Author's note: Happy 2019! As of the thirteenth of January, chapters one through seven have been revised and revamped. This includes improved transitions and dialogue; however, if there are those random typos with extra or missing letters, I blame it on the butterfly keyboard of this Macbook.
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CHAPTER 1: SHELTERED
Rachel McKenzie wasn't like most girls her age.
Most sixteen-year-old girls were interested in simple pleasures: acquiring the latest trends, spending time at the mall, going to parties with the coolest kids in school, participating in peer pressure, and usually, dating someone you could show off.
In her case, it had been ingrained in her that these things were superficial and trivial from the moment she could first remember. Focusing on those silly things wouldn't benefit her future. That was what her mother taught her.
Regardless, anyone could take one look at her and judge that she lived a good life. Her father was an established corporate attorney with a background in criminal law, and her mother came from old money. Would a lack of resources ever be a problem? With parents like that, definitely not.
She knew her parents were happy and content with the lives they led and that they expected her to follow the footsteps of her father. As long as she smiled at family parties (check), brought home stellar grades (easily done), maintained her life as a private school student and stayed on the fast track to Yale (currently in progress), is a good sister to Harvey (eh, debatable), and obeyed the rules enforced upon her since her turning thirteen, her life would steady itself to align in a way alike to theirs. One of class and luxury.
Following those expectations didn't change the fact that there was a problem.
She wasn't unhappy, but she wasn't happy either.
Rachel wasn't sure what it was particularly, but something was missing. She just had no idea how or where to find what that something was. Having everything and nothing at the same time led to feelings of inadequacy, some times worse than others. Feelings of unfulfillment came and went. Would her life of controlled isolation affect her personal growth and development negatively in the long run? Was that really true?
The role of the eldest trophy child made her resentful at times; while she had to stay home, her little brother had the freedom to see his friends without a set schedule.
Mom and dad weren't so harsh on Harvey when it came to their expectations. If anything, they encouraged him to go out of his way to make connections. It was like his previous behavioral problem had been corrected overnight, a few years back.
She understood why this was, but she wished her parents would loosen the hold they had on her.
The rules were as followed: curfew at 8 pm during the school year and 9 pm during breaks, no dating until college, no friends on school nights, parental approval of friends before being able to hang out with them, no tattoos or piercings (as if that would ever be a problem). In all honesty, it was a bigger list.
It was a list she entertained with thoughts of opposition in her head at times. Rachel once thought teenage angst and rebellion to be myths, and well, really just hormonal imbalances. It's not like she had much opportunity to truly break or even bend those commands, so there was never any trying. Her private school classmates weren't much fun, and they were not pleasant company anyway.
Nevertheless, she was thankful for it to be summer break.
After a long negotiation and discussion about responsibility with her father, she was finally allowed the privilege of a sleepover at Fanny's house. The redhead was a friend from kickboxing class, and she brightened up the last three years of her mundane life. Fanny absolutely loved poking fun at her 'first world problems,' not that Rachel minded much.
She didn't admit to anyone that she had dreams of fighting stuff like that – the unreasonable and rigid structure of her parents' ideals of adulthood – but they stayed like that. Dreams.
Boyband music moderately blasted in the background that Rachel didn't really care for, but she sat comfortably on the floor of Fanny's bedroom perusing a magazine and pretending to be a normal teenager for once. The latter girl sprawled on her bed to a prone position and grumbled.
"Did I tell ye? I think Patton's seein' someone."
She lowly hummed to the music, trying to formulate a response. There was no way the answer was coming from the saucy magazine article in her hand. Her inexperience and lack of knowledge in relationships really were crippling. She wasn't even interested in romance or being romanced, but more intrigued by the freedom to choose whether or not to entertain it. Mom and dad expected her to find some weasel in Yale who came from high society. Pfft. Whoever that was better not be like her Vanderbilt Prep classmates.
Fanny pulled herself to the foot of the bed and came closer to see a menu pamphlet for Luigi's in the inside of Rachel's magazine. "AY. Are ye listenin'?"
"Of course I am. Just thinking," she uttered, refocusing her attention on Fanny's dilemma.
What were the right and supportive things to say to someone so emotionally labile? She had met Patton a couple of times and it was a good time when they all hung out; she learned that friendships had the potential to be ruined when feelings got involved. Their breakups came too frequently for Rachel to keep up every minute.
"Uh, I thought you were the one who broke up with him in the first place. So, what's wrong?"
