Too Keen For Me

Chapter 9: Want To Dance

The doorbell rang as I put mascara on that Friday evening. The time on my phone told me he was early which was bad since I wasn't even fully done with my makeup.

"I got it!" Everly called out.

A shiver went up my spine, knowing that Miles was on the other side of our white door. Everly still didn't know I hung out with him, and maybe if I was lucky, she wouldn't recognize him when she opened the door. Or maybe she was going to...

"OH MY FLIPPING GOODNESSS. You're Kit Keen. Kit Keen is at my house," Everly shouted, obviously making Miles deaf.

Shoot. This was exactly what I was afraid of. With mascara only on one eye, I ran out of the bathroom and looked at Miles from the top of the stairs. "Hi," I said to him casually.

"Hey Isla," he said with a wave, slight amusement playing in his eyes.

"ISLA ANNE MAAS. YOU KNOW KIT KEEN?" Everly asked, closing the door as Miles stepped into the house.

Surprise? If she knew me better, she would have known already. Guess the jokes on her. "Yeah."

"Everly. Goodness, why are you yelling?" Mom questioned as she came out of her office, rubbing her eyes, hinting that she fell asleep at her desk again.

Everly pointed to Miles. "Is Isla friends with him?"

Mom nodded, confused why she was overreacting. Thank goodness Mom was so busy with her work that she didn't know what was "in" in pop culture. To her, Miles was just Miles, a friend of Isla's, nothing more than that. "Yeah, that's Miles."

Everly looked at Miles, then at me, not believing that someone like Miles would be here for me. "But how?" Everly pouted.

Wow, real confidence-builder, Everly. But I asked myself the same question almost every time he texted me. Why me? Why was he wanting to hang out with simple me?

With a shrug, I quickly put mascara on my other eye, then ran down the stairs before Everly had more of a meltdown.

"I'll tell you later," I said as I patted her shoulder.

She crossed her arms over her chest. I knew she wanted to know the story now, but I didn't have time to explain.

"Hey, mom, we're going to Zoe's. I'll be back late. Don't wait up."

She nodded with a yawn. "Of course. Have fun."

With that, we left the house and got into Miles' Subaru. In the car's silence, Miles started cracking up laughing. "You didn't tell your sister about me?"

"She never asked."

"You're something else, Isla," he said as he turned the car on.

"That's what people tell me." Maybe being different was good, at least Miles liked it and maybe that was enough. I didn't need many friends like Tristen had. I just needed Miles and Zoe.

"So, I got a new song for you."

Instantly a poppy song came onto the speakers, forcing me to tap my foot to the beat. It wasn't one of the better songs he showed me, but it wasn't the worst song I had heard, that was for sure.

"What do you think?" he asked as the song ended.

"It wasn't terrible. The beat got a little old though. Who sang it?"

"Me," he admitted shyly.

My comment chipped his confidence. Even though I was sure I listened to all of his songs, somehow, I missed this one. What I would never tell him though was that I wasn't a huge fan of his music. It was bland, sounding like everything else on the radio. "Oh. Well, it's a wonderful song," I said, trying to cover my honesty.