith ignored Mina. "I noticed." He told Rei.
` "Excuse me for being concerned when Rei pulled a Houdini!" She does really stupid things when she's drunk."
"Hey!"
Belinda chose that moment to make a gracious entrance. "You want your food or what?"
Not to be outdone on the rudeness scale, Rei stretched out her hands, flexing her fingers in anticipation. "Gimme!"
"Were you raised in a shed?" Mina asked after the waitress left.
"Politician's house, actually. Mostly different from a barn but slightly similar in some ways. Ever read Animal Farm?" Rei asked the table in general as she dumped ketchup liberally over her hash browns. "I liked 1984 better."
Keith agreed good naturedly, finding her rambling amusing.
"And anyway Mina, I was just responding to her behavior." She paused to savor her first bite. "Mmm. Call Waffle House the grease trap it is, but nobody does hash browns better." She frowned at her fork before taking another bite. "You know, I don't even like hash browns. But these are really good!"
Mina sighed and Keith actually chuckled.
It didn't take long for the two with food to finish their meals. As Keith was paying the bill, Rei began snickering madly as she searched her pockets for change by the jukebox.
"Hey Mina, got any quarters?"
Shooting her friend a questioning look she handed Rei three quarters and watched as Rei fed the machine money. She pressed the same code seven times, cackling maniacally to herself. The she dashed outside to Keith's car as 'Opps, I Did It Again' filled Waffle House. Shaking their heads at her antics, Keith and Mina followed.
Rei passed out somewhere between Waffle House and Cassie's dorm and Keith helped Mina escort the barely awake girl to her cousin's room.
Mina stayed outside the door as Rei stumbled inside. She had to admit that Keith had been an okay guy all night, and it hadn't seemed to be an act to trick her. She could even grudgingly admit that she probably wouldn't have had more fun have had she stayed behind at the party.
"Thanks for everything tonight, Keith."
He'd been about to walk back to his car, but stopped to look at Mina in astonishment. "So you don't hate my guts after all."
"I never said I hated you." Mina winced inwardly. It was true, she'd never said she hated him.to his face anyway.
Keith raised an eyebrow. "In that case why don't you and Rei spend tomorrow with me and my cousin?"
"I think Cassie wanted to spend tomorrow with us."
"She can come too."
She couldn't say no, she couldn't think of a good reason to. "I'll check with Rei and Cassie. If they're okay with it we'll meet you on the quad around noon. Okay?"
He nodded without a smile. Still he didn't look as closed of and cold as he usually did. He looked relaxed. "I hope I'll see you there."
He stopped on his walk down the hallway and called out something that made Mina pause on her way into Cassie's room.
She mulled over his words as she curled into her sleeping bag. Somehow he made 'sweet dreams' sound like something more than a customary nighttime parting.
She knew she'd meet up with him and his cousin tomorrow. She'd said she would. She'd also said she didn't hate him.
And the thing was- for tonight anyway- it was true. Even thinking about what he'd done to Jordan didn't bring the flash of hate it used to.
"This isn't good." She whispered to herself and to the quiet room.
A.N. Chapter dedication to K. Wyse for helping me with the chemistry, even though I ignored the specifics she gave me and went for vague description. And also, she gave me much motivation on Shittenou.com.
I'm beginning to see that having the underage teenagers get drunk at parties is becoming a common occurrence in this story. While I enjoy writing characters under the influence of alcohol I think this is the last chapter in which we'll be seeing it. But for those of you who enjoy such things I'm sure it will appear in the other stories in the series.
I suppose this is the part where I give you all a long, detailed list of why it's taken me so long to get this chapter out. But to tell the truth, I hate it when author's do that, so I won't. Suffice to say this took so long because of a combination of a busy RL and writer's block. In other words- avoidance. Just know that I'll never post a story and not finish it. And in the future I'll have most of it written before I start posting.
No worries, the next part will be out soon. And by soon I mean in a week or two not seven months. And hey! It's from Keith's POV. I know some of you (VO1) have been anxious to see inside his head.
