"I can't believe you lost," I tell Dante on Saturday night. He shrugs, seeming totally chill: if it wasn't for the way he was stabbing his chicken with his fork I would've thought he was okay. Alas, he just has a great poker face.

"It had to happen sometime, our winning streak was getting ridiculous," He says coolly, cutting up his food into little squares. I stare at him for about a minute before he looks up. "What?"

"You know you can vent about it to me," I tell him.

Dante puts his knife and fork down. "I'm fucking pissed,"

Ah, there we go.

He clears his throat. "We were winning! And then – literally, Max was doing nothing on the field today, I don't know why we didn't put him in the catcher's position after his breakup, it's what we normally do!"

I shake my head. "Let it out baby,"

He lowers his voice a considerable amount and I have to strain my ears to hear what he says next. "I nearly blew it on him, y'know. The last ball wasn't even a big hit, he really could've caught it but he didn't and his excuse was that he had no motivation."

"Wasn't winning enough motivation?" I ask as he resumes eating, looking totally fed up.

"Beats me." He sighs. "Whatever though, we still got to the semi-finals and I can't be bothered to stress about it anymore. Hey, this jerk chicken is so good,"

I peer at his plate and then take it upon myself to take a piece and try it. After chewing and swallowing, I nod approvingly. "It's good! Wow, I should've – what's wrong with your face?"

Dante is staring at me with his mouth open wide. "Why did you just steal my food?" He asks me slowly, once again putting his knife and fork down.

Steal? Psh. "I mean... You offered so I took," I explain and then go back to my own meal.

"When did I offer?!" He actually looks hurt.

"You said – and I quote –" I clear my throat and do my best to imitate his voice. "'Hey, this chicken is really good!'"

"Where in that sentence is there an invitation for this to happen?"

"You're being dramatic," I dismiss him and he picks up his cutlery once more.

"You're so lucky I like you," He mutters passively. I look down at my food, attempting to force my face to relax a little but it doesn't work and I'm stuck grinning like a maniac.

It's all good though because he pretty much has the same grin on his face.

*-8*-8*

"Okay, pink or green?" McKinley holds up two dresses, one of each colour. I sip on my milkshake, comparing the two colours before deciding on one.

"Definitely green," I say.

We all decided that the best way to spend our Sunday afternoon was to go shopping in the mall just outside town. We've been in H&M for an hour looking for an outfit for McKinley to wear for dinner; Tyler is napping on one of the seats meant for shoe shoppers and Jackie is chatting up a shop assistant. My mom and David disappeared when they realised that we were going to take a while.

"But the pink one is pink," She contemplates. I roll my eyes as Jackie comes back and holds my hand. "Jackie, I have a serious question. Which one is better, pink or green?"

He squirms. "Which did Kenny say?"

"She said green,"

"Go green." He says and then asks me if I still have games on my phone for him to play with. I sigh and begin the download process for Angry Birds.

Looking more than slightly annoyed, McKinley puts the green dress down and adds the pink one to her overflowing basket. I raise my eyebrows but don't question her decision, knowing it'll lead to trouble I can't handle right now. She goes to pay for the stuff and I approach Tyler, wondering how I'm going to wake him up. Jackie ends up giving him a wet willy.

"Jackie, that's so gross!" He screeches when he wakes up and realises what's happened. "Kenny, what are you teaching this boy?!"

Jackie merely giggles. "It wasn't Kenny, it was my friend Willow," He says. "She said it's funny and it is,"

Tyler looks at the both of us, totally confused. Then to me, he says: "You better talk to your brother because if I do I'm gonna hurt his feelings,"

"The only person allowed to hurt feelings here is me," McKinley announces her presence behind us, carrying her shopping bags with pride. "Now, are we gonna find our parents or what?"

We leave H&M and head over to the food court to find my mom. Whenever we go on huge group shopping trips, she always deviates toward where the food is and literally gets lost in the sauce. David normally follows her and they always have mini dates together while eating chicken wings. Honestly, they're couple goals.

"Come on Kenny, leave Jackie with Ty and let's go find them," McKinley says loudly. Jackie, who is currently very fearful of Tyler because of the whole wet willy situation, huddles closer to me and doesn't let go of my hand.

"I can't stay with him, he's going to give me a wedgie," He wails and then hugs my back with his free arm.

"At least you know," Tyler mutters dangerously. I roll my eyes

"You two look for them, I'll stay with Jackie," I amend and after telling them that we'll probably be in Build-A-Bear, we split up.