"Well, yeah! But does that mean he's free to go off and do what he likes? It's been two days and he goes on with his life like we weren't together for the better part of the year. He hasn't even texted me today to fight! Boys are worthless," Fanny whined in her thick Irish accent, though her expression suddenly changed to one of dreamy amusement. "Good for lookin' at though. Patton had this thing where his nostrils would flare when he'd get mad. It was sexy. Made me want to jump his bones. Maybe ye'd understand if ye ever had a boyfriend."
Rachel shrugged her shoulders and continued to look at the reading material, curious if this topic could be dodged. She got this kind of talk from Fanny ever since high school started. "Ugh! Don't be gross! Plus, you know I'm not allowed to date. Even if I were, I wouldn't care. Things are kinda crazy enough on planet earth, but fortunately, it continues to spin without regard to my personal life."
She continued to go on a spiel about topics that concerned activists and capitalist America, until the door of the bedroom opened to reveal a brunette.
Fanny praised the heavens. "What took ye so long, Virginia? Rachel started talkin' about renewable energy. I didn't need to relive fourth grade science."
Virginia playfully snorted and took a seat next to Rachel on the floor, a duffel bag in her arms. "My apologies for the tardy. Bartie dropped me off and he's going away with his family on a cruise tomorrow for two weeks. The goodbye took longer than expected, if you know what I mean."
Fanny smirked at the winks Virginia shot her and the look of distaste coming from the girl next to her. "Oh! I know what ye mean, but I dunno if blondie there does."
"Ha. Ha. You guys are so funny, and again, gross. I'm going to die from starvation thanks to your need to go fifth base or whatever," Rachel replied in a deadpan, standing to stretch her legs. She looked at her watch and decided to change the topic, holding up the menu in her hands. "Now that we're all here, can we order the pizza or what?"
Usually, they would laugh at her inaccurate comments about anything in relation to whatever they insinuated.
Instead, her friends shared matching cheeky grins, and she could tell they were excited about something. She fell into acute confusion when they began to throw random questions around. It wasn't a something they were excited about, rather, a someone.
"Do ye think he's delivering tonight?"
"I think so. When Bartie and I passed by Luigi's, he was there loading his car with orders."
"Who?"
They ignored that inquiry.
"My family orders from there so much, I'm pretty sure he knows I live here. But ye know that. Ye basically moved in."
Virginia cackled. "I wonder why he's still working there? He can do so much better. He could probably model for Abercrombie or something."
"Oh, stop it! I'd rather the hot guy deliver to my door than stare at him from the store window or some catalogue."
What on earth?
Rachel scratched her head when her face soured. She already hated being out of the loop at her own school, especially in the past year during her sham of a student council presidency. Half her executive board was the worst to collaborate when they constantly withheld information, so she hated it equally as much when her best friends did it.
"WHO?!"
"The pizza guy!" Virginia finally answered. "He's a senior this year at McClintock. He's kind of a big deal there. Quarterback, eye candy, not dumb, kind of has this bad boy thing going on. The whole package. The girls, as well as some of the guys, love him."
Fanny nodded in agreement. "Aye, he's a looker. Ye would think the same, for someone who doesn't give a rat's arse about the opposite sex."
Rachel scoffed. The way they continued to yammer on about this guy made it seem like he was some sort of high school demigod in the form of a football playing, alpha male jock. Mix it with the 'bad boy' connotation, and it would be the perfect concoction to entice any impressionable teenager. If anyone thought that she was boring and predictable, the cliché athlete should be on the same caliber.
"Right. Anyways, I want pineapple on my pizza," she commented.
"You're gross, McKenzie," Virginia snickers. "No way!"
"We can put it on half!"
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When the doorbell rang, Fanny insisted for Rachel to be the one to open the door and receive their order. It seemed to be a pretty big deal for them that she had some sort of contact with a cute boy. They thought she didn't know what one looked like. It was absurd, but she did it to try and cease their teasing.
Why the hell not?
She decided to entertain them, awaiting the moment to tell her friends that physical attractiveness didn't mean anything. Regardless of the outcome, they would still think she was some alien from outer space.
"Tell me good looks don't mean anything once you're pulled in by those blue eyes," the brunette stated certainly, as if she foresaw something bigger to occur. Rachel always thought Virginia's familial background of psychic mediums bizarre, not that she would ever say that aloud.