Luckily for the two, they reluctantly left for a date before Mina had a chance to test her high kick. She was only able to convince them to leave after swearing north and south that she planned to do nothing more than stay home and watch movies. Jed was suspicious but Rei seemed to sense Mina's frustration and dragged her boyfriend away. Neither saw the fingers Mina had crossed behind her back.
As soon as they were gone Mina dashed upstairs to change. She felt like she was sneaking out on her parents instead of her brother. It probably should have made more sense, but her parents were less than strict.
The least Rei and Jed could do was tell her why they were acting so freaky, but posing the question had only led to them acting even stranger. The long drawn out answer they gave her had been filled with a lot ohs, ums, and ers and left Mina with the vague impression that they were sticking by her for a family life course. And that they were both horrible liars.
She waved enthuasticaly at Lynda and Karen as she entered Rendezvous. She was still a bit pissed at Lynda but truth be told she was also happy at the prospect of spending time with someone who wasn't Rei or Jed. Hell, she'd even welcome Keith at this point.
She gave the club a quick scan, lest thinking about the boy actually summon him. Instead of Keith she saw Jordan. He grinned at her and she happily headed to him.
"It's been awhile."
She pouted. "I know. You didn't show up at my party."
He winced. "I'm so sorry Mina. I couldn't make it."
Mina studied him. "Did Keith have anything to do with it?"
Something flashed across Jordan's face too quickly for Mina to recognize. "He did have a bit to do with it." Before he could elaborate a shifty looking guy inched foreword to tap Jordan on the shoulder. No words were exchanged but somehow a message was communicated.
Jordan turned back to Mina with an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid there's something I need to take care of. I trust I'll find you again before you leave?"
She nodded and with a shrug turned to the dance floor. Before she had a chance to step out onto it, Lynda snagged her.
"Mina," she said, eyes gleaming. "You simply must hear my news." Without waiting for Mina's agreement she dragged her off to the bar.
Shaking her head Mina signaled the bartender for a bottle of water and turned to Lynda. "Well?"
"Keith asked me out!"
Mina was glad that her water hadn't arrived yet. No moment in her life had ever required a spit take more. The last time she'd seen Keith he'd been desperate to escape from Lynda's grasping claws.
Lynda stiffened as Mina did nothing but stare at her with her mouth working helplessly for words. "Keith asked me out. I said yes. Really, Mina it's not too complicated a process to understand even for a blonde."
"It's just a bit of a shock." So was the ache in the pit of her stomach but she'd rather chalk it up to thirst than analyze it.
"How so?" Lynda hissed with narrowed eyes.
"Truth? Keith seems more interested in escaping you than spending time with you." Mina winced at her unexpected candor. She had definitely too much time around Rei and not enough around civilization.
Lynda's eyes narrowed further into slits and her hands curled into fists. "You think he wants you, don't you? Well guess what? You lose. So back off and stop trying to steal him from me!"
Before Mina could begin to respond the bartender arrived with her water. He waved off her money. "No need miss. The guy over there has you covered. If you need anything else let me know."
Mina looked curiously in the direction the bartender pointed and smiled when Jordan lifted his glass to her.
She hopped off the bar stool and turned to face Lynda. "You seem to think we've both been in competition for Keith Taylor but you're wrong. I couldn't care less about high school boys, Keith in particular. Now excuse me while I go thank Jordan for buying me a drink."
She left Lynda fuming.
"That looked interesting?" Jordan wryly remarked as Mina slid onto the seat next to him.
Mina rolled her eyes. "Unbelievably so."
"May I ask what it was about?"
She grinned. "Who is the biggest needle in both our sides?"
"Keith Taylor?" When Mina nodded he let out a sputtering laugh. "What now?"
Mina leaned foreword. "Lynda and Keith are dating. How that boring bit of information nearly started a cat fight is beyond me."
Jordan's eyes narrowed speculatively. "Wait a second. You're telling me that Keith is dating her?"
"Yep."
"It's just that- never mind."
