keatondennings

[keatondennings]

CocoaFixesEverything ⇝ ICouldWriteASong

Aurora: You have? I feel better about that now. Thank you.

Aurora: I try not to, unless it's Raya. She... she likes to get food for me sometimes. She's good about not asking though... she's not a pusher, which is nice. Because I've really wanted to keep this as private as I could... I haven't... gotten to know you yet. I'd rather do that first, then talk.

Keaton: Yeah, of course.

Keaton: That's nice of her. I don't think Cameron would push me but I don't really want to give him the opportunity to do so either. I want to get to know you first, too. That night was nice and all but honestly... I spent most of it feeling really embarrassed.

[keatondennings]

CocoaFixesEverything ⇝ ICouldWriteASong

Aurora: That's not too far actually... only like... a week, I think. Don't mind me counting. Just... probably a little weird. It'd be really nice.

Aurora: I know. I'd like to at least talk to you during lunch, I mean I have Raya and sometimes some other girls but... I really enjoy talking to you.

Keaton: Yes, about. It's okay, I've been counting too.

Keaton: I don't really sit with anyone at lunch. I mean, I sit with Cameron sometimes but a lot of people come over to talk to him and it makes me nervous. Plus I don't want him to ask about you. I feel like it's my business and nobody else's. And I enjoy talking to you too.

[keatondennings]

CocoaFixesEverything ⇝ ICouldWriteASong

Aurora: So, have you gotten your phone fixed yet?

Keaton: No, my dad said I can get a new one at the end of this month though. It'll be nice for you to be a little more portable.

Keaton: Now that I know who you are, and now that school's back in session, not being able to talk to you during the day is kind of the worst.

[keatondennings]

aurorashart:

Walking quietly into the bathroom behind him, she looked to the door and grabbed the handle, pushing it shut quietly. She didn’t mind being in a room with him, especially now that she knew how important he was, but she didn’t really want any semblance of a moment being ruined between the two of them. It almost felt like she was removing a safety blanket once she took her bracelet off, but it felt right. For so long, she wanted to keep her initials private, but now that she knew, it felt like she could show it off, especially to him. Maybe when she was back at school she could put it back on, but for now, it could stay off. “You’re welcome…” She says quietly, taking the blowdryer from him, aiming the heated air towards the book. “Oh, this is fine… and it’s your book. I wouldn’t want to ruin it or anything… it’s save-able though…”

Trying not to stare at the boy next to her, she knew she’d probably scare him away from being creepy if she looked too much, but she couldn’t help herself. She felt like she couldn’t tear her eyes away, as creepy as that sounded, but she made sure to avert her eyes every time he happened to have his eyes shifted in her direction. Her face flushing a deep red at his comment, she couldn’t help but smile, looking to him for a brief moment. “Thank you…” She whispered, trying not to smile too widely at his comment, lest he decided she was insane for doing so. Pressing her lips together and releasing a small breath as she continued to hold the blowdryer to the book, she looked up to him, shrugging. “Um… I’m pretty boring,” she admitted in a small tone, “but I can tell you anything you ask… as long as you promise to answer all the same questions?”

Keaton let silence fall as they worked at drying the book, not really feeling like shouting over the sound to talk to her, but feeling a bit inclined to try and save the book after she’d gone to the trouble to fish it out of the pool for him. It also gave him a moment to try and collect himself. He had to remember that he’d literally just met his soul mate, and now he literally had the rest of his life to figure things out. She seemed to be about his age, which meant she was just as young. And, judging by her mannerisms, just as shy as he was. That made him a little bit better, figuring that she would probably be on the same page as him with wanting to pursue a friendship before anything else. “Only because you got it out. Again, thank you.” 

Keaton nodded in acknowledgement of her gratitude, not trusting his voice to speak. Once the last page had been blow dried, he nodded in approval, tucking the small book into the pocket of his cargo shorts. Without the sound of the blow dryer to make him brave, he felt that creeping anxiety again, as if it extended from the tips of his toes to the tips of his fingertips, grabbing hold of him and refusing to let go. But... she was looking at him in a way that he couldn’t quite explain, and she was calling herself boring, and though he still knew nothing about her, he hated that. He hated to hear her put herself down like that. He hated to hear it from anyone, but especially from her. “I doubt that,” he said, sounding more brave than he felt. “Yeah, of course but I...” he trailed off, eyes drifting to the bathroom door before a self deprecating sort of smile fell onto his lips, and he scratched at the back of his neck. “I don’t really want to talk to you for the first time in uh, in a bathroom. But it’s so loud out there....” 

something’s gotta give // aurora

[keatondennings]

texts // cam

Cameron: I'm sorry that I assumed.