She and Fanny stood a few feet away from the door, both moving their hands in shooing motions that gestured her towards the entrance.
Rachel stood straight by the open door and well… those eyes weren't that blue.
Save for the darkness of the porch and his work hat, they looked slightly violet from her position under the incandescent lighting of the hallway.
The beloved McClintock quarterback was dressed in his blue uniform shirt and lightning bolt cap that stuck out upwards. If she had to give him points for anything, it would be for the nice part of his thick bangs (which could imply a great head of hair) that appeared under that hat. The boy stood tall, probably holding an extra foot over her, exerting an aura that she couldn't quite find the words to describe.
Sure, in Fanny terms, he was a looker.
He stepped back to view the front exterior of the house. "You… are definitely not who I was expecting. Is this not Fulbright's house?"
"It is," she replied, a little too quickly and tersely by accident. She must've sounded rude and a bit hostile, as that probably stemmed from leftover annoyance she held for her peers at her school. Rachel made a mental note to correct that. "How much do I owe you?"
"I've never seen you around before," he stalled, curiosity dripping from his tone. He flashed her a devilishly charming smile. "Do you go to McClintock by any chance?"
Rachel returned the expression awkwardly, less charmingly so. "Err no, I'm one of Fanny's friends from kickboxing. I go to Vanderbilt. Twenty minutes north from here."
"I see… and oh, it's twenty bucks flat."
Fanny emerged from her backside with a grin to receive the box once Rachel handed him the cash and tip. "Ey Chad! I see ye've met my bestest friend Rachel here."
"Oh hey, Red," the boy known as Chad paused, confirming his suspicion that there was definitely giggling from behind the door. "And yes, I have. She's cute. I bet she would've made a great addition to our student body."
His handsome smile turned into something less intimidating.
The compliment almost made something positive stir in Rachel.
"She woulda', wouldn't she?!" Fanny validated. "But too bad her parents have a bunch of sticks up their arses and think that the only way to Yale is stayin' in freakin' Vanderbilt. Have ye seen the kids that go there? Nowhere near as fun as us."
Virginia continued to snicker from behind the door.
Rachel gave her friend the side eye, a peculiar look, and tried to calculate where she was getting at. She felt him looking at her now too. Fanny switched the porch light on and that was when she acquired a better, albeit quick study of his facial features. There were those eyes her friends promised to be oh so enchantingly blue. They had an ability that made her incapable of looking elsewhere.
"You should allow me to get to know her sometime."
With that, the brunette popped up from behind. "Oh hey, Dickson! Just overheard this little conversation. You know… we're not actually doing anything fun tonight besides facemasks, so you should totally come back after you're done with your shift. Take Rachel up on that. You down?"
Excuse me?
Rachel, dumbstruck, felt like a deer in the headlights. She immediately got a better understanding of the situation at hand. She didn't even have time to protest.
He nodded while he started trailing backward to his car, with a grin on his face. "Give me twenty minutes!"
They waved him off when Rachel was finished trying to control her eyes that were threatening to bulge out of her head. All she could do was make incomprehensible sounds, until she finally gathered a thought. "Um, uh? What the hell just happened?"
"You're going on your first date. You're welcome. You're gonna thank us for this, one day," Virginia said giddily, until she received a glare in return. "Maybe."
Five seconds after the cause of her sudden nervousness drove away to complete his shift, Fanny and Virginia were hellbent on freshening her up, from reapplying her deodorant and almost choking her with breath mints. She didn't think she was going to get any of that pizza tonight.
One million and one thoughts flew in and out of her head before she had half the mind to push them off and away, but it was her parents she was primarily concerned about.
Her friends wanted to get her in trouble for laughs, did they? If mom and dad found out she would be alone with a someone they didn't know? And a boy, at that? Sleepover privileges would be stripped, no questions asked and no chance for appeal. She negotiated hard for this right, if the slideshow presentation she made for them wasn't enough proof.
Why would a supposedly popular football player even be interested in a private school girl anyway? It was nonsensical.
Fanny finished swallowing a piece of her pizza to address her unease. "Ye know, I remember this one conversation we had years ago. Ye said ye wished ye got to live a life like mine or Virginia's sometimes. And hey, we go behind our parents' backs. This is a chance to do something fun and harmless. Screw the rules for once. My mum and dad are at my nan's with my brothers, and yers are asleep. They won't bother to call or text. Just live a little, lass."