Mina tilted her head. "What?"
"It thought that he was interested in you."
She couldn't help but laugh. "Oh no! I don't think he even likes me all that much. At the most he's indifferent."
"Really?" Jordan's eyes searched out Lynda in the crowd and held. "Interesting. Very interesting."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Okay class, settle down. Today we're going to be working with some dangerous chemicals. I cannot stress enough the importance of following the directions specifically." Mrs. Pataki instructed as the students shuffled to their lab seats.
Melvin hurried to sit beside Mina.
"I don't know if I told you but I had a wonderful time at your party."
He had in fact mentioned this already. Six time to be precise.
Mina smiled wanly at Melvin and replied with what had become her standard response. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself Melvin. Now we'd better get started. We don't want to fall behind the rest of the class, do we?"
Melvin beamed at her attentiveness to study and trotted off to get the supplies.
Mina used Melvin's absence and subsequent silence as an opportunity to observe Keith and Lynda. They certainly didn't seem a couple. Lynda was whispering something into his ear which seemed rather chummy, but Keith looked more annoyed than enthralled. Maybe annoyance was just his natural expression. Mina laughed out loud at the thought and Keith's eyes shot towards the sound.
The smile slid off her face as she found herself subject to Keith's intense gaze. After what seemed like an eternity he quirked an eyebrow and granted her a half smile.
"Mina?"
Blushing for reasons she couldn't explain, Mina jerked her gaze away from Keith to Melvin. He was holding the supplies they needed and studying her with a slight frown.
"Oh good, you have everything. Let's get started."
"Is Keith Taylor bothering you again?" He set the supplies on the table and grabbed Mina's closest hand. "Don't worry Mina. I'll give him a stern talking to after class."
Mina blanched and gently tugged her hand from his grip. "Keith wasn't bothering me."
"I want you to know that there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, Mina."
"I appreciate that Melvin, but there's no need for you to go to such lengths. If there was ever any trouble that I couldn't handle Jed would step in." Because Mina was focused on sorting their supplies and not Melvin's face she missed the grimace at the mention of her brother.
The assignment was a relatively simple one, requiring the students to do little more than measure and mix. They wouldn't even have to fire up the bunsene burner
Melvin would not let Mina brush the topic off. "I admire you more than any other girl I've meet."
Mina concentrated on her measurements rather than Melvin. She didn't think of it as ignoring him so much as doing her required class work. Someone had to.
"And I was wondering if you'd be my girlfriend."
Mina's had froze in the process of picking up a beaker. "I'm sorry Melvin, what did you say?"
"I asked you to be my girlfriend."
That was she was afraid of. She pretended to concentrate on the experiment while she fumbled for a reasonable excuse. My aunt was mauled by an angry hippo and I'm in mourning rarely worked these days.
With a resolved sigh she dumped the entire contents of beaker A into the solution and swiveled her stool to face Melvin.
"I so sorry Melvin, but you see.the thing is.umm.I already have a boyfriend! It's true! But you wouldn't know about him because.he's in college. And his name is Jordan! So, I'm sorry but I do appreciate the offer. I hope-"
She halted her babbling when she realized that Melvin was not looking at her, rather the solution behind her with a look of horrified fascination written across her face.
She sniffed and made an unpleasant face as she turned behind her and saw the solution bubbling over the container at a furious rate, sparking as it did so. With a shriek she jumped out of her seat. "Oh my god, it's going to blow! Everybody run!"
"Mina it's not explosive though the smell will probably never go away." Mrs. Pataki cursed under her breath as the sprinkler system came in response to the noxious cloud of smoke Mina's experiment created. "Class please exit the room in an orderly fashion," This said with a pointed look in Mina's direction. "and wait for me in the library. I'll find a janitor."
