Bwaha, the climax you've been waiting for...

"Kelly, Tanner called," Kelly's mother told him as soon as he walked in the door after practice.

"I just saw him—what did he want?"

Kasey hadn't been there today. Kelly had thought about going to her house, but he remembered that she had threatened to have him chased off.

"He said it was something important about the team, but he wouldn't say what it was."

Kelly sighed. "OK. Guess I better call him back."

When Kelly got Tanner on the phone, the younger boy said, "It's about Kasey."

"I thought it was about the team."

"This is about the cruddy team, Kelly. We need Kasey back. And you're not the only one who's been keeping an eye on her."

Kelly frowned at the wall. "So?"

"So, Bobby Meyers is having a keg party tonight while his folks are away. Kasey's going."

"How do you even know this stuff?" Kelly asked incredulously.

"Carmen told me but he said not tell you he told me."

Kelly rolled his eyes. "Right. What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Follow her! Spy on 'er, keep an eye on 'er, make sure she doesn't get in trouble… duh."

"Is that what you'd do?"

"Sure, except if anyone in the area sees me, they'll know I'm up to something—I'm not the right age to go to a party like that," Tanner said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, you'd better get ready now if you're gonna try to fit in. I gotta go." He hung up.

Kelly stared at the phone in his hand for a while. Sometimes he didn't know what to do with Tanner.

"Hey, Mom? Could you… give me a quick haircut?"

Kelly kept a very low profile. He showed up a little late, when the kids were already starting to act tipsy, so his arrival wouldn't attract much attention. Bobby's house had a very large closed-in porch at the back, and that was where everyone was partying.

He spotted Kasey sitting in a corner with her trademark water bottle and he smiled, remembering the beer-sipping lesson he'd given her in Houston. Apparently she still didn't like alcohol enough to try it.

Someone passed Kelly a Styrofoam cup and he took it mechanically, not wanting to disrupt the atmosphere. He pretended to drink from it now and then as he searched the room for Bobby.

There he was—he'd gone to Kasey's seat and offered her a drink from his beer bottle. Kelly could tell when she turned him down. With a devious smirk, Bobby leaned over to her and said something very quietly.

Kelly wished he knew what Bobby had said; the nervous look on Kasey's face made him imagine the worst possibilities. She brushed at the hair hanging around her face with one hand, and Kelly realized he'd seen the gesture before when Kasey was embarrassed or worried. Don't let him do that to you, Kas, he thought.

A moment later Bobby was leading Kasey through the porch's screen door. Kelly wandered slowly to one of the large, screened windows and observed the direction the two shadowy forms took. He waited a moment, then slipped out the door after them.

Bobby and Kasey were walking down a little path that went between some shaped bushes in the back garden. Kelly crept behind one of the bushes and listened, hardly daring to breathe for fear of missing something important.

"They're really bright tonight," Bobby said.

"You should see it from my place," Kasey answered. "The sky's a lot more open…" she broke off suddenly.

"What?" Bobby's voice sounded irritated.

"I don't want you to kiss me. Not now. Not tonight."

"Why not? It's a nice warm night, the stars are beautiful…"

"…and there's a keg party going on behind us. Not very romantic."

Bobby growled. "What is it with all this hard-to-get crap? What's it take?"

Kelly didn't know what to think yet, but he knew he didn't have grounds to interfere, so he listened harder than ever.

"I'm not playing hard to get," Kasey protested.

"Yeah? Show me."

"Bobby… Bobby, let's wait until some other time…" Kasey's voice sounded near panic now. "You've been drinking remember? You—"

"Shut up!"

Kelly heard something that sounded like a slap. He abandoned his quiet crouching and jogged around the bushes.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that," Kasey was saying in a pleading tone. "Wait—"

Kelly could see their dark figures more clearly now that his eyes had adjusted. Bobby had his arms around Kasey's waist and he seemed to be holding her tightly against him while she leaned away.

Bobby pulled his hand back, but a vice-like grip kept him from bringing it down on Kasey.

"Let her go," Kelly said in a tight voice like cold metal.

Bobby did let go of Kasey, stepping back and lunging at Kelly, shouting something ugly as he came.

Kelly ducked and delivered a heavy blow to Bobby's stomach. He came back up and used a sweeping kick to knock Bobby off his feet. He twisted Bobby's arm (which he had never let go of) around behind Bobby's back until he gasped in pain.

"I'm only gonna say this once," Kelly told his victim. "Next time you touch her, I'll break your arm. Got that?"

"Y-yeah."

"Good." Kelly got up, took Kasey's hand and led her quickly away. When they were back in the dim light from the porch windows they heard Bobby yelling after them.

"You're dead meat, Leak! You're dead where you stand! Just you wait…"

Then Kelly was starting his bike and they couldn't hear him anymore. Kasey silently climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

When they got out on the road, Kelly felt the weight of Kasey's head on his shoulder.

There will be one more chapter to wrap things up. :)