Our Time In High School- KotLC AU

Town Hall

Sophie's POV:
The drive to school was quiet. I opened my mouth to say something, to ask Keefe why he was sleeping in his car, to ask him if he had had anything to eat. I tore my eyes away from the road to try and ask him all these things, but his back was turned away from me and his gaze was fixed out the window. He obviously didn't want to talk. Okay.
I bit my tongue. Another five minutes went by before I let out a long sigh that bit through the awkward silence. Keefe turned to look a me with a cocked eyebrow. "What?"
I glanced at him. "Are you sure you're okay?"
He turned away from me. "Stop."
"If you need a place to stay, my home is always open, Keefe."
He turned his gaze back to me, his eyes now darker. "No, it's not."
"What? Yes, it is, I can set up the pullout, it's super comfy and-"
"Sophie just stop!"
I felt a searing redness creep up my chest and neck and flinched at the way he had just raised his voice. Humiliating tears sprung to the back of my eyes and I blinked them quickly away.
"Sophie, all you do is push, push, push," Keefe said, reaching up and running long fingers through his hair in frustration. "I get that you're trying to help, but you don't have a single clue about the real world, or about my family so just leave me alone. I don't need you're help- I certainly never will."
I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel, trying not to let all my tears fall from why eyes. I didn't understand why Keefe was so mad. I was worried about him. How was he surviving nights in such cold weather?
I pushed the thoughts away. He'd made it clear that it wasn't my problem. My embarrassment snapped to anger abruptly. If he didn't want my help, fine, he could sleep in his car. I didn't care. From now on, we were simply peers.
I cleared my throat. "We're going to Town hall today for the newspaper entry. You better be there."
I tried to make my voice steady and carefree, as if I wasn't affected by his hurtful words. I was good at hiding my emotions.
Keefe grunted in agreement.
The rest of car ride was quiet.

. . .

The steps up to town hall were made of marble. Mine and Keefe's steps echoed in the silence. We hadn't spoken since the drive this morning so I was left to my own thoughts. I wondered if I would see my dad in his office- he was the the mayor after all. I turned to Keefe.
"Take pictures, we'll need lots for the paper."
He didn't say anything back, instead just raised the camera lens up to his face and his brows contorted in beautiful concentration.
I looked away. I hated him.
We continued through the marble building, passing by large framed headshots of all past mayors. At the end of the row, my fathers shiny bald head and hardened brown-black eyes glared down at me.
"Is that your dad?" Keefe whispered.
I nodded.
I loved my father in the way family members had to. I had loved him my entire life, but I had never really liked him. He was strict, hardheaded like the rest of my family and had serious temper issues. He had never laid a hand on my mother, whether that was for his own reputation or simply because he wasn't that kind of man, I didn't know. But that had never stopped him from verbally abusing her when we were out of the prying eyes of others.
I tore my eyes away from his portrait, pointing towards his office. "He works in there."
"We'll let's go in," Keefe suggested. "We're here to interview him after all."
"Okay."
We walked over to his door, and I pushed it open, "Hey dad, we're here to interview-" I stopped mid sentence.
"Oh my God!" I yelped, bringing my hand up to pull Keefe out of the office and covering my eyes.
But nothing could erase what I had seen-
My father bent over a woman much younger than him, embracing her mostly naked body on his desk.
His gruff voice came from the closed office door. "Sophie!"
Keefe pulled me down the hall, away from his office and into the courtyard. My breath came in heaving inhales, fast and ragged. I couldn't believe what I had seen. My father was cheating? My embarrassment from Keefe seeing that nearly overwhelmed the betrayal of seeing my father.
I fell to the ground, curling into a ball and crying.
I felt Keefe sit down next to me, his arm aligned with mine. My phone buzzed in my pocket with a call I assumed was from my father, but I ignored it.
I don't know how long we sat there, snow seeping through our pants and goosebumps lining our arms.