♥Chapter 25: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ꜱʜᴇ ɢᴇᴛꜱ ᴀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏᴛɪᴍᴇ♥

✿Kennedy✿

Alex makes dinner while I stroll around the kitchen ranting and rambling to him about my very precious childhood memories.

He actually listens to me and nods with a little smile on his face.

His smile tells me something else though. It's like he's happy that there's someone here to talk to him.

I've never seen Alex with friends his age or anyone else. He's had a few conversations with Toothy and Corey, a few words with Jake. But other than that, he's mostly...alone.

"And you know what that motherbutter did?" I ask, giving Alex a wide-eyed look, "He had the audacity—you get what I'm saying?-the audacity," I emphasize my words.

Before I could get on with my story, the door to the living room burst in and I squeal out of fright.

Why wasn't the door not locked? Its' literally dinner time.

Corey marches in with Toothy behind him, both looking equally mad and determined.

"Where's that fucker and the poor buttercup?" Corey asks, narrowing his eyes and searching the living room.

He spots me in the kitchen, "Buttercup!" He exclaims and marches towards me. He gives me a fierce hug first that nearly crushes my bones then grabs my hand and pulls me into the living room.

I stumble behind him with a confused frown.

Toothy marches upstairs probably to where Jake is.

Alex, who seemed as if he watches this kind of show every single day, only lowers the flame of the gas stove and leans against a counter, watching us.

Toothy comes down a little while after, pulling behind her a very pissed-off, cussing Jake.

Even if Jake is two heads taller than Toothy, he still seems to be struggling against Toothy's hand fisting the front of his shirt, pulling him into the living room.

"What the fuck are you people doing here at this point of time?" Jake cusses, glaring at everyone. "Like seriously, get a life."

"What's going on...?" I ask.

"Okay first," Corey snaps his finger, turning towards me and glaring me in the eye, "you don't just text Toothy that you're dating Jake just like that."

I did send a text to Toothy saying that Jake and I are dating. I thought friends tell each other that stuff...?

"And second," Corey continues, "what the fuck did you see in Jake?"

I blink in confusion at Corey while Jake narrows his eyes.

"And you didn't even tell me that you were going to ask Kennedy out!" Toothy throws her hands up, giving Jake a look of disbelief.

"You both cheated on us!" Corey glares at Jake and me, "I thought we were friends, Ken," Corey shakes his head at me.

"But I did tell Toothy right after Jake asked me." I reason.

"You texted me," Toothy gives me a look. "That just doesn't do."

"You didn't answer me," Corey lightly tugs on my hair, "what the fuck did you see in Jake?"

I look at Jake's glaring, fed-up, face, before shrugging, "He's...nice?"

Toothy and Corey's eyebrows shoot up in disbelief.

A choking sound comes from Alex before he quickly tries hiding it.

"Nice?" Corey echoes in disbelief before letting out a loud laugh, "Boy, she's gone mental! Pack up everybody," Corey claps his hands, "We got a goner here. Okay fine, nice, what else?" He asks me.

"He's..." I struggle to find words as I look at Jake looking at me.

There are so many reasons why I like Jake but when they ask me on the spot, I just can't find the right words.

I like Jake because he's protective, caring, serious, helpful and I don't know? Really hot?

I like how he cares for Toothy, and how he keeps Corey around despite claiming how annoying Corey is. Jake listens to me, helps me with school, lets me interrupt his study time and lets me sing and dance to weird songs around him. He doesn't even judge me for anything I do!

Like you don't see those kinds of people every day. 

"He's got a great butt," I say.

Everyone blinks at me in the room.

"Okay...yeah, that's a pretty good reason." Corey shrugs, murmuring to himself.

"Oh shut up," Toothy gives Corey a ridiculous look, "I'm just mad that you didn't tell me. At least Kennedy sent a text." Toothy glares at Jake, looking a lot more pissed off than I've ever seen her look.

Jake's glare softens a bit, "I didn't know you wanted to know."

"Of course, I want to know. You keep tabs on me every single time. I have the right to know what's going on in your life too."

"You don't have to worry about me," He grumbles.

"You don't have to worry about me too," She crosses her arms.

"Who's fucking saying that?" Jake narrows his eyes.

"I am," Toothy matches Jake's narrow eyes, "I won't let you keep tabs on me if I can't do the same about you."

"Toothy, you don't need to keep fucking tabs on me," Jake explains.

"Why?" She raises an eyebrow, "Because I'm the weak one who needs all the care and protection from her elder brother?"

"Because you were—" Jake starts but abruptly cuts himself off.

"Because I was what?" Toothy glares but it seem as if she already knows what was going to come out of Jake's mouth.

Even I know. I think.

"Why are we having this fucking conversation?" Jake snaps suddenly.

"See this is what you always do!" Toothy points. "You're always behind us because you say you're "looking" out for us and you think you don't even want anything in return!"

"Because I don't fucking need anything in return!" He snaps.

"Liar!"

What are they talking about...?

