until the end of time, my love | luis mendoza³

NINE: FIGHTS ON THE FIRST DAY

TO SAY KENZIE was nervous would be the understatement of the year. She felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack as she walked through the busy streets of Chicago. She was on her way toward her first day as a college student and she was doing it alone. Nate wouldn't get out of bed, Em also had a class that morning, and Luis had work.

Kenzie's eyes felt like they were on fire, she was kicking herself for signing up for an early class. And as much as she loved working at the Scarlet Lounge with Noah, she didn't think she could work later on that night without passing out.

Life so far had been amazing, if she was being honest. Leaving Grayson, her parents and the ducks had been hard on all of them but they were managing while living their best lives. Speaking of the devil, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket and she took it out to see Grayson's name flashing brightly.

"Hey, doofus. Surprised to see you up so early," She laughed as she answered the FaceTime, considering it was only nine for him. He let out a groan, making Kenzie laugh again.

"I wanted to be there for your first day of class," He said, his voice still laced with sleep. She laughed as she waved to Nadia, who was waving excitedly from behind Grayson.

"I wish I never signed up for this early class," She huffed as she crossed a street. "you have class today, too?"

"Yeah but I'm not a dumbass and I signed up for all afternoon classes," Grayson said with a smirk, making Kenzie roll her eyes at his teasing.

She came to a stop right outside of the building where her first class was, gulping at the sight of it. She looked down at her phone with a scared expression before flipping the camera and showing her brother.

"Well, you better get in there before you're late," Grayson said as she flipped the camera back around, showing him her face. He laughed at how unhappy she looked as she let out a sigh.

"Call me after your class today. Love you, Gray," Kenzie said with a smile.

"Love you, too. Good luck, don't embarrass yourself," Grayson said with a smirk before he hung up. She rolled her eyes muttering the word 'dickhead' under her breath before entering the building.

She looked around, finding nothing but crowds of people. Some people were rushing to their classes, others were talking with their friends, and some of them were barely functioning. She felt overwhelmed with how many people were in the lobby so she walked off, looking around for her room.

That didn't go as planned because she found herself stranded in a hallway, with no idea how she ended up there in the first place. She heard the sound of a door opening and she turned to find a tall man with dark skin walking out with a bag hanging from his shoulder.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, but can you tell me how to get to room 404?" She asked the man.

"You can follow me," He said with a smile as he motioned for her to follow him. "so, film?"

"Yeah, I'm really excited about it," She said with a smile as she walked next to the man.

"Professor Wilson, it's nice to meet you," He said as he extended a hand. She looked over at him in shock, not expecting him to be her professor. She gently shook his hand, smiling at him.

"Mackenzie Palmer, it's nice to meet you, too," She said as they stopped in front of a classroom. She glanced up and saw a sign that said 404.

"After you," He gestured for her to walk in as he held the door open. She smiled and thanked him before walking in. She was shocked to see that there weren't many people in her Intro to film class. She was expecting it to be filled with people. However, there seemed to be only about ten other students in the room with her.

She sat down in the middle of the classroom, getting out her laptop as Professor Wilson wrote his name on the whiteboard. He turned to his class with a smile, "welcome to intro to film!"

***

"He was so nice. I was expecting every college professor to be a dick but he was so cool!" Kenzie explained to Nate and Luis that day after her class. She was sitting on the kitchen counter as Luis made them coffee. Nate was half asleep and leaning on the counter beside her as he waited for the caffeine.

"Why were you expecting that?" Luis laughed as he poured Nate a cup of coffee, which he eagerly took and immediately started drinking.

"Cause every high school teacher is like 'this shit won't slide in college' and Professor Wilson was fully telling us about his date last weekend," She laughed as Luis handed her a cup. "Em's still not awake?"

"Nope, haven't heard her all morning," Nate said as he rubbed his eyes, finally starting to come to life. It was already after ten and usually, Emercyn is up by then, but it was their first day of classes so maybe she was feeling the nerves. They stayed in silence for a few minutes while they drank their coffee when they all heard Em's door open.

"Wow, what happened to you?" Luis asked as Kenzie smacked his arm, turning to her cousin who looked like she had seen better days. She was wearing the outfit she picked out for her first day and she looked amazing in it but the makeup she did was running, revealing her dark circles, and tears still slid down her cheeks.

"Charlie and I fought," She said as she walked over, picked up Nate's mug, and took a huge sip.

"Wow, wow, wow! That's mine!" Nate said as he snatched the coffee from her. Kenzie rolled her eyes as she got Em her own mug and poured her some coffee before handing it over. Em just grabbed it, taking another huge sip.

"I mean, Kenzie, if Luis went out all night without mentioning it to you wouldn't you be upset?" Em asked her.

"Well, if he didn't tell me then yeah. I'd be worried about him."

"See! Exactly!" She said as she hopped up on the counter. "he got mad at me, told me I was being too pushy but I wasn't! If he would have just told me he was going out for the night with friends then I wouldn't have stayed up all night waiting for his call! I thought something happened, he had me worried sick!"

"So. Charlie goes out for an entire night. Never mentioned it to you. Never called you the entire time he was out to let you know?" Nate asked and Emercyn nodded. "yeah, that's fucked up."

"Have you two been fighting like this?" Luis asked.

"Here and there, I guess," She shrugged as she stared down at the coffee in her mug. "after he went to Boston, we had like a solid four days of peace. He would call when he could, he even showed me his dorm and I met his roommate! Now he hardly ever talks to me."

"Communication is important in any relationship but especially a long-distance one. Maybe try talking to him about it?" Kenzie suggested as she rubbed Emercyn's arm comfortingly. She nodded sadly as she took another sip of her coffee.

Kenzie never expected Charlie and Em to be in this situation.