Mina stood frozen in place as her classmates filed past her. Why was it that whenever it was most needed, that hole never appeared to open and swallow her whole?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh darling, I'm so please you could finally make it to dinner. I realize you must be terribly busy with your father's re-election campaign!" Mrs. Hathaway gushed over mashed potatoes and slightly overcooked lamb. After weeks of trying, she had finally cajoled Jed into bringing his girlfriend over for a meal. The only thing that could have pleased her more was if Rei's father had come as well. Wouldn't the ladies at the garden club simply seethe with envy if she had their state senator over for dinner?
Jed glared furiously at his mother for mentioning Rei's father. It was the only condition set down in stone before he agreed to subject Rei to his parents.
Rei sighed as she picked at her salad. "Actually my father and I haven't seen each other since the Christmas before last. Though seeing as it is an election year, I suppose I'll be summoned to his home during the holidays to pose and preen for the press."
Meredith gaped at the girl before breaking to peals of laughter. "You had me going for a moment there! You've quite a talent for dry whit, dear."
"Darling, that's enough about Rei's father." James Hathaway cut in before Meredith could launch anymore inquires. "Rei might begin to think you only invited her over to fish for information about her father."
Both Jed and Rei gave him grateful looks.
Meredith bristled. "Of course she wouldn't think such a thing! She understands that I'm only taking an interest in her. Don't you Rei?"
Rei smiled politely at her hostess but said nothing.
James changed the subject before his wife could dig in any further. "How was school today? Did anything exciting happen?"
Rei and Jed both glanced at Mina, the burst out laughing.
Mina, who had been off in her own world, was brought rudely back to reality. Blushing bright red, she glared at her brother and his girlfriend which succeeded in making them laugh even harder.
Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway exchanged puzzled looks.
"What's so funny?" Mrs. Hathaway asked.
"Ask Mina." Jed managed as he brought himself under control. Though he wasn't laughing anymore, he found it impossible to prevent his lips from twitching.
Mina mumbled.
"What was that dear?"
"I was distracted during chemistry and boggled my experiment." She summarized.
Jed wasn't willing to leave it at that. "She started screaming for the class to duck and cover because she thought it was going to explode."
Mina glared at her brother, he never knew when to let sleeping dogs play dead.
Jed was still talking. "And they had to evacuate the entire science wing because the smell was so awful the lab room can't be used for a week!"
Meredith gaped at he daughter. "What on earth were you do distracted by!?"
"My lab partner, Melvin was asking me out on a date." Mina admitted sheepishly.
"There are better ways to turn down a guy, sis." Jed hooted from across the table.
"Melvin Collins?" Her mother asked with a predatory gleam in her eyes.
Miserable, Mina nodded.
Meredith almost leapt out of her seat. "Mina darling, that's wonderful! Do you know who his father is?! Do you know how much he brings in a year?! I couldn't be more proud unless you hooked Brain Taylor's son!"
Mina was appalled by her mother's behavior, especially in front of Rei. "It doesn't matter, I turned him down."
"Turned him down? No! You'll just have to call him up and tell him you made a mistake."
"No thank you Mom. I don't want to date Melvin."
"It doesn't matter what you want, darling. Think of your future!"
"Mo-om! Please! I already explained that it will be years before I even entertain the notion of marriage."
Mr. Hathaway nodded in a agreement. "As well you should. Dear," He addressed his wife. "Perhaps it's best you drop the topic. It is, after all, Mina's life."
"And anyway," Rei spoke up. "It's already too late. I heard that Melvin asked Serena's friend Molly out after lunch."
Mrs. Hathaway sniffed and didn't say another word.
"I hope you don't think too badly of Mom. She doesn't mean to come off as an 18th century social climber. But she married my dad when she was really young and they built the practice out of nothing. She doesn't understand that neither Jed nor I have any intention of getting married young or for money."
Jed groaned. "Half of the time I don't think she understands how outrageous she sounds."
"So, I guess that means you're not dating me for my father's money?" Rei asked Jed teasingly.
He caught on. "No, only for your car."
"Understandable." Rei conceded as she took Jed's hand and smile reassuringly at Mina. "Actually I kind of liked your mom. She had the exact same goals for you two that my father's friends have for their children. Only your mom is forthcoming about it."
