The Delicate Art of Living Off of Caffeine

Chapter 6

Ro was someone Keefe looked up to ever since he met her. She had started volunteering with local teams for her degree in sports medicine on top of doing college wrestling and generally being insanely strong all before graduating. She even looked intimidating, somehow pulling off exercise sweats, two bright pink ponytails, and nails that were sharp enough to make Keefe scared of getting too close to her hands. How could anyone not see her as a grade-A role model? But, what was able to stand above all that, Ro never took bull from Cassius and was a master in keeping Keefe kind of inline. The only problem was that Keefe couldn't sneak anything past her to save his life, so when he got decked in the head after being supremely unfocused, there was no escaping her conquest (not quest, but conquest) for answers.

That day, Ro was supposed to be his ride home, she wasn't fooling anyone with her completely covert side stop at a little cafe. She pushed open the driver-side door and waited for Keefe to follow along, giving him a look of 'are just going to sit there and pass up free food?' After all, who could do an interrogation on an empty stomach?

The shop's doorbell dinged behind them with the person at the counter going through few emotions seeing the duo before resting into a customer service face. Yeah, Cassius might have tried to "treat them" to a snack after an event and threw a hissy fit because his stupid poppy seed muffin wasn't exactly perfect. That tends to be a quick way to gain a reputation, making Keefe decide it'd be better to sit outside today.

"How're you doing?" Ro asked with some of the darkest coffee Keefe had ever seen.

"Pretty good."

"So, we're just going to ignore the fact that you haven't been this way since you watched Book of Mormon and realized that gay people were, in fact, a thing?"

"Now that's a low blow." She took a long sip like she needed the extra energy to get through this conversation before Keefe could defend himself. "I've just got a lot on my mind, okay?"

"But that usually means you're knee-deep in volleyball crap and it's clear that's not the problem. You're not getting out of this."

Keefe slunk down in his chair. "It's not that big a deal. I was a bit off that day, but I'm good now."

"What's going on? Is there something going on with your dad?"

To be fair, there's always something going on with him. "No, things are pretty normal with Cassius. I'm fine, I promise."

"Don't try to pull the 'I'm fine' card on me." Ro rolled her eyes. "I could do something about what's happening if you spilled."

"You'd just make fun of me." Keefe mumbled, realizing his mistake not even seconds after.

Heck. "Please, you've been moping around ever since..." A mischievous glint appeared in his friend's expression. "What happened when we sent you in on that dare last week?"

"Nothing. I used the bathroom like a normal person."

"We both know that's a bald-faced lie. What else happened?" Keefe stayed quiet. "Or I could call Grizel and ask who was performing that night."

The last thing he needed was Ro dragging more people into his misery. "Fine. Someone was performing, but I wouldn't be off my game because of just that." He answered.

Ro smirked, sitting up in her seat and folding her arms on the table like a mafia boss striking a good deal. "Now we're getting somewhere. In that case, how does this mystery dancer connect to a maybe concussed lover-boy?"

"Do you really want to know?" Keefe groaned at the sight of an enthusiastic nod. "The fact this person keeps showing up everywhere!" The floodgates were cracking open and the older person was right that Keefe needed to let this stuff out, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing. "I wanted to go on with my life, but this guy showed up in the middle of one of my classes saying that he's 'coming back to the school' which brings up another round of confusion. To top it off, he saw me and looked absolutely terrified." After that, he started to spill. Keefe had so many questions, but he didn't want to be a creep or get into someone else's business when that person genuinely wanted to be left alone. On the other hand, no matter what Keefe tried, he couldn't keep his mind far from this enigma. God, Ro would never let him live this down.