My phone buzzed and the screen showed Will's contact picture. "Hey, Marshmallow," He said as soon as I picked up the phone.
"Hey, what's the occasion?" I asked. He doesn't normally call me out of the blue, or in general. We normally text or he's hanging out here with me and the boys.
"Why does there have to be an occasion to call my favorite female Barnes?" He asked.
"We all know I'm your favorite Barnes in general." I smirked into the phone.
I laid on my bed.
"That may be true, but don't tell your brother's they might get a little bit offended" He laughed and I joined him. "So there might be a reason for my call" He said slowly.
"Called it. What's up?"
"Can you come over? Kenzie said she needs girl talk immediately."
I sat up at Kenzie's name. We really clicked when we hung out after dinner. She's a really cool kid and she loves sports. It's so cute when her and Will bicker and fight. She's such a goofball.
"I'm on my way I'll be there in five." I said happily.
"Cor, it takes like ten minutes to get to my house from yours" Will said with a laugh.
"Yeah, yeah" I said and hung up the phone.
I slipped on my vans and headed out. The boys, besides Carter who was probably hiding in his room, were in the loft area right outside my room. "I'm going to Will's. Con, I'm taking your car" I saluted them and headed downstairs.
I grabbed my wallet and Connor's keys. "Bye Dad, I'm going to Will's" I said and shut the door.
I most likely just left all the boys in a state of confusion. Will and I weren't best friends. Sure we hung out with each other when he came over for the boys, but he was more of the boys' friend than mine.
It took me around seven minutes to get to Will's and Kenzie was waiting on the porch for me.
I got out of the car and she ran into my arms.
"Hey kiddo, I heard there was an emergency." I hugged her tightly. She wore a distressed rolling stones cropped tank top and a pair of denim shorts with a black beanie.
"Yeah, let's go to my room" She grabbed my wrist and lead me upstairs to her room.
I sat on her bed and she jumped on her bean bag chair.
"What's up?"
She groaned and covered her face. "I need girl advice. I might have a crush on this guy"
I perked up. "Tell me more"
"Well he's a seventh grader like me. His name is Grayson and he's really cute. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He really likes sports. He plays basketball and maybe football. He's really nice and he has a two year year old brother and he absolutely adores him." She gushed about this guy.
It was moment like these that made me wish I had a younger sister. I don't get to have girl talks with someone younger than me. The boys try to have girl talk with me and it ends up being an awkward, overprotective mess.
"He sounds adorable. Do you ever talk to this guy?"
"Yeah we sat next to each other in science last year and were science partners. I think that's were the crush started. Then he asked if my friends and his friends want to hang out, this weekend. I think we're going bowling."
"Well did you say yes?" I asked.
"Of course I did and I texted Shebly and Anna. They still haven't responded, but I think he's bringing Bennett, Archer, Jake, and Theo. Mom said I could go. I need advice. How do I get him to like me?" she asked timidly.
I walked over and sat on the floor to be closer to her level.
"Kenz, you don't need to make him like you. Just be yourself and if he doesn't like you then it's his loss. He lost a pretty amazing girl. With that being said, if he does ask you to hang out again, I will give you some flirting tips. Just remember to be yourself and don't try to be someone you're not. I juust happen to know you're a pretty cool girl."
She reached over an hugged me. "Thank you Cora, I don't know what'd I do without you"
"You'd probably be hating your life when you ask Will for girl advice." I laughed.
"Trust me, I wasn't THAT desprate." She joked.
We laughed and talked about stuff for her to wear and all the outfit possibilities.
***
"Do you think you could take me?" Kenzie asked over the phone."Will is at practice and too protective and Dad is busy. I don't want Mom to have to get out of the house if she doesn't need to"
"I would love to and I know how brothers can be. I have three of them. Trust me they don't get much better, but they are truly the best supporters."
"Thank you Cora. I think we have to leave in thirty minutes, so can you be here by then?"
"Of course, I'll see you soon"
We hung up the phone and I got somewhat presentable, before I left.
She had on a cropped black and white stripped tank top and a black baseball jersey with a pair of white denim shorts. She wore a backwards red baseball hat and her white converse.
"Cute" I said as she got into Connor's car.
"Thanks" She had minimal makeup, mascara and blush, on.
"You ready?" I asked. She definitely didn't seem nervous, but I remember my first date. I was driving myself crazy and the boys didn't help much.
"Ready as ever," she smiled and I drove off.
I saw Kenzie meet up with one girl and a couple boys. Seconds later I saw Remi walk by hand by hand with Bryce.
I immediately pulled out my phone and dialed her number.
"Remi!" I screamed in her ear.
"Ow, what do you want?" She laughed.
"Are you on a date with Bryce?" I smirked.
I could see her look around. "How'd you-. Oh I see you." She hung up the phone and said something to Bryce before heading my way.