Jed squeezed her hand. "I asked her not to bother you about your father. I'm sorry she didn't listen."
Rei smiled. "At least now you know I won't break if he's mentioned."
"Thanks for the save at dinner, by the way." Mina spoke up before Jed and Rei could spiral into mush mode.
Rei blinked. "Actually it's true. And according to Serena they're 'totally in love' whatever that means."
"You see Rei, love is an emotion-"
Rei swatted at her boyfriend. "I get the concept."
Mina beamed. "Well you know what they say!"
Rei and Jed exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of what was in store.
"If you love something set it free and hope it never comes back."
Rei grinned at Jed. "It does make sense, especially in reference to Melvin!"
He nodded with a severely repressed smile.
Mina frowned in confusion. "I have no idea what you two find amusing. Please tell me you two haven't developed some sort of couple speak."
Rei snorted. "There is no (nor will there ever be) couple code between your brother and I. Pigs will fly, hell will freeze, and J. Lo. will stop claiming to be down with the Hispanic community before you catch me doing anything so sickening."
"But chickpea!" Jed declared in mock distress.
Rei rolled her eyes. "You see what I have to put up with?"
Mina smiled. "You're preaching to the church bells, Rei. I've dealt with him my entire life."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mina and Rei nervously entered the party. Sure, they'd been to parties before, but those were high school parties. This.this was a college party.
They'd driven three hours to look at the campus of Northern University. Because Rei's cousin Cassie was a student and jumped at the opportunity to show her little cousin and her friend around, the girls were allowed to visit sans parents. Thus affording the girls a real college experience.
The girls had already had a tour of the campus and been told what to avoid- Eastern Dining Hall and Jackson Dormitory ("Some really freaky stuff goes down there!")- and now Cassie was taking them to a frat party. Even Rei, who claimed to hate parties and the drunk morons who attended them, seemed excited.
Inside the living room had been made into a dance floor by pushing all the furniture against the wall and adding a strobe light. Two guys stood behind a bar that looked suspiciously like a bookcase. Cassie pushed Rei and Mina to the bar and handed them two plastic cups filled with coke and cheap rum. The she shoved them towards the dance floor and in the tradition of loving cousins everywhere, abandoned them. Rei scowled after her cousin as she and Mina were besieged with willing dance partners.
It was a sad reflection upon currant society that a girl couldn't dance alone without a male taking it as an invitation to grind himself against her backside, but such was the state of the world. Mina found it easy enough to step away from the offenders, further into the crowd. Rei wasn't satisfied with the retreat scenario and instead took it upon herself to punish the boys by inventing a painful dance technique. Whenever a male tried to hump her in the name of dancing she began to move her arms in rhythm to the music, swing her arms foreword and moving her elbows back into the guy's gut at full speed.
Mina smirked as Rei demolished the forth guy. When she turned away from her friend, she found herself facing a cute, blond guy.
"Care to dance?" He asked with a shy smiled that revealed a dimple in his left cheek.
She nodded and easily moved into her arms. His name was Brent, he was a freshman, and apparently one of the few guys at the party who was polite enough to ask for a dance. He seemed like a nice guy and so she stayed in his arms for the next few songs.
Well into their fifth song Brent ceased to be fun. His fingers shifted from her hips and began to work their way under her shirt to trail up her back. In shock, her eyes darted to his face and she found him grinning down at her, the dimple no longer so endearing.
"You're so pretty, do you know that?"
For some reason, Mina couldn't find her voice or even a violent reaction as he trailed his fingers from her back to her stomach.
He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "I think we should take this somewhere more private. There's a bathroom upstairs."
The possibility as being sized up as a 'bathroom fuck' snapped Mina back to herself. "Do the words jailbait mean anything to you?"
On cue, he pulled his hands from her waist as though he'd been burned. "What?"
Mina smiled sweetly at him, giving the appearance of a menacing bunny. "I'm only seventeen."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Oh. And has that routine ever worked on a girl? I just can't see any girl jumping up and saying 'The bathroom! That's ever so romantic. Let's go stranger!' And you aren't even that cute." She stopped her tirade when she realized that Brent had slipped away in the middle of her rant.
