On Saturdays, Kenzie usually liked to sleep in and laze around in her pj's but when the deafening sound of a lawn mower started up, sleeping in was out of the question, and don't get her wrong, she was annoyed, but at the realization that it was Jesse mowing the grass, Kenzie decided to let it slide just this once.
She rolled out of bed, got herself dressed and went over to Jesse's to invite him to have breakfast with her since Jeff appeared to still be sleeping; and it honestly amazed her how Jeff could sleep through anything.
"Oi, noisy." Kenzie said as she walked over to Jesse who was emptying the mower bag into the designated garden bin. When he was sure everything made it into the bin, Jesse looked at Kenzie and smiled.
"Can I help you?" He asked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, you can. You see, I wanted to laze around and relax today but it seems like a certain someone and their lawn mower had other plans for me, so I'm forced to actually be active now." Kenzie told him and Jesse just starred at her like a stunned mullet.
"You poor, poor soul. How ever shall you go on?" Jesse sassed, bringing his now folded hands to his chest sarcastically.
Kenzie's jaw dropped at his actions.
"How dare you try to out sass me." Kenzie gasped in a playful tone.
"I Blame you. You're rubbing off on me." Jesse replied, pointing at her.
Kenzie crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips.
"I don't know if I should be offended by that or flattered." She told him.
"Seriously though creep, what do you want?" Jesse asked, looking at Kenzie for an answer.
"I came to see if you wanted to join me for breakfast and video games." Kenzie answered, making Jesse's brows rise.
"I suppose I could eat and play some games." He said as nonchalantly as he could.
"Ok, great. How does eggs and bacon sound?" Kenzie asked and Jesse nodded.
"Sounds good to me." Jesse replied and Kenzie smiled.
"Cool. Do you need any help putting things away?" She questioned, making Jesse become a little defensive.
"I don't need your help." He snapped, which took Kenzie by surprise. That was the last thing she was expecting from him.
"Whoa, Jesse calm down. It was just a question; you don't need to bite my head off." Kenzie defended, holding her hands up in surrender.
Jesse took a deep breath, composing himself somewhat.
"I know, but I can do it." He said in a calmer manner and Kenzie nodded slowly.
"Ok, well, I'll leave the front door open for you then. Just come by when you're done." She explained before they parted ways.
=
Tying her hair up so that it was out of her face, Kenzie stood in front of the kitchen sink peering out the window, wondering why Jesse got so snippy with her for wanting to help. She wasn't at all used to anyone becoming that defensive with her and it made her question why she had even offered in the first place.
After a minute of being in her own little world, Kenzie shrugged off the encounter and got to work pulling everything out that she needed for breakfast.
"Hi" Jesse greeted softly as he walked into the house and toward the kitchen where Kenzie cracked a couple eggs into a bowl.
"Hi." Kenzie replied, not knowing what to really say to him after what had just occurred.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you. I know you only wanted to help." Jesse said remorsefully, making Kenzie sigh.
"It's fine Jesse, I get it." Kenzie replied.
"You do?" He asked, not sure what she was getting at.
"Yeah, I mean my dad hates it when my mom offers to help with the mowing because he has a certain way of doing things and mom has a completely different way." Kenzie explained and it was Jesse's turn to sigh.
"No, it's not that. I'm just going through a lot right now and I'm not sleeping well, and I have too many people constantly telling me what to do and how to do things." Jesse started and Kenzie listened as she placed the eggs into the hot pan.
"Basically, with everything that's happening right now, I just feel like people think I'm stupid and need help because I can't do anything for myself, you know?" He concluded, leaning on the counter in front of him.
Kenzie felt bad that he saw others wanting to help him like that and granted, there will always be those that, no matter how capable you are, consistently treat you less than and like you have nothing to offer the world.
"I understand that, and I know that it can get annoying and be a bit much sometimes, but I only wanted to help because I saw the amount of equipment you had to haul back with you; not because I thought you couldn't do it." Kenzie replied and Jesse smiled.
"How about we just put this behind us and move on?" Jesse suggested and Kenzie was grateful for that.
"I'd like that." She replied as she finished cooking the food.
"Hey, before we eat, can I use the bathroom?" Jesse asked and Kenzie nodded.
"Sure, It's down the hall and on your left. Just be quiet though because I think my uncle is still sleeping." Kenzie instructed him.
"Will do, thanks." He replied as he headed down the hall.
When she was sure that he was out of sight, Kenzie quickly wiped away any dirt or grime she had on her shirt and straightened herself up, though she couldn't tell you why. Ok, maybe she could but she didn't want to admit that she was beginning to like Jesse, even if she had barely known the kid.