I got out of the car and hugged her.
"So date?" I asked.
"Yeah number two" she said and held up a two with her fingers. "What are you doing here? Will? The boys? All of the above?"
I shook my head. "Actually I'm here dropping Kenzie off for her date hangout thing."
"Kenzie, Will's sister?"
I nodded. "If you see her, spy a little bit for me please."
"Promise. We need a girls night tonight."
"I agree. You wouldn't mind if Kenzie came, right? She needs all the big sisters she can get."
"Of course I don't. I love that little girl. She's been in my sister's grade since their third grade year."
I hugged her. "Thank you. I'll have to run it by Karla first, but maybe a sleepover at mine."
"Well I know for a fact I would love that." She hugged me. "I have a date to get to. I'll spill at the deets later and I promise to watch over Kenzie like a guardian angel" She joked.
I waved bye and she went off on her date.
I drove back home. I contacted Karla.
"Hey Karla,"
"Is everything okay? Is Kenize okay?"
I laugh lightly at her motherly worries. "No, actually I was calling to ask if Kenzie could spend the night I my house. It would just be me and my friend, Remi. Of course this is if Kenzie would want to"
I heard a breath of relief on the other side of phone. "Of course she can. She talks highly of you and I've known Remi for a while. I trust you, Cora and your brothers."
"Okay, perfect. I'll drive by later for her to pick up her stuff if that's okay."
"That's perfectly fine Cora. I hope the three of you have a great time tonight. Will's going over tomorrow. I think he should be able to grab her then."
"That's perfect, thank you for letting her come"
"Thank you for inviting he Cora, most people your age don't want to be hanging out with a thirteen year old. I know it'll make Kenzie happy."
I smiled at the thought. Kenzie is already like a little sister to me and it makes me happy to know that I make her happy. "It's nothing, really. I like hanging out with her."
"I have to go, Cora, but I guess I will see you later. We really need to have dinner again sometime soon. I'll have Micheal coordinate that with you dad."
"Bye, Karla. I hope you have a great night"
"You too dear, bye now" She said before she hung up the phone.
I plopped on the couch. The boys were at practice and the house was quiet. It was a rare occurrence in this house. It only happened when the boys were gone. I headed up to my room and grew tired as I made it to my room. I did stay up later then normal last night. Before I culd protest my eyes closed and I drifted to sleep.
***
I woke to the sound of my name being called. I opened my eyes and saw Kenzie staring at me.
"What how'd you get here?" I mumbled and sat up.
"I brought her" Remi smiled as she came into the room with snacks. "The boys told me you fell asleep and since I was already there I picked her up."
"Thank you"
"No problem" She shrugged and set the snacks down on my dresser.
"We have a lot of girl talk to catch up on" I wiggled my eyebrows at the two girls and we all three burst into a fit of giggles.
We all sat on my bed and listened to Kenzie talk about her date.
"Okay okay so tell me about him. His name is Grayson?" Remi asked Kenzie.
"Yeah. He was my lab partner last year and we went to each other's houses a couple times to work on projects. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He's so kind to everyone. He always holds the door for the people behind him, especially when it's a girl. He's polite to everyone. He's not a jerk around his friends. He loves to joke around and make people laugh." She gushed abut Grayson to Remi.
"He sounds amazing." Remi smiled.
"He really is." Her face lit up as if she remembered something. "Oh and guess what he told me?"
I looked at her happily. I loved seeing her this excited. "What?"
"He said he can't wait to hang out with me again" She squealed.
I remember when I had my first crush. I felt this exact same way, giddy and excited. The only difference was my first crush ended up being a jerk. I had a feeling Grayson wasn't the same. I think I'm going to be seeing a lot more of him.
Remi squealed with Kenzie.
"Enough about me. I want to know about your date" She wiggled her eyebrows at Remi.
"It wasn't anything special. It was a normal second date. I've known him since we were kids, but I feel like I really got to know him tonight. He did ask me to be his girlfriend though" She said calmly.
Kenzie and I looked at her in shock.
"Nothing special huh?" Kenzie asked.
I hit Remi on the side of her head with my pillow. "That's special!" I shrieked.
"I know, I'm freaking out right now" Remi squealed.
The next thing I know I'm being hit with a pillow. Kenzie looked at me guiltily. I hit her back and we all started hitting each other with pillows.
I hit Remi and she fell off of the bed and hit the floor. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Remi and Kenzie were falling into each other.
"Ow" I laughed.
"That was hilarious!" Kenzie laughed.
"I'm sorry"
The laughter would die down and the second we looked at each other it got ten times funnier.
The laughter died down and my stomach was hurting and I was out of breath. The rest of the night we watched classic 2000s movies like Legally Blonde and The Notebook. I think we fell asleep around two am.