Bunny - Kenjorine - Transition

Chapter 10

It feels like my heart stops. I wasn't expecting Karen's brother to be Kenny.

He walks in and shuts the door. "Mar?"

"Hey, Kenny."

"You were Karen's friend? I didn't know that."

I twirl my hair a bit, I'm nervous. "I didn't know you were her brother..."

Karen stands up and pulls Kenny over to the seat next to me. "Try the food she made! It's amazing!"

Kenny looks at me and I shrug. He takes a bite and freezes. "It's so good..."

"Right! She made this with magic or something!"

He turns to me, "You seriously made this?"

"Yeah..."

I sit back and watch this family talk. I feel too embarrassed to say anything now that Kenny is here.

Once everyone finishes I take their plates and carry them to the sink where I begin to wash them

Karen rushes over and starts helping me clean up.

"Thanks, Karen."

"No problem! It's the least I could do after you fed us that meal."

She starts cleaning some of the cups while I work on the pans I used to cook the salmon.

Kenny stands up and walks over to us. "Hey, Mar. I wouldn't recommend letting her help you with dishes."

 I tilt my head, "Why not? She offered so I-"

A cold feeling rushes down my stomach. Karen has just accidentally dumped a cup of water on me. I don't know how she even managed that.

"That's why."

Karen quickly grabs a towel and hands it to me. "Oh god, I'm so sorry... I always mess it up..."

I pat her head and smile, "It's okay. It happens."

Kenny picks Karen up and sets her in the doorway to the kitchen. "Go get ready for bed, I'll help Mar from here."

"Mar? Why do you call her that?"

"It's just a nickname."

"Ooooo, like a couple thing!"

"No. Go to bed, Karen."

She giggles and runs off. I can't help but smile at the whole situation. Their family is so cute.

"Sorry about that. I can help you from here. I usually do the dishes anyway."

"Karen said you usually cook too."

"Yeah, I'm more of a mom than our actual mom is."

"It must be hard."

"A little bit, but we manage. I like taking care of them so it doesn't suck too hard."

I reach for a cup in the sink, my hand hits Kenny's. He was reaching for the same cup.

"Ah- Sorry..." I pull my hand away.

I look at him, it's like he's frozen. His hand is just hovering above the cup now.

"Kenny? Are you in there?"

He flinches, "Oh. Sorry, yeah. I can clean this one."

What a weirdo. What was that?

"Mar, thank you."

"For dinner? You're welcome."

"Not just that... Karen is happy for the first time in forever. People don't want to be friends with her because she's so poor. It's nice to see her have a friend like you..."

"Oh... Of course... I don't see why no one wants to hang out with her, we had a blast today."

"Right... I can pay you back for whatever this dinner costs... How much was it?"

"I won't let you do that. I wanted to do this so I did it. I will not accept any money from you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay... Thank you, Mar. Seriously. You're really..."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing."