the prom queen

chapter five

k e e f e    s e n c e n

keefe was very pleased with himself when he started back to his car. not only had he already had an eighth of a study session with sophie, but he scored a date with her on the same day. he was going to be spending a lot of time with her and he wasn't even the slightest bit sad about it. not only would he prove fitz wrong but he'd make sure biana was crawling back to him before he agreed to get back together.
after thinking all that over in his head, it sounded bad. really bad. to most people it sounded like he was using sophie. was he using her? no. he wasn't. who was he kidding. of course he was. but it's not like he had much of a choice in the matter. it was either let popularity fade and have his reputation demolished, or use sophie as a fake girlfriend for a week. he knew she would never agree to be his girlfriend, but it wouldn't look that way to biana and the rest of the grade.
besides if sophie hated keefe as much as she said she did then spending a couple weeks with him wouldn't make her fall in love with him. sophie didn't even think of him in that way so he had nothing to worry about. and he felt much better about what he was doing. hopping in his car, keefe drove home and started on some homework. he was going to have a busy evening and decided to get it out of the way.
looking at the clock after completing his homework, keefe smiled. it was six and he had half an hour before he had to leave, just enough time to get ready. he went into his closet and thought over what to wear. sophie hadn't told him whether it was a causal or a formal thing and keefe had no clue what to put on. this was the moment when he wished he had asked for her number.
ok, think keefe. he thought. eternalia sounded like a fancy place and she settled on an exact time for their "date". that had to mean it wasn't going to be casual. right? he went with his gut and looked for an oxford shirt that matched his navy blue blazer. keefe went with the light blue long sleeved shirt and slipped on the pants to match. going through his ties, keefe settled on a dark green one that blended well with the other colors. he straightened his tie and then moved on to his hair, which took up most of his time. he had a whole routine down. wet, dry with a hairdryer, gel, and then finger comb for his iconic messy look.
finding the place wasn't hard, finding a parking spot was. keefe had to park a few blocks away from the restaurant/club/bar/he didn't really know what it was. right when he stepped in, he knew he was way over dressed. the guys, in the what looked like a karaoke bar, were wearing shorts and t-shirts. the girls were wearing sun dresses and mini skirts. in the midst of it all he spotted the one and only sophie foster. she waved him down and he headed over to her.
"i was surprised to see you show." she said. sophie was in a denim skirt and a pink cropped top, keefe had never seen her in any lighter colors, he wouldn't have recognized her if it weren't for her big brown eyes. they really stood out when she didn't have a hoodie pulled over them. keefe hadn't noticed the golden flecks in them until now. realizing he was staring, keefe looked away and scratched the back of his neck.
"yeah well it seems someone forgot to tell me about the dress code here."
"oh you look great mr. sencen. you're not in violation in any of the dress code rules." sophie added with a sweet smile. keefe glared at her and took off his jacket. he noticed people start to stare when a loud voice came on overhead.
"that's me." keefe turned to see sophie jump off the stool she was sitting on and rush on stage. once she got there she grabbed the guitar behind her and pulled up a wooden chair. she spoke into the microphone with a smile. "hey you all! i'm gonna be playing an original song i wrote for my friend sitting in the back!"
everyone turned to look at keefe and he shrunk down in the stool he had stolen from sophie. he was already embarrassed enough that he was overdressed, now sophie was just exposing him in front of everyone. when the attention was directed back to sophie, keefe loosened his tie and ran a hand through his hair. was this how she felt at school when he sat next to her? having all this unwanted attention? keefe hadn't considered how she felt about it before.
when sophie started singing, he was amazed. she had a beautiful and was great on the guitar. where had she learned to play like that? keefe couldn't play any instruments, he quit piano when he was 10, clarinet at 12, ukulele at 14, and drums at 16. he played an instrument for a couple of years, got bored of it, then switched to another. keefe stopped at the drums and hadn't picked up another instrument since. it wasn't that he didn't like playing, he just didn't have the time.
as soon as her act started, it ended. it was a slow and catchy song. she received claps, whistles, and flowers thrown at her. sophie grinned from ear to ear and stayed up on stage until the audience settled down. "thanks everybody!" she cheered. "now i'd be happy to play another song but first my friend keefe was begging me to get him a time slot here. so give it up for mr. sencen."
keefe's jaw dropped when he heard this. so this is why she agreed to go out with him. to embarrass him. she knew keefe didn't have anything prepared and wanted to see him fail. well he wasn't going to give her that satisfaction. as people waited for him to come on stage, keefe yanked off his tie and skipped up the steps. he took the microphone from sophie and glared at her. "thank you so much sophie. i can't tell you how honored i am for you all to be listening to my music."
sophie smirked and disappeared into the crowd. how dare she. he looked behind him to see if any of the instruments behind him were of use. there was a set of drums but he hadn't played in two years and was probably a little rusty. since sophie had left her sheet music from her performance, he decided to use it. keefe grabbed the ukulele he saw in the very back and believed, with the help of the sheet music, that he would make it through this.
"hi everyone. like sophie said, i'm keefe sencen. i'm going to be playing the ukulele and putting my own twist to the song sophie sand a minute ago." she was probably loving watching him struggle in front of such a large audience. well he wasn't having it.
keefe started on the wrong note but quickly corrected himself. it wasn't too noticeable but he managed to get through the rest of the song without messing up. keefe seemed to forget the singing part of it all but he got a good amount of cheers. he raced down the stairs to scold his "date" but she walked right passed him back to the stage. "i regret to inform you i have to head home early but thanks for having me again!." sophie spoke into the mic.
keefe collected his jacket and the hair tie he'd been playing with and got ready to leave. sophie shoved past him and dashed out the door. he followed right behind her and called out "foster wait up!" once he caught up he continued "you can't try and humiliate the keefester, fail, and avoid the consequences."
sophie rolled her eyes and kept walking. "i'm not avoiding you. or the consequences whatever, i just have to go home."
"okay cinderella i'll get you home faster in my carriage that won't turn into a pumpkin at midnight." he joked.
she looked at him and keefe could tell she was suppressing a smile. no one could resist his charm, not even the great sophie foster. "face it foster, you can't resist me. look me in the eyes and tell me i'm not adorable." keefe stared her down and she made it a point not to look anywhere near his face.
"see you can't! you're not as different from other girls as you think."
"wrong. i'm not throwing myself at you like other girls."
"ohhhhhhh! so you doooo have feelings for me? don't ya foster?" he grinned.
"that's not-
"foster has a crush on me! foster has a crush on me!" keefe sang.