"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!" His voice rang through the silent halls and echoed off the black and yellow tiles. The north hallways had been closed for the lunch period and they stood in the desolate senior hallway amid the parallel rows of crisp black lockers. He pushed off from one of the closed lockers and stared at her with an open mouth, his eyes blinking slowly. A few strands of his otherwise flawless dark blonde hair fell next to his face. He sighed momentarily and pushed them back into upright position. He was about average height and looked quite the charmer in his green polo with pink stripes and popped collar. He hit one of the many lockers lightly with a fist, then turned to her and sighed, clapping his hand on her shoulder, “You’re not serious… Are you?”
"Of course," she brushed her brown hair back from her deep brown eyes, it fell lightly on her shoulders, obscuring the collar on her pink shirt. She turned to the only open locker in the row and pulled a large book from the top shelf, then wrapped a thumb in the belt loop of her navy shorts, "It’s only for the freshmen isn’t it?"
He pouted momentarily; his blue eyes became clouded, "But… I’m not…"
She sighed and shook her head, "And I’m not on Link Crew. Remember, Keith?"
Keith turned his head, "There’s nothing I can do about that." He leaned back against the row of lockers and chanced to see a string of brown lying helplessly beside his leather shoe. He bent down and tied it furiously. The bottoms of his dark wash jeans obscured his fingers from successfully tying the shoe on the first attempt. He scowled as he continued to tighten his shoestrings. "Anyway…" he continued, only half focused on the conversation, "You know the tailgate party is school-wide this year, right?"
She whipped her head around to face him, "No way! It is not! We’ve never had a school-wide tailgate party!" She blinked and stuck her lip out, "Right?"
Keith shook his head as he stood up, "Don’t you listen to the announcements?"
She cocked her head, "Who listens to the announcements?"
Keith laughed and knocked her head lightly, "You really are hopeless, aren’t you Deidre?"
"So I can come then?"
Keith crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. His blue eyes were intense, even as he looked at Deidre’s smiling face. "If you don’t come willingly, I’ll kidnap you."
Deidre stepped back towards their locker and blinked, catching her breath and holding it within her arms.
Keith cracked a smile as he put his hand on top of the locker door. "Anyway… Let’s get going, lunch is almost over." He started walking toward the south hallway.
Deidre stood speechless, then managed to muster her voice. "Hey You did that just to make my heart jump didn’t you, you jerk?" Keith ignored her and continued walking down the hall. "Hey! Hey!" She slammed the locker door and ran after him. "Come back here you good for nothing I’m talking to you!!!"
The parking lot was ablaze with activity. Black and gold littered every inch as far as the eye could see. Today was the day; finally, the football game between their high schools. The smell of hot dogs wafted through the air and Jock Jams blared from the speaker system. Students were squeezed half an inch from each other as they entered the commotion, but the air was filled with laughter and excitement. Deidre pushed her way through the crowd. Even through this black and gold bonanza, she could find Keith. He would be clearly noticeable in his hot pink Link Crew shirt. Unfortunately, it was a sea of black and gold; Keith�s blazing blonde hair could not be seen. Deidre continued to scan the crowd for pink shirts when two strong, muscular hands covered her eyes. �Put �em up, this is a kidnapping��
�Oh no, it�s a pervert!� Deidre laughed.
�Tch, pervert?� the voice scowled, �You�re the perverted one, you ho.�
Deidre laughed, �You can�t kidnap me if I came willingly, Keith. Where were you hiding anyway?� She grabbed Keith�s hands and turned to face him, smiling gleefully.
Keith scuffed his toe against the ground and glanced toward it, �By the food.�
Deidre laughed, �Why the guilty look? You�re not fat or anything.�
Keith stuck out his lower lip and crossed his arms, �You make me sound like a woman.�
Deidre brushed back her hair, �Oh well, at least you don�t eat food every five minutes.�
Keith rolled his eyes, �Who�s that hungry? And anyway, my twiggy super model, you need to eat.�
Deidre shook her head, �I�m not hungry now.�
�You eat when I tell you to.�
�Since when are you my babysitter?� Deidre crossed her arms and scowled.
Keith grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the grill, �Since the day I met you, clearly.�
Deidre turned her head and the glitter of sparkling necklaces caught her eyes. �Beads!� she squealed.
�We�re getting food,� Keith responded calmly and continued walking.
�But I want beads�� Deidre pouted.
�We�re eating,� Keith responded, shaking his head.
�Beads�� Deidre whined.
Keith released his iron grip on her wrist and put his hand on his face, �You�ve got to be kidding me��
Deidre clasped her hands and smiled, �Come with me, I�ll buy you a set.�
Keith chuckled as he crossed his arms, �Free beads? Is it Mardi Gras? Do I have to flash you or something?�
Deidre winked, �Feel free. I�ll hold you to it.�
Keith lowered his head as they headed toward the bead spread. The table where they rested was adjoined by two others that were painted in tubes of black and gold glitter and face paint. Several of Keith�s fellow pink-shirted brethren guarded the station and captured any students who had yet to be marked with the war paint. Next to this display of battle gear, the beads seemed like ammunition, except, of course, the real ammunition was their words. The power of their cheers was the real weapon to fear. The National Honor Society, a group which Keith and Deidre happened to belong to, sold the beads as a benefit for Hurricane Katrina. Deidre purchased three gold bead strands and two black bead strands from the two members who happened to be selling the beads at the time. As she was handed the beads, arms wrapped around her quickly and pulled her toward the table of war paint. The beads fluttered through the air like strings and flew back at her face with a jolt.
