(A/n: I had to add this picture of KK. Had to. I laughed so hard. He certainly is special, because he's the Outlaw, for goodness sake. )

One Week Later

After a week, I had the swing (get it?) of Tampa Bay High, and I had made friends with almost everyone, no problem.

"Almost" being Kevin Kiermaier.

Today, I was going to confront him.
He's not harmless. He can't be.

Chris approaches me.
"Hollis?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you know about Grady's petition?" he asks softly.

I honestly answered, "Yes."

"He needs to give this shit a break. Honestly...I don't need a dumb ass campaign for my excellence. I just, uh, noticed that you had signed it."

My face drops. "Are you mad at me?"

Chris hugs me. "No. It's okay. I'm not mad."

I shrug. "Chris?"

"Yes?"

"What do I do about Kevin?"

"Well," Chris yawns, "be careful what you say. Be friendly and sociable. Act like you would normally."

"So," I ask him, "you're telling me to be yourself?"

Chris grins. "I like to draw things out."

I walk into the semicircle of the school's courtyard. It had rained last night, so the humidity had kicked in big time. I took off my sweatshirt and sat down. Kevin wasn't far, walking towards the football field. I hop off the table I was sitting at and walk towards him.

"Hey." I smile.

"What fresh hell?" He looks at me. His eye is black.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"No," he shakes his head, "Tim Beckham punched me."

I vaguely knew Lisa's brother. He was quiet and timid.

"Is there anything I can do?" I quietly ask.

Kevin looked up, then down. I could see the pain in his bright green eyes.

"My mom's dying. It hurts me....I don't know what to do." He starts crying.

I give him a hug.

"Hell, I'd never wish this on my worse enemy." he sniffed.

Wait. Who's his worst enemy?

He emerged, wiping his face.

"I'm sorry I've been acting shitty. Evan and Logan had to tell me to be careful around you. You haven't, uh, gotten adjusted to Florida yet, and I greeted you unfairly." He takes out his hand.
"Kevin Kiermaier."

"Hollis Santiago." I shake his hand. "Nice to finally meet you."

Me and Kevin walked towards the football field and sat in the bleachers.

"So," I start, "tell me about TBHS and everyone in it."

"Well." Kevin tells me. "You know Archer. One hell of a pitcher. Anyway, he is a really good guy. Wants to play professional one day. Rumors say that he may be getting a baseball scholarship from Florida State."

"Chris is real sweet." I nod. "Cute, too."

"If every girl here could say that." Kevin grins some goofy smile.

"Freshmen fangirl around me."

I nod. His eyes...his humor...

"And the others? Well, let me-" He is interrupted by the football team storming in. "Oh. Those guys."

"What do you mean, those guys?" I ask.

"The football team. They consist of Marshawn Lynch, Doug Martin, Luke McCown, Andy Dalton, Cole Beasley, Blake Bortles, Clay Matthews, Cam Newton, Kirk Cousins, Marcus Mariota, some others, and last but not least, Jameis Winston."

"Jameis Winston, huh?" I ask.

"The big cheese quarterback. Also known as total douchebag."

"And he is..." I trail off, hoping Kiermaier would answer.

"A junior." Kevin nods. "Took over bigshot Ryan Tannehill, who goes to South Florida now."

I realized that we were off-track.

"Kevin." I say. "Anyone I should be worried about?"

"Uh. Hm. I'd stay far away from Alex Rodriguez. And Tim Beckham. They may seem nice, but buyer beware."

Buyer beware. Be careful. I understood now.

"But," I reply, "I hang out with Lisa Beckham, his sister."

"Lisa's a great girl. She stays away from her brother, actually. She knows what he can become. Chris, too."

Silence surrounds us for a minute.

"Can I get your number?" I interrupt.

"Of course," Kevin takes my phone, "I'd love to talk anytime."

Lunch time rolled around, and I was walking with Liz and Chris.

"Who is she, a walking bag of potatoes?" Liz says, referring to our Algebra II teacher, Mrs. Roswell.

"And?" I say. "She doesn't smell, she reeks." And it was true. She smelled that bad.

"Nice." Chris grins. "If it's yellow, let it mellow? I'm sorry, but no one wants to talk about urine."

"Archer!" Liz screeches. "Gross!"

"But who does she think she is?" Chris continued. "Some ape woman or something, I swear-"

"Chris," I interrupt as we get spicy chicken sandwiches, "you're a genius."

"Well, duh." He grabs tater tots. "I have a 91 average."

"No, moron." Liz rolls her eyes. "She meant-"

"I know. We're calling her Ape Woman from now on. Wait, isn't there some opera singers called Ape Women?"

"Celtic Women, Arch." I giggle. "You are way off."

"Why is she a sack of potatoes?" Chris says, reminiscing on an earlier comment Liz said.

"Cause she's dull," Liz sat down, "like a sack of potatoes."

Chris' phone buzzed, and he looked at it, and read it.