"I second those statements. Chad is cool. Just talk to him and get to know him. We wouldn't ask him to hang out if he were a creep," Virginia gave her input, as she shifted on Fanny's bed. "Promise."
Rachel considered the appeal of doing something secret her mother and father didn't have a part of – an insider between her and her friends, and no one else. It didn't completely banish the skepticism in her gut. "But why couldn't we have just hung out together? I don't date, you guys."
"Ye heard him! He thinks ye're cute. Ye need to learn how to talk to boys. Boys who don't go to Vanderbilt, wear their socks up to their calves, or tie their sweaters on their shoulders. Ye might actually be good at it, y'know. Ye're all eloquent and witty," Fanny justified.
Virginia asked her one more question before she decided what to do. "You're really gonna go off to college clueless on what type of people you like? Watch. Your parents are probably going to set you up with a white-collar pansy once you realize you don't know how to talk to guys."
She sighed in defeat at the thought her friend had given her. "What should I know then? Before I dive right into this?"
What her parents would never know wouldn't kill them.
She didn't expect anything to result from hanging out with a guy for an hour anyway. There would be no connection between her and someone she couldn't see herself being friends with.
There was just no way.
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"What have your friends told you about me?" Chad questioned, his hands in his jean pockets.
He left his car parked across the Fulbright residence, the summer breeze too pleasant not to take advantage of. They walked around the quiet neighborhood when he suggested they stroll over to a playground nearby.
Rachel thought for a few seconds, trying to play it cool by focusing on the trees on Fanny's block. She did everything she could to squash the feelings of apprehension, not wanting to stumble over her words and say anything that could be taken the wrong way.
When she thought about it, there really should have been no reason for all the anxiety, but here she was holding the damn sentiment anyway. Chad came back to the house with such a genuine friendliness toward her friends, that she feared she would be the odd one out.
She had the unanticipated need to be accepted.
"Oh, nothing really. Just that you're the quarterback of your school. Must be popular with the girls, am I right?" she managed to utter casually.
"Yeah, you could say that. But let me guess, you're popular with the guys at Vanderbilt."
That got her to look at him, when she actually snickered at that statement. That was too funny. "Haha. No. They don't like me much over there."
"What makes you say that?" He asked, eyebrows knitted together.
"Apparently girls like me are problematic," she explained, as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm competition – for class presidency, captain of the debate team, treasurer of French club… and I'm going to stop myself before I recite my resume verbatim. Not the best first impression, huh? I wholeheartedly apologize for my uncoolness."
Chad chuckled. "Nah, I get it. My parents enjoyed forcing me into all sorts of extracurrics too, since I could remember. They love talking their friends' ears off about it when they compared me with those kids. Boys scouts, honor roll society, drama club, violin, football. Oh God. You should see the bumper stickers on my dad's car. My child is an honor student at Gallagher Elementary. Then Hendry Middle, and so forth."
"Okay, you win. You're more uncool," Rachel said, authentically smiling at him for the first time tonight. Relaxing her shoulders, she was slightly less on edge, just a little bit closer to finding a comfortable groove in his presence.
"How did I go from 'popular with girls' to 'uncool' in less than a minute?" He feigned hurt and clutched his chest.
She played along. "You're sabotaging yourself, boy scout."
"Heh, okay. Fine. I want you to form your own opinion of me anyway, without influence from Pigtails and Red," Chad stated, running his fingers through his hair, fixing the flat style his work hat gave him. The boy really did have a good head of hair though.
An upward curve of her lips formed again, in response to the names he gave her friends. They continued to walk in a pleasant quietness, until she spoke again.
"So, what makes you think I'm someone worth getting to know?"
"Quite the cynic, huh? I'm assuming me thinking you're cute isn't enough?"
Rachel shook her head, wrinkling her nose. "Runs in my family. My dad's a lawyer and my mom lives for finding rationales for everything when they argue. I'm pretty sure McClintock has a surplus of cute girls anyway."
Approaching the empty playground, they took seats on the squeaky swing set. Their continuing small talk added to a mixture of cricket chirps.
"I'd like to think I'm really good at figuring people out. I've never seen you around and you were pretty quick to brush me off if your friends didn't come barging in. So why not do that while also getting to spend time with a pretty girl?"
She raised her eyebrow at him, overlooking the smoothness in his words that would normally make the receiver swoon. "You're looking to figure me out for kicks and giggles then."
