When I was younger, we had this substitute teacher that asked us to describe one of our parents in one word. I chose to describe my dad as weird and the teacher thought I was kidding. But when he picked me up later that afternoon, I'm pretty sure she agreed.
Any time I see my dad, it reminds me of that moment. Especially right now since his pants are bright pink.
"Mac! Ken!" He says, his beard jiggling a little bit. I don't know how he does it but he manages to hug us both and complete this complex and very unnecessary hand shake at the same time. "Welcome to the old 'Mento!"
McKinley eyes him carefully, trying to hide a smile and not really succeeding. "It's nice to be here, Pops. Ken and I were discussing how much we were missing you a few weeks ago,"
We were?
He looks at me for confirmation, his eyes shining and I don't have the heart to tell him that I have no clue what she's talking about, so I just smile and nod like a sheep. It seems to work because he pulls us into a tight and lengthy hug before bustling us over into his car.
"How are you two doing?!" Dad asks after McKinley and I fight for who will be sitting up in front. She wins of course, and I'm stuck seeing the back of her head for the journey.
"I'm good," She says, sounding far from good. "Work's been busy, there's been a tick infection outbreak and all the animals have them,"
My dad pulls a face in the rear view mirror that McKinley chooses to ignore as she goes on about the trials and tribulations of being in veterinarian school. It takes me a while to remember that I have headphones and really don't need to listen about cat related urinary tract infections.
"It's all worth it though," She rounds off when I'm jamming out by myself. "I'm starting an internship in August for a year, and afterwards I'll finally be able to get an actual job."
There's a long pause, accompanied by my dad deciding to turn up the radio and my attempts of listening to music become futile.
"So, um, Kennedy... how's your life?" He asks, voice strained. Something tells me he doesn't really wanna know about it.
I shrug. "Going good. I got into NYU and –"
He frowns and sucks in an insanely sharp breath. "Isn't that a little...far?"
"I know, right?" I say beaming. "It's between there and Brown but they haven't answered me yet and I'm pretty worried about it but mom says I shouldn't be because you're an alumni," I yawn.
Dad doesn't say anything for a while, stewing on what I've just said and hurting my eyes in his bright pink pants. "You still wanna be a plant person?"
I roll my eyes. "A botanist, dad. And yeah, kind of, I think plants are cool,"
McKinley snorts and turns to me in my back seat. "People who think plants are cool are literally the least cool people on the earth,"
"Go play with your ticks," I retort quickly. She glares, looking me up and down before a sly smile appears on her face.
"Dad, Kennedy has a boyfriend."
Oh shit.
The car swerves a little and a few cars behind us honk loudly. "Kennedy has a what?! You're lying to me, right?"
McKinley and I make eye contact through the mirror and she gives me the smuggest smile ever, acknowledging the fact she has just ruined my weekend. "I'm not lying, I saw them – actually, you remember my friend Anaya, right?"
He squints at the open road. "The one with the bangs and the short brother? Yeah, why?" She stares at him expectantly and we watch the realisation hit his face slowly. "Oh my GOD, him?! With the high top?!"
"Yep!"
"He doesn't have one anymore!" I wail and cover my face.
"So it's true?!" I can't see his expression but I'm pretty sure it's one of pure disbelief. "You actually have a boyfriend and I didn't know about it? Kennedy!"
"Dad! He isn't my boyfriend!"
McKinley laughs. "Oh please, they're totally a thing. Last week, they started making out by my car out of nowhere. And like, every time I called her, she was hanging out at the movie theatre where he works and they're supposed to be doing 'trigonometry' but I barely believe that,"
"He sucks at math!" I fend for myself.
"So you taught him that you plus him means a relationship?"
"That makes no sense,"
My dad releases a loud groan and I realise we've stopped at a traffic light. "I thought you hated boys, Kenny? What brought about the change? I don't understand."
I pinch the bridge of my nose as the car goes forward. "I don't hate boys, dad,"
"You told me you did!"
"I was six years old!"
My cell phone ringing at eight am is what wakes me up in the morning. Since I'm not a morning person, I wait for it to ring itself back to silence before closing my eyes and trying to fall asleep again. However, when I manage to get comfortable, it rings again and I have to sit up and answer because I have a feeling if I let it ring, they'll call me again.
"Who is this?" I demand into the phone. There's a long pause and I yawn, wondering why I'm awake so early on a Saturday. After my dad lectured me about how much I've changed yesterday, we ordered a pizza and watched A Clockwork Orange until way past midnight. I think I fell asleep a few times but of course, my loving sister was always available to wake me up gently.
"Well, someone's grumpy this morning," Dante says, sounding way too joyful for my likings. I lean against the wall of my bed and rub my eyes.
"It's early," I mumble, sounding incoherent. It's a wonder he even figures out what I'm saying but he does.