"On to older pastures, I suppose."
Brent's departure seemed to signal the return of the butt grinders and Mina felt absolutely no shame in fleeing the dance floor. It just didn't seem fair that this was her first college party. She'd expected it to be.well in hindsight she didn't know what she'd really expected. But it certainly hadn't been a party so much like the ones she attended regularly, only with no breakables in sight.
She found Rei in the corner, deep in conversation with a tall guy who's back was to her.
With a grin she sidled up to Rei, always willing to jab at the girl's temper. "Does your boyfriend allow you to hit on strange men?"
"Her boyfriend would string me up inside out if Rei were hitting on me. In as act of mercy she wasn't."
Rei smirked up at him, and Mina looked at his face for the first time.
"Keith." Why did this always happen to her? Would she have to spend the rest of her life craning her head upwards to avoid starting conversations with Keith without knowing who he was. And why did he always show up wherever she went. Couldn't a girl drive three hours away from home without running into him? "I didn't realize you'd be here."
"I could say the same of you two. As it turns out, my cousin also attends this university."
"His name isn't Brent is it?" Because that would just make her night perfect.
Keith stared blankly at her. "No, why?"
She had a flashback to Keith's reaction the last time he found out about a guy hitting on her. "No reason."
"Keith's been protecting me from the scary dancers." Rei put in.
"Actually, I've been protecting them. I caught sight of Rei doing her elbow jab dance and decided to save the male population here."
Mina looked skeptically up at Keith. "That's you story then?"
Keith shrugged. "Sure. Also my cousin abandoned me and the women here are aggressive to the point of terror."
Mina shared a smirk with Rei. "Aww, poor Keith is afraid of the ladies! So you came to Rei for protection?"
Rather than get all stiff and angry as Mina expected, Keith grinned. "Naturally. Rei's scary!"
Mina couldn't help but laugh when Rei responded to Keith's comment with a exaggerated scary face. When she realized that she was getting comfortable with the situation she knew she had to do something, anything to get out of there.
"Actually Rei, I hunted you down to see if you were ready to leave. I have a bit of a headache."
It was as if Keith could tell how desperately she wanted to get away from him. "I was just about to head out of here too. Would you two be interested in ditching this party and finding an open restaurant? My treat."
Because Rei was normally a good friend, one who silently checked to make sure Mina was comfortable with situations, Mina was shocked when Rei quickly agreed. "I'd cheerfully follow Satan to an N*Sync concert if it meant leaving this place."
Mina silently cursed the fates. They'd had it out for her since they stranded her at Keith's party. And now she couldn't even count on Rei to bail her out. Oh no, Rei actually seemed to be pushing her towards the boy!
She blinked and realized that both Keith and Rei were staring intensely at her, waiting for an answer.
"Umm."
Rei rolled her eyes. "Blonde."
Mina glared at her friend and Keith chose the moment to test his persuasive skills.
"Surely you won't turn down a free meal."
If she didn't know better (and really she did) she would have sworn that Keith's eyes were filled with poorly suppressed humor. As if he knew that she hated him and assumed she'd allow his presence to ruin a perfect opportunity to escape the party. Well, she'd show him!
Turning her smile onto megawatt, she beamed at him. "Why don't you and Rei get your car and I'll tell her cousin that we're leaving." She left to find Cassie with the satisfaction of knowing she left Keith blinking in her wake.
Keith Taylor had started a war in the eighth grade, whether he knew it or not. When they were face to face tiny battles were waged. True there had been a truce or two along the way, but this weekend would be no such occurrence.
He thought he'd won by purposely making her uncomfortable with his presence, luring her friend over to his side. Yes, that was his game.
She'd show him. She was determined to pretend that he didn't bother her a lick, even if it killed her. She's smile until her face hurt, hell she'd even laugh at his jokes provided he made any. Come to think of it she'd never actually heard him make a joke. It was entirely possible that he was without a sense of humor, or worse yet, limited to 'knock knock' jokes.
