Trust me, Kitty

Chapter 11

Mikey

I was sitting in my car which was parked next to Dad's car on the driveway of our mansion in Malibu. I was waiting for Jacky and had already been doing that for what felt like hours but was probably something like ten minutes. I had agreed to give him a ride to Santa Monica since I was going there anyway and Jacky didn't have a car of his own. He was very concerned about the climate. Thanks to that, Dad called him a Hippie.

I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel and took a deep breath of fresh summer air that floated into my car through the open window. I was feeling very nervous. I'd had a lot of bad thoughts this morning, a lot of worries and anxiety. But now I really needed to calm down. I needed to gather myself before I would meet people today.

My eyes drifted across the yard, across the green grass where I had played soccer with Dad and Jacky as a kid. But I never really liked soccer. It wasn't really my thing. I had played it just because Dad had expected his sons to like soccer like he himself did. He said soccer was something every boy was meant to love. But not girls. Our big sister Hailey had never been expected to join us.

My glance paused at the US flag that was hanging from the balcony of our house. Dad was very patriotic. I wasn't. He was a devoted Republican. I didn't even care to vote. I couldn't care less about politics. That was one of those many things we disagreed about. One of those many things that made him furious and disappointed at me.

I glanced at my watch. If Jacky wouldn't be here soon I would leave without him. I couldn't just sit all day here in the yard waiting for him. Besides, there was someone who was waiting for me. Someone who expected me to be in Santa Monica at a specific time.

I glared at the front door. Where the heck was Jacky? I waited still for a minute, then I started the engine. Fuck him, I wouldn't wait any longer. But just as I started the engine and was about to reverse my car out to the road, the front door swung open and Jacky jogged across the lawn towards my car.

He looked happy as always. Even if I tried to I couldn't really imagine Jacky ever being stressed or frowning. He was always just so relaxed, so content and for him life seemed to be pleasant and easy. I really envied him for that.

"Sorry, bro," Jacky said as he opened the door to the passenger seat and climbed in. "I was just coming when I realized that I couldn't just head out for the picnic without bringing anything to eat. So I had to quickly make some smoothie and sandwiches," he explained and patted his backpack which he was holding on his lap.

I rolled my eyes. "You could've just bought something from some store in Santa Monica you know." I didn't even wait for him to get his seatbelt on. As soon as he had closed the door I reversed my car out to the road and started our journey towards Santa Monica. Finally.

"Yeah, sure," Jacky said as he was trying to adjust his seatbelt. "But I wanted to make something myself. You know, girls are more impressed that way."

Jacky was going for a picnic with Kenzie. It was actually quite annoying. Why did he have to go out with Kathryn's friend? There were plenty of girls in LA to choose from and from all of them he had to choose my girlfriends best friend. Though I wasn't sure if he was actually dating her or not. This was still quite a new thing. Maybe I could ask Kathryn about it.

"Where was it that you were going?" Jacky asked, turning to look at me after he had finally managed to get his seatbelt on.

I refused to look back at him. "Why do you ask?" He was so annoying, always wanting to know everything about me and my life. For him, personal space didn't seem to exist.