KENNEDY

"Sit still." I demand for the umpteenth time glaring at a fidgeting Isaiah.

He scowls back at me and shifts once more. "I can't, this stool is too small for me."

"I know your tushy hurts but I need you to sit still, I'll be done soon." I reply dipping my brush once more into the pallet I have in my left hand.

He is right about the stool being too small and I could have found a bigger one but that thought crossed my mind too late.

"You know when you asked me to meet you in here during my free period, I did not think it was for this." Isaiah groans trying to be as still as possible.

We are in the art room and Isaiah is my model of the day.

"You thought I was calling you in here to make out." I chuckle peeking at him for a moment.

"Yes or something more." He mumbles making my eyes widen.

"Iz we are not having sex in school." I whisper yell.

"Why? Half the school population is." He reasons as if that is supposed to make me feel better.

"Doesn't mean we have to as well. And besides I called you in here because I love drawing you." I inform him.

Drawing Isaiah is one of my favorite things to do, has been from the day I met him thus why I have a whole drawing book dedicated to just him. But I have never done a painting of him, just pencil drawings thus why we are here.

"Awe but we both know you're just saying that to butter me up." He retorts.

"True but as my boyfriend it is your duty to be at my beck and call."

"Yes princess." He says mockingly.

"Don't let Wes hear you call me that, he is very territorial over that nickname." I remind him.

"I know." He groans adjusting himself once more.

I resist the urge to scold him again because he has been on that stool for a while and besides all the moving he's been doing a good job.

"Remind me again why I am shirtless." He asks.

"Why are you cold?"

"No just wondering."

"Aesthetic appeal." I grin at him.

"Or you just wanted an excuse to see my abs, Berry all you had to do was ask. I am all yours." He grins.

"Tone down the ego you smug bastard." I scoff but my cheeks get hot from being called out.

"Am I wrong?" He challenges.

"No." I mumble under my breath.

"Sorry I didn't quite catch that." He says holding his ear dramatically.

"No you are not wrong." I answer louder.

"I knew it." He laughs.

"Yeah, yeah, your girlfriend is obsessed with your body, big deal. Now sit still, I am almost done." I demand.

"Yes ma'am." He nods and resumes his original position.

He still has a smug grin on his face so I just roll my eyes at him and get back to work. As usual when I am doing something I love, time flies by and before I realize it the free period I'd stolen from Isaiah is over and we both need to head over to our next class.

"Thank you, you were a terrible model but I still had fun." I appreciate him as I help him button up his shirt.

He pulls me closer by my waist and lowers his head to kiss me. I know we are in the art room in the middle of a busy school day where anyone can walk in but I cannot resist the urge to kiss him back. He picks me up and places me on one of the tables on top of some very delicate art supplies but I am too engrossed in him to care.

My fingers rake down his chest and I find myself undoing his buttons again but he takes hold of my hands and stops me.

"You are welcome but we have class remember."

I groan in protest and lay my head on his chest. "Let's skip it." I suggest.

He gapes surprised that I would even suggest that. "Tempting but we have a test."

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about that."

Isaiah laughs, kisses me shortly before helping me off the table. As he gets dressed I clean up and set my portrait aside to let it dry.

"That is pretty amazing." Isaiah compliments standing behind me.

"Considering I was working with a fidgeting subject I agree that I did a pretty good job." I concur.

"I did my best, next time I'll do better, I promise."

"I will hold you to it."

We leave the art room and make it in time for our next class.

The rest of the day drags on unfortunately but eventually we are done with our classes for the day. This leaves one of my favorite pass times, watching the boys practice or more like drawing them while they are at it.

"How are you able to draw them so accurately when they are moving so fast?" Kristie who I thought was doing her homework silently next to me asks.

"Eidetic memory." I answer shortly.

"Guessed as much." She shrugs peeking over my shoulder to see what I'm doing.

Being watched as I draw is not something I particularly enjoy but I let it slide this one time. But then she starts asking too many questions which messes with my concentration.

"I think I'm gonna get closer for a better look." I say getting up.

"Oh okay." She nods.

I make my way to the lower bleachers which means I am much closer to the court. I've never been this close before which is a bit scary but it's better than answering Kristie's unending questions. Isaiah sees me and blows me a kiss which unfortunately doesn't go unnoticed by his coach who scolds him for it. He doesn't care though and keeps sending me subtle winks all through practice.

"That was a good practice boys. Now hit the showers, get some rest tonight because tomorrow morning we do it all over again." Coach Miles says dismissing them.

The boys groan in response but listen nonetheless. I see Wesley headed my way with Isaiah and Baron so I get up standing on the bleachers.

