Post by poft on Jul 20, 2005 19:20:52 GMT -5
Chapter 4: The Beautiful Disaster – Part B
Phil was completely exhausted both physically and mentally. These past couple of days has been so difficult. Lying itself is complicated but lying to someone who knew you better than you know yourself was almost impossible. But today was the big day. Everything was planned and ready.
Phil just exited English and walked silently beside Keely. He glanced over at her but she kept her eyes glued to the front. There was no point in trying to open up a conversation since she blatantly ignored him. At first he was afraid she was going to keep interrogating him until he told her what was really going on. But Keely just simply stopped asking and talking to him altogether after a few days of his distant attitude.
They walked to the lockers and Phil waited as she retrieved her things. She silently placed her books in his hands. He walked a few steps behind her as they quietly entered her class.
After he dropped her off, Phil went and met up with Tia as she furthered explain the plans for tonight. He was supposed to walk Keely home while Tia got his house ready. Phil wasn’t sure how he was going to get Keely to come over since she’s been mad at him this whole week.
Tia sighed, “Phil, I get the decorations, food, and drinks ready.”
“I make sure everything is perfect.”
“Your ONLY job is to get her there on time.”
“I know but..” Phil complained. Since telling him about her plan, Phil seemed to have done nothing but complained.
“No buts!”
“The party is tonight so we’ll just have to deal.” Tia commanded so Phil had no choice but to agree.
………………………………………………
“What are you doing?” Keely suddenly asked throwing her hands up in the air completely frustrated.
Phil stopped walking and looked at her oddly.
“Walking you home…”
“Why?” Keely looked at him angrily.
“You completely avoid me all week and now you want to walk me home?”
“I wasn’t avoiding you,” Phil argued even though he knew this was not going to turn out in his favor. Keely just raised her eyebrows and gave him an evil look.
“I just…had some…stuff to do.”
“That’s the best you could come up with?” Keely asked as Phil began to slowly continuing walking.
“Stuff?”
Phil sighed and stopped. He turned back and looked at Keely standing a little far off since she didn’t follow after him. Phil scratched the back of his head trying to pick his words carefully because he didn’t want to upset Keely anymore than she already is.
“Listen Keel, I promise I’ll tell you everything tonight okay?” Phil said and hoped that it would be enough for now.
“Let’s just go home and freshen up. I’ll come over around 7 and we’ll talk.”
Phil smiled at her pleadingly and reached out his hand hoping she’ll take it. Instead she only stared at his outreached palm not really looking like she’s going to move anytime soon.
“Tonight, you tell me everything.” Keely demanded as she stood a few feet away from him arms crossed.
“No more games.”
“Every. Little. Thing.” Phil replied sincerely and reached out his hand trying again.
But Keely only turned her attention ahead and walked swiftly pass Phil acting like he wasn’t even there. He sighed and followed behind her all the way home.
……………………………………..
“A little more to the left.”
“NO!”
“My left not yours.”
“Wait…your left looks better.”
Phil and Seth were standing on chairs pinning up the sign ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ across the wall. They have spent a very long deciding on the perfect place. Tia usually did all her work at the last minute, who knew she was such a perfectionist?
It was only 6:15 but some of the guests have already arrived. The food and drinks were placed neatly on the long white tables as the garage began to fill with people. They were making the last few touches before the guest of honored made her grand entrance.
Phil stood and took a look at the place. He had to admit it looked pretty good. There were different colored decorations hanging down from the ceiling. Shiny metallic ropes adorned the edge of the walls in a wavy pattern.
“Phil, what are you doing?” Tia yelled at him.
“Don’t stand there, go help Seth with the lights.”
Tia began pushing Phil towards Seth who had already started eating the chips on the table.
“SETH!”
Phil laughed as Tia began chasing Seth around the yard demanding he give back the food as he tried to shove them all in his mouth. Tia finally caught up and dragged Seth by the ear to where the boxes laid awaiting to be constructed. Phil walked towards them making sure to keep a little distance between Tia and himself. Just in case she got a little too excited.
“oh my gosh.”
