ISAIAH
Watching Kennedy lightly bang her forehead against her locker is amusing as all the times I've caught her doing it. I've realized that she does it when she's pissed or frustrated as a self soothing method. I usually place my hand over her forehead so she doesn't get too bruised up and let her use my palm until she feels better.
Today I don't do that and instead cover her eyes completely holding her head in place. "Guess who?"
She doesn't even jump or act surprised instead her body relaxes and she leans on my chest.
"Isaiah."
"What gave me away? I even tried to change my voice." I ask her.
I let her go and she turns around to face me.
"Your cologne." She answers.
"Is it too strong?" I inquire sniffing my hoodie.
"No it's the perfect amount but it's unique. We spend all day together so I'm familiar with your scent. You would be able to smell me too if I sneaked up on you." She explains.
"True, you always smell like flowers, fruits and a hint of paint." I comment with a grin.
"Paint?"
"Yes though its very subtle. You are after all an artist." I reply.
"That I am, so what's up? Why were you sneaking up on me?"
"Oh yeah right. I have a surprise for you." I declare recalling why I was looking for her in the first place.
She smiles and looks excited like a kid who's been told she gets to open a present the night before Christmas morning. "Which is?"
"Actually we all do." I declare just in time to watch all our friends approach us.
Wesley picks her up and twirls her around for a moment before setting her down with his hand around her shoulders.
"Hi guys, good morning. What's this I hear about a surprise?" Kennedy asks looking up at Wesley.
"You've been at Pine View a whole month. Congratulations on making it." Wesley replies.
"Thanks..." She mumbles trailing off because it's such a random comment but he is right.
I can't believe that I've known Kennedy for a whole month. Our relationship has come so far and she has been an incredible friend, classmate and colleague at work.
"We also noticed that you haven't decorated your locker yet." Kristie adds.
"I've been meaning to get to it." She blushes tucking her hair behind her ear.
"We know so we decided to help. We all brought a sticker that reminds us of you to decorate your locker with." I explain to her.
She turns to me with a surprised look on her face. "What? Guys you didn't really have to."
"Yes we did. We didn't think you'd last this long. No offense, you looked like you were always looking for an escape route but you didn't. You stayed so we want to make your mark on Pine View a bit more permanent." Welsh expresses further.
"Correct analysis, that's so sweet of you guys, thank you." She smiles.
Seeing her smile was the whole reason why I arranged this in the first place. I've been asking her to decorate her locker from day one but she's never done it. So I took matters into my own hands and roped all our friends in to help. Once they heard what I had planned they were all in.
"Are you ready to see what we brought you?" Kristie asks her.
"Yes please." She claps happily with glee.
"Me first." Wesley declares giving her his sticker.
"A crown?" Kennedy asks taking it from him.
"Yes because you're my princess." Wesley grins at her.
"Thank you Wes, I love it." She replies giving him a brief hug.
"It's kind of in the nose if you ask me." Baron grunts.
Baron is right, Wesley didn't even think outside the box but it's still a nice sticker.
"Oh yeah smartass? Let's see what you brought her?" Wesley retorts.
Baron grins proudly and holds out his sticker for everyone to see.
"Albert Einstein? Really dude? You're giving her a sticker of an old dude?" Wesley chuckles.
"I will have you know that Albert Einstein is a world-famous genius from the 20th-century. I knew you were all going to give her childish stickers so I thought I'd tickle her brain. Kennedy appreciates the genius of one of the greatest theoretical physicists to ever live. He developed the theory of relativity which is the backbone of physics." Baron rants.
"B enough before you and Wesley get into a hissy fit. You are right, Einstein is a hero of mine and I appreciate the sticker. Thank you." Kennedy says taking the sticker from him.
"You are welcome. Take that Wesley." Baron grins.
Wesley slaps the back of his head but before Baron can retaliate I pull the two of them apart.
"Behave yourself boys. This morning is about Kennedy so stop it. Kristie why don't you give Kennedy your sticker." I suggest in hopes to divert the boys attention away from each other.
Kristie gives her a sticker of Scar from the Lion King movie that says 'Hakuna matata bitch'.
"I wanted to give you one of Simba but that was too cliche. This is is much more badass like you." Kristie declares.
"It's perfect. Thanks Kristie." Kennedy smiles taking it from her.
I realize that I am the only one left so I reach into my hoodie for the sticker I personally made for her.
"This is from me." I reply giving her a sticker of Ruby licking ice cream.
"Is this Ruby?" She asks me looking at it with a smile on her face.