The two of us actually end up in a Barnes and Noble, looking at books. Jackie has suddenly really gotten into Dr. Seuss and won't stop asking David for green eggs and ham so he has a legitimate freak out when he realises that the Horton Hears a Who! DVD is on sale.

"Kenny, will you buy it for me?" He asks, puppy dog eyes and everything.

I think of how much money I have and rub my temples. "Sure, J, just make sure you watch it every day for the rest of your life,"

He puts his pinky up. "I pinky promise,"

When we finally venture to Build-A-Bear as promised, McKinley texts me to say that she's found our parents eating ice cream and that they're buying food for all of us. Jackie leaps with joy when I tell him and drags me out of the store, leading us to the food court which sadly happens to be on the complete opposite end of the mall.

"Do you think mom will buy me ice cream?" He asks, his high pitched voice getting even higher as his excitement builds. I shrug.

"You might ruin your appetite," I tell him, hating how much I sound like a mother.

"But dinner is in six hundred hours!"

I check my watch just as my phone vibrates in my pocket. "It's almost four, Jackie, but I think she's gonna get you something anyway,"

He makes a sound akin to a growl and then sighs, muttering something underneath his breath. I ignore it because I don't want to start a fight and he'll get over it when he sees our Mom anyway. Even then, he begins to sulk and my patience is wearing so thin right now. Why did I offer to stay with this child again?

Annoyingly, someone taps me on the shoulder just as I've gotten him to cooperate with me. I fix my face into something that doesn't embody my annoyance and turn around, expecting it to be an old lady telling me that my son is cute before I correct her and say it's my brother. However, things don't always go to plan.

"Chase?" I squint at him, surprised, shocked, confused. He grins at me.

"It is you! Hey Kenny!"

Oh dear.

He stretches his arms out, probably expecting a hug but I just stare at him, completely dumbfounded. "What are you doing here?"

"You're not going to hug me?" He asks instead.

"No?" I say back, still baffled. He finally puts his arms down, looking quite embarrassed. "Aren't you supposed to be at college?"

Chase shrugs and then runs a hand through his curly blonde hair. It's a lot shorter than it was when he graduated but it's still in it's recognisable puffy state. "Well, I'm home for the weekend but I'm going back tomorrow."

"Right." I look down at Jackie who is inspecting his dvd with little to no interest of what's going on above him. "Um, my brother and I have to go –"

"You're looking good," Chase licks his lips and looks me up and down.

Oh my God. "Uh, thanks? But I have to-"

"How have you been?"

I nod stiffly. "Good... Um, how's college?"

His grin turns sly all too soon. How did I think he was even remotely cute last year? What is wrong with me? Thank goodness I've moved on.

"Oh you know, college is college. The girls are wild," he chuckles to himself and I cringe. "And the workload is a lot but I'll survive,"

"Uh huh," I look at my watch, wondering how long this conversation will take. 

"Hey, I saw your prom photo on Instagram. You looked hot."

Well, did I now? "Thanks," I grumble and try not to make any petty remarks.

"Imagine how good we could've looked together, right?" I refrain from rolling my eyes and look down at my nails.

Jackie sighs really loudly. "Kenny, who is this?"

"Nobody, Jackie, don't worry." I tell him quietly. He looks totally fed up. I relate.

Chase doesn't get the hint. "Who was the guy you went to prom with? A friend?"

"My boyfriend," I say and let go of Jackie's hand to fold my arms. "Why?"

He raises both his eyebrows. "Your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," I drag slightly. It's not hard to tell that he doesn't believe me but it doesn't really matter.

"Your boyfriend, huh?" He repeats.

Why am I entertaining this? "I really didn't stutter, Chase,"

"Huh. What's his name?"

"His name is Dante."

"Oh, really,"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm not sure I believe you," he says smugly. "I didn't know any Dante's in your grade at school,"

"Okay," I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and sigh.

"Is he fake?"

"No? But could you like, lea-"

"Tay!" Jackie screeches and runs behind me. Alarmed, I turn around and I'm about to call his name and run after him when I see that he has run and jumped Dante, who is spinning him around like he weighs nothing.

Speak of the devil. "Dante?"

"Hey Slugger!" He says after advancing toward us and putting down Jackie. Dante kisses me on the forehead. "Fancy seeing you here."

Suddenly I can't stop smiling. "What a coincidence."

"I know right? I was just with my brother and I thought I saw you so I had to come over and check-"

Chase clears his throat, interrupting his speech. "Kenny? Who's this?"

I spot an impending frown on Dante's face and take hold of his hand. "This is my boyfriend!" I say with the most upbeat voice I can muster.