Phil and Seth looked at each other and sighed. What now ,they both thought. Tia was looking though the back door and waved them over to her frantically. Just when they were going to look through the window, Tia grabbed their shirt collar and pulled them down to the floor where she sat.
“I thought you said Keely was going to be here at 7?” Tia whispered harshly at Phil choking him with her tight grip on his shirt.
“I” Phil said pulling Tia’s hand off his shirt, “did.”
“Oh really?” Tia said.
“Then why don’t you tell me why she’s in your living right now,”
“What?” Phil replied and slowly poked his head up only to see Keely walking around in the living room just like Tia said. He quickly sat back down and looked at Tia with wide eyes, not knowing what to do.
“Urgh, why do I even bother asking you to help?” Tia said very annoyed as she tried to think of a plan.
“Alright, just get in there and entertain her while I get everyone ready.”
“Think you could handle that?”
Phil was about to respond but only said, “Hurry.”
He opened the door quietly and snuck into the living room where Keely was calling out his name looking up the stairs.
“Hey Keel.” Phil said happily trying to act casual.
“You’re early.”
Keely whipped her head around and looked at him.
“Yea…are you busy?”
“No, no I was just…ahh…just cleaning up the garage.” Phil said and looked over to the kitchen when he saw Tia head’s through the window trying to tell him something. But he couldn’t understand what she was saying as he stood in the living room squinting his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Keely asked when she saw Phil making strange faces while staring in the kitchen.
“Uhh..nothing.” Phil said quickly.
“Why don’t you sit…here while I get some…water, ok?” Phil said as he led Keely to the sofa and pushed her down into the cushions. He quickly ran into the kitchen before she had time to react.
“Sure.” Keely said to the empty room and played with her hands waiting.
…………………………………..
Phil peeked around the corner making sure Keely was still sitting where he left her. Once he was sure she wasn’t going anywhere, Phil cracked the door open and looked down at the floor where Tia sat.
“The cake….it’s on the living room table.” Tia whispered at him urgently.
“WHAT?” Phil replied with his eyes wide in shock.
“Shhh….hurry up and get it before she opens it.” Tia said.
“Go!” she said as she shut the door quietly.
Phil stood there and couldn’t decide what to do. He leaned back a little and saw Keely was looking at some magazine. He took deep breath and walked slowly to where she was. Phil stopped when he realized he had forgotten to grab a glass of water so he turned back. When he returned to the living room, Keely was lifting up the cover of the box.
“Keely!” Phil jumped over the loveseat and ran right in front of her. Keely took her hand back in surprise.
“Phil, scared me.” She said holding a hand to her rapidly beating heart.
Phil laughed nervously and tried to casually push the box further down the table.
“Water?” he lifted his hand and brought the cup to her face when he noticed the glass was now empty since Phil spilled it when he dashed across the room.
“Umm….thanks,” Keely said taking the glass from his hand gently and placed it on the table.
“What’s in the box?”
“Box?” Phil asked terrified. If she looked inside then she’s going to know what was happening and he couldn’t let her do that.
“There’s….no box.”
“Yea,” Keely said pointing to it, “the one behind you.”
“Are those donuts?” Keely said excitingly.
“Phil, I’m starving.”
Keely pushed him away from the table and proceeded to pull the box closer to her.
“Keely NO!, you don’t understand…” Phil tried to distract her while pulling her hands away. He kept on trying to turn her attention away but Keely kept insisting on getting her hands on the box. He pulled and tried to grasp her hands while she snatched and pushed his away. Not knowing what else to do, Phil did the only thing he was able to as they stood there struggling.
Desperate times calls for desperate measures was his last thought before Phil sat right on top of the box, squashing the entire content flat on the table. He could feel the ice cream seeping through his cargo pants as they sat there perfectly still. Keely slowly leaned back and stared at Phil as if he was insane.
“Well….now we know it wasn’t doughnuts,” Phil laughed as he tried to ease the tension. He slowly stood up with bits and pieces of cake sticking to his pants.
“Could you just…excuse me for…one minute?” Phil asked raising a figure up and air and began backing away to the bathroom. Keely just sat there still looking at the smashed cake in shock.