Cameron: But... this is a once and a lifetime thing. Some people never find their soulmates.

Cameron: I can help you get through it though... we can play your weakness for the better.

Cameron: Is she social? Forward? Tell me a little about her so we can figure this out together.

Keaton: Yeah, but the word lifetime applies here. I don't have to be super suave from day one. I'm just a kid.

Keaton: Thank you.

Keaton: No, definitely not. She's like me. We haven't sat down to talk yet, but I can tell she's really nice. She fished my book out of the pool for me. And I think we might have similar taste in literature. Basically, I think she's as terrified as I am, which is oddly comforting.

[keatondennings]

texts // cam

Cameron: Good.

Cameron: Like a person? Literally Keaton, she's obviously already intrigued, you know exactly who it is and maybe you don't know /her/ yet, but you know that she'll understand you. Just ask questions and be yourself because she'd be dumb not to like you.

Keaton: You say that as if I talk to people successfully. Look, I get what you're saying. And I understand you're trying to help. But you don't get what it's like to be me. I literally... I'm afraid to say anything. People might misunderstand, or be mean. I'm afraid to ask questions because I don't want to bother anyone but I'm terrified to get anything wrong. I'm literally afraid. All the time. Constantly.

[keatondennings]

texts // cam

Cameron: Good. Take me up on it all of the time.

Cameron: They're going to forget. That's not the big deal either, especially with who you just found. Are you still hanging out with her? If not, did you at least get her number?

Keaton: I'll try.

Keaton: Yeah, we're still hanging out. Like I said, I just excused myself for a minute. It's loud in here so I think we're going to go out to that gazebo in the backyard to talk. How exactly do I talk to her?

[keatondennings]

texts // cam

Cameron: Please start bothering me. This is your pass to bother me whenever you please.

Cameron: Aurora, huh? Like the princess? So you're trying to tell me she looks like a fairytale princess? It sounds pretty appropriate. I mean, how are your clothes and everything? Do you want me to go home and grab you something?

Keaton: Okay, okay. I got it.

Keaton: Yes, like the princess. I guess that's what I'm saying. They're fine. You don't have to do that. They're just a little damp at this point but it's not the end of the world. Luckily everyone is drunk enough that I'm pretty sure they forgot who it was that fell in the pool.

[keatondennings]

texts // cam

Cameron: One, I told you to text me if you were uncomfortable. Trust me at this point I am sober as a judge.

Cameron: Two, WHO IS SHE, WHAT DOES SHE LOOK LIKE, GO BACK AND FIND HER.

Keaton: I didn't want to bother you.

Keaton: Okay. Her name is Aurora. She's... really, really beautiful, Cam. Like I'm having a hard time processing it. She looks like she stepped straight out of a painting or one of the books I read. Relax, I know where she is. She was helping me dry my book that I dropped in the pool.

[keatondennings]

texts // cam

Cameron: Excuse me, I just choked on beer.

Cameron: Clarify?

Keaton: I don't blame you, beer is gross.

Keaton: I don't know. I was trying to get away from the crowds because I hate everything about this party and I felt my wrist burning and then I saw her and it startled me so much that I fell in the pool and now I've excused myself to use the restroom before I have a stroke.

[keatondennings]

aurorashart:

It was hard to face the only person that could ever possibly truly understand you. She remembered that her mother had always said eye contact was key, that you had to have eye contact with someone you could possibly be interested in, but it was hard to meet his eyes when her conscious was consistently judging her actions. She had followed him here… but for what? She didn’t know what she wanted from the boy, other than to get to know her soulmate, but where could she even start? She was lucky enough to have a friend in Raya, and somehow she’d made some oddly placed friends earlier in the year, but this was in an entirely different stratosphere. How could she even start with a person that could potentially hold so much importance in her life? “It is…” she trailed off again, trying not to blush too hard as she handed the book off to him, not wanting to hold his possessions for too long in case he thought she would take it.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek once again, she couldn’t help but feel immediately nervous in the silence that followed. She was assured that it was comfortable, but nothing could help the waves of nervousness hitting her stomach, and hitting hard. Pulling the bangle that Ivy had given her off of her arm and tucking it neatly into her purse, she wasn’t sure that she had much need for it after he had said his name. “I’d like to.” She says quietly, clearing her throat to try to raise her voice a little more so he could actually hear her. “That was a yes… in case you didn’t… hear. Um, I’m Aurora. I uh… it matches.” She admits nervously, wishing in that moment she could express her enthusiasm at her soulmate being better looking than she imagined, and making her more tongue tied than she had ever been. Her wrist had completely calmed down, and she could only assume this was what happened when you felt this right around the one person you were supposed to be with.

