This takes place when Phil leaves Keely and Phil 2 alone in his room…. Hopefully this will give you a good idea about where the story is headed. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

As soon as Phil shut the door, Keely turned to Phil 2. She closed her eyes and puckered her lips and moved toward him, fully intent on kissing him. But she thought she heard the door open up again, so she pulled away in a hurry, glancing at the door to see it snap shut. Then she gazed at the replicate.

"This is amazing," she whispered to Phil 2.

"What's amazing?" Phil 2 whispered to Keely.

"How much you look like him. And sound like him. And feel like him," she put her hand on his cheek, and then felt the hair around his ear gently. Phil 2 smiled. "And the smile, it's identical…" So this is what it would be like, to be with Phil Diffy. To be his girlfriend. To sit up here in his room, and be more than pals, she thought as she gazed into Phil 2's eyes.

Keely scooted close to Phil 2. Then she eased her arm around his shoulders and leaned her head against his. She shut her eyes and just sat there for a moment, enjoying being so close to him, privately.

"Hey, Phil 2," she said.

"Hey, Keely," said Phil 2.

"Would you mind too much, if we could just lie down here for a little while?" Keely asked. She was amazed at her courage. It was things like this she secretly longed to do with the real Phil. To just lie down next to him, to feel the warmth of his body so close.

"I wouldn't mind, Keely," Phil 2 said.

So Keely and Phil 2 leaned back onto Phil's bed, side by side. Keely took his hand and held it tightly. She came very close to falling asleep, daydreaming about Phil and when exactly she thought she'd fallen for him. She knew she'd had a little crush on him that first day. But when did she first get this tightness in her chest whenever she saw him? When did he start creeping into her dreams? When did he become the first person she thought of in the morning and the last person she thought of at night? Keely couldn't put her finger on that moment. It had been gradual, she decided. Like sand falling through an hourglass. All of a sudden she was hopelessly in love with Phil. Her best friend. She decided then that she could only kiss one boy in the world.

"Phil 2, what time is it?" she asked.

"It's six fifteen," he said.

"Oh gosh, we've been in here forever!" she said, sitting up suddenly. "We have to make it look like we kissed. Here, sit up."

Keely rummaged in her pocketbook until she found a tube of lipstick. She untwisted it and smeared a little on her fingers, then smeared her fingers lightly on Phil 2's mouth. Then she tousled his hair with her hand.

"Okay, I think that looks pretty good," she said, examining his face. "Now sit there and try to look, I don't know, sort of dazed."

"Okay, Keely," Phil 2 said.

Keely stood and walked over to the door. When she opened it, Phil—the real Phil—tumbled out at her feet. She couldn't help but smile at him. If only he knew how much I want to kiss him, to actually be with him, she thought, the real Phil…

"Hey, Keel," Phil said, blushing. "I was just, um, waiting here… on the floor, for you, you know…"

"Hey, Phil," Keely said. She saw Phil glance over at Phil 2, sitting on the bed. "You can zap him back, you know, if you want."

"Uh, okay, everything okay?" Phil asked her, righting himself, and standing up. He reached into his pocket for the replicator.

"Everything's fine. It's good. I'm fine," Keely said.

"Well? Are you gonna tell me anything?" Phil said.

"Tell you what?" Keely said, grinning.

"What happened? That's what?" he said. "I mean, I guess I can tell what happened. The kid's got lipstick all over his face."

"Phil, it's over. Don't worry about it. Let's just move on," Keely said.

Phil aimed the replicator at Phil 2. Phil 2 waved. "Bye, Keely," he said.

"Bye, Phil 2," Keely said, smiling at the replicate. "Thanks for your help."

"Any time, Keely," Phil 2 said. Then Phil zapped him and he was gone.

Phil frowned.

"What?" said Keely. Is he a little jealous? Of his own replicate? she thought.

"It's just…" he said.

"Yeah?" Keely said.

"It's just… I mean…. Well, am I a good kisser?" he blurted.

Keely laughed. "Well, I don't know about you, Phil, but your carbon copy is a perfect gentleman."

"Can you describe it?" Phil asked.

"Describe what?" Keely said, smirking.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Phil said. "You love torturing me."

"Put it this way, Phil," Keely said. "Your replicate is exactly like you in almost every way, except…"

"Except?" Phil said.

"Except he doesn't know his limits. I mean, he's not scared. He's… a risk taker," she said.

"So are you saying that I should take more risks?" Phil asked, looking at Keely suspiciously. "Well, have you ever thought about taking risks?"

"Yes," Keely said, avoiding Phil's stare.

"Yes?" Phil asked. "You have?"

"Yes," Keely said again.

"Well… what does this mean?" Phil asked.

"What does what mean?" Keely asked, this time looking right at Phil, intently.

"I mean, we need to take more risks, right, so how should we do that?" Phil said.

"Well," Keel said. She took a deep breath. "Maybe we could start by being honest about our feel—"

"Kids?" Barb Diffy yelled up the stairs.

Phil shut his eyes. "Keel, hold that thought," he said. "Yeah, Mom, what's up?"

"Dinner's ready!" she shouted back.

"Okay, Mom, we'll be right there," Phil yelled. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Keely. He cleared his throat. "So, we need to be honest about…" he said. This could be it, Diffy. Be honest about your feelings Diffy. I think this is right. This is it.

"Feelings, Phil," Keely said, "I want to be honest about what I feel… for… you." Then she stood there, in the doorway of his bedroom, searching his face with her eyes.

"I…" Phil began. He swallowed hard. He looked at the floor.

"Phil! Keely! Dinner!" Barb yelled.

Phil looked back at Keely and groaned. "Mom, we're on our way down. One second!"

"Keel, maybe we should go down there…" he said.

"Okay…" Keely said, shyly.

"We'll talk about this. Yes. We will. I want—I need—I need to tell you so many things…" he said. And he reached over and took her hand and smiled and led her down the stairs to the dinner table.