What If ('The Cell Phone Swap' Fanfic)

WHAT IF

"Hurry up, come on, Keeley! We're going to miss the fireworks! You KNOW it's the highlight of the county fair," Nicky ushered. "Calm down, let me just find my wallet," Keeley muttered, digging through her bag. "And I thought you said that your favourite was the Ferris wheel?" Nicky sighed. "I said that it's the HIGHLIGHT, but the Ferris wheel is my favourite. There's a difference, Keels." Holding up her wallet triumphantly, Keeley paid the impatient-looking stall holder, and collected the stick of cotton candy from him. "Ooooh, that looks nice..." Nicky looked at her best friend hopefully.

"Not yet, wait a minute!" Keeley took out her phone and snapped a selfie with the treat. "Seriously? Just eat it already!" She could see Nicky almost drooling over the sinfully sweet spun sugar. Sighing, she passed it over. The two girls walked over to the large, cleared area in the centre of the bustling fairground.

The annual fair was always a hot destination, especially since it was during the summer break. Even the high schoolers who always avoided 'kiddy things' like the plague couldn't pass up the fair. Packed with tantalisingly delicious finger foods, fair rides, and an opportunity to catch a date or go on a date, the fair was the hot spot for everyone in town to socialise and basically have fun throughout the night. "The fireworks! They're starting!" Nicky screamed over the crowd, waving the leftover stick in the air wildly. 

A burst of colour in the air startled Keeley out of her own thoughts. The kaleidoscopic sparks in the night sky was almost hypnotising. She could hear the whistle of the firework rockets as they shot past before they exploded into a magnificent display. Drawn in by the intricate dance of colours, Keeley's grip loosened, and her bag dropped on the ground. When she jumped and stared down, it was too late.

Her bag had a dirty footprint right, smack in the middle of the fabric.

She LIKED that bag.

"Hey!" she yelled. Someone turned around, arms laden with popcorn. He looked down at the bag, where the evidence of his 'crime' was imprinted into cotton as clear as day. He smirked almost flippantly. "Look, baby doll, before you can scream at me, it's just a bag, okay?" Keeley transferred her gaze to the culprit. "JUST a bag? This one has sentimental value!" she insisted, admittedly unreasonably.

"What's wrong?" Nicky turned around from her scrutiny of the pyrotechnics to see the stare-down, neither of them backing down. "This guy," Keeley emphasised on the word 'guy', "stepped on my bag." Said guy furrowed his eyebrows. "Hey, I didn't mean to do it!" She scowled. "Then you could at least apologise."

"Well, then, I'm sorry, baby doll."

 "And stop calling me that!"

"I'll stop if you tell me your name."

"As if I'd tell a complete stranger my NAME! Creep."

"I'm not a creep, but I'll let that slide for once. I'm... Talon."

Keeley took a step back. "Talon? That's a weird name." He seemed oddly familiar...

"It's the one I've got. Now tell me yours."

"Keeley. Keeley Brewers."

Now it was his turn to take a step back. A momentary flicker in his eyes: fear. Fear? "I... I see. Never- Never mind. Umm... I'll just go now-" A shout cut through the air as the final, largest firework exploded in the background. But Keeley didn't notice. "Why? What's wrong?" Talon was backing away slowly into the mass of people. "Hey, hey wait!" Grabbing her bag from the floor before another stray shoe print could appear, she lunged at him.

"Talon who?" she demanded to know, crossing her arms over her chest. "I... I said never mind! It won't work out. Forget I said anything, and I'm sorry about your bag, okay?" Unease flashed through every word. "I said, Talon WHO." 

He looked up from his intense investigation of the ants swarming an abandoned candy bar. "Talon Harrington," he whispered before melding into the crowd.

Talon Harrington? Talon... Everything clicked into place. 

Harrington.

Crosswell.

Football.

JT.

Edgewood's rival.

Zach's rival.

HER rival.