"So you aren't a morning person? Noted," He chuckles. "I just wanted to say hi,"
"Hi," I yawn again, this time audibly so he can hear the effect he has on me. "Why are you awake right now?"
Dante clicks his tongue. "I'm about to go for a jog – wait half a second sweetie," I wait so patiently that I almost fall asleep on him. If only. "Sorry, I had to say hi to my mom before I headed out."
"Mhm."
"You aren't very talkative in the morning, Slugger," He says, his voice sounding borderline flirty. If he were here, I'd probably give him the most deathly glare I could muster.
Instead, I opt for lying in my bed. My sluggish self (ha) can't take using up so much energy on a Saturday morning. "It's early,"
He gasps. "Wow! I didn't know that! It's not like you said that already,"
"Oh shut up and jog," I say and he laughs.
"I am jogging,"
"Then why are you talking to me?"
"Hey Camilla - I'm talking to you because you're my favourite person to talk to at the present moment," He says, humming. Though I'm pretending to be fed up of him and his antics, hearing him say that does make me smile at my wall.
"Who's Camilla?" I ask, trying to ignore the change in my voice due to my big ass smile.
"My neighbour." He stays silent for a bit. "Are you smiling?"
"I've been woken up at eight am by a boy with a big head on a Saturday morning," I say, my grin widening more than a fraction. "Now, tell me why I would be smiling."
"Firstly, it's almost nine. And Kennedy, you have to stop disrespecting me like this," He says flatly. I struggle to contain my laughter and a few tired giggles escape my mouth. "I'm deadly serious."
"So am I. You know I saved your number in my phone as Big Head," I tell him and clear my throat. Of course I omit the fact there's a big love heart right next to his name which has been there since he kissed me at the movie theatre on Wednesday.
"Wow!" He says loudly. It must be weird for all his neighbours to see him running down the street and seemingly talking to himself. I can imagine him wearing those really small running shorts too and looking way too much like a middle aged man with a mid-life crisis.
I bet he looks hot.
Kind of.
"What's wow?"
"You're so lucky I like you," Dante says firmly. "Not many people get to treat me so badly and still have precedence over my contacts list,"
I giggle. "I don't treat you badly!"
"Calling out my-" His voice lowers significantly. "My big headed insecurities isn't treating me badly? Kennedy, please stop bullshitting me,"
"No! Big head is my way of showing you affection,"
"Really?" He sounds almost convinced.
"Yeah?" I say as though it were obvious. "It's like giving you a hug or a kiss or something. It has totally the same sentiment."
He seems to think about it, humming with a questioning tone for a bit. "I'd rather you'd just kiss me if I'm completely honest with you,"
I roll my eyes at my ceiling and smile. "Come to Sacramento and we'll see,"
"You serious?" His voice perks up noticeably. "Because shit, it's like a two hour plane, right? I could do that,"
My bedroom door opens and
lo and behold, my dad's standing there wearing too tight running shorts and holding a water bottle. He eyes me up carefully, evidently confused. "Why are you up?"
I point at my phone just as Dante calls my name. "I'm on the phone,"
My dad frowns and walks away, leaving the door wide open. Knowing him, it's probably so he can hear what I'm talking about. I don't think he's ever seen me up and kicking this early on a Saturday so I don't know if I can fully blame him for his scepticism.
"Kennedy, you good?"
"Sorry, I was talking to my dad." I clarify and rub my eyes. "You were saying something about plane tickets?"
"I was making a joke," He says. "What are you going to do today?"
I shrug and then realise he can't see me. "My dad's a major history ne-" Dad peers around the door and glares at me so backtrack. "He's very appreciative of history so I guess we'll see the sights around Old Sacramento."
"Sounds fun." He says and I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not.
"Fun? You really think so?" I go with it anyway. It's not like I have anything to lose by letting him make fun of me for even a little while.
"Yeah, really. History's cool,"
I raise a thumbs up at my dad who looks quite impressed. "It is, huh?"
"I might major it in college," He sounds quite contemplative and I wonder if I should interrupt his thoughts with my mindless babble. It might annoy him. "But then again, I like politics and shit like that too,"
"I never knew that," I tap my chin. "I thought you might just do something sports related in college, you know, with the scholarship and all,"
"It's always an option, but I don't want to be so heavily reliant on my sports skills and nothing else. Just in case something bad happens." Dante sighs. "This got deep really quickly, huh?"
"I don't mind," I say, brushing a stray piece of hair out of my face. "You can always vent to me,"
"Thanks Kennedy," The short silence that follows is sort of comforting. "Do you think I'd look good in hipster glasses?"
I have to physically clamp my lips together to stop myself from laughing at the randomness of the question before I reply. "Totally. Especially if you pop the lenses out like everyone is doing. Why?"
"I just ran past this guy who was walking his dog and wearing a pair. I don't know if they'd suit me though,"
"They would." A very tired and unimpressed McKinley appears in my doorway and I know she's ready to fight me. "Hey, Dante, I've gotta go,"
He titters. "Are you blowing me off to go back to sleep?"
