When I first started this chapter, I wasn't gonna do an author's note, but after just hearing about those twenty children being murdered, I had to. I just don't understand what the world is coming to. How can you shoot children children? I send out my deepest condolences to the families affected by that inconsiderate, phsycho lunatic. Rest In Paradise little ones.
Pic's of Mackenzie's outfit for the date.
Chapter 13
I groaned. "Liam!"
He sent me a breathtaking smirk. "Don't go trying to make this more than it is."
"It's a date! How can I not? You wont even tell me where we're going," I pouted. I had spent two hours getting ready after he told me we were going out. Well..my mom and Melody did. They dressed me, did my hair, did my make up, and even groomed me. That last part was a little much for my comfort.
"I get it, okay? You don't like surprises. Next time I'll outright tell you, but right now you're gonna shut up, sit back, and enjoy the ride because my lips are sealed and you'll only be waisting your voice." He glued his eyes to the road and ignored me for the rest of the trip. It's not like I had much left to say anyway. He just told me to shut up!
For most of the ride I just looked down and fiddled with my shirt. My mom and Melody had picked out a yellow shirt with a giant mustache on it with light blue skinny jeans and black shoes. They had curled my hair and added a few accessories. I had on light make up; pink lipgloss and light pink eyeshadow. I had a feeling they knew where Liam was taking me, but they kept it to themselves. How else would they know how to dress me?
"You look really nice today. I like being able to actually see your eyes."
I jumped at the sound of Liam's voice because it had been silent for so long. He was stealing glances at me and I blushed. These contacts felt weird in my eyes, but if they pleased Liam, I guess I could wear them more often.
I nodded. "Thanks."
Somewhere around twenty minutes later, we pulled up into a parking lot.
"Liam?"
He shot a glare my way and I shut my mouth. Right. No questions.
He came around and opened my door for me, lending me a hand to help me out. Me being me, I stumbled a bit and he had to catch me in his arms. I was still getting used to the cast on my arm and the bandages on my ribs were kind of uncomfortable. Luckily, the one sprained ankle I had was a thousand times better and I could walk right on it.
I cuddled into his chest. "Thanks," I breathed.
"No problem, gorgeous." That brought a smile to my lips. "Shall we?"
I stepped away from him and moved forward before being jerked back. "Ah!" I groaned. The bandages on my ribs shifting painfully.
"I'm so sorry, Kenz," he whispered frantically into my ear. "I forgot you're kind of crippled."
I could hear the grin in his voice as he said this. "I'm not crippled! I'm completely capable of doing everything on my own." I turned to face him.
"Oh yeah?" He smirked, laughter in his eyes. "Go swing from some monkey bars." He nodded across the street at a park.
I glared at him before turning around and storming off towards the building we were outside of. It resembled a diner, but a little bit fancier.
"Wait, Kenz I'm sorry!" He wrapped his warm arms around me and enveloped me in his scent. "You know I didn't mean it," he whispered, holding me as tight as possible without actually injuring me more.
My heart fluttered a bit. I know it sounds cliche, but he was really growing on me. I had never felt this way before with any boy.
Except for that one time..
There it was again! That thought in the back of my head, telling me I was forgetting something. What am I forgetting?
"Mackenzie, this is our table."
I looked around me and noticed that we were already inside of the restaraunt. How did that happen? "Oh, right." I sat down on my side of the booth and Liam did the same. I looked around, absorbing the aura of the place. It was beautiful. homey. It wasn't one of those typical diners like in all the stories, but it was comfortable enough to think that it was family owned, although the employees probably weren't of any relation to the owners. The color scheme was pretty much just fall colors like your oranges and browns.
Liam cleared his throat, awakening me from my thoughts. "Yes?"
He chuckled lightly. "I kind of brought you here to get to know you better."
I blushed, slightly embarassed to be caught daydreaming. "Sorry," I muttered, looking down.
"I just started being able to look into your eyes, don't hide them from me."
I glanced up at Liam. "Sorry."
