During lunch, it was a picture of the blue Peep in the passenger seat of his truck. The message said, “Are you a parking ticket? Because you have ‘fine’ written all over you.”
Her favorite was the picture of just the index card that came during fifth period. It said, “Sorry, got hungry.” She laughed loudly at that one, earning herself a sharp reprimand from the teacher.
No doubt, he was wearing away at her resolve. She almost wanted to text him back.
Friday came quickly and the picture messages didn’t stop. Corny line after corny line appeared with a blue Peep till Keeley started to wonder how he still had any lines left.
“I’ve never seen a guy be so persistent,” Nicky whispered when Mrs. Miller turned her back.
“Me either,” Keeley confided.
Keeley’s phone vibrated again. With one eye on Mrs. Miller, she pulled it out of her pocket and into her lap. The picture message had a blue Peep and a pink Peep sitting next to each other on top of a chemistry book. With a black Sharpie, he had drawn a cell phone with a question mark next to it.
Before she could overanalyze it, she wrote:
I’m ready to talk.
She hastily put her phone away as Mrs. Miller stopped in front of her desk. “Keeley? A moment after class.”
She was nervous as she approached. She shouldn’t have used her phone in class. She knew better.
“Keeley, I want to talk about your essay.”
Her essay? Then she remembered how quickly she wrote it, right after finding out about Talon. A lot of her emotions had leaked into the writing.
Mrs. Miller continued. “I was surprised by your topic. It was very bold. I don’t see many essays about fearing the future.”
“I can redo it.” She’d written about what she knew. It was a stupid idea.
“No. I like it. It was honest and real. The whole purpose of the essay is to see you, and I did. I think the ending is what you need to work on. How is college going to help that fear? If you can connect the two, I think you’ll have a solid essay.”
Keeley was relieved, but also confused. How was college going to help her?
A funky odor hit her as she reached her locker. Pinching her nose, she dialed her locker combination and pulled. The door swung open and a large duffel bag toppled out. The smell of chemicals surrounded her, so strong her eyes teared up. Something was familiar about that bag. She pushed the bag with her foot till it was facing her. On the side, the initials ZAB were stitched into the fabric.
Zachary Andrew Brewer.
It didn’t look like football gear or clothes. When she unzipped it, she saw a small can of blue paint, a paintbrush and a roll of plastic wrap inside. The paintbrush was wrapped in a plastic bag, still wet from being used.
This wasn’t an art project, Keeley was willing to guess. This was part of a prank.
Gavin skidded to a halt beside her. Panic formed when he saw the bag in her hands.
“What is this?” she asked. When she’d allowed him to use her locker, she thought he would store books, not stuff like paint.
“U-uh …” Gavin stammered, looking uneasy. “It-it’s a bag?”
“I can see it’s Zach’s. What did he do? And don’t lie to me. I know this isn’t for school.” She had a feeling she already knew the answer.
Gavin wet his lips nervously. “I can’t say.”
“Did you guys do something to Crosswell?”
“I can’t say,” he repeated.
Keeley bit back the rest of her questions. Gavin was just doing what he was told. He didn’t dare defy the older players. If she wanted answers, she needed to go to the source. “Where’s Zach?”
“Eating lunch by the bleachers.”
She handed Gavin the bag. “You may want to get rid of this before people start asking questions.” Slamming her locker shut, Keeley marched to the football field where the bleachers stood. The football players were at the very top looking extremely pleased with themselves. “I need to talk to you,” she said, calling up to Zach.
He put his sandwich away and headed down. “What’s up?”
“Something stinks and it’s not just my locker. I saw the plastic wrap and blue paint. You did something to Talon, didn’t you?”
He gave her a long, level look. “You finally want to talk about him, and this is what you say?”
Guilt rose to the surface. She knew how hard it was for Zach not to push, and she appreciated his consideration, but she didn’t want to tell him about Talon. It was selfish, she knew that, but Zach would only complicate matters. “Is this why you pulled a prank on him? Because of what he did to me?”
“I don’t know what he did because you won’t tell me. All I know is what I heard at the train station and it didn’t sound good.”
Keeley sighed. There was no way around it. She was going to have to tell him the whole story. “It started that day at the fair. We accidentally ended up with each other’s phones and we couldn’t switch back till later because of football camp. We started texting and I got to know him.” She gave a brief rundown of the rest. “I had no idea he was JT,” Keeley said once she finished.
“How could you not know? You’ve seen him at my football games.”
“In his football gear and helmet. I’ve never seen his face.” And it wasn’t like she was paying a lot of attention to the opposing side. Her focus was on Zach, and she didn’t even bother watching the game when he was off the field.
“You don’t want to get involved with him, Keeley.”
Sometimes Zach’s competitiveness blinded him. “Just because you’re football rivals doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy.”
“You don’t know him.”
“And you do?”
His tone was fierce. “Keels, I’m not joking.”
“I can handle myself. Now what did you do to Talon?”
“His name is JT, not Talon. And why do you care?”
“I don’t think you should be starting anything.” Once Zach started something, he always finished. Even if it meant getting in trouble.
Zach ran a hand through his hair, looking exasperated. “Why are you taking his side?”
“I’m not.” Pranks weren’t going to solve anything.
“He’s just using you, Keeley.”
“Zach, I don’t want to fight with you,” she said in a calm voice, trying to placate him.
“Then stop being so damn naive and open your eyes!” yelled Zach. Conversation over. Without another glance, he headed back to his friends.
Keeley was stunned by his words. How stupid did her brother think she was?
Even worse, though, Nicky seemed to agree.
“He’s being completely ridiculous,” Keeley told her on the car ride home. “He thinks I’m taking sides just because I don’t want him playing pranks on Talon.”
Nicky eyed her, as if gauging her mood. “Well, no offense, but maybe he has a point. I know he’s been sweet with the Peeps, but the guy lied to you. Hell, he practically called you easy and you’re just letting him off.”
“I’m not letting him off,” Keeley insisted. She just remembered the way he held her.
“I hate to bring this up, but have you ever considered the possibility that he’s talking to you to get back at Zach?”