�Keith!!!!� she shrieked.
Keith stood beside the bead table and shook his head, shrugging, �Don�t look at me�� He cleared his throat, �And anyway� give me the damn beads.�
Deidre turned. A short, Latina girl giggled, her brown hair bouncing and her deep brown eyes smiling. �Are you always such an airhead, Deidre?�
�Kita!! Why do you always sneak up on me?�
Keith rose his hand above Kita�s head and winked at her, smiling, �Could it be that you are scarcely bigger than a muffin?�
�A muffin? � Kita shot Keith a dirty look and crossed her arms, �Well, at least I�m taller than Chayan!�
Keith turned and sneered, �That�s not much to be proud of.�
Kita winked as she hugged Diedre�s shoulders tightly, �At least it�s something.�
Diedre turned to Kita, �Why the sudden kidnapping?�
Kita smiled, �Your cheeks still don�t have paint on them.� She pulled a tube of black paint from the table and held it toward Diedre�s face. Kita put a drop on her finger; it almost resembled black blood. She put the black tube back on the table and touched her index fingers lightly, then spread the paint across Diedre�s cheeks simultaneously. She turned to Keith quickly, �You don�t have paint on your cheeks either.�
Keith smiled, �Are you going to make me up, Kita?�
Kita started to respond when both she and Keith caught a pink sleeved arm waving hurriedly.
Upon better inspection, Keith groaned, �Alisa wants me to come over, I�ll be back later.�
�Doesn�t it suck to have demanding partners, Keith?� Kita laughed.
�You�ll stop your laughing when you�re the one dealing with her.�
Kita rolled her eyes as she grabbed for a bottle of gold glitter, �I�m sure.�
Keith jogged away from them and toward Alisa, who was quickly growing impatient.
Kita smoothed the glitter over the black painted stripes she had placed on Diedre�s cheeks.
�Wasn�t Shaylee supposed to come?� Diedre questioned.
�You expected her to be on time?!� Kita shook her head, �Listen, if you can�t be on time for your beloved Keith, what makes you think Shaylee would be on time for me?�
�Or at least the party...� Diedre paused.
�Wishful thinking, that must be it.� Kita laughed.
Diedre began laughing with her.
�What�s so funny?� a male voice questioned.
�It�s nothing, Keith,� Diedre smiled, �Do you want your beads?�
Keith took a strand of gold and a strand of black beads and shook his head, �Teach me to ever walk away from your conversations.�
�What did Alisa want?� Kita asked, pulling Diedre�s hair into messy buns.
�She wanted to tell me that the football team already left.�
�What?!� Kita exclaimed, �Did anyone see them off?�
�I don�t think anyone knew.�
�Poor guys,� Diedre frowned.
Kita pulled Diedre�s other pigtail into a messy bun, �Oh well, the party�s over here anyway.� She let out a little giggle.
��Bleed black and gold� huh?� a female voice asked, �Sounds kind of painful...�
Diedre and Kita turned to face a blonde girl that stood taller than them both and wore a quizical expression on her face. �SHAYLEE?!?!?�
She put up her hands, �No need to yell, I�m right here.� She smiled, �Let�s go see off the football players, okay?�
�They just left,� Keith quietly answered.
Shaylee let out a low growl, �Why do I always miss everything?�
�You oversleep,� Diedre put out.
�You take long showers,� Kita answered.
�You refuse to leave your house until ten minutes before you need to be anywhere,� Diedre continued.
�It�s impossible for you to leave your house on a day off from school,� Kita finished.
Shaylee frowned, �You make me sound like a slacker.�
Keith smirked, �Sounds to me like they�re only telling the facts.�
Shaylee crossed her arms, �That�s better than you being so uptight.� She then turned to Kita, �Kita, black me up.�
Kita laughed.
��Can you hear me now�?� Diedre read.
�Yup,� Shaylee smiled, �Me and Kita made them together. Keith, are you going to wear that obnoxious pink shirt the whole time?�
�No,� Keith snorted, �I have a black shirt just like Diedre�s.�
Shaylee smirked, �You both match? Cute.�
Keith scowled.
Kita turned her head quickly, �Looks like we�re being called by Thomas and Adelei. Diedre, Shaylee, do you guys want to head over to the stadium and we�ll meet you there?�
�I thought we were driving together in your car?� Shaylee asked.
�I�m going with Keith,� Deidre answered.
�Of course,� Kita rolled her eyes, �Why drive yourselves when you can depend on us?�
Shaylee nodded.
Kita shook her head, �Wait here then.�
Keith pulled his key out of his pocket and handed it to Diedre. �Go wait by my car, okay? I�ll be over in about fifteen minutes.� He smiled.
Diedre nodded, �Okay.�
�Lucky...� Shaylee whined, �I have to stand in the middle of nowhere by myself.�
�I saw Kita�s car parked by Keith�s car when I walked over there earlier, I�m sure she won�t mind if you go.�
�KITA!!!!!!!!!!! I�M GOING TO YOUR CAR!!!!!!!!!!�
�ALRIGHT ALREADY!!!� Kita yelled back.
Keith shook his head and followed Kita, �See you in a bit, Deidre.�
