Personal note: Thank you for your reviews, I hope more come in soon. I do love to know what people think of my story, good or bad, though I confess I tend to enjoy the good ones more than the bad. So, here's my latest chapter. Be sure to let me know what you think.
Chapter Three: I'm Fine, Really
It was a sight to behold. Petey strutted down the sidewalk, a grin from ear to ear and holding up his game ball every chance he got. Sunshine walked by his side with Blue and Rev on their heels. Gerry and Julius were a few steps back, laughing at their fellow teammates' showboating. Kelly had started off at the front of the line with Ronnie, but she had hung back when she noticed how depressed Alan was. He was feeling low because he couldn't keep up with his designated man on the field, and Yoast had pulled him and put Petey, who was now carrying the game ball, in in his place. A move which would later get Yoast in trouble with Alan's father, and with Boone. Despite how pleased he was with Petey's performance, Boone had just taken Petey out for fumbling, and felt that Yoast was undermining his authority with the move. Alan had taken it hard. He hadn't said more than two words the entire night, and Kelly just wanted to cheer him up a little. So, the two of them, locked arm in arm, were bringing up the rear of the group.
"Don't be upset, Alan." She said, "You said it yourself, the guy was just too fast. It doesn't mean that you're not a great player." She dropped her head on his shoulder, "Besides, you're the dreamiest guy on the team." The comment earned her a momentary smile from him. "Oh, my God! You can smile! I have to call the newspaper."
"Well," Alan said, "when you do, be sure and tell them that thing about me being the dreamiest one on the team. Oh, and be sure to throw in how I also have to best singing voice."
"He speaks!" Kelly exclaimed, raising her eyebrows in a joking manner. She gave his arm an encouraging squeeze and won herself another smile.
Julius and Gerry dropped back by their sides, giving Alan a clear view of Petey and the others. Petey was just inviting a group of passing girls to come and 'party with the Titans' star football player,' causing Alan's smile to fade almost immediately.
"Look at these guys!" Gerry laughed, then noticed Alan's expression. Julius shot him a nice going look and Gerry tried to rectify his mistake, "Don't even worry about it, Alan. They just like to show off."
"They?" Julius said, stopping. "You said 'they'."
Alan, Kelly, and Gerry stopped as well. "Yes, they." Gerry said, "As in them, up there."
Kelly smiled at Alan, "I am not getting into this one." She said, kissing him quick on the cheek and trotting off to join the other guys.
Sunshine had stopped at a door and was about to walk in. "Come on, guys. It's on me."
Petey looked up at the sign, then back at Sunshine. "Uh, no, man. Come on, we'll just keep goin'."
Kelly popped up at their sides. "Why are we stopping?" She asked.
Petey grinned at her, "Okay, now, as the new dominating Titan, I believe that the prettiest lady around should be on my arm." He said, moving to put his arm around her.
"Petey!" Gerry's voice suddenly came, causing Petey to jerk his arm away immediately.
"What are you doing, girl?" He exclaimed, "Gerry, man, I didn't touch her!"
Gerry had already returned to his discussion with Juilius and was paying Petey no mind, when a car pulled up, distracting him.
"Look, Sunshine," Petey began, "this is Virginia and some folks have a problem with..."
"Man, they don't want us in there." Blue finished for Petey.
"That's in the past." Sunshine said.
"Kelly!" A voice called.
Kelly turned and saw Ray in the passenger seat of a car. He motioned for her to come and talk to him. "Who's that girl with Gerry?" Sunshine asked.
Gerry was leaned over, talking to the girl sitting in the car behind Ray. "Oh, that's Emma, Gerry's girlfriend. Look, you guys go on in. I'll be back in a second." Kelly informed before she walked over to the car. "Hey, Emma." She said.
"Hey, sweetie." Emma smiled before looking back to Gerry, her expression going cold.
Kelly noticed the change. She glanced at Gerry and noticed that he didn't look very happy either. "Hey, Ray." She said, "what's going on?"
"We're headed up to the hill. Want to come?" He asked.
"Oh, no. I promised the boys that I would hang out with them tonight. It would be rude of me to ditch them now." She said, smiling.
"Seems to me like you need to get your priorities straight." She heard Emma say.
"Kelly," Ray said softly, "you don't have to stoop down to hanging with a bunch of..."
"A bunch of what, Ray?" Kelly interrupted, feeling her face flush with anger.
Ray exhaled loudly, "You're better than that."
Kelly glanced over her shoulder. Gerry had already retreated back to the sidewalk and was standing beside Julius, shaking his head and saying something. Kelly looked back at Ray. Her mind was spinning. How could someone you had known for almost your entire life turn out to be so closed minded, and you not even notice? She started backing away from the car, her face drawn into a scowl. As the car slowly pulled away, she saw how hurt Emma looked, and pissed Ray was.