He frowned a bit. "What happened to the confident Mackenzie that cussed me out on multiple occasions and told me I was acting like a bitch?"
"Not my words," I interjected.
"That was my interpretation," he grinned. I blushed again. "The Mackenzie who wasn't afraid to show me the real her," he continued.
I sighed. He asked for it. "Look, I've never really done this before."
He raised his eyebrow. "Done what?"
"This! Dated," I hissed.
He looked confused for a second more before realization sunk in. "This is your first date?!"
"Shhh!" I kneed him under the table. "Tell the whole world, why don't you?"
He clutched his knee and winced. "OW, Mackenzie. Did you really have to knee me? My ears do work, you know."
"You were speaking too loud!" I defended myself.
"Next time just say what you have to say!" His face distorted into a cute grimace/ glare.
I broke out into laughter. This whole scenario suddenly seemed like the funniest thing in the world to me.
"What's so funny?" He demanded.
"You. Me. Us." More laughter.
His face showed confusion. "What?"
"Look at us, Liam. We're already having our first fight over something stupid."
He though for a second before finally starting to chuckle. It soon erupted into full blown laughter. When we died down a little bit, he finally spoke.
"This isn't our first fight. Our first one was when.." He trailed off, realizing what he was bringing up.
"It's fine, Liam. I know I got into a car accident. Hello." I lifted my casted arm and waved it around.
He chuckled nervously. "Right."
I sighed, realizing I'd have to open up from now on. "Hey, don't be a chick about this. We both know what happened and we cant change it." He peered up at me with a strange look on his face. "Get out yo' feelins!" I shouted, emitting strange and distasteful looks from around the room. I just shrugged sheepishly and looked down.
"What. Was. That?"
When I looked up, Liam was gaping at me, looking as if he was about to burst into laughter. I shrugged nonchalantly. "What? You never dated a ghetto girl before?"
"You're white."
I hated when people just assumed ghetto was another word for black. "White people can be ghetto too. Being black doesn't automatically make you ghetto, and being white doesn't always make you proper."
The rest of the night consisted of us arguing, laughing, and all in all just enjoying eachother's company. I could imagine my first date being much more romanticized, but the truth is that this, in it's own way, was perfect. There was no unrealistic cliche "I just fell in love on the first date" feeling and no romantic montages. Just us. In a diner. Having a very realistic teenage date. He even drove me right home afterwards...no romantic stroll in the park or on the beach.
"Oh my gosh, turn that up! I love this song!" You would think that was me speaking. Think again.
I sighed and turned the dial on the radio up as we approached my street.
"I hear your heaart beat to the beat of the drum! Oh what a shame that you came here with someooone! So while your here in my arms, let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!" He did this little fist pump thing while singing.
"Hey, hands on the wheel!"
He purposely swerved the car a little and I couldn't help but release a laugh as I watched him continue his "concert."
"Young hearts out our minds, run until we outta time. Wild childs, lookin' good. Livin' hard just like we should." He poked my side with his fingers as we pulled into my driveway. "I know you know the rest, Kenz."
I started to shake my head no, but decided to live a little. "Lookin' for some trouble tonight. Take my hand I'll show you the wild side. Like it's the last night of our lives, we'll keep dancing till we die!" I started to break into the chorus but stopped when I realized Liam hadn't joined me. I sent him a shy glance. He was staring at me. "What?"
"I wouldn't have asked you to sing if I knew you would steal my thunder."
I blushed. "Don't worry, Liam. I sounded just as terrible as you did." I giggled a little nervously.
He took my hand that was resting on my thigh and held it. "No you didn't. You're an amazing singer. Here" He changed the station to another pop station. "Sing along." I shook my head. "Don't act like you don't know the lyrics. Sing," he urged.
I sighed. "Hey good girl, with your head in the clouds. I bet you I can tell you what you're thinkin' about. You see a good boy, gonna give you the world, but he's gonna leave you crying with your heart in the dirt. His lips are drippin' honey but he'll sting you like a bee, so lock up all your lovin' go and throw away the key. Hey good girl, get out while you can. I know you think you got a good maaaan!" I finished up the last note and peeked up at Liam, expecting him to be cracking up laughing and tell me about how horrible that sounded, but instead, I found him looking dreamily at me. "What?" I demanded after waiting for his response.
