Little Miss McKenzie

Little Miss McKenzie; Chapter 1: The Party

Chapter 1: The Party

The days came quickly, passing by with little or nothing to do. My parents wanted us to hang out around the house for the next three days. Something about 'spending quality time together' before they left. If you asked me, I'd rather just go out with Alex.

"Kenz?" My mother, Hanna, called from down stairs early Friday morning.

"Yep," I slid the pink fuzzy chair back away from the wood desk that stands across from my bed up in my room, "Coming."

I left my room, knowing that as soon as my parents were gone, I had a lot to do. I had to help Ryan decorate for this lame party, and then I had to get ready for my date with Alex. He had decided that movies were lame, and he had a surprise for me. 'It'll be romantic', he promised me Wednesday night over the phone, 'You'll love it'.

My pajama pants--the ones with the little pink hearts splattered across the white fabric--trailed behind me as I slid my bare feet down the stairs. The old, ripped up t-shirt hung mid-thigh on me, fitting Alex perfectly when it once belonged to him.

"We're leaving now," My dad laughed, "Now remember: No Parties."

"I promise I won't have a party. As for Ryan, who knows." I laughed, hugging my parents goodbye.

"Kale, why don't you go upstairs and wake up Ryan?" My mother asked my father.

"Ryan!" My dad screamed, "Ryan, wake up now!"

"Kale, I could have done that." My mom laughed.

But, after a moment, Ryan appeared at the top of the staircase. He was only in his boxers, and even though he had abs that all of my friends were obsessed with, I couldn't help but gag. "Clothes, Ryan. Put clothes on."

"You know you love it." Ryan smirked, and I gagged.

"Kale, what were we thinking? Leaving these two home alone, oh god." My mom laughed, and my dad just patted her back.

"Let's get out of here while we can." He suggested, and they hugged us both goodbye before turning and rushing out the big wooden front door. I leaned against it, watching them drag their luggage down the driveway. My mother climbed into the new, shiny black car while my dad attempted to toss the bags into the now-open trunk.

"Bye! Love you!" I screamed, before closing the door, locking it, and turning back to Ryan. "Get dressed, we have a lot to do."

***

 The doorbell rang at six, right on time.

"You're going to be okay, right Ryan?"

"You're leaving? It's already six?"

He was standing across the room from me, panting, leaning against the wall, clearly out of breath from blowing up a large amount of balloons. Why he was so insistent on a rainbow of balloons, I wasn't sure of. But, he supplied the things that all the kids were coming from. Beer. Alcohol in general. And for that, I was thankful that I had somewhere to go tonight.

"Sorry," I tugged up at the strapless dress one more time before opening the door to greet my boyfriend.

"Hey beautiful," Alex greeted me with a kiss.

"Ew. Gag. Get a room." Ryan groaned.

"I might take you up on that, man." Alex laughed, and I slapped his shoulder playfully.

And I had to admit, the room did look cool. There was speakers in the corner that--even though the party didn't start for two whole hours--was already blasting annoying music that made me sick. There were rainbow balloons the corner, the strings making it hard to see the walls. "That's the kissing corner," Ryan laughed, proud of himself for thinking for such a--what he said was 'cool'--idea.