Ballet Shoes: Next Gen

III

Just a lil' thing I forgot to mention before we start. The portrayal of Kenny's anxiety throughout this fic is based off of my own experience. That being said, please don't come for me if it seems really cliché. That's just how it's been for me.

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Third Person's P.O.V.

Kenny bounced his left leg up and down as he stared at his laptop on the coffee table. The tab currently displayed on the screen was the inbox of his email. There were several unopened emails from all the universities he had applied for months prior. It felt like time had passed far too quickly. How was it nearly time to pick which university out of his choices to go to already?

"Hey Kenny can I borrow your- oh," Gwennie cut herself off when she caught sight of her anxious older brother, "Is now a bad time?"

"Kind of...?" Kenny said more like a question than an answer.

"All the applications are back?"

"Yeah."

"Ah," Gwennie said, "Should I call mom and tell her to hurry back?"

"No!" Kenny yelled a little louder than he intended.

He briefly turned his head away from his sister and took a couple deep breaths before speaking again.

"Sorry," Kenny apologized, "I didn't mean to shout."

"It's okay," Gwennie assured, "I know it's just your anxiety. You can't control that."

"I'm still sorry though," Kenny said, rubbing the back of his neck while his left leg continued to bounce.

Gwennie pursed her lips and glanced at Kenny's laptop screen. The source of her brother's current unease stared back at her. She hummed lightly as she thought of how to distract Kenny until their parents came home. Gwennie's eyes wandered around the room and stopped at a window which peered outside to where the cars were parked. An idea popped into her mind and she looked back at Kenny with a small smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"We're going for a drive."

-page break-

A set of keys jingled as the pair of siblings made their way up to the house. Gwennie fumbled with inserting the key into the lock while balancing her Mr. Smoothy cup and one of their many shopping bags in her other hand. Kenny sipped on his smoothie with an amused smile as his sister struggled to open the door.

"You could help me y'know?" Gwennie said slightly frustrated.

"With what hands?" Kenny said before lightly jostling the few bags he was holding and gesturing with his head to the drink carrier balanced precariously on his left hand.

Gwennie rolled her eyes in mock annoyance and set her drink down in the drink carrier. Kenny laughed and readjusted his hold on their goodies to accommodate the weight of the third cup.  After that it didn't take long for Gwennie to finally turn the key and unlock the door.

"No need to applaud," she said smugly as she took her smoothie back from Kenny.

Kenny jokingly rolled his eyes and said, "Can we just get inside already?"

Gwennie giggled and held the door open for her brother. Once he was inside, she went in and let it close behind them with a soft click. Double checking that she locked it before heading to the kitchen alongside Kenny.

"There are my two bundles of joy," Ben chirped from his seat at the island as his children stepped through the archway.

"Hey dad," they said in sync as they set their bags down on the counters.