With a shudder she found Cassie and told her the modified plan. Cassie waved her off and Mina stepped outside just in time to see Keith's car pull up to the curb.
"I saved you the front seat." Rei chirped from the back, proving to Mina that she was a traitor of the worst sort. First Melvin, now this.
"What's open this time of night?" Keith asked.
"Waffle House." Rei suggested, sounding like a six year old does about McDonald's.
Mina twisted in her seat to look back at Rei. "The food there is so greasy! Not to mention the sketchy setting."
"Uh-huh. Hash browns, yum!"
Mina squinted through the darkness at Rei. "How was it possible for you to get plastered in the ten minutes I was away?"
Rei sniffed. "I'll have you know this is the cumulative effort *hic* of two hours!"
"And the four shots of tequila on your way out the door." Keith pointed out dryly.
"And that." Rei agreed cheerfully. Suddenly she lunged foreword in her seat to turn up Keith's radio. "I love this song!" And she began to sing 'The Joker' at the top of her lungs mercifully on pitch.
Mina crossed her arms and slumped into her seat. Not only was Rei a traitor, she was a deserter. Hell, if Mina was lucky Rei wouldn't make kissy noises at her and Keith over the table.
Keith noticed Mina's pouting and leaned over at the next light to be heard over the radio and Rei.
"Look on the bright side. Your brother found a worse drunk than him!"
Mina looked out her window so Keith wouldn't see the tiny smile that graced her face.
It was only 1:00 AM and the college crowd had yet to stagger out of the parties and bars in search of late night food. The trio claimed a booth by a window with little difficultly. The only other customers were a group of teenagers and two men in leather jackets with a black duffle bag at their feet.
A tired, somewhat grumpy waitress, whose nametag read Belinda shuffled over to take their order. Rei happily ordered her coveted hash browns and Mina chose to stick with a Coke.
After Belinda slouched away Keith raised an eyebrow at Mina.
"Please tell me you're not one of those girls who refuses to eat anything but rabbit food."
"Rabbit food?"
"You know, a steady diet of carrots, lettuce, and maybe the occasional stalk of celery."
Rei, who had fought and lost a vicious battle with Mina over the last stale donut in Cassie's room, snorted.
Mina stuck her tongue out at Rei before turning her attention to Keith. "Hardly. I'm just not used to eating this early in the day." She turned towards Keith confidently. "To tell you the truth, I just wanted to get out of that party."
With a grin Keith countered Mina's move by moving forward so that their noses were almost touching across the table. "Not the promise of my dazzling company, then?"
All that Mina could see was his eyes, and dammit they were filled with a amusement. To see humor there, to have witnessed the easy grin he flashed her and Rei.it was entirely unlike the Keith Taylor she had come to expect. It was so easy to forget the rigid, unforgiving, cold boy she knew back home.
When she realized that she was unconsciously moving closer into his gaze she slammed herself awkwardly back into her seat
Keith colored slightly. "Guess not." He muttered.
Mina glanced beside her to see if Rei had witnessed the exchange only to find the space beside her empty. Mina looked back to Keith in alarm. "Should we go look for her? I just got a mental image of her hitching a ride back home with a trucker named Bob on a drunken lark."
Keith glanced out the window. "I don't think you need to worry. I don't see any Mack trucks in the parking lot."
Mina glared at the boy across from her, both for his lack of concern and his uncharacteristic display of good humor.
His hands raised in self defense. "I'm sure she'll show up soon. She seemed pretty set on her hash browns."
Mina was about to bolt out of her seat and scream Rei's name in the parking lot, when the missing girl calmly slid back into the booth seat.
"Mina was about to send out a search party."
Rei rolled her eyes. "I was gone for all of three minutes." In a mimic of Mina's earlier pose, Rei draped herself across the table towards Keith, as if imparting a grave secret. "Hathaways are worriers."
"I am not!" Mina protested.
