♥Chapter 16: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ꜱʜᴇ ɢᴏᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ "ᴍᴀʟʟ"♥

❆Jake❆

What the fuck did I do?

What the fuck did I do?

What the fucking fuck did I do?

What happened to staying away from her until I get my shit together?

Well, that obviously didn't go as planned now I really gotta force my shit together.

A hand claps on my back and I turn my head around from my momentary distraction to see Kai.

"Up for a game tonight?" He asks, hooking his fingers into the straps of his bag.

I put the rest of my books in my bag and sling it over my shoulder. I got free from my lecture five minutes ago and was getting ready to leave to pick Kennedy up.

The first day when I got a call from Alex, my mind had swarmed to a number of conclusions about why he was calling me. My first thought was maybe something happened to him but then turns out, he just needed me to pick Kennedy until he finds someone else.

"The guys decided to have a lil' get together," Kai continues.

He's an old classmate from high school and a good guy. We've been friends but things got distant when we graduated.

I shake my head, walking out the lecture hall with him in step beside me.

"Oh come on, man. It's been months since the lot and us caught up," He adds.

I shake my head once again.

I just don't like people.

I'd rather just go through my lecture notes.

Or I'd rather spend time with Kennedy listening to her silly rants while I rest my head on her lap.

The way she rakes her fingers through my hair. 

Kai sighs but shrugs, "Come to the football field behind our old high school if you change your mind."

I give a nod.

I highly doubt I would. I had a long night yesterday, and want to get some sleep once I reach home. Bonus if my head's on Kennedy's lap. 

There's something seriously addictive about that. I've never had someone do that to me in a very long time. Not since mom anyways. 

Kai and I walk out of the college building, sharing brief words.

I unlock my car and almost get in if it weren't for a loud honking car and someone squealing like a kid in Disneyland.

I turn around to peer at the road and my eyes flare.

What the fuck?

A dark blue car whizzes in front of the college road with the windows down attracting attention from everyone. Loud music plays from the speakers.

My eyes zero on only one person.

Kennedy. 

"What's up people?" Corey yells at the people around him from the driver's seat. He waves and winks at a few.

He turns his head and spots me.

He grins wider and waves his hand at me. "Jakers Shakers! Want to grab milkshake laters?" 

My jaw clenches. This fucker.

"Go on, babydoll," Corey turns towards Kennedy in the passenger seat, "Do it."

Kennedy nods enthusiastically at Corey before grinning at me. Her red hair falls out as she pokes out her head through the window. Cupping one hand to her mouth, she yells at me.

"Get in loser!" She yells at me, earning a few chuckles from people around us.

"Good job!" Corey high-fives Ken before looking at me. "Come on!"

"Who's that?" Kai asks, looking at Ken with a grin.

I don't answer and instead, march over to them.

Corey and Kennedy stop when they notice me, and their eyes go wide.

"Uh-oh, Retreat! Retreat! Brother bear looks angry!" Corey yells.

He tries to start the car and take reverse but before the car moves, I throw open the passenger side door and grab Kennedy's arm. I pull her out while she lets out a shriek.

Her small body stumbles into me and I steady her, keeping a firm grip on her arm.

"What the fuck are you doing with him?" I glare, "I was coming to get you."

She looks up at me through her green eyes and fuck if the sun doesn't shine her eyes like beautiful stones.

"I was waiting for you but Corey said that you said that you didn't have your car so we had to leave early and come pick you up." She rants, fixing her hair while the wind gently blows it around. "And then Toothy said that she's just going to stay in the backseat and avoid this whole thing."

As if just remembering Toothy exists, my eyes move to the backseat where Toothy sits with her sunglasses on.

She shakes her head at me with a warning look, "Don't look at me. I didn't do anything."

I look back at Kennedy, narrowing my eyes, "If I don't personally text or call you, you should in no fucking case drive off with someone else."

Kennedy opens her mouth to reply but gets cut off.

"Glad to know how you feel about me." Corey mocks, putting his fist to his heart.

I glare, "Why the fuck did you bring her here?"

