thē ງirl ຖēxt ໓໐໐r ✰ jenzie

-chapter eighteen-

johnny's pov

I scan the aisle for the coconut milk. Mom asked me to go shopping for her, so I didn't have anything else to do.

My gaze moves around the shelves, searching. At the sound of someone else in the aisle, I look up and see a guy in military uniform.

"Bryce??"

Bryce Xavier, one of my former fellow colonels, was one of my best friends back when I was in the military.

Bryce sees me too, and his eyes widen.

"Johnny Orlando? Wow, man, I've missed you so much."

We do our usual handshake, and then a big manhug.

"I got a couple days of leave, so I came home to see Nia," he explains, "How's life been here?"

"Good. Nice. I like it, but I miss military."

"Aw, well we miss you too." Bryce picks up a can of tomato soup and tosses it between his hands. "Well, I'm also looking for someone while I'm here."

Finally, I locate the coconut milk. I pick up a can. "Who?"

"Remember Mark Thomas?" He asks, and my heart stops.

"Y-yeah, I remember him..."

"He's a deserter."

I almost drop the can of coconut milk. "W-what?"

Bryce narrows his eyes at the memory. "He has three offenses, actually. First, he got drunk on duty. Then he had a fight with a civilian and accidentally injured a child. Strike two, real serious. Before we could court martial him, he ran away."

My mind processes this information slowly. But Kenzie...she can't know this. It would break her heart.

...and break up their relationship, meaning Kenzie and I...

"Have you seen him since you got here?"

My throat became dry all of a suddenly. "I-I...yes."

Bryce's eyes change. "Really?"

I nod slowly. "Yeah, I have. And I can arrange for you to get him. Maybe later this week."

"I can't wait that long, Johnny."

Biting my lip, I say, "I know...just trust me on this one."

°°°°°

"Two days till your birthday, Kenz, how does it feel?" I ask, recording a Snapchat video.

"It's excruciating. Almost as hard as waiting for you to get a life." Kenzie smirks at my phone, and then I end the recording and put it on my story.

"Ouch, that hurt," I say, giving her a pained expression.

"Need a bandaid?" Kenzie pulls her knees closer to her chest and giggles.

Lauren giggles. "I'll kiss your boo-boo."

Kenzie's official birthday party, complete with press footage and news interviews was yesterday, and her private one with just her close friends is tomorrow. That's the one her and Lauren have been planning for a while.

I'm going to have Bryce catch Mark after the party's over, so Kenzie's birthday doesn't get ruined.

"So Johnny, how did you audition go?" Kenzie plays with the pop socket on her phone.

"Good, thanks to you," I grin at her.

"Well, if you get the role, it's because of me. If you don't, it's because of you." We laugh.

Kenzie's phone buzzes, and she picks it up. Lauren leans over to see who it is.

"Oh, it's Mark, how SuPrIsInG." Lauren smirks, then squeals to avoid Kenzie's flick, that narrowly misses her ear.

I should tell Kenzie about what Mark did. But it would ruin her birthday. That's why I'm waiting till later. Forget it happened till later.

Kenzie finishes her text, and then looks up at us. "Mark wants to know if y'all wanna come out to dinner with us as a sorta pre-birthday weekend thing."

I raise my eyebrows. "He wanted us to come?"

"Well..." Kenzie hesitates, "I mean, he didn't, but he agreed to when I asked."

"We don't want to impose..." Lauren says awkwardly.

Kenzie laughs. "No, I'm gonna drag you out if you don't come."

"Then of course!"

°°°°°

"How's life going, John?" Mark shovels another forkful of food into his mouth.

"Pretty good. I'm doing lots of auditions now."

"Ahh, sissy stuff." Mark laughs at his own joke.

I choose to ignore that comment, and fight the urge to grab him and hold him in a headlock till Bryce comes. "Anyways...how are you?"

Mark grins. "Oh, I'm good. Especially because I have a beautiful girlfriend." he puts his arm around Kenzie, and they look at each other and smile.

I force the smile to remain plastered on my face.

"Oh, and I just had a really good beer earlier too."

Kenzie looks at him funny, but just laughs, thinking it's a joke.

"This is so pretty, tho. I love this restaurant. Thanks so much for coming, you guys." Kenzie says, beaming as she looks around the outside patio we're sitting in.

"Of course!" Lauren gives Kenzie a big hug. "Thanks for inviting us."

We finish our food, and then Kenzie orders a dessert for us all: a big chocolate chip cookie pie with ice cream.

"Mark's treating," I joke, "So order as much as you want."

While we're waiting for the cookie pie to come out, Mark says he's going to go to the bathroom. I have a feeling he's going to try to take a quick smoke while he's at it too, but I don't say anything.

"Did you get that role, Kenz? The Marvel one." Lauren asks, sipping her water.

"I get final call back results on Saturday! I can't wait." Kenzie's eyes glow.

I grin. "Woah, a Marvel movie? That'd be so cool."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Another couple comes and sits at the table next to us in the patio, and I notice the guy is in military uniform. I crane my neck to see him better and...

"Bryce!!" I jump up from the table, almost upsetting my water. Lauren and Kenzie stare at me, confused.

Bryce sees me too, and get up.

"Hey, man, I didn't expect to see you here."

I laugh. "Me neither."

I introduce him to Lauren and Kenzie, and he introduces us to his girlfriend, Nia.

"Nice to meet you guys. Johnny was always raving about you, Lauren."

Lauren laughs. "Good or bad?"

I notice Bryce's gaze change. He's looking past me, and I turn around to see who he's looking at. It's Mark, coming back with his jacket off, probably so the smell of smoke is less obvious.

Lauren, Kenzie and Nia look confusedly at Bryce.

He pushes past me roughly, his face totally changed.

Oh, no. I didn't want this to happen, especially here and now. I totally forgot about Bryce and Mark and...

I don't want to be here right now. All hell's about to break loose.

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