He shut the door quickly and leaned his head against the tiles breathing roughly. Phil glanced at the mirrors behind and closed his eyes when he was the stains. How was he going to explain this to Tia?
Phil took the towels nearby and tried his best to clean the mess up but that didn’t really seem to help. Oh well, he thought throwing the towels into the laundry basket before opening the door.
Once he reached the living room, the first thing he noticed was that Keely was GONE.
“Oh no,” Phil said out loud as he began looking for her.
“KEELY” Phil yelled running around the house looking for her.
“Ke..” Phil stopped when he noticed the back door was opened. He quickly burst through the entrance and looked left and right. Suddenly he spotted her talking to Seth who was holding birthday caps behind his back. Phil ran up to them quickly before Seth said too much.
“Keely,” Phil panted putting a hand on her arm. He looked at Seth who only shrugged his shoulders.
“I thought you said you cleaned the garage Phil,” Keely asked looking around.
“What’s with all the confetti?”
“Uhh….” Phil also glanced at the yard and noticed all the ribbons and strings that were still lying on the lawn.
“I didn’t…”
“What are those lights?” Keely asked noticing the different colored lights that illuminated the garage as she slowly made her way to it.
“NOTHING!” Phil and Seth said at the same time while running up and standing right in front of her.
“Are you sure?” Keely asked pushing her way through the two of them, “cause I could hear talking.”
She reached out and grasp the knob while Phil and Seth pulled her away. There was pushing and shoving when finally they finally able to restrain her.
“What is wrong with you?” Keely yelled as the two of them begin taking her back inside the house.
“Keely, trust me you don’t want to know what’s inside.” Phil said struggling to control his grip on her arms.
“Let go of…. WHOA.” Keely shrieked when the all toppled over since Seth lost his footing and caused the three of them to land roughly against the door.
BAM!!
Phil’s face was flat against the door and he was being squashed as Keely and Seth leaned all their weight against him.
Suddenly the door poped opened and brought the three of them straight to the ground. Everyone stopped talking as they stared at the trio on the floor. Keely took a hand and rubbed the bump on her head as she slowly picked herself off the ground stepping the Phil and Seth in the process. They deserved it, she thought when Keely looked up and noticed all the faces that were looking at them.
Keely raised her eyes higher and she saw the giant poster stapled to the wall. ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEELY!’ She stood there in shock as she looked at all the decorations and posters and….
“Surprise,” Phil whispered behind her holding the back of his head.
Keely turned around suddenly and looked at Phil straight in the eye.
“You guys…did all this….for me?” she asked her voice full of astonishment.
Phil just looked and smiled softy at her.
“oh my gosh,” Tia said entering the garage behind Seth.
“I leave for one minute…”
Suddenly she noticed Keely was standing there in front and looked at Phil and Seth accusingly.
“You two!”
“I knew I couldn’t depend on you guys.”
“All you had….”
Tia could no longer continue her rant because in an instant Keely rushed into her arms and hugged her tightly. Tia slowly raised her hands and gripped Keely.
“Thank you,” Keely said in a teary voice looking at her good friend.
Tia laughed while her eyes began to tear up also, “Well. I wanted to surprise you…”
“Tia, I’m way beyond surprise,” Keely answered as they both laughed and hugged each other again sharing a moment that could only be understood between two girls. Keely was so touched that the most important people in her life, went through all the trou….
“So can we eat now?” Seth asked softly causing everyone to laugh.
……………………………………………
“Today was sooo perfect,” Keely laughed as they walked along the sidewalk.
“Are you kidding me?” Phil smiled thinking about all the things that went wrong.
“It was a disaster.”
“Really?” Keely asked looking over at Phil.
“I thought it was…beautiful.”
The party was amazing and everyone had a great time. Despite all the kinks in the plan, everything turned out for the better and Tia was extremely pleased. Well that was until she heard about the cake, Phil laughed. He didn’t understand why she was so angry; he was the one walking around with it stuck to his pants.