After straightening herself up, she plated their food and poured some juice into a couple glasses, setting everything on the table, ready for when Jesse came back.
=
Walking back to the kitchen, Jesse passed what was obviously Jeff's room. The teen could hear what sounded like moans and whimpers, almost like someone had been injured and was in worlds of pain.
"Is your uncle ok?" Jesse asked as he sat across from Kenzie at the dining table.
The girl thought it'd be better to eat there instead of the breakfast island. She wanted to be able to talk to Jesse face to face rather than side by side.
"I think so, why?" Kenzie asked around a mouthful of bacon.
"I thought I heard him moaning and whimpering." He explained and Kenzie cringed.
"Ok, ew." She replied and Jesse sniggered.
"Not like that, crazy head." Jesse started. "It was like he was in pain." He concluded.
Kenzie shrugged.
"Maybe he was dreaming about Liz." She said.
"Maybe." Jesse repeated.
"I hope that's the case because he needs to realize that he needs Liz in his life again. I can't do all the work. His psyche needs to pitch in too." Kenzie returned, making Jesse roll his eyes at her.
"Oi, don't you roll your eyes at me. It's been exhausting so far." Kenzie told him, squinting at him jokingly.
Jesse stuck his tongue out at her before going back to their conversation.
"How did he react after bowling the other night?" Jesse questioned.
"He was angry at first but as the night went on, both he and Liz seemed to be on better terms." Kenzie explained and Jesse smirked.
"You mean after you lectured them?" He asked with amusement.
"How'd you know about that?" Kenzie queried.
"Jenna, the person that came up to you and told you to keep it down, is a big mouth and complained about you." Jesse answered.
"I see." Kenzie replied simply as she lifted her cup to her mouth and took a drink of her apple juice.
"Yeah." Jesse said, following Kenzie's actions but with his own cup.
"Anyway, yes, it went better after the lecture but unfortunately, I promised my uncle that I would involve him in all future plans that involve Liz." Kenzie explained with a sliver of annoyance.
"Bummer." Jesse replied plainly.
"I know. It now means I have to go back to the drawing board with this whole thing." Kenzie responded.
"It could always be worse." Jesse told her and Kenzie gave him an unamused glance.
"How?" Kenzie questioned.
"I'm not sure but look on the bright side, you have better control over this little game." He told her.
"Example." Kenzie responded, ignoring his comment about this being a game.
"You could invite her over for dinner or for a game night where you could call it a night early, forcing them to be alone together." He suggested and Kenzie nodded slowly, processing his words.
"I like the way you think." Kenzie complimented, pointing at him with her fork.
"Thank you." Jesse replied with a hint of pink on his cheeks.
"You're welcome. Ok, now that we have that sorted, what do you say we bake some goodies." Kenzie suggested and Jesse's eyes just about bugged out of his head.
"We just ate breakfast, Kenzie." Jesse said a matter of factly, and Kenzie just shrugged.
"Boo, you party pooper, but I guess you're right, so, how about video games and then we bake." Kenzie suggested instead.
"You're on." Jesse said.
Both teens then stood up and cleaned the kitchen, so they had the space to bake when it came time to do so.
=
Playing video games is a good thing to do when you want to get to know someone. It allows you to see how the person you're with acts under pressure and see how they act when they lose.
In this case, it allowed Kenzie to see just how funny Jesse was and just how unserious he was when it came to shooting at the 'enemy.'
"Stop hitting me, you're supposed to be hitting the target." Kenzie said as she made her character run and hide from Jesse's.
"You are my target. You stole my donut!" Jesse replied as he shot at Kenzie with the toffee gun his character was holding.
"You stole mine." Kenzie defended.
"Ha, got you!" Jesse shouted triumphantly.
"Why do I hear a strange voice in my house?" Jeff asked as he walked into the kitchen, hoping to find something really strong to drink after the dream he had about Liz.
"It's not a strange voice. It's just Jesse." Kenzie told her uncle as she shot Jesse with her own dessert gun.
"Hey, that's not fair. You blindsided me." Jesse pouted and Jeff raised his brow.
To say that he was unimpressed that Jesse was in his house was an understatement.
"Kenzie, a word." Jeff said, motioning for her to follow him.
Kenzie looked at Jesse as she paused the game and silently apologized to him. Jesse lazily shrugged in response and pulled out his phone.
"Would you like to explain why that kid is in my house?" Jeff asked and Kenzie frowned.
"That kid, Uncle Jeff, is my friend and I invited him over for breakfast and video games." Kenzie explained.
"Without permission?" Jeff asked. He had a point, but did he have to be so rude.