Keith ignored Mina. "I noticed." He told Rei.
` "Excuse me for being concerned when Rei pulled a Houdini!" She does really stupid things when she's drunk."
"Hey!"
Belinda chose that moment to make a gracious entrance. "You want your food or what?"
Not to be outdone on the rudeness scale, Rei stretched out her hands, flexing her fingers in anticipation. "Gimme!"
"Were you raised in a shed?" Mina asked after the waitress left.
"Politician's house, actually. Mostly different from a barn but slightly similar in some ways. Ever read Animal Farm?" Rei asked the table in general as she dumped ketchup liberally over her hash browns. "I liked 1984 better."
Keith agreed good naturedly, finding her rambling amusing.
"And anyway Mina, I was just responding to her behavior." She paused to savor her first bite. "Mmm. Call Waffle House the grease trap it is, but nobody does hash browns better." She frowned at her fork before taking another bite. "You know, I don't even like hash browns. But these are really good!"
Mina sighed and Keith actually chuckled.
It didn't take long for the two with food to finish their meals. As Keith was paying the bill, Rei began snickering madly as she searched her pockets for change by the jukebox.
"Hey Mina, got any quarters?"
Shooting her friend a questioning look she handed Rei three quarters and watched as Rei fed the machine money. She pressed the same code seven times, cackling maniacally to herself. The she dashed outside to Keith's car as 'Opps, I Did It Again' filled Waffle House. Shaking their heads at her antics, Keith and Mina followed.
Rei passed out somewhere between Waffle House and Cassie's dorm and Keith helped Mina escort the barely awake girl to her cousin's room.
Mina stayed outside the door as Rei stumbled inside. She had to admit that Keith had been an okay guy all night, and it hadn't seemed to be an act to trick her. She could even grudgingly admit that she probably wouldn't have had more fun have had she stayed behind at the party.
"Thanks for everything tonight, Keith."
He'd been about to walk back to his car, but stopped to look at Mina in astonishment. "So you don't hate my guts after all."
"I never said I hated you." Mina winced inwardly. It was true, she'd never said she hated him.to his face anyway.
Keith raised an eyebrow. "In that case why don't you and Rei spend tomorrow with me and my cousin?"
"I think Cassie wanted to spend tomorrow with us."
"She can come too."
She couldn't say no, she couldn't think of a good reason to. "I'll check with Rei and Cassie. If they're okay with it we'll meet you on the quad around noon. Okay?"
He nodded without a smile. Still he didn't look as closed of and cold as he usually did. He looked relaxed. "I hope I'll see you there."
He stopped on his walk down the hallway and called out something that made Mina pause on her way into Cassie's room.
She mulled over his words as she curled into her sleeping bag. Somehow he made 'sweet dreams' sound like something more than a customary nighttime parting.
She knew she'd meet up with him and his cousin tomorrow. She'd said she would. She'd also said she didn't hate him.
And the thing was- for tonight anyway- it was true. Even thinking about what he'd done to Jordan didn't bring the flash of hate it used to.
"This isn't good." She whispered to herself and to the quiet room.
A.N. Chapter dedication to K. Wyse for helping me with the chemistry, even though I ignored the specifics she gave me and went for vague description. And also, she gave me much motivation on Shittenou.com.
I'm beginning to see that having the underage teenagers get drunk at parties is becoming a common occurrence in this story. While I enjoy writing characters under the influence of alcohol I think this is the last chapter in which we'll be seeing it. But for those of you who enjoy such things I'm sure it will appear in the other stories in the series.
I suppose this is the part where I give you all a long, detailed list of why it's taken me so long to get this chapter out. But to tell the truth, I hate it when author's do that, so I won't. Suffice to say this took so long because of a combination of a busy RL and writer's block. In other words- avoidance. Just know that I'll never post a story and not finish it. And in the future I'll have most of it written before I start posting.
No worries, the next part will be out soon. And by soon I mean in a week or two not seven months. And hey! It's from Keith's POV. I know some of you (VO1) have been anxious to see inside his head.