"Yes, I figured since you two got along so well, I'd give you a sticker of her as a placeholder for the dog you get yourself one day." I explain.
"That really sweet. Thanks Iz." She smiles and I get a hug.
"You are welcome."
I step back and we all watch her as she sticks her new stickers on the inside of her locker. I expect her to put them in a random order but she places them in a circle with the crown in the middle. I have no idea why she chose that order but it looks nice.
"So who won?" Wesley asks.
Kennedy turns to him with a confused look on her face. "Won what?"
"The sticker challenge. Who gave you the best sticker?" He explains.
"I didn't know it was a competition." Kennedy questions looking at me for help.
I shrug at her because I am just as confused as she is.
"It wasn't but if you were to choose a favorite which one would it be?" Wesley insists grinning at her.
It's clear what he's after.
"I love all of them." Kennedy declares.
"But if you were to pick one... " He eggs her one.
"Dude why do you have to make everything a competition?" Baron demands looking frustrated.
"Shut up, it's mine right princess?" Wesley demands ignoring Baron.
Kennedy sighs and the smiles. "Yes Wesley, yours takes the crown."
It's obvious that she has agreed with him to end the fight and it works.
"Ha! I see what you did there but I still take my win. Suck it losers especially you Baron." Wesley cheers and proceeds to do a happy dance.
He is so childish but we all entertain him because he is the most loyal friend anyone could ask for.
"Now that that's done can we please get out of here?" Wesley requests once he is done dancing.
"I don't want to go to class. It's been such a good morning." Kennedy mumbles closing her locker.
"Lucky for you we are not going to class." Wesley grins pulling her back to his side with his hand around her shoulders.
I still don't like how chummy he is with her but she is nothing more than a friend to me so I have no say in what happens between them.
"We aren't?" Kennedy asks looking confused.
"Not today." Baron answers.
"Why?"
"Nobody told her?" Kristie questions.
"Told me what?"
"Well princess today is Senior skip day." Wesley declares.
At this point she looks even more confused as she sees us heading towards the exit. "What is that?"
"It's a day where all the seniors skip a full day of classes." I explain.
"Isn't that against school rules?"
She is so cute.
"It is but that is why we do it, it's fun to break the rules every once in a while. It's one of the many senior traditions at the school." Kristie declares.
"And the administration doesn't do anything about it?"
"What can they do? Send the whole class to detention? I don't think so." Wesley chuckles before he asks."So what do we do guys?"
She looks at me for confirmation and I nod at her assuring her that it's all legit. Senior skip day is a tradition in many high schools. There's not a set date for it and it always depends on each school. At Pine View we do it the fourth Friday of the first semester. Most schools do it the day after Prom or Homecoming but either way at Pine View we don't come to school on those days either. We do Senior skip day on a day that allows us to skip the maximum amount of lessons. I'm all into following the school rules and being a good student but tradition is tradition.
"If we are all going to skip we might as well go home and sleep." Kennedy suggests.
"Lame." Kristie retorts and we all agree.
We are not skipping school to go and sleep.
"Hang out at my place." Wesley suggests.
"Tempting but it'll get boring fast." Baron reasons.
I honestly could do with some rest or hanging out with my friends but they seem to have much more outdoorsy ideas in mind. As long as they are legal, I am all for it. I've broken enough rules for the day.
"How about we show Kennedy around? She's never been to anywhere else other than the school here at The Bronx." Kristie suggests.
It's actually a pretty good idea. I get to see all the places I grew up and share that part of my world with Kennedy.
We all turn to her for her input. "Crime and drugs. I don't think so. I'd rather stay in school or better yet go to work." She protests.
"There's more to this place than that and now that its been suggested it's what we are going to do." Wesley insists.
"Guys really, I've seen enough of this place on TV." Kennedy reasons.
"Yeah the bad side. Now we are going to show you the great community that is The Bronx. We are going to rehabilitate you and make you forget all the bad you see on the news by showing you the good of where we grew up." Wesley declares.
She looks at me for help but all I do is shrug and smile. The Bronx featured on TV only showcases the negative side and we have much more to offer than that.
"Okay fine but Isaiah and I need to be back in time for our shifts later." She relents giving in.
"Perfect, let's go. First stop, The Zoo." Wesley grins.
"There's a zoo here?" Kennedy asks looking excited.
"We have the largest urban zoo, The Bronx Zoo. You are going to love it. They even have a petting zoo with goats. It's gonna be great." Kristie grins linking arms with her and they skip ahead to the parking lot.
