Not Another Teen Fiction

Chapter 3: Arriving

After a long night of partying and after partying and packing and goodbyes, I finally got to sleep at 4. I would’ve slept until 2 pm like my usual summers go, but I promised my mom I’d be on the road by 9 so I could get there around lunch. Here I am at 8:30, 4 hours of sleep under my belt, listening to my dad rambling on about being ‘safe’ while I’m there.

“If the boys have drugs or alcohol, I’m not asking you to tattle, but try and get them to do the right thing,” he warned as we ate our waffles. And anyways, if they had drugs and alcohol, I’d probably steal it all. “And don’t feel obligated to smoke and drink if they do it.”

“I can honestly tell you that their words will not affect my judgment.” I’ll still live the high life regardless of what they say.

He smiled with a mouthful of whip cream, making me smile. “That’s my girl.” We ate for a couple more minutes before the worst possible thing popped into his head. “And don’t feel required to be intimate with any of them if they make advances.”

“Dad, ew.”

“I just don’t know if I trust those boys; especially that Thompson kid,” he said, making my heart thud in my chest. “Mitchell may be a smart boy, but that doesn’t mean he’s any good.”

I swallowed the lump in throat and tried to answer without the inevitable shaky voice, “I can handle the boys, Dad.” I hadn’t even thought of Mitchell. I’d been too busy thinking of Brendan, Brooks, and Rhys and how to avoid their antics. I completely disregarded Mitchell and the slight chance of me still liking him.

No. There’s no way. It’s been six years, and I’m a different person. Not better, just different. He told me how he felt six years ago, and I vowed to never like him again. I won’t. I can’t.

“Shouldn’t you be leaving, sweetheart?” Mom asked, grabbing my empty plate from in front of me. “You want to miss the rush, don’t you?”

“I guess so,” I sighed out. I grabbed my duffel bag and suitcase, hugged and kissed my parents goodbye, and left the house. Here we go, I guess.

It took 3 hours to successfully get to the beach house. My mind kept drifting to Mitchell, the girls, and the conversation Rhys and I had last night.

It was at 8 O’clock. We were cleaning up from the party, and I was about to go get ready for my friend Jay’s after party at 10. I had just thrown away the last of the decorations, and I was headed upstairs when Rhys stopped me. “Kennedy, could I speak to you for a minute.”

I nodded and led him into my bedroom. If he wants to talk, I’m going to at least get my hair done while we do. I walked into my en suite bathroom as Rhys sat on my bed, opening the book I had lying at the foot of it. “So I hear you’re going to the beach house tomorrow.”

“I am,” I confirmed, plugging in my straightener. “Shouldn’t you have left already?”

He closed the book and set it down. “I’m leaving in a few minutes. I just want to talk.”

“So talk.”

“I just want you to know that I don’t want you there.”

Well isn’t that kind? I don’t want to be there either. “Okay.”

“So are you staying back?” he asked. I was brushing through my hair at this point, letting the straightener heat up.

“Not a chance. I promised Mom.”

Rhys then stood up and came closer to the bathroom. “It’s not just me.” He soon reached me and leaned against the door frame. “The boys don’t want you there, either.”

“This is going to suck for them, then,” I kept all the emotion out of my voice, and I even tried to blank out my eyes. I promised myself to never let him get to me.

“The girls are absolutely disgusted that a slut like you is coming.”

That one hit close to home. I mean, I wasn’t a prude, but I wasn’t a slut either. I’ve only been with 3 guys. 2 of them were long term boyfriends, and the other 1 is a close friend that’s just there to occupy time. Our school seems to think I’m extremely easy, but they don’t understand anything.

I think the most painful part was that my own brother didn’t know me well enough to disprove the stories. “I guess they’ll just have to deal.”

“Tell mom not to be surprised if this vacation ends early.” And then he left my room.

It was a long car ride, but I finally ended up at the beach house. Unfortunately, the boys must’ve been up late partying because the door was locked and nobody was answering. I had to result in doing the best thing at the time, constantly ringing the doorbell so one of the assholes would answer it.

It took a few minutes, but eventually I heard a set of pounding footsteps coming down the stairs. “Jesus, I’m coming,” a voice yelled. I kept ringing the bell until the lock clicked and the door flew open. “Would you f*****g stop?!” Hello…

Instead of being greeted by my asshole of a brother, I was greeted by a very naked chest, and an unrecognizable face; attractive, but unrecognizable. I tore my eyes away from his chest and noticed him ogling me. He had black hair and these chocolaty brown eyes. The brown eyes were actually quite mesmerizing.

