Beatty & The Beast

THIRTEEN: Where the Beauty Goes Beastly

Banner Art by Rehilaration (LiveJournal)

Mid-March

In between fifth and sixth, as Andie made her way to Biology through the crowd of icy students, she heard the distinctive call of her precious damsel:

"Hey! Andie! Dude!"

And what a melodious call it was.

From behind, Keefe's voice mingled with the sounds of his loud footsteps slapping a little harder than necessary on the cement of the hallway. He stumbled up to her side, rattling off in a panting voice, "All right, check it out, check it out, guess who I am!" He stuck one earbud in his right ear, flipped the hood of his sweatshirt up and over his head, then slumped his whole upper body, spreading a nasty scowl across his face.

Andie rolled her eyes. "I wonder."

"Wait, just wait! There's more." He perked up just enough to say that, then went back to his slump and scowl.

When a random kid passed him, he rolled his eyes, releasing an obnoxiously guttural sound from the back of his throat, like he had never been so disgusted to look at the kid. The kid gave him a strange look as he passed, but Keefe ignored it.

Andie had to smile a little, but she shook her head and kept walking, with Keefe staying in line with her. "Okay, I get it."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll give you another hint. You'll figure it out, don't give up," Keefe said in his natural voice before going back to his impersonation. A few moments later, just as he had hoped, the group he used to walk to school with started to pass he and Andie and, just as he had hoped, one of them spoke to him.

"Hey Beatty," Chris offered.

Keefe's face twisted up. "Bitch, you can't talk to me!" he said in a breathy – and somewhat more feminine sounding – voice. "Get out of my face!"

At first, the WaTSAs were rightfully flabbergasted – Enid in a vivid shade of maroon, Chris startled and confused and Lewis mirroring Chris – but then they remembered who they were dealing with.

"You're so weird," Enid groaned.

Keefe kept in character, rolling his eyes and snarling, "How creative a retort for such a simple mind."

Andie was chuckling now, unable to contain it.

As the WaTSAs moved on, Keefe called out, "Thanks for unknowingly being part of the demonstration! You are wonderful human beings. I love your shoes, E!"

The WaTSAs just waved him off and didn't look back.

As Keefe sank back into character, Andie said, "I wasn't aware I was one to use the phrase, 'Get out of my face.'"

"Okay, okay, hold your horses! I'll give you one last clue, but no more after this," Keefe said, pointing at her. "I've already revealed too much."

Andie, characteristically, rolled her eyes.

"Now for the big one." Keefe cleared his throat and cracked his neck before resuming his position. When a girl nodded a greeting in his direction, he instantly scowled and flipped her off. When another student walked by, Keefe flipped him off with his other hand.

Soon, anybody he and Andie walked by got a finger in their direction. As the crowd thickened, so his finger-flipping sped up. He danced along the hallway, waving his middle fingers around like a raver twirls his light sticks and thrusting his hips ridiculously.

Those who passed looked less than pleased with being flipped off for no reason, but Andie was choking on her laughter. It only encouraged Keefe to go farther and his dance got more elaborate and inane.