It was 1 in the morning and he was walking Keely home. It was a nice clear night with hundreds of star blanketing the sky in tiny twinkles. The weather was no longer hot since summer had ended months ago. The street lamps illuminated the road they walked on with a soft and yellowish glow.
Phil and Keely continued to talk and laugh about the events earlier when they reached her porch. Her front light was off but the TV could be seen through the curtains signaling that her mom was home. Keely took a seat on stairs patting a spot for Phil next to her.
They sat like that for a while looking up at looking up at the moon above. Phil unzipped his jacket and reached inside. He pulled out a white envelope and Keely looked at him curiously when he handed it to her.
“You already got me something,” Keely said not accepting his offer.
“Since when did you complain about getting too many gifts?” Phil laughed and pushed it into her hands.
“I’ve spent the last couple of months editing your demo tapes,” he began to explained as Keely tore opened the envelope.
“I sent it to a couple of schools and it was kinda hard since you couldn’t show up to any of the interviews but…”
“oh my gosh.” Keely looked up from the paper she was reading and looked at him.
“Breath Keel,” he reminded seriously when she began to turn blue. Keely threw herself into his arms with such force that it also knocked him over. Phil laughed and held onto her tightly.
“Phil this is amazing,” Keely said when they pulled away, “how did you do this?” she asked looking back at the piece of paper in her hands.
”Well at first no one really took it seriously but I kept on writing and sending them your tapes and finally Columbia responded.”
“So anyway, they wrote back and said they couldn’t really consider you since you missed all the deadlines for interviews.”
“Luckily, the dean of journalism called a couple of days afterwards and said he was going to be in the neighborhood and wanted to meet you.”
Keely remained silent and stared at the letter not quite believing it was real.
“Phil…”
“Hey,” Phil whispered softly as her eyes began to water. He reached out and gently brushed away the first tear that escaped.
“I don’t think these are allowed on birthdays,” Phil said catching all her fallen teardrops.
“These are happy ones,” Keely said thickly as a lump formed in her throat. She scooted closer and laid her head against his chest listening to the beat of his heart. Phil wrapped his arms around Keely’s shoulder as they lay on the stairs lost in their own thoughts.
“Look!” Phil pointed to the sky, “a shooting star.”
Keely followed the comet as it made a streak of light across the sky.
“Make a wish,” Phil said softly beside her.
Keely continued to look at the star long after it disappeared behind the hillside. She sat there an arm wrapped around Phil’s waist and him hugging her close. The only sound came from the crickets underneath the rocks and every so often a star would twinkle down at them. Keely closed her eyes and welcomed the soft breeze caressing her face.
“This is all I’ve ever wanted,” she said looking up at him brilliantly. All the stars would be jealous if they only they knew how bright Keely’s eyes shown tonight.
“Sure you don’t wanna wish for some cake?” Phil teased not wanting to for this moment to turn into something awkward again. Lately, things would always get a little uncomfortable when the moment got too intimate.
Keely pretended to consider the option, “Well now that you brought it up….” Keely laughed and let her voice trailed off as she nested her head on Phil’s chest. She breathed in deeply, “Thanks Phil.”
Phil rested his chin on top of her head breathing in her fruity shampoo, “For what?”
“For everything,” Keely whispered in a sleepy voice. His only response was to pull her closer with a heavy heart. Things were beginning to change between them. It was confusing and extremely terrifying. There was so much he needed her to know but so little he wanted to tell her. This seemed like the perfect moment to let Keely know what was happening but their friendship means the world to him and that didn’t leave much room for mistakes.
Phil sighed looking at the sky above and wondered…..where were they supposed to go from here?
Mrs. Teslow looked at her daughter behind the curtains, smiling at the innocent picture before her eyes. She didn’t know if they realized it yet but soon their friendship won’t be enough anymore. It was inevitable actually and everyone anticipated for it to happen. But no one expected it to take this long. She hoped that Phil and Keely approached this slowly and carefully since their simple relationship was about to get a lot more complicated.
It was either going to be something beautiful or a complete disaster. Either way, love never came easy.
.......e.n.d.c.h.a.p.t.e.r.4........