“Well damn,” were the first words to break the silence. “If I’d have known you were down here, I might have run.”

What a d**k. How could he have told Rhys he didn’t want me here, yet greet me like this? Now which one is this, so I can yell his name as I circumcise him in a moment? “I’m Brendan, and you are?”

Wait, what? He doesn’t know who I am, then what’d he mean by if he knew it was me.

“Damn, girl.”

Oh my god, he doesn’t get it’s me. “Get outta my way, s**t face.” I told him, shoving past to go inside.

The second I got inside, I took in a deep breath. Everything looked the same. The memories instantly came flooding back, and it took a minute to get myself not to cry. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. “Hey girly, I don’t know where you’re from, but where I’m from, we don’t just storm into people’s homes.”

“Save your words, Brendan,” I answered. “I’ll be in my room.”

“Woah,” he grabbed my arm, making me drop my duffel bag. “Your room?”

“You i***t!” I hollered getting on my knees and reaching in the bag, trying to make sure my valuables didn’t get broken without letting Brendan see what was inside. “You’re lucky,” I told him after I double checked.

“Are you insane?” he asked. “You come in my house, and then call me an i***t?”

“It’s as much my house as it is yours, you imbecile.”

It took him a minute before he finally understood. He looked me up and down, and then ran his fingers through my long hair. It was a lighter brown now; I dyed it. He looked at me again, starting at my feet. He slowly looked all the way up the length of my body until his eyes locked with mine. “Kennedy?”

I didn’t give him the pleasure of an actual response. I just smirked a bit and picked up my duffel. “I’ll be in my room.”

I stayed upstairs for a solid 4 hours. I would’ve stayed longer, but I didn’t bring any food with me, only a bit of alcohol… Okay, a lot of alcohol. I’d busied myself watching TV and going online, but my stomach was slowly eating away at itself.

I locked my duffel in my footlocker, hiding the key in my back pocket, before going downstairs. I wasn’t ready to face all six of them, but luckily I didn’t have to. As I walked down the stairs, I only noticed 3 heads, and all of them were facing away from the staircase.

I somehow managed to walk down the stairs and into the kitchen without any of them acknowledging me: thank God. I don’t think I’d be able to handle them.

When I got to the kitchen, I saw some cake on the counter. I grabbed myself a slice and was about to leave the kitchen when I saw Brendan walking into the room with me. He smiled at me, but I only rolled my eyes.

“Hey,” he greeted with a slight wave.

“Bye.” I tried to get past him, but he held my upper arm. “You made me dropped my bag earlier. If you make me drop this cake, I’m going to wound you.”

“I’m only in here because Brooks, Winnie, and Jenna are almost here, so you might want to grab some more food and get back up there.”

“Why aren’t they here already?” I asked, placing my cake on the counter and walking to the fridge.

He walked over to the counter and began cutting himself a slice as he spoke, “Today was their last day. Brooks and Winnie are juniors, and Jenna is a freshman.”

So that’s why they’re late. It makes sense. “Alright, let me just-”

I was interrupted by the front door slamming open. It didn’t take a genius to figure who it was. I looked up at Brendan with wide eyes. “Do they know I’m here?” I whispered. He nodded his head with a pained look on his face. “Shit.”

“Where is she?” I heard a lighter voice ask. I couldn’t tell if it was Winnie or Jenna, but I was afraid to find out. I planned on hiding in the walk-in pantry, but before I could even think about moving, a short, blonde girl came rushing in. “Kenny!”

She forward and hugged me, but I was too busy trying not to cry at her nickname. I don’t think she knows what she said, but I do, and I can’t stand it. “It’s Kennedy,” I corrected, shrugging her off me. I looked down and saw her bright green eyes, shining bright like her smile, making me almost want to hug her again, but I just want to go eat my cake.

“You look really good, Kennedy,” Jenna complimented.

I simply shrugged and grabbed my cake off the counter. “Thanks.” I smiled at her and added in my b***h voice, “It was great seeing you, but I gotta go, bye.”

“Oh, okay,” she smiled, but it didn’t look as genuine as before. I made my way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, ignoring the herd of teens hugging each other. I just walked up to my room and locked the door. It was times like this I wish Cameron was here to blow off some energy. He wasn’t though.

I was alone on this one.