The door that the others had gone into a moment before burst open and Petey came out, screaming. He was followed closely by the other guys.
"Man!" Petey screamed, "Why did you make us go in there?"
"I didn't know, man." Sunshine said, "I'm sorry."
"You pull something like that, you better be able to back it up!"
"Calm down." Blue said.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" Petey snarled.
"What just happened?" Kelly asked as she came running up.
"Sunshine talked us into going into this restaurant and the guy at the counter kicked us out because he doesn't serve blacks. He told us we could go around back to the kitchen if we wanted to eat. Petey's just taking it a little hard." Rev told her as he pulled her off to the side, away from the argument.
"I'm sorry," Sunshine said, "I really didn't know."
"I told you!" Petey screamed.
Kelly tore away from Rev and hurried to Sunshine's side. "Petey," she said.
"Not now, Kelly." Petey said.
"Man, calm..." Blue started.
Petey threw him the dirtiest look Kelly had ever seen, "Man, if you tell me to calm down one more time."
"Petey, he didn't know." Kelly pleaded.
"No! No, he don't want to know, Kelly." Petey said, "I told him. Man, forget it. Let's go ya'll." He turned his back to Sunshine.
"Petey?" Sunshine said.
"Just give him a little bit." Blue said to him before turning and hurrying after Petey, muttering wildly about Petey being irrational and how you can't even talk to him.
"It'll be all right." Rev said, patting Sunshine on the shoulder and kissing Kelly on the cheek, as he passed them by. "Come on, man." He said to Julius, who gave an apologetic look to Gerry before falling into step behind Rev.
Sunshine stared after them. He had this helpless look on his face, and Kelly wanted so very much to comfort him. She touched his forearm, only to have him pull away and take off walking down the opposite direction. Alan followed after him. Kelly watched them walk away, the inescapable feeling of hurt washing over her. She felt Gerry's arm drape heavily over her shoulders as her big brother pulled her to his side.
"Come on, kid," He said, planting a kiss in her hair, "let's go home."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Monday morning, Kelly climbed the steps to the second level of the school. She was skipping her first class to go to the library to study for a test she had in fifth period, Chemistry. As she passed the ever-present gaggle of girls who stood, drooling by the window, gawking at Ronnie as he did his morning tai chi, she couldn't help but roll her eyes as one squealed over and over about how 'dreamy' he was. She swore to herself right then and there that if Sunshine ever ended up with one of those girls, she would kill him herself to put him out of his misery.
She sat quietly at a table in the library, making notes from various books that she had spread around her. She heard set their books down, and then Rev sat down across from her. "How are you doing, today, peaches?" He whispered.
Kelly felt herself smile. "I'm good. How are you, Rev?"
"Oh, I'm fine." He said, "I'm just ready for all this craziness to be over. People just won't get over it. I mean, it's been a few weeks since we started class and people are still outside protesting."
"It's ridiculous." Kelly said. "I don't see how they can think that way. How can someone hate someone they don't even know because of their skin color? That would be like me hating Cynthia Deller because her hair is brown."
Rev offered her a sympathetic smile. "Not everyone in the world thinks like you, Kel."
"Well, they should." Kelly stated.
Rev chuckled, "That's life."
"Okay," Kelly retorted, "I think I'd like to take option number two then, please."
Rev laughed out loud at the remark, winning them both a nasty stare from the librarian who shushed them immediately.
"Oh, shush yourself." Kelly said under her breath.
"Ah, and the claws come out!" Rev whispered, "Little Bertier has herself some soul power."
"Nah," Kelly giggled, "just a low tolerance for snooty authoritarian types."
Rev's shoulders began to shake as he held in his laughter.
Somewhere around an hour later, Rev and Kelly emerged from the library in time to see Gerry trying to break up a fight between a group of whites and blacks. When he tried to pull a guy off of another, he was jumped by a group of black boys who thought that he was joining in. Julius immediately came to his rescue, pulling them away from Gerry and shoving them against a wall. This left Gerry free to pull the white boy to his side of the hallway. All their effort proved to do nothing more than earn them some racist remarks from both sides.
"This is insane." Kelly said.
Rev nodded, "Amen to that, sister."
They later learned that the fight had started because some meat head had gotten mad at none other than Petey for talking to his girl. Petey, being Petey, had shot off his mouth and so on and so on. Kelly had to admit that she found it funny, telling Petey that she knew his big mouth would eventually get him into trouble.
Petey had taken offense, saying, "Yeah, well, you just lost your chance at ever dating me, baby doll."
Kelly, was by that point, almost crying she was laughing so hard. "Oh, my heart is breaking. How ever will I survive?"
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up now, while you have the chance." Petey said as he opened the cafeteria door for her, "Cause here soon, I'm gonna be fightin' 'em off with a stick."