NOTE: to be honest, i have no idea where this story is going =( so hopefully, i'll have a guideline by next time. thanks for reading guys!
Phil was completely exhausted both physically and mentally. These past couple of days has been so difficult. Lying itself is complicated but lying to someone who knew you better than you know yourself was almost impossible. But today was the big day. Everything was planned and ready.
Phil just exited English and walked silently beside Keely. He glanced over at her but she kept her eyes glued to the front. There was no point in trying to open up a conversation since she blatantly ignored him. At first he was afraid she was going to keep interrogating him until he told her what was really going on. But Keely just simply stopped asking and talking to him altogether after a few days of his distant attitude.
They walked to the lockers and Phil waited as she retrieved her things. She silently placed her books in his hands. He walked a few steps behind her as they quietly entered her class.
After he dropped her off, Phil went and met up with Tia as she furthered explain the plans for tonight. He was supposed to walk Keely home while Tia got his house ready. Phil wasn’t sure how he was going to get Keely to come over since she’s been mad at him this whole week.
Tia sighed, “Phil, I get the decorations, food, and drinks ready.”
“I make sure everything is perfect.”
“Your ONLY job is to get her there on time.”
“I know but..” Phil complained. Since telling him about her plan, Phil seemed to have done nothing but complained.
“No buts!”
“The party is tonight so we’ll just have to deal.” Tia commanded so Phil had no choice but to agree.
………………………………………………
“What are you doing?” Keely suddenly asked throwing her hands up in the air completely frustrated.
Phil stopped walking and looked at her oddly.
“Walking you home…”
“Why?” Keely looked at him angrily.
“You completely avoid me all week and now you want to walk me home?”
“I wasn’t avoiding you,” Phil argued even though he knew this was not going to turn out in his favor. Keely just raised her eyebrows and gave him an evil look.
“I just…had some…stuff to do.”
“That’s the best you could come up with?” Keely asked as Phil began to slowly continuing walking.
“Stuff?”
Phil sighed and stopped. He turned back and looked at Keely standing a little far off since she didn’t follow after him. Phil scratched the back of his head trying to pick his words carefully because he didn’t want to upset Keely anymore than she already is.
“Listen Keel, I promise I’ll tell you everything tonight okay?” Phil said and hoped that it would be enough for now.
“Let’s just go home and freshen up. I’ll come over around 7 and we’ll talk.”
Phil smiled at her pleadingly and reached out his hand hoping she’ll take it. Instead she only stared at his outreached palm not really looking like she’s going to move anytime soon.
“Tonight, you tell me everything.” Keely demanded as she stood a few feet away from him arms crossed.
“No more games.”
“Every. Little. Thing.” Phil replied sincerely and reached out his hand trying again.
But Keely only turned her attention ahead and walked swiftly pass Phil acting like he wasn’t even there. He sighed and followed behind her all the way home.
……………………………………..
“A little more to the left.”
“NO!”
“My left not yours.”
“Wait…your left looks better.”
Phil and Seth were standing on chairs pinning up the sign ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ across the wall. They have spent a very long deciding on the perfect place. Tia usually did all her work at the last minute, who knew she was such a perfectionist?
It was only 6:15 but some of the guests have already arrived. The food and drinks were placed neatly on the long white tables as the garage began to fill with people. They were making the last few touches before the guest of honored made her grand entrance.
Phil stood and took a look at the place. He had to admit it looked pretty good. There were different colored decorations hanging down from the ceiling. Shiny metallic ropes adorned the edge of the walls in a wavy pattern.
“Phil, what are you doing?” Tia yelled at him.
“Don’t stand there, go help Seth with the lights.”
Tia began pushing Phil towards Seth who had already started eating the chips on the table.
“SETH!”
Phil laughed as Tia began chasing Seth around the yard demanding he give back the food as he tried to shove them all in his mouth. Tia finally caught up and dragged Seth by the ear to where the boxes laid awaiting to be constructed. Phil walked towards them making sure to keep a little distance between Tia and himself. Just in case she got a little too excited.
“oh my gosh.”
