The Prankster Team (A Keefex Story) [DISCONTINUED]

Seeking Answers

Dex entered the room for detention and immediately knew that something was wrong.

Keefe...

Keefe's hair was a mess, but not in the deliberate way that he usually styled it. His eyes that usually gleamed with excitement were dull, and unless Dex was imagining it, they looked a little red, as if he'd been crying.

Dex shot a look at Ro.

'I'll tell you later. He's doing better,' she mouthed.

If that was him doing better, how bad was he feeling before?

He looked back at Keefe. He was a lot less energetic. Keefe had a way of casually drawing attention to himself, whether it was the fact that he talked a lot, talked loud, or the way he made gestures when speaking. Even without talking though, he stood out, like a bright light in a dark room. This time though, it was as if he was trying to blend on with the shadows. It just wasn't right.

Dex needed to find a way to communicate with him, but the mentor supervising them was Lady Alexine, who was known for being intolerable of improper behaviour.

The good news was, she didn't give out any tasks for them to complete. Instead, she allowed them to study for their midterms.

"I'll allow you to work in pairs," she said. "However, if I hear anything more than a whisper, every single one of you will be sitting by yourselves, in silence."

This is perfect!

He picked up his belongings and sat down next to Keefe.

"Hey," he whispered. "You doing okay? Do you wanna talk, or need a distraction?"

Keefe looked at him, almost emotionlessly. "Distraction, I guess."

"Okay. You wanna help me study by quizzing me things?"

Personally, Dex would have preferred to talk things out, but it was probably for the best that they didn't do so just yet. For starters, they were in Foxfire. Secondly, Keefe looked like he was still trying to formulate his thoughts, so he would need more time in order to get his feelings across.

Midway through detention, the atmosphere began to lighten up a little. Keefe was smiling again, and while they weren't his usual large grins, it was an improvement from before. He even managed to crack a few jokes. By the end of the session, it almost looked like nothing had even happened, as if Keefe hadn't had a breakdown recently. Almost.

"Can I come over?" Keefe asked. "I think I'm ready to talk."

Dex took his hand and gave it a light squeeze. "Yeah, of course."

They leaped to Rimeshire, and immediately locked themselves in Dex's room, so nobody else could intrude.

"Is this about yesterday?"

Keefe shook his head. "It's ... something else. Can I start off with a question?"

"Go ahead."

"How do you deal with expectations?"

Oh. Did something happen between him and his father?

Dex thought about the answer to the question. "It's different for me. I had the whole world convinced that my family was destined to fail, to be unable to contribute to society. But we've learned to ignore a lot of it, and to make choices solely because that's what we want to do. We know that no matter how much good we do, there'll always be people waiting to see us fail, because that's what's expected of us. It's probably different for you."

Keefe tilted his head, seemig to consider that. "I don't think that they're too different. But... I've been thinking, I've always been super good at Foxfire."