Private Affection

Chapter 2

"Okay, so let's build our case."

"How do you want to split the work?"

"Since it's your argument, you build it. And I'll poke the holes in it and come up with a way to patch the holes." I nodded in agreement. "I've got to go to practice," he said. "Want to get together this weekend to finish it?"

"Sure."

"You can come to my place Saturday. Leave your brother at home. We won't get anything done with him around." I chuckled.

"I'll text you before I come over."

"Later," he smiled that smile at me before scooping up his backpack and heading towards the doors.

I didn't have choir or band practice today so I stayed in the library working on other assignments while I waited for Mikey to get out of football practice. "Hey, Val." Looking up, I saw Keegan standing in front of me. Keegan was on the soccer and track teams. He wasn't super popular, blame the cliche rivalry between the soccer team and the football team. But he had a lot of friends anyways. He was also very nice. And adorable. He had shaggy brown hair and bright blue eyes that were always smiling happily.

"What's up?"

"Not a lot."

"Shouldn't you be at practice?" I asked.

"We have a game tomorrow so we had morning practice so we could rest after school."

"And you're resting in the library," I quirked an eyebrow at him.

He smiled a little shyly. "Gotta keep the grades up," he shrugged.

"Me too," I said indicating to the books spread out in front of me.

"Can I sit?" He asked quickly. He seemed anxious.

"Sure."

He pulled out the chair across from me and sat. He fidgeted his legs the entire time, bouncing them up and down. "So, the homecoming dance is in two weeks."

"Mhmm," I made a noncommittal noise. Everyone knew when it was. It was the week of prom-posal style will you go to homecoming with me questions. What a joke. It wasn't because I hadn't gotten one. If I did, I would cringe in embarrassment and run in the opposite direction.

Even if it came from Reggie.

"Would you like to go with me?" He asked.

"What?" I said too loudly, making the other students look in my direction again.

"Will you go to homecoming with me?"

"Yes." I said. It was an instinctive reaction. The only thing wrong with Keegan was that he wasn't Reggie. And that wasn't a fair thing to hold against him. He was sweet and smart and cute. Those were good qualities in a date to homecoming.

"Seriously?" He asked surprised.

I laughed softly at him. "If you thought I wasn't going to say yes, why did you ask?"

"I mean, obviously I'm glad you said yes, but I wasn't expecting it."

"You're not afraid of my brother?"

"Nope," he said shaking his head. That was also another good quality to have in a date. "Do you want to hang out before then? We could go to the diner after my game tomorrow."

"I'd like that," I said. "And I'll come watch you play."

"Great." He had a good smile. It was warm and inviting and I felt at ease around him. "Can I see your phone?" He asked. I unlocked it and slid it across from him. "I put my number in. If you want to talk you can text me," he smiled.