Chase offers a hand to him. "Yo, I'm a friend of Kenny's here,"

Dante glances at me just at the right time to see me rolling my eyes. "Sure. My name's Dante."

I sigh. "Dante, this is Chase,"

His eyebrows shoot upwards. "Oh."

It's an all knowing Oh.

They shake hands but it's literally the most uncomfortable thing to watch as Chase is grinning like a maniac and Dante is trying not to look dismissive. Or sceptical.

"You know, Kenny and I dated last year,"

Why would he say that? Like really? It's hard for me to believe it at first but then I remember the type of person Chase is and how he did things to 'make life more interesting', whatever that means. I almost touch my face with disdain but then I realise that Jackie is holding onto my other arm and won't let me.

"I know. Good thing you're not dating now, right Slugger?" Dante says smoothly. I grin up at him and he winks at me. "Are you here alone, sweetie?"

I shake my head. "No, my mom's waiting for me, I just got..." I gesture toward Chase. "Distracted."

"Oh." He plasters a fake smile on his face and sends it in Chase's direction. "Well, I was just picking up some last minute stuff for your prom, I got a red bowtie to compliment your dress."

I squeal, very excited. "Can I see it? What colour is it?"

He lets go of my hand to retrieve the bowtie and I almost jump for joy. "How is it? Red enough?"

"It's pretty much perfect, my dress is just a shade lighter than this!"

He grins down at me. "Did I do good?"

"You did so good," I reach up and pat his cheek a few time, thinking about how perfectly next Saturday is going to go. Dante has a game but because my dad's coming to town, I won't be able to attend. On top of that, it might take a few hours to get into my dress considering how fiddly it is – not to mention the fact Nicole and Stacy will need help as well since we're getting dressed at Stacy's house. Saturday is looking to be a long day, actually. I still can't wait though.

"Oh, are you guys going to prom together? Didn't you go last month?" Chase pipes up. I thought he had left already.

"Yeah, that was his prom," I say shortly. "We go to different schools."

"Ah," He nods and his eyes flicker between the two of us a few times. "You don't know Kenny like I do, then."

"What do you mean?" Dante asks, looking like he really doesn't care. I can relate.

"I mean, apart from her constant overthinking... she's very in tune with her emotions. It gets annoying, so be warned." He laughs and then clicks his fingers at the both of us.

Ouch?

Feeling like I've just had the earth pulled out from under me, I look away from him and blink back my urges to kick him. I didn't expect that one, but as much as I'd hate to admit it, he has a point. I think too much about everything even when it's not a big deal and I'm such a damn cry baby.

Even then, that was a bit uncalled for, I was just trying to get my little brother fed and snag some free food from my mom. If he thought I was annoying then why did he come and talk to me? I didn't ask him to? What's his problem?

Ironically, I'm overthinking this. Great.

Dante takes hold of my hand, sort of protectively. "Don't speak about Kennedy like that." He says firmly in a voice I have never heard from him before. When I look up at him, surprised, he is full on glaring and looking mad as hell.

Wow.

Chase puts his hands up and forces a smile. "Hey, man, I was just saying,"

"Yeah, well, don't." He snaps back. Jackie takes hold of my other hand again, looking at Dante in what seems to be awe. "Kennedy, can we leave?"

"Um, yeah?"

And then somehow, the three of us manage to leave Chase standing there staring at us. I kind of emulate Jackie and stare at Dante in awe, wondering why he looks ten times hotter when he's mad. What is this?

"You have a bad taste in guys," He comments when we've been wandering for five minutes. It seems like he's calmed down a little.

"Well, I'm going out with you, aren't I?"

He stops and his face breaks out into a smile. "Okay, maybe he was just a minor anomaly in your perfect record."

I chuckle as Jackie begins to jump around. "Wow, Tay! How are you so cool?"

Dante rubs the back of his neck, looking all smug. "Well, what can I say? I was just born this way, kid,"

I roll my eyes. "Oh don't you start." He begins laughing and because I can't help it, I smile along with him. When I'm about to tell him how cute he was when he was defending me, my phone rings quite urgently and I almost die when I remember my mom and McKinley are waiting together within the same vicinity. They're not what you call patient.

I pick up, very wary. "Hello?"

"Kennedy! Where are you?! Mom's gonna have hypertension because she thinks you've lost Jackie!" McKinley yells at me. I wince.

"Jackie's fine?" I start, wondering why they're like this. "Sorry, we got caught up by something, we'll be over in like two minutes."

"You better! I don't wanna tell our dad that you killed mom with your recklessness."

"Sorry!"