"Can we please talk about this later?" Kenzie asked, not wanting Jesse to feel unwelcome.
"No, we can talk about this now. You promised me that you wouldn't let any more strange people into my house, and I walk into the kitchen to see him here." Jeff returned and Kenzie rolled her eyes at him.
"Technically, I promised that no other strangers would come to the house while you were gone." Kenzie sassed through a smirk.
"Don't sass me, missy. You promised me and you broke that. I'd like him to leave my house, now." Jeff told her and Kenzie's face dropped.
"But we were going to bake after our game and besides, I'd be bored without him." Kenzie all but begged.
"Kenzie, I don't want that hoodlum in my house." Jeff said and Kenzie grew angry.
"What is your problem? He is not a hoodlum. He is my friend and I want him to stay." She rebutted but Jeff wasn't backing down.
"You may be on vacation kiddo, but you are still in my house which means you follow my rules; you don't get to make them." Jeff lectured.
"You can always bake with us, that way you can keep an eye on things if it makes you uncomfortable to know your niece has friends other than Zarah." Kenzie suggested and Jeff frowned.
"Kenzie, no." He replied and Kenzie huffed.
"Why?" Kenzie asked.
"Because I said so, that's why." Jeff answered.
"Fine, I'll ask Jesse to leave and go over to Liz's and ask her if she'd like to bake some treats with me." Kenzie said, knowing that this would get Jeff to back down and let Jesse stay.
"Why can't you ever take no for an answer?" Jeff questioned with disdain.
"Because dummy, I have you wrapped around my little finger, and I always will." Kenzie said, holding out her little finger.
Jeff rolled his eyes and walked back to the kitchen with Kenzie trailing behind him.
"I love you Jeffrey." Kenzie said sarcastically.
"Love you too, you little butt munch." He replied through a slight smile.
"Everything ok?" Jesse asked when Kenzie sat back down next to him.
"Yup. Just Jeff being Jeff." She replied, pressing play on the game again.
Jesse wasn't so sure though. He had heard everything Jeff said about him, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little hurt. Jesse knew he wasn't a bad kid like so many people thought, he was just someone looking to belong.
=
Kenzie stood at the oven sliding in the muffins and Jesse, who was in charge of adding in the ingredients for the next batch of goodies, dumped a couple cups or so of flour into a mixing bowl.
"How many cups of flour do we actually need because I feel like this might be a bit too much?" Jesse asked as he peeked into the mixing bowl.
"Flour?" Kenzie asked, shocked.
"Yeah, you said that we needed some." Jesse told her and Kenzie chuckled.
"We don't need flour for the peanut butter cookies. We only need one egg, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of peanut butter. We need flour for the brownies though." She told him and Jesse's face fell. He felt bad and afraid that he was about to get reprimanded for not listening.
"My bad." He replied quietly and Kenzie smiled kindly at him.
"It's alright. We can just use this bowl for the brownies instead." She replied but Jesse was still waiting for her to get mad.
"You sure?" He asked and Kenzie looked at him, confused.
"Jesse, are you ok?" Kenzie questioned, seeing the hidden fear in his eyes.
Jesse cleared his throat, stood up straighter and put his shoulders back while puffing out his chest.
"Why?" He asked, sounding like he was getting defensive again.
Kenzie had no idea what was going on with Jesse, so to break the unneeded tension, she did the only thing she could think of and reached into the bowl to grab some flour before throwing it at him.
It hit Jesse in the chest, and he stood there astonished at what she had just done to him.
"You did not just throw that at me." He said and Kenzie burst out laughing.
"I did it because you are acting really weird today and it's kind of freaking me out." She admitted to him.
Jesse couldn't blame her. His behavior was even freaking him out. He didn't really know why he was acting all macho today.
He wasn't normally like that, so maybe, it was the fact that the person Jesse had been staying with recently, kicked him out of their house that morning and his mind was spinning with all kinds of things like where he was going to sleep that night.
"There, now we're even." Jesse said as a handful of flour collided with Kenzie's face, causing her to sputter.
"That was a lot more than what I threw at you." She said as she wiped some of the powder away from her eyes.
"Was it? I hadn't noticed." He replied snarkily.
"This is war." Kenzie said as she threw more ingredients at him.
Before too long, the kitchen looked like a bomb of baking ingredients had exploded and both teens were in hysterics as they catapulted things at each other.
"What the hell is going on?!" Jeff shouted firmly.
He had been trying to get some work done and the noise that was being made wasn't helping in the slightest.
"We're just baking." Kenzie replied and Jesse laughed at Jeff's expression.
