Chapter 10
Keely looked over at Phil, who was standing outside her house, and took a deep breath. Somehow looking over at him gave her confidence. So she could go in and face her mother.
She opened the door, only to find her mother and Graham sitting, looking very serious. They didn't know she was coming, right? Barb had promised. And she trusted Barb.
"Keely! Where have you been?" Mandy cried, her serious face being replaced by a relieved one. Graham looked pretty pleased himself. Mandy ran up to her, and gripped her in a hug. Keely closed the door, difficultly as her Mom hugged her, blocking Phil's view inside.
"Mom, I need to talk to you," Keely sighed, and then wriggled out of her Mom's grasp. "And for once, I need you to listen."
Mandy sighed, like she knew that this was coming, and then sat back down. "Honey, I do listen to you."
"No, you don't. You thought I still wanted to be a singer. You thought that I wanted to move out of Pickford. You thought a lot of things, but if you had taken the time to listen to me, then you would have known that I didn't want all of these things. If you had done something so simple, as to listen to what I had to say," Keely defended.
Mandy sighed. She had thought she was listening. But she obviously hadn't been listening to her daughter. Memories of Keely trying to talk to her flashed into her head. She had nodded, but had been concentrating on dinner, or her expenses. Maybe if she had listened to her daughter's problems, neither of them would be sitting here now.
"Mom, I doubt you even knew that I loved Phil," Keely said, sitting down next to her Mom.
"That isn't true. I knew that. Me and Barb both knew that, even before you did. We could see. Before you chose to admit to yourselves," Mandy said.
Keely sighed. "Mom, you guessed. But when I tried to talk to you about it, you were on the phone, or working out numbers for a client. But I'm not a client Mom, I'm your daughter. I'm more important, aren't I?"
"Of course you are," Mandy reassured her. "I was just busy…"
Keely rolled her eyes. "Not too busy as to be dating again."
"Keely, I honestly believed I was doing the right thing. I thought I listened. But I obviously didn't. And I'm sorry. But you had no right to speak to me like that last night," Mandy said, the events of the night before coming back to her.
Keely looked at her Mom in disbelief. "Yes, I did. What would you have said if your Mom had decided she was marrying someone I didn't know? And then, on the same night, she announced that you were, as a result, moving out of the town you've lived in your whole life? The town you love? The town where the one you love lives? What would you have said?"
"Probably a lot worse than you did," Mandy admitted.
Keely turned to Graham. "And what about you? What would you have told your Mom?"
"Probably something very colourful. A lot ruder than what you said last night," Graham agreed.
Keely looked at her Mom. "See? You raised me right Mom. You taught me not to swear, and not to disrespect elders. I didn't disrespect you. Okay, I told you to shut your traps a few times, and I used the word 'frikin' a lot, but I never once swore. Or said anything really bad."
"Keely -" Mandy tried to interrupt.
Keely held out her hand. "No. Let me speak. And you brought my whole world crashing down. I spoke to Barb. She told me to tell you reasons why I shouldn't move. So, here they are. Pickford is my home town. I love it. I've lived here my whole life. It's familiar. I can go out, on my own, and you know that I'll be safe. You'll know that I won't get lost. In L.A, it's bigger, it's wilder, it's crazier. Would you be able to sleep at night, knowing I was out there? Or would you just not let me out? And Phil. Phil Diffy. You know that I love him. You knew I loved him. So why the hell are you moving me away from him? I may never find anyone as good as him. Heck, I know I'll never find anyone as good as him! And then there's the fact that I've just met this guy. I met him last night. And now you want me to move in with him. And move in with him in another house. I'm sorry Mom, but that doesn't feel right to me. It doesn't feel right. And you told me never to do anything that didn't feel right. Are you going to go back on your teachings?"
Mandy sighed. She was in a dilemma. Could she really ask Graham to turn down the job? But could she move her only daughter away from the things she loved?
She was stuck.
--
Phil checked his watch. It had been almost an hour since Keely had gone in there, and she was still stuck. But since he had had a time to think, he had decided that he was going to tell Keely. No matter what.
He suddenly got a glimpse of how Keely must have felt, and still be feeling. Never knowing whether he was staying or going. Not knowing how the rest of her life was going to pan out. It sucked.
He leant against the car in the drive, and closed his eyes, hoping, wishing…
"Hi," Keely's voice came from the porch. It wasn't very loud, yet she didn't look sad. Her expression was hard to decipher. Whether or not she was moving or not was unclear.
"So?" Phil asked, standing upright, and walking over to her.
She sat down heavily on the porch, and Phil bit his lip.
"Oh. Well," Phil assumed, and then sat next to her. "Well, I promised myself that no matter what happened, I was going to tell you this. And I can't chicken out. Keely, I love you. I think I always have. Ever since Tanner. And then there was Marla. And then there was the dance thing with the bull. And the Virtu thingy. And the Ladies Choice Dance. Every little thing pointing toward the huge realisation, that I loved you. And I hope that you love me too."
Keely looked at the ground, hardly daring to believe.
"Well?" Phil asked.
Keely turned her head, and she broke into a smile. "Well, it's a good job we're not moving then, right?"
"What?" Phil yelped. "And what about what I said? What did you think about that?"
Keely hesitated, but then leaned forward and kissed him. When she pulled away, she bit her lip.
"That good, huh?" Phil asked, smiling.
Keely just smiled, and then tilted her head up towards the sun. Feeling great and feeling alive.
I love the clip of Aly & AJ's new song, that's on their Hollywood records website. Does anyone else? Woo! I know all the chorus already…!
Well anyway, probably another chapter. And I've written the first chapter of the next project, so you won't have to wait too long for that one.
Review now!