"Wes I know you are a creature of habit but don't you dare pick me up." I demand when I see him open his arms for his usual bear hug.

"But why?" He pouts.

"You're all sweaty and gross." I reply stepping away to put some distance between us.

"No I'm not." He defends sniffing his armpits which causes him to flinch. "You might be onto something."

"I know I am." I retort.

"Berry." Isaiah says when he gets to me.

"Hi baby." I reply pecking his lips.

"Hey why does Iz get to touch you?" Wesley demands.

"I'm not." Isaiah demands showing his hands that are stuck firmly to his side.

"Fine." Wesley grunts unimpressed.

Wesley is cute and I want to make him feel better but there is no way I am going to let him hug me when he is drenched in sweat.

"Guys watch out." Someone yells from across the court.

We all turn in time for us to see a basketball headed straight for me. Instead of ducking like a normal human being should I stay frozen in place and instead close my eyes as if that will protect me.

The seconds pass by and when no ball makes contact with my face I open them to find it in Isaiah's hands an inch away from my face.

"Nice catch dude." Jeremy the culprit who threw the ball in the first place chuckles as he runs across the court towards us.

"Nice catch? Dude you almost took her head off." Wesley scolds taking the ball from Isaiah and tossing it at Jeremy.

It hits him in the stomach knocking all breath out of him causing him to stumble forward.

"It was an accident." He coughs.

"Are you okay Berry?" Isaiah asks tucking my hair behind my face.

I nod my body still frozen in shock unable to say a word.

"Is she okay?" Baron asks.

"Yeah it didn't hit her but she's a bit shaken." Isaiah answers.

"Jeremy." Baron growls.

"I'm sorry Kennedy." Jeremy apologizes.

"It's okay, I'm okay." I reply finding my voice.

"Sit down Berry." Isaiah says taking my hand and lowering me to take a seat.

They fuss over me for a moment and it takes me a while to get over the initial shock but after a while I stop trembling.

"And that is why I don't do sports." I chide making the boys laugh.

"We know." They all agree once they realize that I am okay and back to my cheery self.

The coach who missed the whole interaction blows his whistle again and yells at the boys to go shower.

"I'll be back Berry." Isaiah says kissing my forehead.

"Okay." I nod.

The boys leave to go shower so to get my heartbeat back in normal rhythm I keep drawing until they come back.

When they do we all go to the library for an hour to study as I tutor Wesley for our upcoming midterms.

"Did you guys bring snacks for the senior sunset this evening?" Kristie asks as we walk out of the library.

"Snacks for the what now?" I ask confused.

"You didn't tell her." Kristie scolds Isaiah.

"No because we are not going." He answers.

"What you can't miss this. It's one of the most epic nights of senior year." Wesley demands.

"Miss what?" I ask confused.

"It's not as glorious as Wesley is making it sound but us seniors have what we call the Senior Sunrise and Sunset. With the basketball team waking up so early this semester for training we weren't able to have a senior sunrise so we are doing a sunset instead. Since it's a student organized matter, we were to bring our own snacks." Kristie explains.

"Iz I wanna go." I tell him pleadingly using my soft voice.

"Sure if you really want to but I kind of had other plans for us." He informs me.

"What kind of plans?" I ask intrigued.

"The kind where Wesley won't eat half our snacks." He answers.

"Hey!" Wesley screeches defensively.

"Wes did you bring your own snacks?" Kristie asks him.

He immediately looks away which answers it all for us. "No."

"See what I'm talking about." Isaiah says.

"In my defense I was going to hit the vending machine but we are not talking about me, this is about them missing out." Wesley argues pointing at Isaiah and I.

"Ignore him, I know you might want to join them but I have three words for you, The Mayfair Rooftop." Isaiah says to me making my eyes light up.

He doesn't need to say anymore.

"I'm sold, see you tomorrow guys." I say taking Isaiah's hand to lead him away.

"I want to go to The Mayfair Rooftop." Wesley declares.

"Me too." Baron and Kristie add.

"Sorry employees only." Isaiah replies.

"Princess is not an employee." Wesley yells after our retreating backs.

"No but she is dating one so she gets a pass. So long suckers." Isaiah chuckles as we walk out of the school building.

We walk to his car and he opens the door for me before rounding the car to get behind the wheel.

"That was mean." I scold him as we pull out of the schools parking lot.

"I know, I'll apologize tomorrow." He replies.

I smile knowing that he means it. Above all Isaiah values friendships so he wouldn't do anything to hurt our friends and if he does, he owns up to it.

"What about work?" I ask him as we drive into the city.