"Chris." He read the text. "Can you pick Chloe up? She's been feeling sick. I know you have early release, so that would be great. Thank you, love you."

"We have early release?" I ask.

Shit. My mom's at work, and I don't have a car yet.

"Yeah." Chris grins. "Tonight's the Tampa Bay High Bonfire. We get out early for that. You got a ride?"

"No, I can ask my mom-"

"I'll take you." Chris smiles. He smiles a lot. It's contagious. "It's nice to have a partner in crime."

We drive around to Hillsborough County Middle in Chris' shitty Corolla, listening to that Nelly song about shoes.

"Give me two-pair-" I sing.

"I need two pair-" Chris sings.

"You got me stompin' in my-" I sputter.

Chris turns off the radio.

"Chuck Taylors." He nods.

"Air Force Ones." I say. "It's-"

"No." He points at my shoes. "Chucks. I was using Chucks, cause that's what you're wearing."

I look at my red Converses. "Okay then."

We walk into HCMS, and Chris heads for the nurse's office. I walk behind him, just to hear my name.

"Hollis? What are you doing here?"

My brother was holding a pass.

"What are you doing?"

"Saying good-bye to Chloe Archer. She's sick."

Chris perks up.

"Are you Chris?" Hunter asks. "My sister talks about you all the time. She says that you have funny hair and-"

"Hunter." I hiss. "Go to class."

"Aw," Chris says, "the kid likes Chloe. That's cool. Archers and Santiagos really do have a connection. And yes, I do have funny hair."

"Hunter. Chris will tell Chloe what you said. Go to class."

"Okay." He grins. "See ya." And he starts running.

We go in to see a girl lean over a garbage can.

This must be Chris' sister. Poor thing.

"Chloe." Chris rubs her back. "I'm here now."

"Finally." Chloe clears her throat. As soon as she sees me, her face lightens up.

"Chris!" She slaps him playfully in the back. "Is that your girlfriend?"

He continues signing her out.

"What's your name?" Chloe asks me.

"Hollis Santiago." Chris says. "And no, she is not my girlfriend. She's a good friend of mine."

"Hey!" She smiles. "Is she Hunter's sister?"

"Yup." Chris says. "Now we gotta get you home."

"Welcome to Casa Archer." Chris says, unlocking the door. They had a big house, and damn, was it-

"Watch your step." Chris grabs my arm. I hadn't even noticed the step.

A man was seated with a MacBook in his lap.

"Hola, Dad." Chris wacks his dad with a butterscotch candy.

"Hiya, Sport!" Mr. Archer stands up and heads my way. "Chris, who's this beautiful young lady?"

"Hollis Santiago. You must be Mr. Archer." I went to shake his hand, but instead was greeted with a hug.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Santiago."

"Dad," Chris replies, "you can let her go now."

Just then, I get a text:

From: Special K ⚾
Hey, this is Hollis from school, right?

Nice going on the contact name, Kevin.

To: Special K ⚾
Yes.

From: Special K ⚾
You coming tonight?

To: Special K ⚾
Probably.

From: Special K ⚾
Okay. See you there!

I turn off my phone and go upstairs.

Chris was swiveling around in his room.

His room was cool- it was white with navy trim. You probably wouldn't see, with all the baseball memorabilia hung up.

"You really love baseball, huh?"

"Absolutely." Chris says. "I live for it. By the way, how was Kevin?"

I smile. "Good. He's a good guy. He's just misunderstood. I pray for his mom's recovery."

Chris nods. "Ms. Kiermaier's a good lady. She's always in good spirits."

"Chris?" I ask. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course. You can ask me anything." He nods.

"How do you feel about Tim Beckham?"

Chris stays silent. I just rubbed him the wrong way.

"Um....he's, well,"

"You can say it." I nod.

"I don't like him." Chris nods. "He told me last year to go to hell. And to be honest, I have no idea what I did to him."

"I'm sorry." I say.

"It's okay." Chris bites his lip. "Do you need to go to your house and get your swimsuit?"

"Actually," I smile, "yeah. Yeah, I do."

Chris pats my shoulder. "Well, crap. Let me say that I'd rather inhale the beachy air then the remains of a dead ape."

"Archer!" I laugh. "Why?"

"It's the beach, for God's sake. Why wouldn't you?"

A/n:
Well, this was a pretty long chapter, and I think it covered a lot. There will be some more Kevin moments and Chris ones as well, because what do you think when you think Tampa Bay Rays?
Kiermaier and Archer, exactly.
And about the football guys, I just named random dudes. I really don't care about their positions....just that they play football.
And about Tim Beckham: I do not have a personal problem with him. He's just a troubled soul in this story. Tim is a great guy in real life, and again, I have nothing personal against him.
Love you all :)

Teaser: It's bonfire time; Hollis will get to meet some of the student body, and more Kevin action will come!
Also in this chapter: what Chris and the gang will do to protect Hollis from "immediate danger."