He smirked. "I'm totally gonna have to be your fangirl-boy, I mean- and start shrieking and buying your posters."
I released a full laugh. "Good one."
"No, I'm serious." He released my hand to do some of his own hand gestures. "You're gonna be explosive! Bigger than One Direction!"
That one really got me going. "Right, and Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are gonna break up," I muttered, laughing.
"That already happened."
"What?!" I nearly jumped out of my seat. Yeah, you caught me. I'm a secret fangirl.
Liam looked at me like I was a wild gorilla, ready to attack him. "They got back together," he murmered defensively.
I sighed and relaxed back in my seat. "Woo," I sighed, brushing away fake sweat.
He got out of the car and I followed suit- lets face it: guys don't really open doors anymore.
He rounded the car and pulled me into a long hug. I caught my breath, not expecting this sudden change. "You really are an amazing girl, Mackenzie."
I stared up into his eyes. Just as he began to lean in, my front door swung open and Melody walked out.
"Nuh-uh. No touchy feely. I'm being paid to keep you two from getting pregnant." She glared daggers at Liam.
"Cockblocker," he muttered, releasing me just the slightest bit.
"I am not! I'm just paper chasin'!" She shouted at him and I had to control my laughter.
"Whatever they're paying, I'll pay you double. I just want five minutes."
Mel's eyes lit up. "Pay up first." She walked up to us.
He sighed and handed her a twenty.
Before closing the door, she shot Liam the most evil sweet smile I'd ever seen. "They only paid me five."
He cursed under his breath. "Damn she-devil. How do you live with her?"
I smiled. "I just take it day by day."
"Oh really?"
"Mhm." His lips met mine. They tasted like pepermint ice-cream. That could be because we had a pepermint ice-cream eating contest back at the restaraunt, but I sure as hell wasn't complaining. My arms seemed to grow a mind of their own and snake around his neck while he wrapped his arms around my waist. He deepened the kiss until we were both out of breath and then pulled away. My lips missed the warmth of his. Hell, I missed his warmth.
He chuckled down at me and I realized my arms were still around his neck. I pulled away quickly. "Don't," he whispered huskily. Slowly, I wrapped my arms back around his neck. He kissed me again before I heard someone clearing their throat.
"Excuse me, but Mackenzie needs to come in the house. Now."
I pulled away reluctantly to meet my mother's eyes. I found it more convenient to try and stare someplace around her face than at her midsection. She was starting to get a baby-bump.
"I'll um, see you later."
"Yeah." I watched him enter his car before walking up to my mom. "Hey," I whispered.
She crossed her arms. "So?"
"So what?"
She smirked. "How good of a kisser is he?"
"Mom!" I shouted before running up the stairs and into my room.
Nilly squeaked and yeeped at my entrance, but I had learned to ignore her. I went straight for my phone. I had accidentally left it at home when I left for my date. My date. I liked saying that. I flipped open my phone.
One New Message: From Lance.
Sup, Mack? You wont return my calls. Whats up with that?
I pressed delete.
One Missed Call: From Lance.
I ignored it.
One New Voice Message.
I pressed one and listened for the message,
"Hey, Mack. I know you're avoiding me for..some reason." He sighed. "Look, you're my best friend. Don't be like this. And if it's that guy, Liam, don;t let him change what you and I have. We've been friends for years." He stopped briefly. "You at least owe me an explanation. Please, Mack."
This was getting harder and harder, but somehow, I just couldn't manage to convince myself to call him. I'm sorry, Lance.
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Author's Note: So.....the two songs in there were Die Young by Ke$ha and Good Girl by Carrie Underwood. Sorry that it only focused on one part, but I wanted the date to really be by itself. Kenzie and Liam's relationship growing is a big part of the book. So.................Vote? Comment?
Thanks!