Warnings: Contains lots of language.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 1
"Kenziiiiiiiii."
I felt someone nudging my side and I opened my eyes slowly. "Am I in hell?" I murmured, rolling over and pressing my face into my pillow.
"Just because you aren't at home anymore doesn't mean you get to sleep in until 1:30pm." Diana said, poking me again.
"Fuck off." I swatted her hand away blindly and pulled the covers over my head.
I could practically hear Diana rolling her eyes. "Such a lovely little cousin I have!"
"It's one year!" she swatted me on the butt. "HEY!"
"GET UP!" she yelled playfully before exiting the room.
I pouted and pulled the covers off me and got out of bed. I stretched and then sauntered over to my suitcase that was sitting in the corner of my "room" (guest room). I unzipped it and dug through all my clothes. I pulled out a black hoodie and a pair of jeans. I really just could not find myself to give a single fuck today. I pulled them on and then grabbed my platform boots. These babies were four inch platforms, when in doubt, tower over everyone. I zipped the back and jumped up.
Hell yeah.
I brushed my long dark hair and then hopped gleefully down the stairs to the kitchen. "Sup, Charles!" I grabbed a piece of bread and popped it in the toaster.
"Good morning, Kenzi. Or should I say, good afternoon." he said, taking a sip of coffee.
"Jesus christ!" Diana gawked.
"What? I'm hungry." I said as I piled more bread into the toaster.
"Your shoes!" she said and I rolled my eyes.
I turned around to face her and then looked down at my feet. "Yes, Diana, this would be called a sense of style. I could help you out if you would like..." I eyed her blazer with a look of disgust. Oops.
She scoffed. "You're already like 5"7 you don't need five extra inches."
"Ok first off, these are four inches, and second maybe I wanna be taller. You know my name, not my story." I said dramatically and she cracked a smile.
I noticed Charles looking at me concerned. "Are you ok? You're acting a little too Kenzi."
I looked around awkwardly. "Uh, I'm fine." I said, quicker than I should have. What does he mean 'too kenzi', I AM Kenzi.
They were both staring at me. Fucking hell. I heard a pop and I turned around. "Shit, my toast!" It was completely burnt. Dammit.
"Kenzi, don't change the subject." Charles said. This shit was getting too angsty, too fast.
I felt like I was being attacked. I looked between the both of them, anger flooding my face. "Ok, what do you want me to say? My mom has a fucking brain tumor. Last time I visited her in the hospital, she fucking forgot my name. She forgot her only daughter's name. And now I've been shipped off here, three hours away from her. So no, I'm not ok. Happy?" Tears started streaming down my cheeks. "And don't even getting me started on my dad." I use the word 'dad', very loosely.
Diana didn't say anything, she simply walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back and rested my head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." I said quietly.
She rubbed my back and then looked at me. "There is absolutely nothing to be sorry for. You are going through a really rough time right now, but I promise it will pass. You have to endure the rain to get the rainbow." God damn, Diana is so kind. And perfect.
I hugged her tightly again and then we were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.
Charles set his coffee down on the counter. "I'll get the door, girls."
I released my grasp on Diana and gave the best smile that I possible could. "Thank you Diana, honestly you are a beautiful fucking ray of sunshine. I love you." I didn't tell her it enough, that's for sure. But she definitely deserved to hear it. I had known her since as long as I can remember, and even though we didn't always see eye to eye, we always had each other's backs. Im glad that out of all my (very few) relatives, she and Charles were the ones I was going to be living with for the next couple months.
Diana's lips twitched upwards. "I love you too."
Our moment of affection was cut short when a light-haired girl, that appeared to be our age, walked into the room.
Diana turned around. "Oh, hi Cassie." she greeted. "This is my cousin, Kenzi. She's going to be staying with me for a while." She then turned to me. "This is my friend, Cassie, we met last week."
"Hi." I said.
"Nice to meet you." Cassie said. She then looked down at my feet. "Bold choice!" she smiled.
"Thanks!" I grinned and then elbowed Diana.
Cassie stood awkwardly for a few seconds. "So, uh, are we still going to meet the cir- I mean our friends at the boathouse, like we planned?" she asked.
What was that? Cir- I MEAN FRIENDS... Sounds like someone's hiding something, that's for damn sure! And no one keeps secrets from me!