He shrugs, "Thought we'd all hang out."

Kennedy grins in excitement at that.

Corey notices someone behind, "Kai, my man!" He greets from the driver's seat, "How's life?"

I don't even want to know how Corey knows Kai.

Kai who followed behind me, shrugs, "It's good. Hi Toothy." Kai greets Toothy.

Toothy shuffles a bit in her seat but quietly waves back. She hates sudden attention from people. With her anxiety and all.

Doesn't fucking explain why she glamours herself up all the damn time? I asked her about it, and she gave me a long fucking explanation which made zero sense, so I left it at that and didn't bother to ask again.

Girls are confusing anyways.

"Hey Corey, wanna come to a small get-together tonight?" Kai asks, "A few of my guys are gonna be there." His eyes flick to me. "Hopefully Jake too."

I shake my head while Corey beams.

"You know I'd never miss any of those," Corey grins.

"Cool." Kai smiles, nodding, before turning towards Kennedy, "Wanna come too?"

Kennedy beams, about to reply, but I answer for her.

"No."

Kennedy's smile turns into a scowl, "Why not?"

Because I want to spend time with you and sleep while you say things which makes zero fucking sense.

Also, the place is gonna be packed with guys. Most of them whom I know from high school. And that's why it's no fucking news that Kennedy is gonna get a lot of stares from those pervs and God knows what fucking else.

"I'll take her." Corey offers.

Kenney's smile returns but then falls when I reply with another 'No'.

"Who made you the dad of me?" She scowls at me.

I glare at her.

She glares back.

It doesn't affect me in the slightest bit because of how fucking cute her glare looks. This girl.

"You're not going," I state.

Knowing Kennedy, she'll wander off anywhere and talk to every single person she'll meet and yes, I don't want any other guy looking at her. She won't even know if anyone tries to make a move on her.

Kennedy glares at me, "Just so you know, your hair's the colour of poop."

Corey and Kai burst into chuckles, Toothy raises an eyebrow while I narrow my eyes.

"Alright, I'm gonna head off." Kai salutes us off before walking away.

"We're leaving too," I say, taking Ken's hand.

"But I came with them." She stops, gesturing towards Corey and Toothy.

"And now you're going with me," I say with a tone of finality.

Before she could speak again, I pull her towards my car.

"Bye, Ken!" Corey yells at her.

"Bye, Corey!" She yells back.

Bye, Ken! Bye, Corey! I imitate their voices in my head with a mocking face. These brats.

They don't even know each other that well then why are they being so fucking friendly?

I pull open the passenger door of my car.

"Such a gent-" Kennedy's mocking words get cut off when I lightly push her into the car.

She scowls at me.

I ignore her and close the door shut before sitting in the driver's seat.

I start driving and Kennedy tries ignoring me.

And let me tell you, her attempts to ignore me is like a fucking fish trying to live without water.

Anyone from outside can tell it's physically killing her to remain quiet.

Five minutes pass and she's successful in keeping quiet.

Will she stay quiet like this forever—

"Mr. Mark spoke to me today," She opens her mouth and I internally let out a sigh of relief.

I thought she was going to kill herself today by remaining silent for a second longer.

"What did the fucker say?" I raise an eyebrow.

She plays with her fingers, looking at her lap, "He says he found too many mistakes in the papers he gave me to answer in the café."

I frown in confusion.

I was there with her, and she seemed to be doing those papers quite fine.

"But you did it so well. I was there with you." I say.

She continues playing with her fingers until it seemed she was strangling each one of them, "He says the beginning was done really well but as the paper continued, he says that my mistakes increased."

I remember watching Ken write only at the start, the rest I was looking at her, glaring at Mark and attending the phone call with Dean.

"Mr. Mark says that maybe I got too distracted by my surroundings. And I did get distracted a lot," She admits with a small unimpressed look.

She continues, "He says it might be because of my disorder so he says he wants to tutor me in some quiet and peaceful place."

A deep frown creases my eyebrows, "Like where?"

