Hi Phil Fans. Here's the first chapter of my new POTF story. It's not related at all to my other one, Happy Nirday Phil. Totally new situation but still Pheely, of course.I hopeyou like it. I'm slammed with schoolwork these days, so this one will probably not be finished as fast as the other one. But I'll do my best. Thanks!
Kissing Practice
Chapter 1
Phil and Keely were doing what they did nearly every day after school: homework at the Diffy house. Phil was using the Giggle to research William Shakespeare for an English assignment, and Keely was struggling with math, every so often, with a wrinkled brow and a pained expression, asking Phil for answers.
"Come on, Phil, please? I don't need math for a journalism career. Don't think of it as giving me the answers. Think of it as taking a chance on an unknown kid," Keely said, batting her eyelashes in a way she knew her best friend couldn't resist.
"Keely, Keely, Keely," Phil said from behind the Giggle screen, "What'll happen when we go to college and you don't have me there to help you?"
"Phil, we're going to college together, duh. We'll never be apart," Keely said, rolling her eyes.
Phil laughed and glanced at her math homework. "Okay, Keel, then answer's x equals nine."
"Ooh thanks, Philly. I'm so lucky to have a math genius for a best friend." Keely said. She kissed him on the cheek.
Phil blushed. "So every time I give you an answer, you'll kiss me?" he asked.
"Oh Phil, come on. You act like no girl has ever kissed you before," Keely said, softly punching him on the shoulder. Phil laughed. Keely didn't know much about Phil's 2121 romantic life. She'd been dying to find out if he had a girlfriend back home, but she'd never known how to approach the subject. Keely was more than aware of her own experience with boys, which was, except for a lively game of spin the bottle in eighth grade, virtually nonexistent. She'd never been kissed on the lips, even though she'd had the chance plenty of times. Keely Teslow has mastered the art of avoiding lip contact. It was nerves more than anything, and she felt as though she'd just never met the right boy for the job. Since she'd befriended Phil Diffy, the guys at school had pretty much left her alone. She was beginning to think she'd grow up completely inexperienced in the kissing department. On my wedding night, Keely thought, I'm gonna be in big trouble. Keely did know she'd eventually get married, kissing or not. She had seen the engagement ring herself on Phil's Giggle.
After a few minutes of silent schoolwork, Keely looked up at Phil.
"What is it Keely? You've got that look," Phil said.
"Look? What are you talkin' 'bout, Diffy?" Keely asked.
"You want another answer, don't you?" Phil said.
"Maybe... but... it's not exactly a homework answer," Keely said.
"Okay, what?" Phil said.
"Phil, have you ever kissed a girl on the lips?" Keely asked him, redness creeping over her cheeks. For some reason asking Phil this question made her nervous.
"Well, I, Keely..." Phil said. Phil knew Keely had never kissed anyone in her life. She openly discussed the fact that she was destined to be the oldest unkissed girl in history. When she mentioned kissing in any context, Phil always felt awkward.
"Yes?" Keely said, smiling at him. "Well?"
"Yes, I've kissed a girl on the lips," Phil said. "Are you happy?"
Keely nodded. She felt strange about his answer to her question. She had hoped that maybe he was as inexperienced as she was, and now that she knew he wasn't, she was somewhat jealous of these mystery lips Phil had kissed.
"Ohmigosh, Phil. Who? When? How old were you?" Keel asked him.
"Keel. Why is this so important? I have this essay to finish..." Phil said.
"It's research, Phil. I need to know these things about my best friend. We're supposed to tell each other everything, right? You've been withholding crucial information from me," Keely said, smirking.
"Okay then, Keel, I've kissed a girl on the lips more than once. So there," Phil said. He had a strange desire to make her jealous. Why is she suddenly so interested in my love life, he thought.
Keely's jaw dropped. "Wow, Phil, I didn't know you were such a ladies' man," Keely said. She was becoming a little irritated with Phil, for some reason. Keely, she thought, why do you care about Phil's kissing?
"Keely, I'm no ladies man. You can trust me on that one. I've kissed one girl on the lips, twice. It was a couple years before I came to this century. Do I have to show you on the Giggle?" he asked her.
"You mean we could watch you have your first kiss on the Giggle?" Keely asked. I wonder if he's a good kisser, Keely thought. "Yes. Show me."
"Okay, okay..." Phil turned back to the Giggle. "Search Phil Diffy, first kiss, 2119," he said. After a few seconds, the Giggle stopped. "You ready to witness this Phil Diffy milestone?" Phil said, eyeing Keely. "Slide over here." He patted the couch cushion next to him.
