Always [editing] (&on hold)

Chapter 9~

~Chapter 9~ [edited]

I arrive a few minutes early, searching for Aaron. As I pull into a parking spot, I see him leaning against a sea foam colored mustang from the late seventies. I smile to myself as I get out and walk towards him. Once he sees me he smiles too, but the smile falters quickly and his eyes widen as he looks me over. This makes me smile wider.

“Hey, Aaron.” I stand in front of him. He’s wearing a white tank top with dark jeans that look amazing on him; he tops the look with a pair of Nikes. I look down at my own Nikes and notice that he’s wearing the Nike Frees just like me, except his are black not bright orange and lime green.

He’s still gawking at me as he mumbles his hello. “Pretty gnarly, huh?” I tease him after he hasn’t said a word.

He tentatively grabs my hand, examining my partially scabbed knuckles. “What happened to you?” he asks quietly.

I pretend to think for a minute, “Bar fight,” I tease.

“Kenzie, seriously!” he says with intensity in his beautiful eyes. He talks like we're old friends even though we just met yesterday. I can really see us being good friends someday.

“It’s a long story,” I mutter.

He eyes my face, I know that I've got a good shiner happening, a bruise on my jaw, and claw marks on my neck as well as my arms and my split knuckles. “I've got time,” he says after a moment.

“I got into a fight with Zach,” I start.

“And he did this to you?” he growls angrily. His eyes flash a darker color, the icy blue becoming the dominant color.

“Well, ah, n-”

“Don’t lie to me!” he says.

“Jeez, let me finish!” I raise an eyebrow daring him to interrupt again. He gives me a small innocent smile. “I brought a guy to the party last night. Zach saw us, punched the other guy in the face and they fought. Zach won, so I took my turn. We yelled at each other. I pulled a guy from the crowd and made out with him to prove a point to Zach. Turns out the guy had a girlfriend.” I trail off.

“You fought the girlfriend, didn’t you?” he asks quietly. His fingers are stroking the hood of his car.

“Yep! If you think I look bad, then she probably looks like hell right about now. I beat the crap out of her.” I try to keep the pride from being too dominant in my voice. Thank you, kick boxing!

“I don’t really know you that well, but for some reason, I’m not really all that surprised,” he says dryly.

I shrug, “I don’t take crap from anybody.”

He chuckles, “How was our performance last night?”

“It was incredible!” I say enthusiastically, grateful for the subject change.

“Glad you liked it,” he says proudly. “So what do you want to do now?”

“Um, I don’t know?” I almost ask. “I thought you had a plan.”

He shrugs, “Get in.”

“Where are we going?” I ask, making no move to get in.

He jerks his chin toward the passenger door, “Get it,” he repeats. His eyes shift to a light golden color with a blue hue, glinting with excitement.

I sigh, “Whatever.” And then I get in like he said to.

*****

He drives for what seems like hours, but we talk the whole time playing the “get to know ya” game. We both enjoy snowboarding and watching the Denver Broncos. When I look at the clock, I see that it’s actually been hours, and we arrive in LA, huge in comparison to our relatively small hometown. He pulls into a parking lot filled with stand-out cars. I get out and move to stand next to him, staring at the building in awe. It’s labeled Rebel Rocker Records.