"We will still make it. We'll just miss the first hour or so. I asked Gary to cover for me and already told Archer you will be late." He explains.

"You covered all basis I see." I compliment with a smile.

"Just being the doting boyfriend that I am." He grins kissing the back of my hand.

"Mission accomplished." I blush leaning over the console to kiss his cheek.

I have no idea what Isaiah's full plan is but he is always so thoughtful when it comes to us spending time together so I know this will be special too.

When we get to the Mayfair instead of using the service lane at the back of the hotel we pull up at the front where Gary is. When he recognizes Isaiah's car he approaches leaving the parking passes he had picked up behind.

"Hiya kids." He greets leaning on the open driver's window.

"Hi Gary." I reply with a wave.

"Kennedy." He acknowledges me with a polite nod.

We met during Cairo's party because he brought his kids. His wife is gorgeous and we got to know each other over some time spent together. They are a very close-knit family. Gary adores his wife and kids and they him.

"Is everything ready?" Isaiah asks him.

"Yes it is. Here you go, this will give you access to the roof." Gary replies giving him a keycard.

"Thank you Gary."

"See you guys in an hour, enjoy." He replies stepping aside.

Isaiah drives the car to the underground parking and finds a spot. I get the door before he can get out to open it for me which makes him glare at me. I shrug and chuckle as I watch him get out of the car to get stuff out of the trunk.

"Need help with anything?" I ask him.

"Yes, your hand." He replies closing the trunk and holding his free hand out for me.

I smile and take it. He leads me to the elevators and presses the button for the top floor. We make a few stops to pick up and drop off other people but when we get there it opens up to what I thought would be the roof top but is instead a row of hotel rooms. I am confused until I see a door designated for employees only. He used the keycard to let us through which opens us to a stairwell that leads to the rooftop.

"Welcome to our own personal senior sunset." Isaiah says stepping aside to let me walk through.

The Mayfair is a luxurious hotel meaning it has more than forty floors. There are other taller buildings in New York but we are pretty high up. I turn around in wonder until I see the sunset that we came here for.

"And here I thought it looked great from my house." I mumble as I stare in wonder at glowing lights of yellow, orange and red.

"I know right. I came here last week with Gary and all I could think of was bringing you here. Then talk of the senior sunset started floating around and I found my opening." Isaiah explains.

"This is wonderful." I exclaim.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." He replies smiling at him.

I offer to help him set up but he turns me down so I give up and watch him instead. When he is done, he's set up a mini picnic for us on the rooftop complete with all our favorite foods, drinks and snacks.

"Your seat milady." He smiles at me.

"Thanks you." I grin taking his hand as he helps me sit on one of the blankets he has laid out.

He settles in next to me and we shift until we are seated glued to each other, my back to his front.

"Thank you for this. It's been a while since we had a one on one date so this is really nice." I say to him.

He kisses my temple and tightens his arms around me. "You are welcome and I' sorry we don't do more of these. It's just with school, work, basketball and volunteering, there's not much free time left to work with."

I turn to him and kiss his chin. "It's okay, you did warn me when we first started dating. Actually if I remember correctly, it was the top reason you refused to date me."

"I remember, God that feels like ages ago yet it's only been a couple of months." He groans.

"I know what you mean, I feel like I've known you my whole life." I confess.

"Me too." He smiles.

"You have known yourself your whole life you dork." I tease.

"You know what I was trying to say." He scolds playfully.

"Did I?" I giggle challenging him.

"Yes! C'mere." He laughs pinching my chin so he can bring our faces closer together.

We make out for a couple of minutes before we remember why we are up here in the first place. The sunset is amazing, coupled with the best company, I am in heaven.

"How badly do you want to paint this right now?" Isaiah asks me as he feeds me grapes.

"So bad you have no idea." I groan feeling my right hand twitch.

"I guessed as much and I was going to bring your art supplies but I wanted to spend time with you. So as a compromise, how about I bring you back soon when we are in no rush to get back to work and you can paint for as long as you want to." He suggests.

"Really?" I exclaim happily.

"Yes." He nods.

"That will be perfect, thank you." I beam.

"Anytime Berry."

"I love you." I confess kissing him.

"I love you more."

Our one hour ends too quickly but by then the sunset is gone and as much as Isaiah and I want to spend more time up here together we both have work. We pack up and head back down but with a promise to come back soon.

"I want you to take my car to Frosty Dream, you're already late." Isaiah says as we exit the elevator into the parking garage.

"How will you get home?" I ask him.

"You will pick me up after both our shifts and I'll drop you off at home." He replies.

"You'd really thought all this through hadn't you?" I tease.

"Always." He grins handing me the car keys.

"See you after both our shifts." I say kissing him.