I smile but then remember that my sister wants to fight me. "Of course I am,"
"Sleep is for the weak,"
"So I'm weak, sue me," I say dryly, making him chuckle. I avoid looking at McKinley because the power of her death glare is too strong for me to handle. "Good luck for your game today,"
"Thanks, I'll be needing it," He sighs. "Especially since my good luck is taking the weekend off,"
I gasp, pretending not to know what he's talking about. "How inconsiderate of them!"
He tuts, playing along. "I know right, people are so unreliable nowadays. No two week notice, nothing,"
"Disappointing," I sigh. "I'll talk to you soon, okay?"
"Bye Slugger,"
Smiling, I cut the phone line and look up at my half asleep, mostly annoyed older sister leaning in the doorframe. "What's wrong?" I ask, not really wanting to know. Especially since I am probably the ultimate cause for her current problem.
She groans. "Dad's taking us to the zoo,"
"What are we, seven?" I lay with my back flat against my bed and squint at the ceiling. "Wait, you love animals, why aren't you happy about this?"
"He's bringing the ukulele,"
"So?"
"And the hat,"
"Ah,"
If there's one place I'm not a big fan of, it's the zoo. I mean, it's kind of cool seeing all the plants in each animal habitat (I really am uncool), but seeing the animals in glass exhibitions like they're pieces of art makes me more than slightly uncomfortable. I avoid going when I can but my dad and McKinley love it (she even secretly likes him making up songs for the animals with his ukulele whenever we go) and somehow always find a way to drag me along for the journey.
I walk past the tiger exhibit for the umpteenth time, feigning interest in the facts about big cats McKinley is sprouting out enthusiastically. We ditched my dad back by the petting zoo to sing with all the starry eyed little kids who secretly want to steal his multi-coloured trilby.
"You know, I always wanted to go to South Africa," She says at one point. "Paul and I were planning to go this summer,"
My eyebrows shoot up and I stop walking. "Summer?"
She nods. "Yeah. I guess I'll be out of your hair for once,"
I frown. "You know I'm moving to the east coast after summer is over, right? If you go, we won't get to hang out that much before I go,"
"Kenny chill, I won't be gone for the whole summer," She says, sounding slightly dismissive. "You're so attached to me, damn,"
Feeling oddly displaced, I fold my arms and look away. It's really a no brainer that I'm attached to McKinley of all people, she's nine years older than me and pretty much took care of me at home until she moved out. We talk every day and it's gonna be weird not being able to see her whenever I want to after I go to college myself.
"Oh my God, Kennedy, stop sulking," She snaps. "I just wanted to go on vacation for a few weeks, is that bad?"
"I'm not sulking," I roll my eyes. "And you can do what you want,"
She groans. "Whatever, I was going to go anyway."
"That's great for you,"
Okay, maybe I am sulking. Just a little bit.
"Fine then,"
"Isn't it just,"
She gives me an exasperated look before shaking her head. "Whatever Ken, I'm going to find dad. You can hang out on your own for now,"
Because I'm stubborn, I don't say anything as she walks away from me, but I do begin to feel lonely after she's gone, especially after making eye contact with the lonesome mother tiger once again. I feel her pain, I truly do.
As I stroll through to the primate enclosure, my phone rings loudly, making a few people give me the side eye. It's not like everyone else wasn't making noise either but I digress.
It's Dante, again. I check the time on my watch and wonder why he's not playing his game yet. They should be well into rounds by now, if not finished the first half. "What's up?"
"You're not busy are you?" He says, sounding breathless. I tell him no. "Good, because I really need to ask you something,"
"Go for it,"
"When are you due back tomorrow? Two seconds Sawyer,"
"Er... I don't know," I twirl a piece of hair around my finger and wrinkle my nose up. "I think our flight lands at four something,"
He hums impatiently. "Wanna catch a movie at say... eight o'clock?"
"Tomorrow?"
"The one and only – I'll be right out, I'm on the phone right now,"
I figure he's talking to someone else and ignore the last part. "That sounds fun,"
"Great, I'll see you then, okay?"
"Yeah, okay – are you alright?"
"Well the halftime break is like two seconds from over and I just made plans with someone," He chuckles. "Why wouldn't I be alright?"
"If you say so. Good luck with the game,"
"See you tomorrow, pretty," he clicks his tongue a few times before hanging up on me.
Though I'm still feeling lonely and honestly, a little bad for driving my sister away, I can't help but stand and smile because Dante referred to me as pretty. Oh and he also called me while in the middle of a baseball game too. From the way he sounded, I'd say they were winning but anything could happen, I guess.
And it seems that the orangutan in the trees in front of me thought so too, because he decided to throw a bunch of bamboo at my head.
authors note:
idk what to feel about this chapter so I'm just going to post it and go to bed
smh I sleep a lot