Phil and Seth looked at each other and sighed. What now ,they both thought. Tia was looking though the back door and waved them over to her frantically. Just when they were going to look through the window, Tia grabbed their shirt collar and pulled them down to the floor where she sat.
“I thought you said Keely was going to be here at 7?” Tia whispered harshly at Phil choking him with her tight grip on his shirt.
“I” Phil said pulling Tia’s hand off his shirt, “did.”
“Oh really?” Tia said.
“Then why don’t you tell me why she’s in your living right now,”
“What?” Phil replied and slowly poked his head up only to see Keely walking around in the living room just like Tia said. He quickly sat back down and looked at Tia with wide eyes, not knowing what to do.
“Urgh, why do I even bother asking you to help?” Tia said very annoyed as she tried to think of a plan.
“Alright, just get in there and entertain her while I get everyone ready.”
“Think you could handle that?”
Phil was about to respond but only said, “Hurry.”
He opened the door quietly and snuck into the living room where Keely was calling out his name looking up the stairs.
“Hey Keel.” Phil said happily trying to act casual.
“You’re early.”
Keely whipped her head around and looked at him.
“Yea…are you busy?”
“No, no I was just…ahh…just cleaning up the garage.” Phil said and looked over to the kitchen when he saw Tia head’s through the window trying to tell him something. But he couldn’t understand what she was saying as he stood in the living room squinting his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Keely asked when she saw Phil making strange faces while staring in the kitchen.
“Uhh..nothing.” Phil said quickly.
“Why don’t you sit…here while I get some…water, ok?” Phil said as he led Keely to the sofa and pushed her down into the cushions. He quickly ran into the kitchen before she had time to react.
“Sure.” Keely said to the empty room and played with her hands waiting.
…………………………………..
Phil peeked around the corner making sure Keely was still sitting where he left her. Once he was sure she wasn’t going anywhere, Phil cracked the door open and looked down at the floor where Tia sat.
“The cake….it’s on the living room table.” Tia whispered at him urgently.
“WHAT?” Phil replied with his eyes wide in shock.
“Shhh….hurry up and get it before she opens it.” Tia said.
“Go!” she said as she shut the door quietly.
Phil stood there and couldn’t decide what to do. He leaned back a little and saw Keely was looking at some magazine. He took deep breath and walked slowly to where she was. Phil stopped when he realized he had forgotten to grab a glass of water so he turned back. When he returned to the living room, Keely was lifting up the cover of the box.
“Keely!” Phil jumped over the loveseat and ran right in front of her. Keely took her hand back in surprise.
“Phil, scared me.” She said holding a hand to her rapidly beating heart.
Phil laughed nervously and tried to casually push the box further down the table.
“Water?” he lifted his hand and brought the cup to her face when he noticed the glass was now empty since Phil spilled it when he dashed across the room.
“Umm….thanks,” Keely said taking the glass from his hand gently and placed it on the table.
“What’s in the box?”
“Box?” Phil asked terrified. If she looked inside then she’s going to know what was happening and he couldn’t let her do that.
“There’s….no box.”
“Yea,” Keely said pointing to it, “the one behind you.”
“Are those donuts?” Keely said excitingly.
“Phil, I’m starving.”
Keely pushed him away from the table and proceeded to pull the box closer to her.
“Keely NO!, you don’t understand…” Phil tried to distract her while pulling her hands away. He kept on trying to turn her attention away but Keely kept insisting on getting her hands on the box. He pulled and tried to grasp her hands while she snatched and pushed his away. Not knowing what else to do, Phil did the only thing he was able to as they stood there struggling.
Desperate times calls for desperate measures was his last thought before Phil sat right on top of the box, squashing the entire content flat on the table. He could feel the ice cream seeping through his cargo pants as they sat there perfectly still. Keely slowly leaned back and stared at Phil as if he was insane.
“Well….now we know it wasn’t doughnuts,” Phil laughed as he tried to ease the tension. He slowly stood up with bits and pieces of cake sticking to his pants.
“Could you just…excuse me for…one minute?” Phil asked raising a figure up and air and began backing away to the bathroom. Keely just sat there still looking at the smashed cake in shock.