Before I can continue watching the argument between the two cousins, someone tugs on my hand and I look to my side to see Corey jerking his head, motioning me to follow him.

We both slip out to the backyard, leaving Alex alone in the kitchen and Jake and Toothy arguing in the living room.

"What was all that about?" I ask Corey as we stroll under the night sky.

He shrugs, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "They have their arguments once in a while."

I nod.

Outside here in the backyard, silence envelopes us and it's a lil' cold out here.

"How close are you and Toothy?" I ask.

Corey looks at me before giving a little smile, shrugging, "It's a little wild," He answers then nods, "Eh, we're close."

"And you and Jake?" I ask.

He suddenly lets out a laugh as if he just remembered something, "Jake and I are close too. Yeah. Why're you asking?"

I shrug, "Just curious. You met Toothy and Jake three years ago, right?"

He stares at me before giving a nod.

"And before that?" I ask.

A tiny grimace comes on his face immediately. I don't think he realizes that though.

He shrugs. "I don't know."

"What do you mean?" I ask, curiously.

"Guess it's time for a story." He says and motions to follow him to the hammock. 

We walk towards the hammock and sit down. I start swinging back and forth with the help of my foot.

"So where do I begin?" Corey starts, looking up at the dark sky. His face appears well-defined. A shadow covers the sharp edges of his jaw and his perfectly styled blonde hair seems darker.

"It was only my mom, my dad and me before," Corey speaks, joining me in rocking the hammock, "I was pretty alone being the only child and all. Mom and dad worked as lawyers and pretty much left me all alone with nannies and babysitters. Dad found some other woman, he walked away and started a new life." Corey nods, even if his facial expressions remain passive, the slightly tensed shoulders give him away.

"Then I thought that maybe now that dad was gone, mom would give me attention and all that since it's just the two of us." He shakes his head, looking a tiny bit mad. "Stupid of me to think that. Anyways, then I became a teenager and found this amazing thing called social media."

He taps my arm. "Follow me on everything, yeah?"

I nod, "Will you text me?" I ask.

He looks at me, an expression of amused surprise on his face. "Sure. Whenever you want."

A grin comes on my face. "Thank you. My phone's like really dry. I only talk to Gary the most and sometimes Jake and Toothy."

He stares at me, a different expression coming to his face as his smile disappears. "Don't take this the wrong way, I'm just curious." He says. "But were you like...a total loner?"

I shake my head. "I always had my parents with me even though I didn't have any friends. Sometimes it did feel lonely though, like in class, during field trips, school picnics and all that."

Corey doesn't say anything, his eyes staring off into the distance with a slight frown on his face.

"You always had your parents?" He asks, a seriousness to his tone. 

I blink. "Well...not now, obviously."

He immediately gives me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I always had my parents before," I answer.       

"I didn't." He speaks, leaning his head back to look at the sky. "I just don't get why my parents didn't want to give me any attention. It was like I'm invisible to them all the damn time." One of his hands tightens into a fist on his thigh.

"When they refused to acknowledge me, I moved to get attention from everybody else instead. Pretty much drowned myself in becoming seen in everyone's eyes. I think I've always wanted attention since I was a child. I started playing football, talked to everyone at school, tried charming every single person I see. In a way, I was getting all the attention I want. I had maybe hundreds of friends, everyone wanted to talk to me, and everyone wanted to hang out with me. But I guess that did not make me feel any less lonely. I still felt it deep down."

My hand reaches to hold Corey's and he doesn't object.

"Everyone outside was just a fragment of a time pass and it made me think that I wasn't alone. But at the end of every day, it was like this darkness falls over me as soon as I'm away from people. I don't know, it was just depressing and all." Corey gives a one-shoulder shrug, looking ahead with an almost blank look.

"Then three years back, my mom met Toothy's dad, got married and all. I met Toothy and she reminded me of a literal cat. With her snappiness and claws and all that. She wanted nothing to do with me and actually tried to chop off my fingers -not even kidding- on the wedding day. She got annoyed and tried butchering off my fingers with the knife for the cake cutting."

A laugh escapes my lips.

I see someone else who likes knives.

"This might be the cheesiest shit I'm ever going to say but after meeting Toothy and Jake, I don't feel alone anymore. Toothy and I took time. We finally started talking like normal creatures and created the brother-sister bond thing blah blah blah. Oh and then I met Jake. He was so nice, I got butterflies in my tummy."

"He cussed you, didn't he?" I smile knowingly.

He chuckles, "Yup, annoyed little bastard he was. He actually called the pest control once to get rid of me. I'm not even kidding. The pest control charged me then for wasting their time."

"He cussed at me too," I say.

"The next time he does it, remind me to chop off his balls." 

"I'm sorry you had to go through the loneliness," I say, softly.

"I'm sorry you have to be Jake's girlfriend."

I laugh.

"If he does anything," Corey turns to me, "you can always come to me. I'll set him straight, kay? Although a single glance from Toothy will make him shit his pants."

"You know I'm older than you, right?" I smile.

He furrows his eyebrows, "Really?"