"Well, you'd better be careful then." Kelly said, walking through the door.
"That's right." Petey said, smiling, pleased with himself.
"Yeah," Blue said as he entered the cafeteria behind Kelly, "dogs got teeth, man."
"Sharp ones." Alan added.
Petey's smile fell. "Ha ha, very funny, ya'll."
Kelly sat, pushing her mashed potatoes around her trey with her fork. Rev had just vacated the seat across from her when Sunshine slid into it. "Hey!" He exclaimed.
"Hey." Kelly smiled, "How are you?"
""I'm good." He grinned.
"You and Petey kiss and make up?" She asked in a baby voice. She had seen them joking around outside of one of their classes earlier that afternoon.
"Yeah," Sunshine laughed, "he just requires a delicate touch."
"I'm sure." Kelly said sarcastically.
"Anyway," Ronnie changed the subject, "can I talk to you about something?"
"Course." Kelly said.
"Well," he was visibly uncomfortable, "I couldn't talk to the guys about this, because I would never hear the end of it, but..."
"Quit stalling, Sunshine." Kelly demanded.
"Well, there's this cute little cheerleader," he said, "her name is Christi, uh, Christi Suter?"
"Christi Sutton?" Kelly exclaimed.
"That's it!" Sunshine confirmed. "Anyway..."
This was probably the last thing that Kelly wanted to hear about. Christi Sutton was one of the biggest tramps at T. C. Williams, a fact that she was overwhelmingly proud of.
"She asked me to go out with her this weekend, and I am sort of new in town... "
Why didn't he just stab her in the stomach and twist it a little. It would sure as hell feel better than this. She picked up her milk and put it to her lips.
"What I was wondering was," he paused, his face turning red from obvious embarrassment, "what am I supposed to do?"
Kelly choked, spewing milk on the table in front of her. Sunshine grabbed some napkins and struggled to help her clean in up. "I'm sorry." She laughed, "I'm sorry. What are you supposed to do? Are you asking me how to go on a date?"
"Gee, and to think, I was worried about the guys laughing at me!" Sunshine said.
"I'm sorry," Kelly said, struggling to gain control over her laughter, "I'm sorry." Sunshine shook his head and stood up to walk away. Kelly caught him by the arm, "No, don't go!" She said, tightening her lips and cutting off her laughter. It was apparent she was holding it all back, "I'm done. Sorry, really." Sunshine gave her a doubting look, but sat down on the seat beside her. "Okay," she continued after a moment of calming herself, "You've been on a date before, right?"
"Well, yeah," Sunshine said, "just never with a girl from here and I don't know what she expects."
"With Christi, I would say save your money and just take her to the hill." Kelly said, pushing her trey away from her.
"The hill?" Sunshine said incredulously, "The make out place?"
"Yeah, the make out place," Kelly said, "as well as the 'other things' place."
"And," Ronnie started, "you think Christi would want to go up there on our first date?"
Kelly smiled, "Well, my guess would be that it wouldn't be the first time Christi's been up there."
"Oh, great." Ronnie said, "One of those. Wait a second. Have you... ever... been to the hill?"
The question made Kelly want to smile. He cared whether or not some guy had managed to get her to the hill. "The short answer," she replied, "is no. I'm not that kind of girl."
Sunshine smiled. He wasn't sure if he could have handled the image of Kelly 'parking' with someone. Especially if the someone in that image wasn't himself. He caught himself involuntarily wondering if she would go to the hill with him if he asked her. He tried to push the thought from his mind. Gerry would have his balls if he knew he were even thinking about Kelly and the hill in the same sentence.
"Sunshine?" Kelly's voice came, "Are you okay?"
She reached over and lay her hand on his forearm. The sudden contact snapped Sunshine out of his little trance and he looked at her, "What?"
"Are you all right?" She laughed, but her eyes were concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He told her. Her hand was still resting on his arm. He looked down at it and felt heat creeping up under his collar. She had touched him a million times, why was it suddenly affecting him so much? Then he realized the image that had been going through his head had involved her... minus that cute sweater she was wearing. His eyes wandered to her chest and the way it would rise and fall with her every breath. She turned toward him, her knee coming into contact with his. He felt the blood rushing to his head, amongst other places, and shot up from his chair.
"Sunshine," she said, "are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes." He said, nodding his head, "I'm great. I just, uh, I have to, I just, I gotta go. To class. You know."
"Okay." Kelly said, raising a questioning eyebrow.
Sunshine continued to nod as he backed away from her, bumping into another student behind him. "Sorry." He apologized quickly, as the boy's trey hit the ground.
Kelly stood up, "Uh,"
"I gotta go. Sorry, man." He said again, then turned and rushed out of the cafeteria.
Kelly stared after him. She had no idea what was going on in Sunshine's head. She did know one thing, though. She was gonna find out, whether he liked it or not.