Diana scratched her head nervously. "Oh yeah..."
Just then Charles walked into the room.
"So can you come or..." Cassie trailed.
"Come where?" Charles asked, looking from Cassie to Diana.
"Oh um, Cassie was just asking if we were going to meet our friends at the Boathouse like we planned." Diana explained.
"Why don't you just take Kenzi with you, so she can meet your friends, maybe show her around a little?" he smiled in my direction.
Diana and Cassie's face's drooped. OUCH.
My cousin covered her disappointment with an overly enthusiastic tone. "Yeah, totally!" Bitch!
Cassie gave a forced smile. "Ok, we should probably get going."
I narrowed my eyes at the two of them. They were definitely hiding something. But whatever, every secret is just begging to be exposed! I merrily smiled and grabbed their hands and forced them to skip out the door with me.
I stepped inside to the Boathouse and the first thing I saw was my cousin's overly brooding, angsty boyfriend. Who may or may not be really hot. May or may not have been silently crushing on him since I was thirteen... But it's not like I could actually do anything, he's with Diana, and I TOTALLY respect that. Besides, it was only a tiny, harmless little crush. Anyways, our relationship was well... strange. "ADAM!" I yelled, running through the diner over to him and jumping dramatically into his arms, causing him to drop a few plates. I could hear Diana and Cassie laughing a few feet away from me. "We are reunited at last!" I cried, dramatically.
"Dammit, Kenzi." he muttered while setting me back on my feet.
I think that explains our relationship pretty well.
I huffed. "Nice to see you too!" I helped him pick up the dirty dishes he dropped and placed them in his arms. "So, hows my Adam been treating my Diana?" I asked, walking with him to the kitchen.
He rolled his eyes. "Like a queen."
I nodded. "Good!" I put my hand on his shoulder. "But seriously, it's so good to see you." I smiled warmly.
Adam set the dirty dishes in the sink and then turned to me. "It's good to see you too, how long's it been, almost a year? It has to be more then that though, I mean, you're what, six feet tall now?" he grinned.
I pretend gasped. "Everyone has got to stop hating on the shoes!" he smiled. I then looked down. "I just wish I could have been visiting on better terms, you know?"
Adam nodded. "So, how are you doing?" he asked.
I shrugged. "I'm alright. I try not to think about it, you know? Covering up the pain with humor."
He smirked and then pulled me into his arms and hugged me for a while. Adam was the freakin' best.
I pulled out of his hug and fanned myself. "Ugh, emotions." I said and he laughed.
We walked out of the kitchen, I saw Diana and Cassie sitting with three other teenagers. Adam lead me over to them and we each pulled up a chair next to them. I noticed as soon as we came over to them they stopped talking.
"This is my cousin, Kenzi." Diana introduced. "Kenzi, this is Faye, Melissa, and Nick." she said, pointing to each of them. Nick was kinda hot, not gonna lie.
They each said hello and I smiled.
"So are you transferring to Chance Harbor High?" Melissa asked, genuinely interested.
I nodded. "Yeah. My uncle, Charles, is friends with the principle and was able to pull some strings and get me in last minute."
"Yeah, that principle is my mother." The raven-haired girl spoke up. "Don't buy her whole 'nice' act, it's totally fake." She took a sip of her tea.
"Duly noted." I said.
"So are you a Junior?" The hot guy asked. Nick, was it?
"Sophomore." I corrected.
"Oh, that's cool! Sophomore year is really fun." Melissa said in an enthusiastic tone.
Doubt it. "Awesome!" I chimed.
"So, is this your first time in Chance Harbor?" Nick asked. What is this, twenty-one questions?
I shook my head. "Nah, I usually visit every year or so."
He nodded.
A few seconds passed by in extremely awkward silence, I turned my gaze toward Diana. "Alrighty then... I'm gonna go get a drink." I announced, standing out of my chair and heading over to the bar. "Hi, Ethan."
He continued wiping a glass clean and then looked up. "Kenzi!" he said surprised. He set the glass down and reached over the bar and hugged me. "How are you? Adam told me about your mother's condition, I'm so sorry."
"I'm doing ok." It was weird, unlike my alcoholic of a father, Ethan actually gave a shit. I mean for Christ's sake, I haven't talked to my father in over four years. Even if he did find out about my mother's current condition, I still doubt he would even give me a simple call. That's how shitty of a father he was. I don't even know where the hell he is! "Anyways..." I said, pulling out of his embrace. "Can I have a root beer?" I smiled.
