Here for the Summer / Ongoing

6- You Brought a Friend

She raises the half-empty cup towards Fletcher for a moment and then takes a small sip.

So Kendra does remember the cafeteria and the conversations. Fletcher shakes off the momentary shock and reminds himself that these things happened just months ago, and for him at least, they were memorable.

"You brought a friend," he says finally, and motions to the voices comings from the kitchen. "Seems like she's getting to know Cyrus pretty well."

Kendra's lips curve into a smile- soft pink heats her cheeks, and she ducks her head sheepishly. "Vicky's going to be very nice to him, I promise. I'm sure she'll have some fun with him, but for now... nice."

Fletcher's eyebrows raise, but he attempts to be subtle. Kendra has always been spontaneous like this: introducing friends to a chef, waiting for the relationship's ultimate demise.

Kendra finishes her cup of lemonade and sets it down on a coaster on a nearby table. She turns back to him. "What are you doing right now?"

"Not much," Fletcher replies. "I just got back to the house."

She leans down and starts to fiddle with the laces of her expensive sneakers. "Why don't you come and hang out with me in the garden, then? I've just got to change my shoes before I start." She sets the shoes on the tray by the door.

Fletcher chuckles. "I think you're using me to ease the workload," He replies, but he follows her through the french doors and onto the patio.

Kendra takes her time slipping on a pair of socks and tying up her work sneakers, looking away from him. Fletcher takes this opportunity to look at her, really look. His gaze runs over her short brown hair which looks freshly cut, the way she bites her lip when she's focusing on something. He watches as she bends over more to grab tools and her shirt slips, adjusting around the bending of her back to reveal tan lines and a dark green sports bra.

Fletcher looks away. He probably shouldn't have been doing that.

Kendra stands up fully, two tools in each hand, and grins at him. "Follow me," she says, and he takes a set of the garden tools from her hand as they walk towards the back of the yard. The two settle down below the peach tree, and Kendra slips on a pair of gloves from her back pocket. Fletcher watches as she gets to work yanking weeds from the soft earth around the trunk, dumping them into a waiting bucket.

Her eyes flick to his. "Could you grab a basket from the shed?" She asks. "Sorry, I should have grabbed it while we were there- but you could pick some of the ripe ones." She's motioning to the branches above us, which hold just a few ripe peaches. The others are small and hard, a yellowish-green.

"Oh, sure," I reply, a little disconnected from the conversation. She is too interesting to look at for conversation, most of the time. I shake distraction from my thoughts and jog towards the small hutch next to the house where she gathered her tools. Sure enough, there is a stack of baskets and a step ladder leaning against the wall. I grab both and jog back to the peach tree.

Kendra looks up at me as I return, and a small smile ghosts her lips. She shifts slightly so that I can set the ladder down next to the tree trunk. Luckily, the tree is relatively short so I can reach most of the peaches without the ladder's help.

"It's weird to be here," Kendra says suddenly.

I look down at her, but she is seemingly engrossed in her task, enough that I almost think I've imagined her speaking.

"Because we were friends at school, I mean," Kendra continues. She's fiddling with one weed in particular now, ripping the leaves off and scattering them into the bucket. "It's just strange to see you every day, in your element. And this house is insane." Kendra chuckles. "The personal chef, and the scent for each room?" She bites her lip. "Sorry, I guess I'm supposed to be used to this kind of thing."

Fletcher lets out a soundless sigh and gets to work with the peaches. "Nah, I get it. The house is kind of ridiculous. I figured you would be hanging out in something similar though, with your family's cash." Fletcher had always assumed that Kendra was wealthy. Her wardrobe, living habits, and her friends? They all pointed to parents with a seven-figure salary, like his.

Kendra chokes on her laugh. "Yeah, I guess. And I'm just so used to how my friends live- like Carolina and Jax? I guess it's just different here."

Fletcher twists another peach off of the branch. He's heard of Carolina and Jax, but mostly from Kendra's stories or an occasional sighting at a party she had invited him to. They were heirs to huge businesses and had some sort of weird, old-timey arranged marriage set up.  It wasn't really a problem, though, because they were supposedly madly in love.

This must be why he was confused by her reaction. Wren, the daughter of a million-dollar design franchise, the two lovebird heirs, and William Yong, who goes without saying. Kendra had to fit in with that lifestyle then if she was so close with these young billionaires. And himself, technically. Although he wasn't a billionaire, not even close.

Fletcher looked down at her from the ladder. She was still focused on her task, with small beads of sweat gathering wherever her skin shone.

How did she fit in with them anyway? Fletcher couldn't believe that he had never considered this, the vagueness of Kendra's life details. Then again, he had tried to block most things out since the incident in the spring. Maybe he was just forgetting things.

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