There were so many things Keaton wanted to know about her as he stepped further back into the bathroom to allow her to come in, leaving the decision about closing the door up to her so she wouldn’t think he was some sort of creep. He couldn’t miss the way she pulled a bangle off her wrist, uncovering the initials, and something about that small gesture made his whole body flood with warmth. He’d never covered his initials, not really seeing the point. Already being invisible meant that people didn’t check his wrist all that often. “Okay, uh, great, thank you...” Setting the book on the sink and plugging in the blow dryer, he turned it to its lowest setting so they could still hear each other talk, though he wasn’t even sure he had the words at the moment. “Um, I turn pages, you dry? Or we could... switch if you want, it doesn’t matter to me.”

At her confirmation that her wrist did have a K on it, he couldn’t help but drop his gaze to it. It looked just like the K on Cameron’s wrist, but this one stood for Keaton, and that was so much to process that he felt a little overwhelmed. He knew nothing about Aurora yet, knew nothing about what she wanted out of a soul mate or what she expected him to be. Maybe he’d already let her down. “Aurora,” he repeated, trying it out. “That’s... really, really beautiful,” he admitted softly, eyes finding her face in a rare moment of confidence before he wavered, dropping them again. Clearing his throat, Keaton carefully opened his book, finding that because it had floated, it hadn’t been in the water too long, and the middle pages were relatively okay. “I... don’t know what to do now, honestly. There are so many things I want to know about you but I don’t even know where to start....”

something’s gotta give // aurora

[keatondennings]

texts // cam

Keaton: I fell in the pool.

Keaton: And met my soul mate.

Keaton: So that's how my night is going.

[keatondennings]

aurorashart:

She knew that life didn’t throw her many curveballs. With her father being sick and her being almost sickeningly shy, it wasn’t like she was actively looking for conflict and trouble. However, this was the first time something positive had presented itself and she didn’t want to go so easily. Waiting could be fruitless and it could be the wrong person, but following her instinct and the way that her wrist felt like it was on fire, she couldn’t help but lean against the wall, wondering if maybe he was too embarrassed to come out. Hearing the whirring sound behind the door, it clicked in her head immediately what he was doing, and she knew once that sound stopped she may be able to stop him before he ran out for good.

Her face heating up immediately as the blow-drying stopped, she hoped for all the courage in the world if he were to come out at that exact moment. Positioning herself near the door, she bit the inside of her cheek once again as it opened, her eyes immediately locking to the boy in front of her. She didn’t expect this to happen, in fact, she more than thought she would be glued to Raya’s side the whole night. This however… was a welcome surprise. She could feel her face heating again, taken aback at how cute he was, and she wasn’t sure if the words were going to come out on their own or if they would be in an awkward silence for the rest of their time together. Looking down to the book in her hands, she nodded, trying not to wince at her lack of using words. “Um… yes, I did. I love this book…” she admits smally, giving him a smile, “so I thought it should be saved…”

The first thing Keaton noticed was that she seemed just as stunned and nervous as he did. One of his biggest fears, from the moment that A had appeared on his wrist, was that his soul mate would be someone confident and bold, who would have twice the voice he did which would mean maybe he would never develop his voice at all. Speaking of his voice, it seemed to have disappeared completely. He wanted to know her name, and her interests, and absolutely everything to be honest, but he didn’t even know how to begin to ask for that information. Keaton could barely handle speaking to girls who were just regular, not his soul mate girls. Did fate or the universe or the big man upstairs actually expect him to be able to talk to the girl? He thought of his mom suddenly, about the way she would stick up for him when he wanted to do things his father said made him a wimp, comparing him to a girl as if that were an insult, and the reminder of that helped him at least reply to what she said. “It’s-- yeah, it’s a good one. Thank you, um...”

