the boy next door • jenzie

4 | Enjoy the Show

the boy next door
~~~
johnny orlando
mackenzie ziegler
~~~

After school on Friday of the first week of school, Johnny is driving his truck with Kenzie in the passenger seat and Hayden and Brynn in the back, choosing to squeeze into one seat in order to be closer to one another.

"Greg asked me if I'd take you shopping for clothes today," Johnny says to Kenzie.

Brynn scrunches her nose in distaste. "Why would he ask you to do that?"

"Because he thinks I dress like a skank," Kenzie explains.

"You're hot," Hayden says. "You're allowed to show that off. It don't make you skank."

Brynn slaps him. "I'm the only girl you're allowed to call hot."

Hayden nods his head and kisses her. "Of course, baby girl."

Johnny pulls into the driveway of Brynn's ranch house and Hayden kicks open the car door. He jumps out and places his hands on his girlfriend's hips, helping her out. The two wave to Johnny as he backs out of the driveway and on to the main road again.

"So is that a no to shopping?" Johnny asks.

"Yes it's a fucking no," Kenzie growls. She is never one to decline the opportunity to shop, but in this case, she'd rather fall face first into the pig pen than go. Greg wants her to change the way she is, and she's not going to. He's her stepfather; he has no right to try to change who she is.

Johnny throws his hands up in surrender. "I was just making sure."

~ ~ ~

Kenzie sits on the front porch swing, her legs crossed and her fingers tapping away on her phone, texting Ashton, when she hears the gate next door slam shut. Her head snaps up in attention, and she sees a once again shirtless Johnny carrying a bucket and a hose.

He drops the bucket down on the driveway next to his car and turns the hose on, spraying down his truck, the mud that has been caked on it all week slowly disappearing.

Kenzie looks down at her phone, reading and replying to her boyfriend's text, and then looks back over at Johnny. He's dipping a sponge into the bucket of soapy water and cleaning his car with it, the muscles in his arms flexing as he does, making it impossible for Kenzie to look away.

Johnny looks over his shoulder, very aware of the fact that she's staring at him, and she quickly tries to make it seem like she was looking at anything but him, busying herself with her phone. She can feel the heat in her face making it bright pink and prays that he can't see it from where he is.

"Can I help you with something or are you just gonna keep creepin'?" Johnny calls over to her.

She feels like she's choking on her tongue, and her mind can't form a coherent thought. "Um... Uh... I..."

Johnny laughs. "I'm just teasin' you."

"I changed my mind," she finally says, needing some reasonable explanation for her to be staring at him. "Can you take me to get a pair of boots and maybe a couple of flannels?"

"It would be my pleasure," he replies. "Just let me finish up. Enjoy the show, Kenz."