"I can get an idea by the time I take you back to Red's," he decided smugly, as he started to gently swing. "You can take a crack at reading me if you want, though usually when people try, they're way off."
"You're pretty cocky."
Chad considered her words, pretending to look thoughtful. "Correct, for some part. I wouldn't call it that though. I prefer the term confident. What else you got?"
"A smartass jock who lures girls into liking him using one-liners and relatability," Rachel deduced, a small smirk forming on her lips.
He had the decency to look shocked at her words. "You forgot to mention devilishly handsome somewhere in there."
She shook her head as a huge smile threatened to replace the previous smirk; she looked down at her lap. "I don't care what my friends say about you. You're a little annoying. Don't know what they're talking about when they say you're a bad boy or whatever. I may not go out a lot, but I'm not getting that impression from a former boy scout and drama club member."
He playfully glared at her backside when she removed herself from the swing to hop over to the slide construct. "Ah, and this is when I'm starting to get a pretty good read on you now."
"Hmm?" Rachel turned around, leaning on the ladder. She was interested in hearing this new point of view on her. It had been the same negative opinions on her from most of her classmates at school for the past two years, so this should be refreshing.
"Your dad is a lawyer…" She nodded to confirm. "… and you go to Vanderbilt, but you don't sound like you enjoy it. Your best friends are Pigtails and Red, which is weird because I have never seen you around. Believe me when I say Red's dad loves Luigi's; I deliver there a lot and Pigtails is usually there. What I'm getting at here basically, is that you're some sort of trust fund baby who's been sheltered her whole life. You don't go out because your parents are super strict. Oh, and someone mentioned Yale earlier. They're trying to get you to follow their footsteps."
She wasn't sure whether to be impressed or freaked out, with the way she looked at him. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Did you do a google search on me in those twenty minutes you were gone? It's a little concerning you know the Wikipedia version of my life story. That's just very weird."
"I promise I didn't. I don't even know your last name, Rach," Chad proudly disclosed. He nodded to himself. "I was right then, all in thirty minutes time. Not bad, if I say so myself."
"McKenzie."
"Hmm?"
"My last name. It's McKenzie," she admitted, unsure why she felt like she could trust him, with something as important as her surname. He could be a stalker, but considering Virginia and Fanny's earlier reports on him, she doubted that.
Chad leaned over her. Rachel wasn't used to the close proximity, but she didn't exactly fear it either. She wondered where the previous tension she felt went. The volume of his voice decreased. "Do you have anything to add on to your little character profile on me then, McKenzie?"
"You're smooth, too smooth," she breathed out. She was sure he felt that and was suddenly grateful for the force-fed winter fresh breath mints. Her brown eyes trailed from his blue, down to his lips, and back up. "I think you're someone who could get me in big trouble just to waste time, but since you think you have me all figured out now, you'll be over this in like five minutes, begging to take me back to my friends."
"That's one thing you've gotten wrong about me so far," he replied coolly. The lack of distance between them didn't cease to send jolts of electricity up and down her spine. "You have my complete attention. When I'm interested, I'm interested. I'm also pretty persistent. I'm going to prove it to you. It seems like you have an opinion on everything, so what do you think about that?"
Rachel stayed quiet and still, more captivated by his essence than she would like to admit. She had absolutely nothing to say, awaiting his next move.
Chad moved in closer. "I'm gonna kiss you now, if that's alright with you."
"I'll be embarrassingly bad at it," was the last thing she managed to whisper before she felt another pair of lips invading her own for the first time.
Rachel knew it went against her better judgment to let some stranger just kiss her like this, but she couldn't help but want what was forbidden to her. It was weird human practice, two mouths together. But at the same time, she couldn't fight off the sensation. It was pleasantly light and chaste, as he pulled away. His boyish charms almost rendered her speechless by the time she opened her eyes.
Her cheeks turned pink and she started to giggle nervously. "Oh, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I don't do this. I never do this, actually. I don't meet up with guys I don't know in the dead of night to mess around."
"McKenzie, relax. I think you're cool. I don't think you're a floozy, if that's what you're afraid of." He took one last look at her puzzled facial expression before removing himself from her and walking over to the monkey bars. He ushered for her to follow him.
"I feel like you know a lot about me, but I know nothing about you besides the on the surface things."
"You know I play football, you made fun of me for being a boy scout, and now you know I'm a good kisser too."