Keaton glanced back at the blow dryer in the bathroom, wondering if she would want to help him try and save the book. But that immediately struck up more fear in him. Leaving the door open would allow for people to walk by and see them, or worse, stumble in while they were drunk. But closing the door felt private, and terrifying, and claustrophobic. Out of the two, however, being able to talk to her without the reminder of the people who’d just laughed at him for falling in the pool (which she’d clearly seen) won that particular struggle. “Do-do you uh, do you want to help me? Dry it, I mean. Oh, I’m-I’m Keaton, by the way. You’re my.....?” he trailed off, wanting her to confirm it, even though he already knew. Now that she was standing right in front of him, the burning stopped, and he felt an odd sort of inner peace he didn’t think he’d ever experienced.

something’s gotta give // aurora

[keatondennings]

aurorashart:

Trying to push through the excited onlookers, she noticed they all moved away after the person in the pool had gotten out and gone… somewhere. The only thing Aurora knew was that the tug resumed once again, and the burning stopped. Frowning as she looked down to the pool, she knelt on her knees, dipping her hand in the warm water for a moment to retrieve something that definitely wasn’t supposed to be in there. Turning the book to face front, she couldn’t help but smile at the familiar title, The Hitchhicker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and let her mind wander for just a moment. If who she saw had fallen in the pool, he had obviously escaped by now. Standing with a frown, Aurora’s brow quirked upward as she looked to the ground.

A plan popping in her head (not a very good one; a very risky and uneducated guess was leading her in this direction,) she decided to follow her gut and follow the droplets on the floor, even though she knew it wasn’t the safest to keep her head down in this situation. A few bumps by tipsy classmates and a large spill throwing her off her trail for only a mere moment, she ends up near the bathroom Dane told her about, the feeling on her wrist burning once again instead of pulling. She was close, and by the puddle that had formed by the door, she could easily assume who was inside. Biting the inside of her cheek, she contemplated knocking but instead waited, clutching the book in her hands.

Keaton locked himself away in one of the many bathrooms, opening cabinets until he found a towel. Peeling off his clothes, he toweled himself as dry as he could get, not looking forward to putting his wet clothes back on, but feeling a little better. The party was so loud, and this part of the house was so empty, that he figured it would be safe to attempt to dry his clothes a little when he found a hair dryer in the same cabinet where he’d gotten the towels. And so that was how Keaton Dennings spent the better part of half an hour at his first party: wrapped in a towel, blow drying his clothes. Once they’d reached a state that was more damp than anything, he got dressed again, wincing at the smell of chlorine, and wondering where his soul mate had gone. He wouldn’t blame her if she’d sprinted out of there, but the fact that his wrist still ached told him that she was still nearby. 

Hoping that everyone had forgotten what he looked like, Keaton finally opened the bathroom door, and almost ran smack into his soul mate herself. Blinking in surprise, he couldn’t even form words, simply staring at her for a moment. She was beautiful, in an ethereal sort of way, like she’d been plucked straight from a fairy tale and plopped down in front of him. She would surely be disappointed that she’d missed out on her knight in shining armor and instead ended up with an anxiety riddled boy in damp clothes. He thought about saying something, anything, and he even opened his mouth and closed it a few times, before he caught sight of his ruined book in her hands. He could possibly still salvage it if he blow dried it, but he was temporarily distracted, eyes widening a little. “You... you got my book? Thank you.”

something’s gotta give // aurora

[keatondennings]

aurorashart:

She could feel her face heating and probably turning bright red at how she was acting. She was at one of the coolest girls in Westerville’s homes and Aurora was… sitting there, playing candy crush on her phone. Letting out a small defeated sigh, knowing her eyes were going to stay glued to the screen until she heard Raya from somewhere else, she continued to move her finger along the screen, trying to match five so her game wouldn’t end as soon as she started it. Her finger continually hovering over one set of moves, her mind couldn’t help but wonder to how strange her wrist felt. One moment an intense burn, and now just a dull ache, her heart pushed itself to pull her eyes upward.

From the second she saw him, quick and brief, and eyes back down to her phone, she knew it was him. Her mother had told her many times exactly how it felt when she looked at her father and it was the same deer-in-headlights, clear as it could ever be moments. She had never seen him before, not once and it both relieved her and scared her. How could she even bring it up to someone she’s never met before? How awkward could that possibly be? Unfortunately, her mind came to a screeching halt as she heard a splash followed by laughs from a gregarious group of people.

Standing up almost immediately, keeping her purse tight to her side, she tried to find exactly where he disappeared to, hoping for all intents and purposes it wasn’t what just happened… though she knew that her hopefulness usually reflected the worse. Biting her lip and moving forward slightly, she kept her eyes trained around her, trying to be brave enough to find him before she couldn’t anymore.

She saw him. Keaton could’ve sworn his heart stopped. For such a brief moment that, had he not physically felt it, he would’ve thought he imagined their eyes meeting. But it didn’t matter, because now he was in the pool, fully clothed, at a party full of drunk teenagers that were now laughing at him. His cheeks burned as he surfaced, and if it hadn’t been for his father’s punishments for when he did cry, he might’ve started doing so on the spot. Book forgotten, Keaton swam to the edge of the pool, keeping his eyes down as he hoisted himself up, the laughter increasing in volume. He wanted to look for her, but at the same time, he would’ve welcomed the ground suddenly opening and pulling him down into it. At least then nobody would be looking at him. 

