𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 ~ 𝒿𝑒𝓃𝓏𝒾𝑒.

chapter fifteen • "only starbucks"

Mackenzie.

{Time skip}

It was finally the weekend, and I was glad. School this week was tiring. I had to take a bunch of tests and spent hours on homework each day. However, it was also productive. Johnny and I were almost done with our song; we just needed the bridge. I was so excited to perform it at the showcase with him. Everyone would be amazed.

I woke up from a deep sleep, got ready for the day, and went downstairs. Maddie was eating a bowl of yogurt while swiping on her phone. I guess Dad was still sleeping. He was barely talking to us since the party.

"Morning," she said, looking up at me. I guess she heard me walking down the creaky floorboards.

"Morning," I greeted her back. I fixed up a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and sat down next to her.

"I barely saw you this week," I said. "Well, except for the football game. What were you doing?"

"Oh, this week was cheerleading tryouts," Maddie said, putting a look of shock on my face. "What? I took Greg's words to heart; we need to try new things while we're here."

"But why cheerleading?" I asked. "You could've done dance with me. It's actually pretty fun. We have to dance at the music showcase though, so I guess I'll be busy that night."

Maddie laughed. "Look at you, getting used to high school. Too bad we have to leave at the month." She ate another spoonful of yogurt.

I groaned. "Don't remind me. I don't want to leave all the friends I made."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Just take them to L.A with you. Well, for a few weeks. Bring Brynn, if you do that though. She's probably the only friend I have here. Taylor was a no no. I'm pretty sure she pressured me to drink at the party just so I would be in trouble with the public eye."

I tapped my chin. That was actually a good idea. Well, if their parents agreed. I could already imagine how Lauren would be if she was in L.A, freaking out when she met my L.A friends.

"I might do that," I replied. "Anyway, Lauren invited us to her house for a pool party. Don't worry, it's just going to be her close friends, which is us, Brynn, a few other girls, and the guys."

Maddie shrugged. "As long as there's no drinking, I'll be fine."

Now it was my turn to laugh. "You really think Lauren would bring alcohol to a party?"

. . .

It was around 6:00, and Maddie and I were getting ready for the party. Maddie made me ask Dad if we could go, and I convinced him there would be no drinking of any kind. He agreed, and also relented and let Maddie drive us with his car.

I decided on wearing a blue bikini with denim shorts over it. Maddie decided on purple bikini with black shorts. We got our stuff and headed outside to the car. Thank God Maddie could drive, or we would have to survive another silent car ride.

Lauren's house wasn't that far away, according to my Maps app. We were there in under ten minutes.

We got out of the car and I rang the doorbell. I was expecting Lauren to open the door, but it was Johnny. Seeing him shirtless caught me off guard...Stop it, Kenzie!

"Hey guys!" He said, actually looking pretty happy. "Come in."

We followed Johnny out to their pool area. The pool was pretty spacious. Lauren and Brynn rushed over to us. I noticed that Jack was here, and automatically got nervous.

"You guys made it!" Lauren exclaimed. She hugged me. "We're about to play pool volleyball. Boys against girls."

I took off my shorts and we all jumped into the pool. I could feel Jack staring daggers at me. I would have to talk to him later, or he would never talk to me again.

"You're going down, Johnny!" Lauren yelled before setting the beach ball. A apart of me admired their relationship.

"Think again!" Johnny yelled back before hitting the ball back to our side. I set the ball to Brynn who hit the ball too far for the guys to respond.

"Girls one, guys zero!" I yelled. I was already getting competitive.

From there, the guys started scoring points, but us girls came back. Maddie was hitting pretty good, and I was setting up everyone to hit.

By the time we all got tired, it was girls 10, guys nine.

"I told you, didn't I?" Lauren said to Johnny when we got out of the pool, hitting Johnny's arm playfully. He rolled his eyes, and I laughed out loud.

Lauren and Johnny's mom came out with a box of pizza for us to eat. She was really nice.

We all sat around places at the pool area to eat. I sat with Lauren, Brynn, and Maddie, and Ashley. For some reason the boys and girls were on other sides of the pool area.

"So how are you and Johnny, Brynn?"
Lauren started up the conversation. I glared at her. "Any more dinner and a movie dates?"

Brynn looked around and set her eyes on Johnny. A small smile appeared on her lips. "We've been texting everyday, but that's about it," she said. "I feel like it's not going to anywhere." I started to feel bad. Johnny liked someone, but I still didn't know who.

"What about you, Kenz?" Brynn asked me. "Have you talked to Jack yet? He's right over there."

I turned around and saw Jack laughing with Johnny about something.

"I haven't, but I will now," I replied. I got out from the chair I was sitting in and walked over to where the boys were. I could hear the girls cheering behind me, and I rolled my eyes.

The guys turned around when I arrived. Johnny raised his eyebrows like he was saying, "You're talking to him now?" I nodded.

"Jack, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked him. He just nodded and we went over to a corner where no one could really hear us.

"Why were you avoiding my calls and texts?" He started. "We haven't talked since the party."

I bit my lip nervously. "I'm sorry. The whole thing with Maddie and I happened and I was grounded all last weekend. And I was also thinking about what you asked me."

Jack's eyes lightened up. "And what's the answer?" His hand found mine, and my breath started to quicken.

"Jack, you're a great guy," I said. "You've made me feel really welcome when I first came to Bridgewater. And you're really funny, too. But, I feel like we should just get to know each other more as friends first, not to mention that I'm leaving at the end of the month. I don't want to start something I can't continue, you know?"

Jack nodded, and I think he actually understood.

"Totally," he replied. "Maybe we can get to know each other over coffee?"

I laughed. "Sure. But only Starbucks."

I hugged him before walking back to the
girls.

"Ooh, what happened?" Maddie asked me. She and the other girls looked very curious.

"Nothing really," I explained. "I just said I wanted to be friends for now, and I guess get coffee together?"

"Stop lying, Kenzie," Lauren cooed. "We all know you like him. Your ship name would be...Jenzie? Kack sounds weird."

"No, Jenzie is her and..." Ashley stopped talking when she realized Brynn was right there. I already knew what she was going to say, and good thing she stopped before she did say it. Silence lingered after that.

The conversation dived into Brynn and Maddie talking about how cheerleading tryouts were going, but I kind of tuned out of it. However, I was snapped back to reality when Lauren said:

"Guys, Kenzie said Johnny likes someone. We should try to find out this week."

I groaned. A part of me felt like when we found out, we wouldn't look at him the same.