Keely felt awkward as she snuggled next to Phil, cheek to cheek, behind the Giggle screen. This is weird, she thought. I want to see it and I don't.
The screen showed a young Phil Diffy, a little younger and a little shorter, wearing a bright green jumpsuit. He was sitting on a bench on a street corner. It seemed to be early in the morning. "That's the school-shuttle stop," Phil said.
"Oh, Phil you were so cute," Keely said.
"Was cute? What are you trying to say?" Phil said, grinning at her.
"Well, you're adorable now, of course, but look at little baby Phil!" she said.
Phil blushed. Keely thinks I'm adorable? He felt his heart swell a little bit.
"Oh, here she comes!" Keely said, pointing at a girl, about twelve, with blond braided pigtails, who walked up behind the bench. Little Phil didn't notice her. He was playing with a Wizard.
"Lucy Davis," Phil said, smiling slightly. "A real sweetheart. Too good for me. She was a year behind me in school."
"Oh, Phil a younger woman!" Keely said.
On the Giggle screen, Lucy covered Little Phil's eyes with her hands. Little Phil was grinning.
"You haven't lost that cute grin, Phil," Keely said.
"It is cute, huh?" Phil said. He looked at Keely's profile through the corners of his eyes. "You sort of remind me of Lucy, you know?" Phil said.
"Really?" Keely asked. I remind him of his first kiss? Keel thought to herself. She suddenly felt fidgety.
"Here it comes," Phil said. Lucy had by this time walked around to sit next to Little Phil on the bench. Lucy wore a pale pink skirt and top with some kind of silver stripes down the sides and tall purple boots. Little Phil shoved the Wizard he had been playing with into a satchel on the ground. Lucy grabbed his hand. "See, it was all her doing. I was too self-conscious. Lucy wore the pants in that relationship, that's for sure," Phil said, laughing a little.
Lucy put her other hand on Little Phil's cheek and turned him toward her so that they looked directly into each other's face. Little Phil was trying to avoid direct eye contact.
"Phil, you won't even look at her," Keely said. "Didn't you like her?"
Phil hit the pause button on the Giggle. "Well, I didn't know what I thought, Keel. I mean, we had always been pals, you know? I didn't realize she liked me so much until that day." He pressed the play button. Lucy leaned in and gave Little Phil a soft kiss on the lips. Little Phil's eyes stayed open, big as saucers, and he froze. Lucy then lay her head on Little Phil's shoulder. Then Giggle stopped and Phil pulled on the screen and it rolled back into the helmet. Keely leaned back on the couch.
"Well, what happened next?" Keely asked. "When was this alleged second kiss on the lips?"
"The next day she kissed me at school. I think she was fed up with my lack of initiative," Phil said. "I just didn't know how to handle it. I didn't know how I felt about her, or really how to respond, so she dumped me two days later."
Keely laughed. "Aw, Phil. Poor little guy." Keely was somewhat relieved to find that Phil wasn't head over heels for this Lucy girl. But it also worried her, for some reason, that Phil had said Keely reminded him of her. She is cute, though, Keely thought. And has great fashion sense.
Phil watched Keely. He could always tell when she was thinking hard about something. As if he could read her mind, he said, "You know, she reminds me of you only because she was so sweet and, I don't know, enthusiastic about life. I was in awe of her, to tell you the truth. I didn't think I could ever have a girl like her. That kiss came so out of the blue, I think I was in shock."
Phil's words embarrassed Keely slightly. What's he saying, exactly, she wondered. He doesn't like me, like me... Keely was all of a sudden tongue-tied. "Well, you know, I mean, girls are weird, you know, Phil. Phillip." She twisted her fingers together. "Well, um, back to that math." She picked up her notebook and stared at it, but she wasn't able to concentrate. I wonder what it would feel like to kiss Phil, she wondered, biting her bottom lip a little. She looked over at him. He was hunkered over his laptop, now, typing up a storm. Why don't you find out, Teslow. You know you want to, Keely's conscience was kicking in now. You don't want to be the last unkissed girl at school, do you? Keely was fully aware that she might already be the last unkissed girl not only at H.G. Wells, but in the entire teenage population of Pickford.
Phil, although he was typing madly on the computer, could barely focus. Seeing the kiss again flooded his mind with these feelings he'd been trying to sort out. Feelings for a certain blond best friend sitting on the couch next to him. He watched her biting her bottom lip in deep concentration. Come on, Diffy, Keely's never even kissed a boy. You could be the first. You could be that person, that experience, she never forgets. His conscience was taking over. But I've never kissed a a girl, Phil thought. I mean, Lucy kissed me. I never had to actually work up the courage to do it. I wonder what it would feel like to kiss Keely Teslow.