the prom queen

chapter thirteen

k e e f e   s e n c e n

keefe woke up with a massive headache. he really should've drank more water before practice yesterday. the only thing that distracted him from his head pain was his eye. it was still throbbing from yesterday. luckily sophie had iced it, he was sure it would've been much worse if she hadn't. when his eyes lazily drifted over to his alarm clock it showed it was 8:00. wait. school started in fifteen minutes!!
he darted out of his bed and ran to his closet. keefe quickly picked out a pair of blue jeans, slipped them on then moved over to his dresser. he grabbed one of his favorite black polo shirts from the top drawer and pulled it over his head. he used the gel in front of him to style his hair in a perfect 'i woke up like this' look. keefe gave his hair one last ruffle before slinging his backpack over his shoulder and running out of the house.
checking his watch, keefe had ten minutes before he had to be at school and it took roughly three minutes to drive there. he slowed his pace and slid into his car. keefe buckled himself, turned on the radio, and drove to foxfire. when he arrived he waited in his car for a little to finish listening to a song. keefe was surveying his car when a purple flash caught his eye in the rearview mirror. he did a double take when he realized the flash he'd seen was the swollen bump on his eye. "gosh." it looked worse than when he'd gotten it.
it wasn't very attractive either. he could try going for the tough and cool 'yeah i got in a fight' look or he could cover it up. keefe decided to go with the latter. in front of the rearview mirror was a little compartment to store your sunglasses in. praying he'd left them in his car, keefe slowly opened it nervously hoping they were there. he let out a breath of relief when he found a gorgeous blue eyed boy staring back at him. keefe's sunglasses were the mirrored kind that you could see yourself in.
the morning bell went off and keefe was late to spanish. he rushed into the classroom and took a seat in the back, hoping no one would notice. "you know you're wearing sunglasses, right?" fitz whispered to keefe as he motioned out to the window. it was pouring outside and the sun was no where in sight. fitz was, no doubt, making fun of keefe for trying to hide his black eye with sunglasses. when he turned to look at him, fitz looked completely healed from the bruises on his face. he was a little stunned.
fitz caught him gawking and rolled his eyes "biana insisted that i covered them up so she drenched me in concealer." keefe couldn't help but laugh.
"fitz, miss foxfire is next week. you know that right?"
"shut up." fitz said trying to suppress a smile.
miss foxfire was an annual tradition on the wednesday before prom. the week of prom was spirit week. people would dress up in whatever the theme was, decided by the student council. their school got really into it. keefe had seen posters around school that announced each theme of the day but he hadn't had time to write them down in his phone. the wednesday of spirit week is typically just for guys to dress up but the girls still have a role in it. guys dressed up in cheerleading uniforms or any other girl related sport/activity outfit and spent the day acting like girls. the girls would go onto the school website and vote for the best dressed guy. the top three boys would learn a dance or cheer routine and perform it at the end of the day in the gym. the boy with the loudest cheers won the competition and title of miss foxfire. it was very competitive. seniors tended to win more often, keefe was sure he had it in the bag this year.
sra. rojas, the spanish teacher, was sounding out the word "vegetales" with the class. keefe and fitz were paying absolutely no attention and goofing off in the back instead. half way through class, when they were supposed to be practicing for their oral presentations due next week, fitz turned to keefe with a serious expression on his face. "look, dude. i'm sorry about yesterday. it was a shit thing to say and i was completely out of line."
keefe was appreciative for the apology, fitz wasn't the nicest guy out there but what he said was pretty out of character for him. "it's alright man. you're just lucky sophie didn't hear." fitz nodded in agreement and then went back to practicing his presentation. he was feeling pretty proud of himself. sophie was getting more and more popular each day, now that she was on the cheerleading team they were sure to boost her up the social ladder. her clothes were still...questionable but hopefully today would be the day to change up her style.
"wanna hang out after school?" fitz asked. they didn't have football practice on thursdays so today was one of the few days they had their afternoon free.
"can't."
"why not? dex is bringing over his entire collection of the COD games and we're gonna play 'til our thumbs can't move any longer." he said in his crisp accent that made all the girls fling themselves at him. "plus biana's gonna be out so you don't have to worry about running into her." fitz added.
though the offer was tempting, keefe had to decline. "as much as i'd like to blow some brains up, i'm hanging out with sophie." fitz groaned and hung his head back.
"when i started this bet i figured you would just bring her to prom with you. i didn't think you'd actually be trying to fix her up. c'mon keefe we both know it's a waste of time. there's no way she can beat biana in less than two weeks even if you manage to change her image."
keefe rolled his eyes but didn't change his mind. "how about this, i'll sit with you guys at lunch today and we can reschedule saving the world for over this weekend." he suggested.
"fine." fitz huffed.
ding! ding! ding! first period was over and he had a ten minute break before chemistry started. keefe gathered his stuff and walked out of spanish. he hadn't got much sleep last night, keefe was up trying to find a comfortable position that didn't hurt his eye. a nice quick nap was just what he needed to get through the day. he went to the nurses office and put on his most charming smile. after shinning his most irresistible grin at nurse olsen she let him take a power nap on one of the cots.
he set a timer on his phone for ten minutes just in case the bell didn't wake him. ding! ding! ding! my gosh. keefe thought when he woke up from his nap. instead of feeling super energized and ready to finish his day, keefe wanted to go right back to sleep. he was more tired than ever and his nap had lasted like two seconds long. he was already late for chemistry but somehow managed to arrive to class before his teacher.
"where've you been?" keefe asked sophie as he took his seat.
"in class." sophie stated with judgemental tone. "where else would i be?"
"don't lie, you weren't in spanish this morning."
sophie smacked her head and let out a sigh. "keefe i'm not in your spanish class. i had history. i don't even take spanish! i'm in latin!"
"then who was- oh you know what i'm thinking of linh. sorry you guys both have super goth outfits." keefe laughed. sophie sneered at him and focused to the front where the teacher had just arrived. marella had overheard their conversation and was giggling to herself.
"nice one." she whispered across the table.