She shrugs, "Like maybe after school in the empty classroom or maybe at the park benches, I don't know."

This fucker sounds fucking suspicious.

He wants to remain alone in a classroom with a student? With Ken more specifically?

I think the fuck not.

My frown deepens, "You want to study with him?"

Her face contorts in hesitance. She takes a moment to reply.

"I don't know. He seems...friendly. And maybe I'm reading it wrong." She continues giving an unsure look before shaking her head. "I'm probably hallucinating the whole thing. It'll be fine. We're just studying."

I internally snort. Just studying.

Literally, nothing ever is just fucking "just".

And Mark? Friendly? Puh-lease. He always acts as if he gets something shoved in the ass whenever he blinks. 

"So can I go with that Kai guy?" She asks, changing the topic and atmosphere completely.

"No."

"Why not?" She pouts.

"There are going to be a lot of guys," I say. And because I just want you tonight.

"So?"

"They used to be football players in high school," I explain.

"Oh mama, I'm gonna drool a lot then." She gives a dreamy look, fanning herself.

I shoot her a hard glare.

She nods, "I'll probably even faint. Will one of them catch me if I fall?" She asks then looks at her outfit. "The skirt is definitely gonna rise to give them a spectacular view, don't you think?"

My glare deepens and I want nothing more to pull her on my lap and shut her mouth with mine.

She notices the tight grip I have on the steering wheel and laughs, "I'm just kidding." She says, "Maybe."

I raise an eyebrow, "Maybe?"

"Yeah, I don't know. Fifty-fifty, I think." She replies then frowns at herself. "What am I even saying?" She shakes her head, "Nothing, forget it."

I shake my head at her.

"Anyways," She collects herself before glaring at me, "Who made you the boss of me?"

"I'm not being the boss of you," I reply, narrowing my eyes, "I'm just trying to keep perverts from staring at you." I say then against my will I add, "Also, I just want to spend some time with you. Alone."

"I'll stare back." She replies. "We'll be equal."

"No." 

"You stare at me all the time," She points, crossing her arms.

"That's different," I state.

She raises an eyebrow, "How so?"

"It just is."

She narrows her eyes.

✯✯✯

✿Kennedy✿

I watch as Judy hustles Nick into agreeing to help her find the missing Otter.

A laugh comes out of my mouth. "Judy is so amazing," I say to Jake who isn't even watching the movie and instead reads a freaking textbook.

A freaking physics textbook.

Who even reads a textbook while a movie is going on?

Nerd.

A really attractive hot nerd. 

He doesn't even seem to be listening to me.

It's 7 in the night, and we're on the couch. 

For some reason, he tried headbutting me since we came back home. Like he always tried to put his head on my lap. And me being the mass murderer that I am with secret killer fighter moves, I grabbed his neck and shook it so hard until he started struggling away from me.

Not my fault, he started this fight.

He looked like he was going to cry. 

He didn't come near me after that.

Now, he reads while I watch TV.

What's so interesting in that book?

"I like your hair," I say.

No response.

"Your eyes are really pretty."

Still no response.

"You're turning me on, hermosa." I mock a guy's deep voice, not even knowing what it means.

"Hmm?" He looks up at me.

I get a heart attack.

Calming myself, I shake my head, smiling and playing it off, "Nothing."

His eyes drop back to his book.

I look back at the TV screen.

Nick and Judy are amazing. Period.

Right, when some polar bear men catch Judy and Nick, the door to the house bursts in and I almost see my soul shooting out my body at how much that scared the crap out of me.    

I turn my head to see Corey and Toothy entering the house.

"Who let the dog-" Corey gets cut off by Jake.

"Why the fuck are you here?" Jake glares, "Again?" 

"Nice welcome smile you got there." Corey winks. "This time, I'm not here on my will." He hooks his hands into his jean pockets. "See, I was having this amazing time on my bed with my laptop, watching P that ends with an N and let me tell you, things were really getting spicy but then guess what?" Corey raises his eyebrows. "Ding, ding, ding, you guessed it. My sister comes in and ruins it."

Toothy rolls her eyes.