She hangs up on me and I run a hand through my hair, very stressed. "We've gotta go – wait, what are you guys doing?" I ask Dante. He's whispering something in Jackie's ear and the both of them are looking very secretive. It's bothering me.

"Nothing!" Dante straightens out and winks at Jackie. "Where are you going, I can walk with you just in case that guy comes back."

I look at the two of them for a while, wondering what's going on. "Okay... well, we're just going to head to the food court."

"Cool! Come on J," Effortlessly, Dante gives Jackie a piggybank and they start walking toward the direction of the food court.

I hang back and watch them, slightly amused by how much of a family unit they look like but also very curious as to what they were talking about when I was on the phone. Luckily for me it's easy to get Jackie to spill on all his secrets, I just have to tell him I won't talk to him for a while and he'll tell all. Dante turns around when he realises that I'm not following them.

"Kennedy? You good?"

I nod and follow after them. "Yeah, sure."

We get to the parlour where my family is all sitting down and laughing, looking like an advert for Disney or something. My mom has the biggest smile on her face – so much for me giving her hypertension.

"Danny! How you doing?" Tyler is the first one to spot us. Jackie slips off Dante's back so the two of them can do that weird hug thing boys do and start talking animatedly about baseball. McKinley and I share a look.

"Kennedy," My mom says as I sit down. "Where have you been?"

"Well, I ran into someone and then Dante so we were pretty distracted." Jackie decides the best thing to do is to sit on my lap and of course, I let him because I'm a pushover.

"Hi Mrs Barrett," He pipes up and leans against the booth next to me. She's instantly all smiles and I'm ready to fight.

"Dante! Didn't I tell you to call me Tina?" She says. "Are you going to sit down? Kenny, make some space for him to sit down, where are your manners?"

I shuffle inwards but he stops me. "That's okay Tina, I just came to see Jackie and Kennedy off – I've gotta get home," He says and puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. "I'll see you on Saturday night?"

I take a hold of his hand and smile up at him. "Yeah, um, we'll come pick you up at around eight, so wear your bowtie and be ready,"

"Isn't he coming to pick you up?" David asks. I shake my head.

"Stacy's mom got us a limo so we're all going in that." I explain.

"I am so hitching a ride in that," Tyler comments. I roll my eyes and prepare myself to tell Stacy that he really is going to implant himself in that limo because I know it'll happen even if I don't want it to.

Dante and Tyler fist bump before he waves at me. "I'll see you soon, sweetie,"

I blow a kiss at him and he pretends to catch it before blowing one back. Dante smiles widely and leaves, looking back a few times with the smile never changing. I sigh once he's out of sight and rest my hand in my palm.

"You look like a lovesick puppy," McKinley tells me.

"She is one," My mom adds. "I never thought I'd see the day that Kennedy blew a kiss at a boy. Remember when she said she hated boys, McKinley?"

McKinley nods very agreeably while she attacks her sundae. "She said it so vehemently too. I thought she was gay because of that one,"

"I was six!" I wail but the two of them ignore me. Jackie takes this opportunity to speak up.

"Kenny bought me a DVD!" He yells and yanks it out of the carrier bag with a wide smile and too much vigour. It hits me on the side of the head.

"Ow?" I say. He gasps comically and pretends to faint into Tyler's lap. My mom begins to congratulate his 'amazing drama performance', ignoring the fact my head is swelling to double it's size because of her son. When it becomes obvious that she doesn't care, I sigh and pick up a menu.

"What held you up, Kenny?" McKinley asks me when I've just about chosen an ice cream.

"Huh? Oh, I saw Chase," I say nonchalantly. She hisses loudly.

"How did that go?"

"Terribly, as you can imagine." I put the menu down and sigh. "He told Dante I was annoying? Like it came out of nowhere."

She gasps. "I hope you told him about himself! Who gave him the right?"

Feeling warm all of a sudden, I twirl a piece of hair around my finger. "Dante kind of snapped at him before we came here,"

McKinley's eyebrows raise. "Really? Meek and mild 'I'll-Catch-Anything-Including-Kennedy's-Blown-Kisses' snapped at someone? I don't believe it,"

I shrug. "You don't have to," I tell her and lean back in my chair. She stares at me for a few seconds before nodding, impressed.

"He really likes you a lot, y'know."

I sigh longingly and stare at the door he exited just ten minutes ago. Despite the fact my forehead is hurting like a bitch, I'm half smiling. "Yeah. I like him a lot too,"

a/n: a whole me actually updated?

asdfghjkl I'm gonna try and update more guys. legit nothing during march I am so sorry LOOOL but I've started the next chapter!! Kenny's prom! WOO