Wesley didn't bring his car so we all end up in Baron's beat up Honda. Kristie rides shotgun because she is his girlfriend while Kennedy sits sandwiched between Wesley and I at the back.
"If she's riding shotgun then I get to choose the music." Wesley declares as we pull out of the school.
"I'm letting you do it because you actually have have good taste." Kristie says giving him the aux cord.
A moment later his playlists blasts inside the small car and we're all belting out Maroon 5 as Baron expertly weaves through traffic.
"You okay?" I whisper to Kennedy to make sure she's good.
"Definitely not how I thought I'd be spending my Friday but I love how it's turning out. I'm hanging out with my friends so yes I'm okay. I'm perfect actually." She reassures me.
"Good, make sure to have fun but if at anytime you feel uncomfortable please tell me and I'll make sure to get us out of there. We can go to the parlor early today if it gets too much for you." I request her.
"I doubt it will but thank you. I'll be sure to let you know if we need an escape plan." She says with a smile.
I'm about to reply when Wesley cuts in. "Hey what are you two whispering on about over there?"
"Nothing." Kennedy and I reply simultaneously.
She giggles and I wink at her before we both turn to Wesley who is looking at us suspiciously.
He gets over it when Baron tries to switch his playlist and forgets us to fight for his songs. He wins because Baron is behind the wheel and cannot engage him so peace is restored quick.
Kennedy shuffles closer to me and I wrap my arm around her shoulder bringing her closer to me. We sit like that all the way to the zoo having our own mini conversations while still engaging with our friends.
I've never been to the zoo before, we were too broke to afford it when I was younger and by the time we had money, my mom was too busy to take me. If it's a good experience I'll suggest it to my mom for a family outing with Cairo and Parker.
"Who knew admission fees to the zoo were so pricy?" Baron asks as soon as we arrive and try to pay for our tickets.
"I don't think we can afford to pay for the zoo and partake in any other activities during the day." Kristie reasons.
It's almost forty dollars per person to get in which is pricey enough on its own on top of paying for parking. We all stand around arguing on our next step. We consider leaving and doing something much cheaper. After a few minutes I notice that Kennedy is no longer by my side. I didn't even notice her sneak away.
"Where's Berry?" I ask the group.
They all turn to look at me noticing her absence.
"I'm here don't get your knickers in a twist." She replies tapping me on the shoulder.
"Where did you go?" I question her but she ignores me.
"Who wants to go see some animals?" She asks with a winning grin on her face.
"I don't think we can all afford to go in princess. It's too expensive." Wesley answers her.
"Don't worry, I gotchu." She replies confidently.
"What do you mean?" Baron chides in.
"I got tickets for all of us. Surprise!" She declares holding out five tickets.
"What the heck? Princess that's 150 dollars you just splurged." Wesley exclaims.
"I know but it's my treat." She declares.
She looks so proud holding up the five tickets but I cannot help but gawk at her. How did she even afford to get us all tickets without batting an eye?
"That's a lot of ice cream money you just wasted." Baron comments.
"It's not wasted if it's spent on friends. Now can we go, we are burning daylight." She demands softly.
"Berry that's a lot of money you just spent on us. You can't just brush it off like that." I reason.
"Sure I can. Guys, money is not an issue." She argues.
She looks very nonchalant about the whole issue you would think she is used to spending money like this.
"Sure whatever you say heiress." Wesley mocks.
"I actually am so a hundred and fifty bucks will barely make a dent to my inheritance." Kennedy replies and we all burst out laughing.
It's a nice joke but she really didn't have to spend all that money on us.
"Har har very funny princess. We'll pay you back." Wesley declares.
"Guys seriously it was my treat so no more of this arguing and no paying me back. Please let's go inside. I want to see the giraffes." She insists looking frustrated with us.
"They don't have giraffes in there." Wesley retorts.
"Yes they do." Kristie answers.
"No they don't."
"Do too."
"Nuh-uh."
"We won't find out until we go in." Kennedy ends their little fight holding up the tickets again.
We all know that she is right so we each take a ticket from her hand.
"Great let's go." She cheers leading the way.
The ticket fight is over and peace has been restored though I still feel weird about letting Kennedy spend so much money on me. I make a mental not to find a way to make it up to her later.
We pass through the entrance, are given a few rules about how to conduct ourselves inside before we are allowed to proceed forward.
"Ready Berry?" I ask holding out my hand for her.
She grins and takes my hand. "Yes."
