the prom queen

chapter eleven

k e e f e   s e n c e n

keefe was infuriated with tam. of course he and biana had broken up but he'd always pictured himself going with her to prom. keefe knew this would inevitably happen but he wasn't ready for it to happen so soon. what he really needed was to get over her. maybe putting more effort into this whole bet thing would help, he thought. if sophie needed to become popular in a matter of days, keefe needed to find someone sophie would be willing to date and fast. that seemed to be the only way people were getting popular now a days.
he quickly turned to her with a pointed look "what's your type?"
she seemed to be pretty taken aback by his question "what's my type?"
"yeah like are you into blondes, red heads, nerdy guys, " he explained.
"hmm. okay i'd definetly into blondes. with ice blue eyes yep. oh and if they played football that would be super attractive. also if they had no idea i existed up until like yesterday. great quality for guys to have."
keefe rolled his eyes and stared her in the eye "foster we all know you would love to date me, but i'm being serious here."
"that's the first." she muttered. "i don't think i really have a type."
"bs everyone has a type." marella cut in after spending hours staring at tam and his jumbo sized teddy bear.
sophie looked to marella then crossed her arms. "i just want a guy who treats me nice and isn't bad to look at."
"don't we all." marella said dreamily as she stared longingly back at tam.
keefe ignored marella's unhelpful comment and continued "that's not very specific. most girls have a whole diary committed to their dream guys looks and qualities."
sophie huffed and then looked across the room at fitz. he was sitting at keefe's usual table hitting on some random girl. was she seriously associating fitz as her dream guy? for as long as he had known him, fitz was the exact opposite of what qualities you'd want in a boyfriend. expect for his looks. he got all the girls with his big teal eyes. personally keefe thought they got a little tiring to look at and that ice blue was a better, more subtle, eye color. "fitz? fitz? you think he's worthy of your dream guy title?"
"been there done that." marella chimed in. sophie looked more interested in what marella had to say and urged her on. "freshman year he started his infamous yearly halloween party and that's when the whole grade was invited. cliques were just starting to form and popularity statuses hadn't been locked in yet. anyway, we'd been dating for a few weeks when he decided it was a good idea to play seven minutes in heaven."
"ohhh you know i kinda remember that party now. i got so drunk. i brought the booze and me and fitzy became life long friends." keefe interjected.
"life long we're still in high-" sophie started but was quickly interrupted.
"stop talking over me! do you guys wanna hear the story or not?" marella pouted.
"sorry, carry on." keefe said.
"we were even wearing matching costumes! i was sharpay evans and he was troy bolton. of course biana was gabriella since she had to be the star of the show. now that i think about it the way fitz and biana's costumes-"
"could you maybe, skip to the part where fitz becomes a jerk?" he suggested.
marella rolled her eyes and tried to explain "i'm giving you all the details so you can picture it better. but fine if you don't want to get in the right-"
"marella please!" sophie cried.
"ohmigawd fine! long story short i found him making out with maruca in the stupid closet and he's been a playboy ever since."
"great so no fitz. i get it." sophie nodded. keefe couldn't help but smile. he was glad she wasn't going to date him. he didn't really want her dating anybody...but she had to in order for his plan to work. well maybe if she made a really drastic change to her look she'd have the guys votes based on her attractivness and not her hypothetical boyfriends loyal friends votes. that could work.
"it's not like i want to date anyone here. they're all jerks." sophie added. and keefe was glad to hear it. wait, did that include him?
"if you'd really like to know why i'm not wearing my usual "girly girl" pink clothing today." marella said turning towards keefe. "i had anticipated that this would be the worst day of my life. and as usual, i was right."
"let me guess, did you lose your pair of diamond tiffany earrings?" keefe joked.
marella gasped and brought her hand to cover her mouth. "goodness me, no! don't even say things like that! there are many reasons why today is the worst day ever. but that's not one of them. first off, olivia toolie broke her ankle so she won't be able to perform at the prom game and our backup cheerleaders made appointments to go to the spa, before the dance, which they just can't cancel. the heel of my favorite pair of high heels snapped and i was forced to wear my only other pair of black one's that just don't, they don't, understand me. then tam, tam, tam, tam, tam, tam just had to propose to biana today with the cutest stuffed bear ever!" marella gushed.
"if it makes you feel any better i heard the guys on the football team talking about how he stole that idea off the internet. it wasn't even that good of a promposal to copy."
"thanks keefe. that does make me feel better." marella smiled.
"also foster over here is a pretty good dancer. she took years of gymnastics and ballet if that's what makes for a good cheerleader." keefe voiced.
marella's whole face glowed up and looked to sophie in awe. meanwhile, sophie gave keefe the death stare and scrunched up her face. "how do you even know that? plus you can't just sign me up for a club without my permission."
"edaline told me." keefe said before marella shuffled closer to sophie.
"please please please. i really need another person for the routine we're doing and it's too late to change it and i'm really freaking out and i'm the captain so i can't be the one panicking and-"
"alright alright i'll do it." sophie agreed just as marella gave her the tightest hug. ding! ding! ding! the school bell rang and all the students rushed to their next class. keefe jumped up and looked to the two girls still sitting.
"welp i'm off to english." based on the look sophie was giving him so was she. "and you're coming with me." keefe guessed as he grabbed onto her arm. sophie smiled, probably happy he actually knew she was in his class-even though he had no idea.
english went by in a flash, keefe found that classes went by much faster when you slept through them, and he bounded off to the field house to change for football. this was keefe's favorite part of the day. football practice was the time where he could forget about all his worries and focus his anger on tackling other guys on the team. keefe had practice three times a week on monday's, wednesday's, and friday's. and when he didn't have games on saturday's his coach would substitute them for another practice.
he had finished putting on his paddings to protect him from getting too bruised at practice when fitz came hollering in. "ayyy who's ready for a bald keefe!" the whole room roared back in cheers while keefe slid on his jersey.
"don't get too excited i've got this bet in the bag. get ready to eat your words vacker!" keefe called back. his teammates knew of the bet and the consequences of what would happen to the loser. keefe would shave his head or fitz would wear brown colored contacts and braces for the rest of the school year. they didn't know the specifics of the bet so no one could interfere but everyone was getting pretty hyped up about it.
"settle down! settle down!" the coached howled over the loud football players. "now you all know that next week we will be playing our biggest competitors, exillium. they have beat us  every football game on prom night for the last 3 years. you will have to play your hardest, run your fastest, and throw the farthest to land us that can. can you do it?"
"yes sir" the room chanted.
"I SAID CAN YOU DO IT?!" the coach screamed.
"YES SIR." the boys called back.
"that's what i like to hear! now get out there!" and then all of the teens rushed out to the turf field to start their practice. off the to side of the field, near the bleachers, were the cheerleaders practicing in their short skirts and tight tops.
"is that your girl?" fitz asked as he pointed to a blonde girl being tossed in the air. keefe squinted his eyes and it was indeed his girl.
"looks like it." keefe grinned.