"Of course." he reached down (to what I'm guessing was a mini fridge behind the bar) and pulled up a chilled glass bottle filled with A&W. YUM! He slid the bottle across the bar to me. I caught it with one hand and pulled a couple dollars out of my pocket with the other.
"Here ya go." I said, cheerfully, handing him the money.
He shook his head. "Don't be silly, it's on the house."
"Aw, thank you!" I grabbed the bottle opener off the counter and popped the lid off and took a sip. "Delicious!" he laughed.
I started walking back over to the table where my new mysterious friends where sitting. But honestly I don't know why the hell Adam is always complaining about his dad, Ethan is pretty freakin' cool to me. Adam sometimes texted me about his daddy-issues since I could relate, (only not really because mine isn't even around) but it seemed like Ethan was getting better.
The last time I was in Chance Harbor was in December, during Christmas break, so about ten months ago, and I recall one day when I was hanging out with Diana and Adam and when we came back to the boathouse Adam's father was COMPLETELY drunk, like I'm talking HAMMERED. It was bad. Adam even started crying because he was so stressed. Poor guy.
Suddenly someone/something slammed into me and I lost my balance and fell to the ground. "Fuck, shit, fuck!" I yelled as I fell, smacking my head against the ground. "Fuck." I groaned.
My vision started getting blurry when all of a sudden Diana was crouching over me. "Oh my god, Kenzi, are you ok?"
"What happened?" I asked, rubbing my head.
"YOU JUST FUCKING ATE IT!" I heard someone say. Fucking Christ.
Reality blurred in and out of a surreal like dream state.
Suddenly I felt someone lift me and I opened my eyes and it was Adam. When had I closed my eyes? And why was I being lifted? "She's losing consciousness." I heard him say in a panicked voice. I groaned again.
Adam then set me on top of something, I think it was the bar. I looked around me, my vision blurring even more, tons of people were surrounded me. I closed my eyes again, not having enough energy to keep them open.
"I think she has a concussion." I heard a male's voice say.
Finally I drifted completely out of consciousness.
I opened my eyes slowly, looking around my surroundings. I was laying on the couch in Diana's living room. I looked around the room for Diana or Charles but I was completely alone. "Hello?"
Suddenly Diana's head peeked out of a different room. "You're awake." she gave a hopeful smile. "How are you feeling?"
I rubbed my forehead. "Headache." I said simply, causing her to run back into the kitchen and come back seconds later with a glass of water and two ibuprofen pills. She sat down on the couch near my feet and handed me the glass and the two pills. "Thanks." I muttered, sitting up and popping the pills in my mouth and chasing them down with water.
"I called the doctor and they said if your head was hurting to give you ibruprofen. You can take two every four hours. They also said to rest a while. And if you still have a headache tomorrow they said to go to the doctor to make sure it wasn't anything serious." I nodded. "I was so freaked out." Diana continued. "I thought you cracked your head open or something!" she admitted with a small laugh. "Pathetic I know, the doctor said it was probably only a minor concussion."
"Awww, Diana cares about me!"
She rolled her eyes and then continued. "Adam was pretty worried too!"
I scoffed. "I know, she's losing consciousness!" I did my best impersonation, causing Diana to giggle.
"You remember that?" she asked.
"Yep, I also remember YOU JUST FUCKING ATE IT!" We both bursted out laughed. "Who even said that?" I asked.
Diana was quiet for a moment. "Nick..."
I grinned. What a DICK! "Also, what did I run into anyways?"
"Some football dude from school I think, as soon as he saw everyone surrounding you he freaked out and left." Of course it was a freakin' football player, it felt like I got hit by a fucking truck.
I rolled my eyes. "Oh wow." I said simply, taking one last sip of water and laying back down on the couch.
"Sounds like you took quite a fall." Charles said as he entered the room, a half amused look spreading across his face.
"Yes, the rumors are true." I said in a sarcastic tone. "This type of shit is always happening to me, should have seen it coming."
Charles smirked. "Well, it sounds like you are going to be ok." he concluded.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading! If you have any questions please PM me or leave a review and I will message you back. Reviews are highly appreciated.