"Yeah, I'm nineteen."

I know Corey and Toothy are still seventeen. A few months away from turning eighteen.

Corey cracks a grin, "Would you mind if I told everyone I'm dating a nineteen-year-old girl?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "I...don't know."

"Now you tell me about yourself," Corey says, placing his elbow on his knee with his face on his hand, looking at me.

He looks so cute.

My eyebrows raise, "Where do I start?"

He shrugs, "Anywhere."

"Okay, umm...my name's Kennedy and I'm nineteen years old and I'm from California, Los Angeles. I'm from the female species. I stub my toe, like, every single time-"

"Ken," Corey politely stops me, "Can you tell me only the highlighted parts of your life? Like you know? The important ones?"

"I can do that," I nod, "Okay so my dad was a photographer, and my mom was a lawyer. Hey, both our moms are lawyers!" I exclaim in realization. 

At least mine was.

Don't cry. 

"I've had asthma since I was like five or something and I got bullied a lot for it. Kids made fun of me, hid my inhaler. I had to wear a mask every time I went out when I was little. To keep the polluted air and all from entering my lungs."

He nods for me to continue.

"A year ago, my parents and I were coming from this trip, and we severed off this ditch or slippery road, I don't know. It happened all too quickly. The next thing I know is that I'm waking up in a hospital with an annoyed butt doctor telling me that my parents were dead."

A laugh comes out of my mouth, but it sounds so empty. So, so empty, it gradually silences me.

A gulp goes down my throat and I close my mouth, looking down at my lap.

I can't believe it happened just a year ago. How did time pass this quickly?

"Yeah." My voice comes out lower. "That happened."

There are tears in my eyes now and I try to keep them in.

"I couldn't attend their funeral because I was unconscious for three months. The last time I saw them was in the car...when they screamed at me to clutch onto the seat." My voice comes out hollow at the end.

I can handle grief.

I've handled it so far.

Corey's grip tightens on my hand, and I look at him.

"It's okay." He says, his blue eyes warm and glimmering. He notices the tears in my eyes. "Don't stop yourself from crying. If you need anyone to talk to or cry on, my shoulder is right here, big and warm. Also, I make the world's best cookies so we can binge some chick flick shit and all that."

An overwhelming kind of smile comes onto my face.

"You're a really good friend," I say.

"Aw man, did I just get friend-zoned?" His face cracks into a smile.

I laugh.

At that moment, the backyard door pulls open and Jake and Toothy step out.

They look normal and calm as if they weren't arguing like ten minutes ago. Jake's eyes zero on Corey on me.

More specifically, on mine and Corey's hands clasped together.

"What the fuck are you doing holding her hand?" Jake frowns.

"We're getting married!" Corey declares. "Guess what? You're the flower girl!"

"The only reason I'm gonna hold flowers is for your fucking funeral!" Jake marches towards Corey and me and we both spring up, trying to run away.

Jake catches onto me though, pulling me against him by my waist.

"Where the fuck are you going?" He asks.

"Didn't you just hear?" I give Jake a look, trying to escape him, "I'm getting married. Let me go to my groom!"

"That's right," Corey grins holding his arms out for me, "Come to me, babydoll."

"How about I come to you?" Jake suggests with a glare.

"The weddings off then," Corey states, putting his hands down.

"Like hell it is," Jake grumbles, leaving me and marching towards Corey.

Corey immediately puts his hands out toward Jake. "Daddy chill."

"Daddy chill," I repeat automatically.

Jake stops and turns to look at me. "Don't say that." He frowns.

"Don't say what now?" I blink in confusion.

"That."

"What?" I ask.

"DADDY CHILL!" Corey hollers making Jake turn back towards him and land a solid punch to his gut. "I said chill, bro." Corey grunts, doubling over with a hand to his side.

"Chill, Jake," I repeat.

"Yeah listen to your girlfriend, Jake." Corey grins. "Shit, I still can't believe you have a girlfriend." He murmurs.

"Want me to pinch you?" Jake glares.

"Ooo kinky." Corey wiggles his eyebrows.

"It's Kinsey." I glare.

Corey looks at me. "I...did not mean your last name."

I blink. "Oh."

"What were you people talking about?" Toothy asks.

"Kennedy was telling me how horrible she finds Jake and that she would rather date me than him," Corey says.

"More like you want to date Jake rather Kennedy." Toothy rolls her eyes.

"Damn girl, you're smart." Corey points at her before looking at Jake. "Hubby!"

"Fuck off, incest," Jake grumbles, coming behind me and grabbing my hand.

Corey gasps dramatically. "Incest? Bro, I would never." He says. "Unless you beg me too." 

"if you keep talking like that, no one will believe that you're not gay," Toothy says.

"I don't care what anybody says," Corey states, proudly.

"Me too!" I raise my hand.

We high-five each other. 

"Both of you are such fucking liars," Jake grumbles, shaking his head.     

✄ ✄ ✄ ✄

Words: 2,900

Date of posting: 4th April 2022