I'm Not Real

Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Home of secrets

Nene and Darnell went to grab Pico quickly as Whitty stayed with Keith, who wanted to wait until Cherry was gone before they left for their house.

Over the summer, much like him and Cherry, they'd moved in with each other at Nene's house. After a school shooting last year, none of them really wanted to live alone. They planned for Keith to join, but Cherry wanted him at her house and he could hardly argue with her.

"You sure your leg is okay? It doesn't hurt?" Whitty asked. He had a New York italian accent that Keith just adored.
After a few seconds of silence, Keith realized he'd been daydreaming and answered by humming an empty "mhm..." And breaking their previous eye contact. "Okay then." Whitty responded, confused at the sudden lack of eye contact.

"Bleh." Keith mumbled as he stuck his tongue out slightly out of boredom and awkwardness. Whitty thought the blue haired boy's little habit was adorable and immediately understood the eye contact issue.

Only moments after Pico entered the ahead of the other two students, seeming furious. "Let me see it!" He shouted, walking up to Keith. The blue haired boy flinched and rolled up his pant leg, letting his see as Whitty put him down. "That bitch ass hoe!" Pico yelled, presumably at an absent Cherry. He sighed and tried to calm himself.

Once he seemed calmer, Whitty picked Keith up again. "What're you doin'?" He asked the taller student. "He can't walk." Whitty said simply. Pico felt a twinge of jealousy but pushed it down, unwilling to acknowledge he felt anything that had himself in mind. Keith was more important right now than a silly crush and he refused to let himself feel it.

Pico grunted in disgruntled agreement and lead to two outside. Everyone was gone from school now, the exception being the teachers and the after school clubs. They walked outside and into the school parking lot. Whitty needed to get home so he put Keith down and gave him his phone number before walking away towards the bus lane.

Pico picked Keith up almost immediately, triumphantly walking towards his car and Nene and Darnell following closely behind. Keith very much didn't appreciate being carried around like this, but what was he gonna do? Stumble around on his own?

Pico let Keith go to let him get in the passenger's seat of the car while he went into the driver's seat.

Their house wasn't far from the school, only 3 miles away, so they got there in about 7 minutes. As they passed around the school's courtyard to get on the right road, Keith noticed Cherry and the rest of her little cheer team. Cherry spotted him and winked at him. He sighed and smiled at her, weakly.

Darnell, unaware of their small interaction, threw up a middle finger and glared at the auburn haired girl. He hoped she didn't have the knife anymore, although, he admitted that she probably did. Nobody wanted to think about it, but they all knew this wasn't going to be the last time Keith was hurt by Cherry in a fit of rage. Tense air filled the vehicle after they passed, mostly of worry and discomfort.

Keith was hunched over, thinking about what he was going to do the next day. He couldn't go back to his father's house, but admittedly, it was quite dangerous to stay in Cherry's house any longer. He thought of moving in with his friends, but honestly, he felt bad for relying on them so much. Maybe it would be best to just try to pacify Cherry and stay with her? Yeah...

"We're here." One of his friends noted. He couldn't tell who in his thoughtful daze, only that they seemingly had said it a few times before given their tone of voice. He mumbled in acknowledgement, climbing out the car and trying not to agitate his leg.
Pico had earlier noticed how eager he was to get out of his arms, so instead of picking the blue haired boy up, he just tried to help him keep his balance. He was appreciative of this and smiled at the redhead.

They entered the house. It was fairly large but still felt fairly homey which was contrasted with what Keith could only describe as raw chaotic energy. Or maybe just clutter-core. Either way it was an immediate hit for him. He loved this house and he was only a few steps into it. "It's nice ain't it?" Pico commented upon glancing at Keith's awe. The timid boy only nodded and looked around.

"Wanna see something we're working on?" Nene asked, excitedly. These three were constantly working on something in the house, it was a constant work in progress even when it should be done.
They lead Keith upstairs into a corner of the house with some tools, shelves, and boxes of books.
'why would they need that many books' He asked himself. Knowing his friends well, he knew that none of them were fond of reading, unlike himself. He was interested to say the least.

They then moved the shelf to reveal a door with various crude mechanical parts attached.

They explained they were trying to make the doors to their rooms hidden, to which Keith responded, "then why the hell are you doing it like that, ya weirdos. Just attach some hinges on a shelf the size of the door and it'll open far easier than whatever monstrous mechanical bullshit this is."

Keith could be a bit of a hothead sometimes, but that was how you knew he was passionate about the project.

In other words, he was ready to help these idiots and those idiots knew as much.