Standing up, Keaton glanced around. She’d left her lawn chair, and now he could see that pretty blonde hair weaving through the crowd. Was she-- was she trying to get to him? His heart jumped a little at the thought, but then he imagined meeting his soul mate while he was sopping wet, and before he could think twice, he started pushing through the crowd. He wasn’t even sure what he was heading for, just knowing he wanted to get away, to have a second chance. He could find her again when he was dry, when this terrible night was a distant memory. Keaton pushed back into the house, heading for that bathroom he’d found earlier, throwing nervous glances back over his shoulder as he left a light trail of water behind him.

something’s gotta give // aurora

[keatondennings]

aurorashart:

She thought it would be a good night, especially since Raya had been so eager on the car ride over. They had never attended a party like this, and Aurora knew it wasn’t on purpose that she’d gotten separated, but hanging out by the food waiting for Raya to show up again probably wasn’t the wisest decision. Plus, she had already eaten a strange array of horderves that didn’t seem to coincide with any flavor she had ever tried. On top of it all, she was trying her hardest to ignore whatever she was feeling near her wrist, the burning persistent as she tried to move her purse close to her body to wiggle around the hordes of dancing people.

Skirting her way outside, trying to avoid people and get more air into her lungs, she exhaled slightly, wondering if Ivy actually knew all of these people or not. If she did, she had to have way more friends than Aurora could’ve imagined. This wasn’t the kind of birthday party that she ever had even when her dad was healthy, and even then they were always with blow up animals and themed around cats and dogs. She wasn’t that hard of a kid to please. 

Finding an empty lounge chair, one that she presumed was for suntanning and not simply sitting on, Aurora drew her phone from her purse, scrolling endlessly through the pages of apps and games that she kept around for situations like this. Not only was she scared of half the people there, but the burning on her wrist made her even more nervous. It had never felt like that before and she wondered if maybe she ignored it, it would simply go away after a round of candy crush.

Keaton was torn between wanting to stop looking around, and unable to stop the frantic way his head whipped around to scan the backyard. Was she actually here? He didn’t think it would actually be possible to find her in this crowd. Everywhere he turned, he saw someone else he didn’t recognize, but felt none of that earth stopping clarity that had been promised by his father in the rare moments he spoke about his mother, usually after a couple of drinks. He wasn’t even sure that he wanted to meet her. It wasn’t as if he had anything to offer a soul mate. What a disappointment that would be. Hi, I’m Keaton, I’m your soul mate, and I’m afraid of everything including you....?

The decision to look for her was taken out of his hands when his eyes fell on a girl playing on her phone on a lounge chair, and he knew instantly that he’d found her. He stared for an obnoxious amount of time, taking in her bright blonde hair and small figure, trying to process that he was actually looking at the person that the A on his wrist belonged to. He didn’t even know what to do. Did he walk away, did he approach? What would happen if he saw her, but she didn’t see him?

Keaton still wasn’t sure what his decision was but he lifted his foot to start going somewhere, anywhere when--

--his foot caught on someone’s leg, and before he could even process the fact that he was falling, he landed with a hard splash right into the pool, taking his book and his dignity with him.

something’s gotta give // aurora

[keatondennings]

something’s gotta give // aurora

He was totally and completely out of his element.

Keaton had attempted to find Cameron, but in the mass of dancing people that were steadily getting drunker and drunker, it was kind of pointless. He hadn’t even spotted Ivy yet, and it was her party. He’d felt like a loser for bringing a book but about ten minutes into it, he could already feel anxiety clutching at his gut, and it was with great relief that he pushed out into the backyard, lit by fairy lights and lanterns. Not many people had elected to use the pool yet, so he scoped out a spot near the very back of the huge backyard, seeing what looked to be a little gazebo that he could sit in and read, since it appeared to be lit. 

Pushing his way through people with stammered apologies and embarrassed excuse me’s, Keaton kept his book clutched tightly to his chest. Finally managing to get through the crowd of people closest to the door, he walked near the edge of the pool to skirt around the crowds, eyes kept on the ground. He was so eager to get away from everyone that it took him a long moment to realize that the gentle tug in his left wrist had turned into a sudden sort of burning, and he dropped his book out of surprise, running smack into a couple making out. “S-sorry,” he stammered out, grabbing his book and backing away, eyes scanning the backyard with a bit of panic, not expecting that his soul mate would be here.