"Oh, I love watching that," I say, smiling.

Corey, Jake and Toothy frown at me.

"Really...?" Toothy looks at me as if I told her I'm not really a human.

"Yeah," I nod, "who doesn't love that?"

"You don't look like someone who watches it," Corey mused.

I frown in confusion, "Yeah?"

I don't look like someone who'd watch Pirates of the Caribbean?

Maybe I should get an eyepatch. Then it'll look like I watch pirate-y stuff.

"Maybe I should get an eyepatch then," I say.

They all frown in confusion.

"What?" Corey furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

I frown in confusion too, "But you people don't look like pirates too. Is it my weight? Am I too fat to be a pirate? Maybe I should break some of my teeth." I say running my tongue over my upper line of teeth.

"Ken, what are you talking about?" Jake asks, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Pirates of the Caribbean,..?" I answer, "Jack Sparrow was a total nutcase."  I laugh.

Toothy and Corey made a big 'Ohhh' face before shaking their head at me. Jake only lets out a sigh.  

"What?" I blink.

"He's talking about porn, Ken." Jake's voice rumbles deeply through his chest, rubbing his temples, "Not Pirates of the Caribbean."

I stare at him in confusion for two seconds before it clicks in my head.

It was my face's turn to give a big 'ohhh' look.

"I don't watch that." My nose crinkles in slight disgust.

"Glad to clear that out," Toothy gives a look of relief, flipping her long brown hair behind her back. "Also he was kidding. He was watching Finding Nemo."

"I was not!" Corey quickly defends, glaring at Toothy while I give him an 'aww' look.

She nods. "I saw you getting emotional."

"I was going through a phase." He narrows his eyes.

"Why do all your phases have you watching Disney?" Jake raises his eyebrows.

"Let's get back to what I was saying." Corey dismisses us with a wave of his hand. "Okay so then Toothy asks me to drive here, and I had to get dressed and drive here just because she so fucking politely asks me to."

"I kneed him in the balls." Toothy grins proudly before her grin slips into a short laugh.

"Yeah, my fucking dick." Corey grumbles before grinning, "So here we are!"

"Amazing." Jake gives a small round of applause before his face drops into a glare. "Now get the fuck out."

"Oh hush." Toothy snaps, walking forward and grabbing my elbow which takes me by surprise, "I'm here for Kennedy. You can go back to doing whatever boring crap you were."

"Me?" I ask with wide excited eyes.

"Kennedy?" Jake furrows his eyebrows.

"Yes." Toothy pulls me up from the couch, "Since you've decided to stop her from going to the field with Kai, I'm taking her with me to the mall."

My face instantly lights up like a thousand fireflies, "The mall?"

"The mall?" Jake says the words as if they're swear words in a different language.

"Yes." Toothy answers and pulls me behind her towards the stairs.

"I'm going to a mall!" I say excitedly.

I've been to the mall of course. But never with a friend!

"But the door's that way..." Corey points at the door with a confused look as Toothy takes a step upstairs.

She turns around and gives Corey an 'are you serious' look, "She has to get ready, idiot."

He gives a look of realization before shrugging and flinging himself onto the couch.

"You're going to leave me with him?" Jake yells, giving Toothy a look of disbelief before shooting Corey a glare.

"Oh, it's just for one night," Toothy rolls her eyes, "Play video games or something."

She doesn't give Jake another chance to protest as she pulls me up the stairs.

My breath loses for a moment when I reach the top, and my hand's ready to grab my inhaler if I sense any cough attack or something. When nothing happens, I follow Toothy into my room.

Toothy's eyes widen as she takes in my room, "Oh wow." She says, surprised, "You decorated this good."

I close the door and smile proudly, "Thank you."

She turns around towards me and I register the fact that I'm all alone with a girl in my bedroom.

I kissed a girl and I liked it.

Toothy looks really beautiful, wearing a white off the shoulders, blue striped romper.

"So," I wiggle excitedly, "we're going to the mall?"

She opens her mouth, hesitates, then speaks, "I lied."

