Chapter 5: Kylie,Kylie, Kylie

Kelsey spent the entire hockey practice watching from the sideline with Coach Orion. Julie had been right, and their coach agreed that she would not be benched for any games unless her arm had not healed properly. He was not too pleased that she decided against reporting Riley's antics to the dean, but also understood there would be no way that the dean would punish him. After practice, Dean graciously offered to walk her home, leaving Charlie feeling put off for not beating Portman to the option. The duo walked quickly to Kelsey's apartment, with her joking about his "manly" smell.

The only thing preventing him from chasing Kelsey the rest of the way to her place was the fact that she did have a broken arm. After getting into the house, Kelsey quickly slipped off her shoes as Portman tossed all of her things into the armchair by the door.

" You could stay for dinner," she offered, hoping she wasn't blushing.

She had spent the moments Coach Orion was doing his job thinking about how confused she was. Both Charlie and Dean were great guys, with differing personalities, yet she liked the company of both. Charlie was the type of guy she always had crushes on, while Dean was someone who had been a childhood friend. A rebellious childhood friend who had grown into a handsome bad boy.

" Babe, with the rank I have going on-"

" I do have a shower upstairs. So, go take one." she replied without really thinking. She caught the look on his face and added, "Besides, you promised me that you would help with my biology assignment that I barely managed to get an extension on."

Portman conceded and started up the stairs. " Any chance in you joining me, babe?"

Kelsey felt her jaw drop. " You better be thanking your lucky stars you're already up the stairs and that my arm is broken."

Portman laughed as he finished climbing the stairs.

Kelsey made her way into the kitchen, noticing a note her father had left on the fridge:

Kels,

I left you money on the table, so order yourself a pizza. Save me some, and no anchovies! I'll see you as soon as I get off of work.

-Dad

Kelsey shook her head after she finished reading the note, and went to the living room. After searching the phone book for a pizza place, she put in an order for two pizzas. No sooner had she hung up the phone, Portman came down the stairs, his damp black hair slicked back.

He winked at Kelsey as he picked up her bag and started towards the kitchen. The teenage girl followed behind him, shaking her head over his antics.

" I cannot believe I have to work with Kylie." Kelsey moaned an hour later as Dean threw down the pencil in triumph.

They had finished her biology assignment, with Portman claiming he had never written so much in his life.

" Well, you should tell Mr. Clark that ya want a new partner." Portman said with a shrug.

" Yeah, but there isn't much of a point. I'll just have to do the whole project by myself." Kelsey said dully.

On the table in front of them sat a half eaten pizza, along with a nearly empty two liter of Pepsi.

" You'll manage." Portman assured her as he helped himself to more of the food.

" It's just a pain to have to do all of the work, then still contribute to a speech."

" You could just ask to do the project on your own. Mr. Clark is a cool dude."

Kelsey opened her mouth to reply, but was stopped by the phone ringing.

" I'll be back in a moment." she uttered as she went into the living room and picked up the phone.

" Hello." Julie's voice came through the line. " Is Kelsey there?"

" Hey, it's me. Are you still studying with Scooter?" Kelsey asked, sitting on the arm of the couch.

" He went back to his college dorm 30 minutes ago. So, is everything okay? Do you need me to come over?" Julie asked, sounding rather guilty.

" No, it's ok. Portman is over." she answered before continuing with the one subject on her mind. " So, who do you have to do your project with?"

" Guy." Julie sighed. " I'll probably have to do most of it. Who do you have to do yours with?"

" Kylie. This is going to be torture." Kelsey groaned.

" I feel sorry for you." Julie said.

" That's nice to know." Kelsey said sarcastically. " It's the general consensus of everyone who knows. But, I guess I'll manage. It's better than having Averman or Luis."

" That is so true. I actually think they're partnered together, though." Julie laughed.

" I pity that class period." Kelsey agreed as she chuckled. " And, poor Mr. Clark."

" Well, I have to call my parents now." Julie said as they stopped laughing. " I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright."

" Bye." Kelsey said before hanging up the phone.

" So, who was it?" Portman asked as he finished another slice of pizza, his dark eyes narrowing.

" Julie."

" What's the Cat Lady up to?" he asked nonchalantly, hoping Kelsey didn't pick up the noticeable difference in his mood.

" Not much. She has to do her project with Guy. I wish I was her." Kelsey said wistfully as she sat down. She tried to tear a slice of pizza from the three that were left, but had difficulty.

Portman held the other slices down so she could tear a piece off. He knew that she hated having everything done for her.

" You know, you could play a game on my Playstation if you want." she offered as she swallowed a bite of the pizza.

" Dude, what games do you have?" Portman said excitedly, grateful for the escape from listening to Kelsey complain about their history projects.

" Pretty much everything." she shrugged, realizing that it sounded pretty snobbish as she said it. " But, my favorite is Resident Evil."

Portman took that as a hint to play that game, so he got up from the kitchen table and headed into the living room.

" It's in the shelf that the television is sitting on." Kelsey said as she came into the room with the rest of the pizza balanced precariously on a plate.

Portman took the plate from her and set it onto the couch. " You stay put while I get the soda."

Kelsey rolled her eyes as she sat down on the sofa, and waited for him to come back into the room.

" Everything is already plugged in," she explained as he sat their glasses down onto the floor next to the sofa. " Do you know how to play it?"

" Yeah. My cousin has this game."

Kelsey watched Portman play the game until she began to yawn from being tired. She checked the time as Portman cleaned up the living room, and a frown crossed her face.

" My dad should have been here an hour ago." Kelsey said, becoming upset.

Caleb was rarely ever late, and the times that he was, he would always call his daughter to keep her from worrying.

" Maybe he has to work later than you thought." Portman said as he placed their glasses into the sink.

" But, he promised he would be here on time." Kelsey said worriedly as she followed him into the kitchen.

" Calm down. Call to see if he is at work." Portman suggested, knowing that he sounded uncaring, but he just didn't want her to worry over nothing.

"Okay." Kelsey went back into the living room, picked up the phone, and dialed the number. "Hi, Mrs. Roseland, it's Kelsey. Is my dad still at the office?"

" He left nearly two hours ago. Hasn't he called you or anything?" the secretary said.

" No. Thanks, though." Kelsey hung up the phone, a flash of panic going through her body.

" Was he there?" Portman asked as he came out of the kitchen.

" He left two hours ago. Maybe he got caught in traffic." Kelsey thought aloud.

" I doubt it. Rush hour was nearly five hours ago." Portman said, cringing when he realized that he was not helping to calm her down at all.

Kelsey's pondering frown turned into a deeper one as bad thoughts came to mind.

" Okay, Kelsey, just calm down. Maybe he had to do something." Portman said, trying to calm her down.

" Maybe." Kelsey was now on the verge of tears.

" It's okay." Portman said soothingly, moving closer to her to rub her right arm.

Kelsey put her good arm around him and began to cry.

" It's going to be okay. Don't worry." he said trying to get her to quit crying.

He knew he was not making things any better, but did not know what to tell the crying girl in front of him. 'This would be a good time to have one of the chicks around.' he thought glumly as he wrapped his arms around Kelsey's waist and pulled her closer. She continued to sob as he awkwardly rubbed the small of her back, hoping her dad would show up soon.

No sooner had the thought been borne, the telephone began to ring.

A.N.- Thank you guys so much for continuing to read this work of fiction :-) I am so grateful for all of the wonderful readers who have added this story to their favorite stories list. You all are so awesome! Feel free to leave any comments of criticisms :-)