He shut the door quickly and leaned his head against the tiles breathing roughly. Phil glanced at the mirrors behind and closed his eyes when he was the stains. How was he going to explain this to Tia?
Phil took the towels nearby and tried his best to clean the mess up but that didn’t really seem to help. Oh well, he thought throwing the towels into the laundry basket before opening the door.
Once he reached the living room, the first thing he noticed was that Keely was GONE.
“Oh no,” Phil said out loud as he began looking for her.
“KEELY” Phil yelled running around the house looking for her.
“Ke..” Phil stopped when he noticed the back door was opened. He quickly burst through the entrance and looked left and right. Suddenly he spotted her talking to Seth who was holding birthday caps behind his back. Phil ran up to them quickly before Seth said too much.
“Keely,” Phil panted putting a hand on her arm. He looked at Seth who only shrugged his shoulders.
“I thought you said you cleaned the garage Phil,” Keely asked looking around.
“What’s with all the confetti?”
“Uhh….” Phil also glanced at the yard and noticed all the ribbons and strings that were still lying on the lawn.
“I didn’t…”
“What are those lights?” Keely asked noticing the different colored lights that illuminated the garage as she slowly made her way to it.
“NOTHING!” Phil and Seth said at the same time while running up and standing right in front of her.
“Are you sure?” Keely asked pushing her way through the two of them, “cause I could hear talking.”
She reached out and grasp the knob while Phil and Seth pulled her away. There was pushing and shoving when finally they finally able to restrain her.
“What is wrong with you?” Keely yelled as the two of them begin taking her back inside the house.
“Keely, trust me you don’t want to know what’s inside.” Phil said struggling to control his grip on her arms.
“Let go of…. WHOA.” Keely shrieked when the all toppled over since Seth lost his footing and caused the three of them to land roughly against the door.
BAM!!
Phil’s face was flat against the door and he was being squashed as Keely and Seth leaned all their weight against him.
Suddenly the door poped opened and brought the three of them straight to the ground. Everyone stopped talking as they stared at the trio on the floor. Keely took a hand and rubbed the bump on her head as she slowly picked herself off the ground stepping the Phil and Seth in the process. They deserved it, she thought when Keely looked up and noticed all the faces that were looking at them.
Keely raised her eyes higher and she saw the giant poster stapled to the wall. ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEELY!’ She stood there in shock as she looked at all the decorations and posters and….
“Surprise,” Phil whispered behind her holding the back of his head.
Keely turned around suddenly and looked at Phil straight in the eye.
“You guys…did all this….for me?” she asked her voice full of astonishment.
Phil just looked and smiled softy at her.
“oh my gosh,” Tia said entering the garage behind Seth.
“I leave for one minute…”
Suddenly she noticed Keely was standing there in front and looked at Phil and Seth accusingly.
“You two!”
“I knew I couldn’t depend on you guys.”
“All you had….”
Tia could no longer continue her rant because in an instant Keely rushed into her arms and hugged her tightly. Tia slowly raised her hands and gripped Keely.
“Thank you,” Keely said in a teary voice looking at her good friend.
Tia laughed while her eyes began to tear up also, “Well. I wanted to surprise you…”
“Tia, I’m way beyond surprise,” Keely answered as they both laughed and hugged each other again sharing a moment that could only be understood between two girls. Keely was so touched that the most important people in her life, went through all the trou….
“So can we eat now?” Seth asked softly causing everyone to laugh.
……………………………………………
“Today was sooo perfect,” Keely laughed as they walked along the sidewalk.
“Are you kidding me?” Phil smiled thinking about all the things that went wrong.
“It was a disaster.”
“Really?” Keely asked looking over at Phil.
“I thought it was…beautiful.”
The party was amazing and everyone had a great time. Despite all the kinks in the plan, everything turned out for the better and Tia was extremely pleased. Well that was until she heard about the cake, Phil laughed. He didn’t understand why she was so angry; he was the one walking around with it stuck to his pants.
It was 1 in the morning and he was walking Keely home. It was a nice clear night with hundreds of star blanketing the sky in tiny twinkles. The weather was no longer hot since summer had ended months ago. The street lamps illuminated the road they walked on with a soft and yellowish glow.