"I'll miss you until then." He replies.

After another round of goodbyes, he retrieves his backpack from the backseat and I drive out of there to Frosty Dream.

The rest of my evening is uneventful but it goes according to plan until I get home a couple of minutes after eleven. I find both my parents at home and in the parlor looking like they were waiting for me.

"Mother, father." I greet them politely.

I didn't even know that they were back in the country let alone at home.

"Kennedy darling, you're home late." Mother responds.

"When is she ever not?" Father scoffs taking a sip of his whiskey.

Their judgemental looks get the best of me and before I know it I am revealing a secret that I have kept from them for months.

"I'm late because my shift ended late." I blurt out.

I didn't mean to be that blunt but then I realize that I do not want to take back my words. I am done with the lies. It's not like there is anything they can do to me so I might as well tell them everything.

"Shift?" Mother asks confused.

"Yes my work shift. I have a job at Frosty Dream, it's an ice cream parlor." I reply.

"Since when?" Father asks after they exchange shocked looks.

"Last year. I got it when I started going to Pine View." I explain.

"Why? Do we not give you a large enough allowance? Are you being forced to do this?" Mother asks unable to comprehend why I, a Foster born with a silver spoon in my mouth would be working a minimum wage job.

"No, nobody is forcing me to do this, I just wanted to work, gain some work experience before college so I did." I explain.

"But why?" Mother babbles still in shock.

"Mom I know you've never worked a day in your life but I wanted this for me." I reply.

"I work." She mumbles not believing her own words.

Eloise Foster was born into wealth and married into wealth so she's never had to work for anything.

"Of course mother." I retort sarcastically.

"Jane Kennedy, if you wanted a job so bad why didn't you talk to me? I'd have given you one in one of my companies, a much better job, not working serving ice cream to people." Father asks me.

"Please don't demean my job by sounding so condescending about it. I actually love it, my boss is great and the employees I work with even better. The reason I did not ask for your help is because I didn't want one tainted by your hands. I wanted something that was just for me away from the Foster name." I express.

It is too late to be having this conversation with them but it was due to happen sometime so why not tonight. They exchange their mental talk where all they communicate with is their eyes before they turn to me.

"This is strange but if you love it then we are very proud of you." Father says.

His words nearly knock me off my feet. I've never heard those words come out of his lips. That is partly my fault for my wild ways but still this is new territory for me.

"You are?" I choke out.

"Yes, you are changing to become a responsible young lady and not the trouble making tornado you were the past few years so yes we are proud of you." Mother adds.

Their words are genuine so I decide to bask in them for they might never be uttered again. "Thank you."

I am about to say goodnight when I remember something Isaiah and I discussed during Cairo's birthday.

"While I have you, there's something else I would like to talk to you about." I tell them.

"Please don't tell me you're thinking of taking a gap year after high school." Mother pleads.

"No mother, I'm not." I reply with a smile.

"Then what is it?" Father asks.

I take a deep breath and drop the bomb. "I want you guys to meet my boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?!" Mother screeches as if I've just told her that I am pregnant.

"Yes." I nod.

"Since when?" Father demands.

"We have not been dating long, since thanksgiving but I really like him and I want you guys to meet him." I explain.

After meeting the Carters, I thought it only fair for Isaiah to meet my family. Astrid already knows about us, has from day one but my parents are a whole different story. When they first met him it didn't go well so I am hoping that it will be different this time.

"And where did you two meet?" Mother inquires.

"At school." I reply.

"It's that black boy with the dog isn't it?" She blanches and I immediately go into defensive mode.

Nobody talks about my boyfriend like that, not even my own parents. "Mother don't you dare refer to him like that ever again. His name is Isaiah and yes he has a dog and he is my boyfriend."

"Are you exclusive?" Father asks when he sees me getting agitated.

"Yes." I nod.

They do their weird telepathy thing before turning to me once more.

"We will meet him." Father says.

"You will?" I mumble in surprise.

"Yes, we leave for Korea on Sunday so have him come over for dinner on Saturday." Mother adds.

They have no idea how happy they have made me. I know it doesn't mean it will all go well but at least they are willing to try. "I will, thank you. I promise you will like him."

"Okay." Mother smiles.

"One more favor." I request them. "Please be nice and mom, tone down on the racism."

"I am not racist." She mutters looking offended.

"That's a good enough start so let's begin there." I reply. "Goodnight."

And with that I rush up the stairs so I can call Isaiah.

My boyfriend is meeting my parents!

Oh shit!

It will either go really well or really bad but I choose to remain hopeful because in as much as my parents and I don't get along, I really want them to like Isaiah.