"Hey whose hand do I get to hold?" Wesley argues when he realizes that he's the fifth wheel.
"I'll hold your hand Wes." Kennedy declares before he can throw a tantrum.
"I don't want your pity hand hold." Wesley retorts before skipping forward in a huff.
Kennedy and I look at each other before we burst out laughing. Wesley is so childish sometimes is nothing but amusing.
"Wes wait." We call out after him walking fast to catch up.
He slows down and we all fall in step with each other.
We spend three amazing hours at the zoo and I end up having more fun than I have in a long time. The zoo is packed with fun activities and exhibits from all over the world. It turns out they do have giraffes and a tone of other animals from the African plains and more from all over the world.
Before we leave the park we all pass by the gift shop to get souvenirs. I make sure to get one for Cairo as well knowing he's still at the age where he likes stuffed animals.
"Where to next?" Kennedy asks as we all pile back into the car.
"Food first, I'm hungry." Wesley declares.
We all agree that getting something to eat is our next stop.
"How about a group picnic at the Botanical Gardens?" Kristie suggests.
"I would love that." Kennedy agrees.
"Sure coz you're a girl." Wesley mocks.
"I thought the day was about showing me around. This might be a good time to work on your botany, if I recall you have a test on it next week." Kennedy reasons with him.
"Today isn't about school." Wesley cries.
"You are right but I still want to go to the gardens." Kennedy insists.
"The day is all for her so she gets to pick." I reason with Wesley.
Everyone else is on board except for him and he realizes that pretty quickly.
"Okay fine, picnic in the stupid garden it is." He relents.
Kennedy cheers out loud and kisses his cheek soundly. "Thank you Wes."
"Yeah yeah, you're welcome. Now let's go." He demands.
Baron drives us to a drive through where we all get all the food a drinks that we need. While we refuel the car, the girls go to the convenience store and come back out with two bags full of more drinks and snacks. They are determined for us to have a full blown picnic. I am not complaining though.
The botanical gardens are much more fun than any of us anticipated, even Wesley ends up having a great time. Surprisingly enough we end up finishing all the food and taking a walk amongst the magnificent plants and flowers. There's loads of photos taken as well to commemorate this wonderful day.
"We have four more hours till we need to be at work, we need one more activity." Kennedy asks looking around the group for suggestions.
"You guys have picked all day. So it's my turn." Wesley demands.
"You chose the zoo." I remind him.
"True." He recalls and looks defeated because it's someone else's turn to choose.
"How about we go to Yankee Stadium for a game?" Baron suggests.
"I am not a sports person remember." Kennedy argues.
"Yes but it's Yankee stadium. Have you ever been?" Wesley asks her.
"No."
"Then how can you call yourself a true New Yorker if you've never been there." Wesley argues.
Kennedy opens her mouth to argue before closing is back up as if she's changed her mind and sighs. "Okay let's go."
"Yes!" Baron and Wesley cheer sharing a fist bump.
"Say the word and I'll whisk you out of here." I whisper in Kennedy's ear.
She smiles and shakes her head. "Thank you dear knight in shining armor but I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
When we get to the stadium we actually manage to get really good seats. We get popcorn and drinks and sit down for the game. It's a lot of fun and even though I have to explain how a baseball game works to Kennedy several times, I don't mind. She gets pulled into the gist of the game, plus being here with us and we all end up having a blast.
"That was the perfect day guys. Thank you so much for allowing me to tag along." Kennedy smiles as we walk out of the stadium.
"Are you kidding, it wouldn't have been the same without you." Wesley smiles pulling her in for a hug.
We say our goodbyes because Kennedy and I have work in thirty minutes.
"That was fun. The one time I've actually gone out with friends and left sober and without cuffs on." She grins at me.
I laugh knowing about her wild past as a delinquent. At least some of it from what she's told me.
"You're welcome, so do you agree that The Bronx isn't so bad?" I ask her.
"No it's not. It actually has a lot to offer. I had fun with you guys." She concurs.
"Good, I'm glad you had a great time."
"Me too."
For me the day was great. Spending time with my friends and Kennedy is a welcome distraction from my usual routine. When I spend time with my family, it's relaxing, calm and rejuvenating. Being with my friends is exhilarating, fun and chaotic. I love that I get to have both. The fact that Kennedy was here was just icing on the cake.
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You guys get a double update for being so amazing. Thank you so much for all the nice comments in the last chapter and for getting this book of ours to 1K reads.
This book will be a little over 40 chapters so we are only halfway through. And I hope you're all as excited as I am for the rest of the story.