My excitement falters, "What?"

She shrugs, playing with her hair, "Do you want to go to the field where Kai invited us?"

I furrow my eyebrows, "Jake said no."

She raises an eyebrow.

"You listen to Jake?"

I shrug, "I'm living under his roof. Plus mom says to respect your elders."

Toothy and I look at each other.

We break into laughter.

"Nice one," She says.

I grin.

"So," Toothy starts, "let's see what clothes you got."

I shrug, moving towards my closet, "I didn't pack much before moving here. It was kind of a sudden decision."

I open the closet and Toothy steps ahead of me to take a look. 

"Nice taste." She mumbles before going through the pile of shorts, tops and dresses I own.

"This will do." She pulls out a light green mini summer dress before handing it to me.

"I remember when I bonked my head on a bald man's head wearing this," I say looking at the green dress in my hand. "It was accidental of course."

It hundred percent wasn't accidental.

I had fun doing that. 

Toothy looks at me, curiosity in her eyes, "Do you always speak your mind?"

I blink, "Yeah...?"

I shrug, "I'm not used to keeping things inside. My parents always taught me to share everything with them and even when I was in the hospital I had to tell my doctor everything."

Holy moly, did I seriously spend my entire life with adults in their mid-thirties? 

I gotta get laid.

If I know what that means. I heard it somewhere from a TV show or something.

Toothy nods. "Get dressed."

She says and turns around to give me privacy.

"So wait, we're not going to the mall?" I ask as I strip off my clothes.

"Nope." Toothy says before warning, "Don't blurt this to my brothers."

I wish I had brothers.

I put on the dress and tell Toothy that she can turn around.

"Pretty and casual." She approves, nodding at me.

"You're really beautiful," I say abruptly which makes her halt her movements.

She looks speechless for a moment, "I-um-thank you—Goddamnit, don't do that ever again." She says irritably, putting her hand on her forehead.

I stare in confusion, "What?"

She sighs, shaking her head, "I just get really...off guard? I don't know. Just don't do it again."

"You get anxious?" I ask, curiously.

She nods hesitatingly, "Yeah."

Toothy? Anxious? 

My eyes rake her form from top to bottom, "You look like your going to break bones."

I've always seen Toothy dress in bold and appealing clothes that attract attention from everywhere.

She plays with a strand of her hair, "I don't know if it makes sense, but it gives me...confidence, despite me not wanting people's attention-I don't know, just forget everything I said."

I do understand what she meant. Kinda.

For her, I let the topic drop.  

"Okay, done," I said after slipping my inhaler into the dress's pocket.

Toothy and I walk down the stairs to see Corey and Jake on the couch beside each other. Corey's watching the movie Zootopia which I had paused, and Jake's eyes are on his book.

Jake looks up upon our arrival and his eyes find mine. I give him an excited smile.

Don't blurt Jake the truth. Don't tell blurt the truth. Don't tell blurt the truth.

"We're leaving." Toothy announces walking towards the front door.

"Hold up." Jake snaps at her before looking at me with a frown. "You got your inhaler?"

I pat my pocket, "As if I'm gonna leave this baby behind."

"Your phone?"

I pat my other pocket which has my phone, "This particular baby is my life."

Not quite really but it's the only way I can call Gary and do other things when I'm bored.

Jake nods.

"Jake?" Toothy calls his name.

He looks at her.

"If you ever snap at me again," She smiles sweetly but there's a low dangerous threat to her tone, "You don't wanna know what happens, right?"

A slightly terrified expression comes on Jake's face while Corey gulps and pretends he's not in the room. Even I feel a little terrified of the way Toothy's staring at Jake.

Jake nods before Toothy finally takes her eyes from him. She grabs my hand and pulls me to the door.

"You still sure you want to leave me with him?" Jake calls out to Toothy referring to Corey.

Corey winks at Jake.

"Yup." Toothy responds.

"He might be dead when you come back," Jake glares at Corey.  

But Toothy already has me and her out the door.

✄ ✄ ✄ ✄

Words: 3,950

Date of posting: 26th March