Phil and Keely continued to talk and laugh about the events earlier when they reached her porch. Her front light was off but the TV could be seen through the curtains signaling that her mom was home. Keely took a seat on stairs patting a spot for Phil next to her.
They sat like that for a while looking up at looking up at the moon above. Phil unzipped his jacket and reached inside. He pulled out a white envelope and Keely looked at him curiously when he handed it to her.
“You already got me something,” Keely said not accepting his offer.
“Since when did you complain about getting too many gifts?” Phil laughed and pushed it into her hands.
“I’ve spent the last couple of months editing your demo tapes,” he began to explained as Keely tore opened the envelope.
“I sent it to a couple of schools and it was kinda hard since you couldn’t show up to any of the interviews but…”
“oh my gosh.” Keely looked up from the paper she was reading and looked at him.
“Breath Keel,” he reminded seriously when she began to turn blue. Keely threw herself into his arms with such force that it also knocked him over. Phil laughed and held onto her tightly.
“Phil this is amazing,” Keely said when they pulled away, “how did you do this?” she asked looking back at the piece of paper in her hands.
”Well at first no one really took it seriously but I kept on writing and sending them your tapes and finally Columbia responded.”
“So anyway, they wrote back and said they couldn’t really consider you since you missed all the deadlines for interviews.”
“Luckily, the dean of journalism called a couple of days afterwards and said he was going to be in the neighborhood and wanted to meet you.”
Keely remained silent and stared at the letter not quite believing it was real.
“Phil…”
“Hey,” Phil whispered softly as her eyes began to water. He reached out and gently brushed away the first tear that escaped.
“I don’t think these are allowed on birthdays,” Phil said catching all her fallen teardrops.
“These are happy ones,” Keely said thickly as a lump formed in her throat. She scooted closer and laid her head against his chest listening to the beat of his heart. Phil wrapped his arms around Keely’s shoulder as they lay on the stairs lost in their own thoughts.
“Look!” Phil pointed to the sky, “a shooting star.”
Keely followed the comet as it made a streak of light across the sky.
“Make a wish,” Phil said softly beside her.
Keely continued to look at the star long after it disappeared behind the hillside. She sat there an arm wrapped around Phil’s waist and him hugging her close. The only sound came from the crickets underneath the rocks and every so often a star would twinkle down at them. Keely closed her eyes and welcomed the soft breeze caressing her face.
“This is all I’ve ever wanted,” she said looking up at him brilliantly. All the stars would be jealous if they only they knew how bright Keely’s eyes shown tonight.
“Sure you don’t wanna wish for some cake?” Phil teased not wanting to for this moment to turn into something awkward again. Lately, things would always get a little uncomfortable when the moment got too intimate.
Keely pretended to consider the option, “Well now that you brought it up….” Keely laughed and let her voice trailed off as she nested her head on Phil’s chest. She breathed in deeply, “Thanks Phil.”
Phil rested his chin on top of her head breathing in her fruity shampoo, “For what?”
“For everything,” Keely whispered in a sleepy voice. His only response was to pull her closer with a heavy heart. Things were beginning to change between them. It was confusing and extremely terrifying. There was so much he needed her to know but so little he wanted to tell her. This seemed like the perfect moment to let Keely know what was happening but their friendship means the world to him and that didn’t leave much room for mistakes.
Phil sighed looking at the sky above and wondered…..where were they supposed to go from here?
Mrs. Teslow looked at her daughter behind the curtains, smiling at the innocent picture before her eyes. She didn’t know if they realized it yet but soon their friendship won’t be enough anymore. It was inevitable actually and everyone anticipated for it to happen. But no one expected it to take this long. She hoped that Phil and Keely approached this slowly and carefully since their simple relationship was about to get a lot more complicated.
It was either going to be something beautiful or a complete disaster. Either way, love never came easy.
.......e.n.d.c.h.a.p.t.e.r.4........
NOTE: to be honest, i have no idea where this story is going =( so hopefully, i'll have a guideline by next time. thanks for reading guys!