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Keith closed the car door behind him, stretching his legs as he turned to face Shiro. “So who exactly is going to be here?”
Shiro chuckled and waved him over to help with the boxes of food and paper plates they’d been asked to bring. “It’s just the Holts. You know Sam and Matt, but you haven’t met Colleen or Katie yet.”
“Do I want to?” he muttered under his breath. It wasn’t that he hadn’t heard good things about them; in fact, Shiro had nothing to say but good things about all four of the Holts, but Keith wasn’t used to being social and he didn’t care to start now.
Apparently he wasn’t quiet enough because Shiro sent him an unamused look. “Maybe not, but you’re going to and you’re going to be nice while doing it. Sam is my commanding officer at the Garrison and I want you to show him the respect he and his family deserve.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Keith shifted the box in his hands as they started off towards the pavilion where he could see three people setting up. The anxiety he’d been feeling ever since Shiro had insisted he come along was mounting inside him the closer they got. He wasn’t good with this kind of thing, and he always seemed to say something wrong, so he would keep his mouth shut if he could. “Just, don’t leave me alone?” he asked quietly as they drew nearer to the others.
Shiro gave him a reassuring smile. “Never.”
Keith couldn’t help but notice the daughter’s absence as Shiro introduced him to the rest of the Holts, who were looking over the kites they planned to fly after lunch. He was most worried about her, since they were closer to the same age and he wasn’t very good with girls. They always made him nervous, whether he liked them or not. But once he saw her running down the cement path, he was more nervous than he’d ever been.
Matt saw her at the same time he did. “Here comes Hurricane Katie,” he said, laughing.
“I’ve got it,” she gasped out, bouncing up the stairs and waving a triumphant hand in the air. She handed the little bundle of string over to her mother. When she saw Shiro, she jumped at him, hugging him tight. “Hey, I didn’t know you’d be here.”
He laughed and hugged her back. “We couldn’t miss out on this.”
She frowned. “We?”
He nodded and gestured over to Keith, who’d watched the interaction with increasing anxiety. “Katie, this is Keith.”
She looked up at him, as if just noticing him, and froze. “Oh, uh. Hi, Keith.”
He lifted an awkward hand in a small wave. “Hi, Katie.” Shiro was arching an eyebrow at them and the rest of the Holts were curious too, so Keith cleared his throat and explained, “We’ve actually met before.”
Mrs. Holt looked up in interest from where she was setting out the food. “Oh?”
Katie nodded to her mother, though she kept her eyes pinned on Keith, which meant he could see the blush spreading across her cheeks. “Uh, yeah. You remember that robotics club I joined in fifth grade. We used to meet after school in the gymnasium and build things.” She lowered her eyes, turning away. “Keith was in the club too.”
Her mother looked back to Keith. “You like robotics then.”
He shrugged. “Not really. I was mostly there because my foster parents wanted me to pick an extracurricular.”
She smiled at him and gestured to the table. “At least tell me you like sandwiches and lemonade.”
He nodded and fell back into silence as she called the rest of the group over. As they dished up and ate, Keith couldn’t help but notice Katie’s obvious avoidance of him. She wouldn’t talk to him. She wouldn’t sit next to him. She wouldn’t even look at him.
He wondered what he’d done, now or back in robotics club two years ago, that had made her hate him so much. It wasn’t much different than his interaction with any other girl; he stayed away from them and they stayed away from him. But Katie used to talk to him back then. She’d even helped him a few times when he couldn’t quite figure out how to make his projects work.
When it came time to fly kites, Keith was content to sit back and watch. He was used to being left out of family activities, and even when Shiro and Mrs. Holt both asked him twice if he was sure he didn’t want to try, his answer was the same. He didn’t know how to fly a kite, and he wasn’t about to embarrass himself trying. Especially not with Katie there, even if her eyes were on everything but him.
It was only when her kite got too much wind and set her off running that he got involved. The second the gust of wind came, everyone had braced against it, but Katie was so small that it almost picked her up off the ground. When she went flying, Matt called back to him. “Help her catch it, Keith!”
He was the closest, and they all had kites of their own, so it made sense to him and he ran to catch up with her. But she didn’t want his help.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, and he didn’t miss the annoyed tone in her voice.
“Helping?” He reached out as he got closer, but she swatted his hand away.
“I don’t need your help. I’ve got this under control.”
Another gust tugged on her string and nearly pulled it out of her hand. Keith didn’t care if she hated him; he was going to help. He reached out to grab the string and grounded himself with a wide stance. He didn’t realize how close she was until the kite had evened itself out and he looked down to find her blushing bright red.
“Sorry,” he said, moving away once he was sure she could do it on her own again.
She shook her head immediately. “Thanks for helping, but I think I’m done. This wind is too strong for me.” She reeled her string in, ducked her head, and dragged her kite back to the others.
He had to have done something wrong two years ago, but he couldn’t think what.
She was gone by the time he sat back down near the others. From where he was masterfully guiding his kite through the sky, Shiro sent him a sympathetic smile, but beside him Matt was grinning wide.
“Sorry about Katie,” he said sincerely despite the look on his face. “She’s always this way with boys she likes.”
Keith blinked. Surely he couldn’t be implying what he thought he was implying. He had to ask, just to be sure. “What do you mean?”
Matt looked at him, wide-eyed and falsely innocent. “Didn’t you know? Katie had the biggest crush on you two years ago.”
Keith was shocked. She’d never sat with anyone else, and she was always willing to offer her help, but he figured it was just because she’d been asked by the teacher overseeing the club to include him. He’d never imagined his feelings were returned.
Matt was still squinting at him, one hand shading his eyes, by the time Keith could school his expression. “I guess she still likes you.”