"It looks more like you are destroying my kitchen." He stated.
"You're right. We're sorry." Kenzie said as she slowly approached her uncle.
"Oh no you don't." He said as he moved to get away from her, however, he moved right into Jesse's path.
"Throw it." Kenzie said, looking at Jesse as she hugged Jeff.
"I just washed these clothes." Jeff whined as the teens attacked him with a mix of cocoa powder, flour and baking powder.
"Looks like you'll have to wash them again." Kenzie said through her laughter.
"I guess I'm joining this war after all." He said as he joined in on the fun.
=
An hour and a half later, the kitchen had been cleaned, muffins, brownies and cookies were cooling, and Jeff and the kids were on the couch having lunch.
"Thanks for making lunch, Uncle Jeff." Kenzie said and Jesse hummed in agreement.
"Who knew that BBQ sandwiches could taste so good?" Jesse said and Jeff smiled.
"I'm glad you guys are enjoying it." He replied.
He had forgotten how fun it was to be involved in childish games like food fights and how fun it was to be involved with baking.
It was something that everyone needed, and it meant a lot to not only Jeff but to Jesse as well as it had been a very long time since he had experienced anything this fun and familial.
"Can I help with the dishes?" Jesse asked as Jeff took the dinner wear to the kitchen.
"It's alright, Jesse. I'll just put these in the dishwasher." Jeff said as he put everything in the sink for now.
"Ok, well, I should probably get going." Jesse said, looking at his phone.
"Do you have to?" Kenzie asked and Jesse smiled at her. He really enjoyed her company and spending time with her today made him feel good; like he was a part of something.
Jeff took note of their interaction, and it made him feel heartbroken. He and Liz had that once and not that he'd admit this to anyone, but he really wanted to have that with her again.
"I wish I could stay longer but I have work." Jesse said.
"Maybe next time then." Kenzie said, looking at both Jesse and Jeff.
"You're welcome to come back any time." Jeff said, taking both kids by surprise.
"You mean that?" Kenzie asked and Jeff nodded.
"I do. It's been fun and who am I to keep friends apart?" He replied.
"I appreciate that." Jesse said genuinely and Kenzie looked at him with a cheeky glint in her eye.
"How about a game night next Friday?" Kenzie queried and Jeff thought for a minute.
"That could be fun." Jeff replied and Jesse smirked at Kenzie. He knew what she was doing.
"Awesome. I'll text you about it closer to the day?" Kenzie asked Jesse and he nodded.
"Ok." He replied.
"Good." Kenzie replied and Jeff smiled at the pair as he took it upon himself to package up some brownies, muffins and cookies for Jesse to take with him.
"Right, these are for you." Jeff said, handing Jesse the container.
"Really?" He asked and Jeff shrugged.
"Of course. There is plenty, in fact, maybe we'll give some to Liz as well." Jeff said, knowing that that's why the kids had baked so many tasty treats.
Kenzie looked at her uncle with disbelief.
"You thought I wouldn't notice the quantity that you two made, right?" He told both Kenzie and Jesse who smiled sheepishly.
"Maybe." The kids replied in unison.
"I thought so." Jeff responded.
Kenzie was about to reply but her phone rang. She groaned and looked to see who it was. It was her dad.
"Gotta take it?" Jesse asked, noticing the annoyance on Kenzie's face.
"No, it's just my dad. I can call him back later." She replied and Jesse shook his head.
"Answer it and text me later." He told her. Kenzie smiled and answered the phone, running to her room.
"Let me walk you out, kid." Jeff said, walking to the door with Jesse.
"Listen, I heard what you said about me earlier, and I just wanted to let you know that I'm not as bad as everyone thinks I am. They just never give me a chance to prove myself to them." Jesse told Jeff.
"I can see that now and I wanted to apologize for misjudging you." Jeff said, owning up to his actions.
"Thanks." Jesse replied with a tight-lipped smile.
"I meant what I said, Jesse. You are welcome here, any time." Jeff reiterated.
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." Jesse responded and Jeff pat Jesse's shoulder.
"We'll see you on Friday, Jesse." Jeff said as the boy began to walk away.
"Oh, tell the creep I said goodbye and thanks for today." Jesse said from the end of the driveway.
"I sure will. Enjoy the goodies." Jeff replied as he waved to Jesse.
"See, he's not so bad." Kenzie said as Jeff walked back into the house, getting Annie's water bowl so he could fill it again.
"Kenz, you really pissed me off today with going behind my back again, but I will admit, you were right. He is a good kid." Jeff told Kenzie as he placed the bowl on the ground.
"He really is." Kenzie replied, giving Jeff a hug.