Right in Front of You

10. The eyes of the beholder

Kyle chewed the end of his pen, cursing himself for skipping history class. Now he had extra homework. He wouldn't have minded except he'd had extra basketball practice, too, and now he was behind. To top it all off, Joey was in a whirlwind of undone homework shit and needed help, too.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man..." Joey kept mumbling, while writing down at top speed. "When did we get so much homework?"

"While you were making out with Kelly. Now shut up and write," Kyle answered, flipping through his history manual in search of some details he might have missed.

"Oh no," Joey whispered. "Kelly."

Kyle slammed the book shut. "If you're going to start moaning about how much you miss her, I'm kicking your ass, you wuss."

"No." Joey nodded towards the door. "Kelly. She said she'd be in the library today."

Kyle followed Joey's gaze and spotted Kelly and Kay in the doorway. Kelly looked apprehensive, but it was the fire in Kay's blue eyes that got his attention.

He knew she had sass and attitude, but it usually came out when she got moralizing. This was different. He never thought she was capable of such passion, such raw feelings, even if the feelings were anger. It was probably Jackass again. What had that moron done this time?

The girls headed towards them and Joey already scooted over to make room for them.

"Hi," Kelly said in a small, guilty voice.

"Homework," Kay grunted, dropping her books on the table and pushing most of them towards Kelly. She then took out a chemistry notebook and disappeared behind it.

Taking it as his cue to get back to work, Kyle retuned to his history essay and wrote another paragraph on the evolution of communism after the Russian Revolution, trying to ignore the whispers coming from Joey and Kelly and not give in to his compulsion to analyze every micro expression on Kay's face. Another paragraph down and he was starting to really want to punch Joey. In front of him, Kay's fingers had tightened around the edges of the notebook.

Kyle glanced upwards just to see the fawning couple fawning some more and he wasn't sure how much more he could take.

Apparently, Kay was in the same boat. She lowered her notebook and mumbled, "Bar?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Kyle picked up his books and the two of them got up.

"You don't have to leave," Joey said quickly and rather desperately.

"Um, yes we do," Kyle answered over his shoulder.

They settled at the bar, and both of them spread their work out. Kay began scribbling on her notebook furiously, writing down a complicated reaction. The pen tore the paper because of the pressure.

Kyle watched her, wondering if he should mind his own business, but he wasn't sure he could. When Kay sniffed, he leaned towards her and took the pen before she did more damage.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She didn't answer, but stared at the hole in the page as if it were the most fascinating thing. "Kay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, her tone clipped.

"Is it Evel Kenivel again? What did he do this time? Throw himself off a plane?"