Rachel flushed a deeper color, entertained by his harmless mind game. She didn't expect to be kept on her toes by the boy she deemed to be a stereotypical jock, but she guessed she was being a hypocrite.
Often, she told people not to judge a book by its cover, and here she was, doing just that.
Chad was nothing like she thought him to be. He had character: a witty conversationalist with a slight ego problem, but he caught her attention. She also couldn't help but deny that there was some sort of… chemistry there.
The way he started to make her feel was something she never really experienced before. Three years being a teenager, and this was what she was missing out on? It was exciting feeling so bubbly.
Rachel realized, right there and then, a little carefree wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
She smiled. "Seriously."
He mirrored her expression. "You're adorable. Make something up from the stuff I already told you then. Girls love mysteries, don't they?"
"Okay… hmm. You're doted on by your parents," she cleared her throat. "… but you feel embarrassed and sometimes suffocated by them, as evidenced by the bumper stickers you mentioned. I don't think you have siblings; you have that only child aura. The focus on you gave you your incontestable self-esteem. You've been on a silver platter your whole life, but for some reason, you're still well-liked by everyone at your school."
"See? You do know me," Chad teased, albeit impressed. Rachel hadn't even known him two hours and she knew more than some of his ex-girlfriends did. They only desired the idea of having him tamed. "Maybe if you're really interested, you'll get to uncover more of the enigma that is me."
Rachel kept her nose up. "Maybe I'm not."
"But you are."
"What makes you so sure?"
Instead of answering her directly first, he took a look at the monkey bars in front of them, and back at her. "Let's play a little game. Make things more fun. If I win, I get your number. If you win, I'll answer whatever one question you ask me, regardless of whether you are interested or not."
"Are you sure about this? I've been told I have excellent upper body strength. I also can't help but think I'm being gypped," she determined as she wrinkled her nose again. "You think I'd give up my phone number just like that?"
"Absolutely. You know I think you're cute, and I'm positively certain you think I am too."
Goodness.
Rachel let out another laugh, taking her right hand to her face to cover her snickering expression. "Sure, okay, fine. But you won't be so cute when you lose."
At this point, Chad was calculating ways he could make her make that sound again.
Both blonds were still dangling from the monkey bars after the ten-minute mark.
"Give it up, McKenzie. I will get your number."
She stuck her tongue out at him, surprised at this new level of comfort he had gotten her to be around him in such a small amount of time. "Nope. It's obvious you're someone who doesn't like losing. I think it's becoming my responsibility to show you what that's like tonight."
"I'm going to make you eat your words," he managed to utter out. Chad was just starting to figure out that the girl next to him was a force to be reckoned with; she didn't even break a sweat yet.
She's strong.
He decided to keep this piece of information for later.
Another five minutes later, it was her who let go first.
Rachel typed her number on his cellphone with false disappointment at her loss. She even had the decency to pout when he snapped a picture of her to assign as her contact photo. "I demand a consolation prize."
He couldn't resist. "Fine, but only because I think you're a worthy opponent."
Chad stole another kiss, pleased that this time she was more receptive than the first, and its longer duration. It lingered on his lips, even as she broke off the contact. He quickly memorized the way she currently looked, the flush she possessed seemingly permanent.
Beautiful.
At this moment, he knew he had to have her.
"If I told you I was interested a little, what else do I get?"
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They didn't realize it was about to break dawn by the time they decided to leave the playground. It was 5 am when Rachel found herself back in Fanny's house. She made sure to close the door slowly and softly, but the clicking sound was immediately overpowered by a booming voice coming from the living room.
"RACHEL MCKENZIE, YE ARE PAST CURFEW. WHAT HAPPENED?!"
She was undoubtedly startled, a loud gasp leaving her mouth. "Jesus, Fanny. Don't give me a heart attack," she said as tried to catch her breath. "Nothing happened. He and I just talked. I gave him my number, but it's not going anywhere."
Rachel didn't even believe that was the slightest bit convincing with the way she said the word nothing.
Virginia rubbed her tired eyes, startled from the voice all the way from the couch, still half-asleep. "What makes you think that? He found out you like pineapple on your pizza?"
The blonde shrugged her shoulders, ignoring that little quip. "I told him I don't date. My curfew is 9, and he works at Luigi's until closing most of the week anyway. There's no way he would want to hang around with me. I'm way too tame for his likes. This was enough adventure for me."
She looked back the night's events fondly. "But you guys were right. He was cool like you said. I had fun."
"Did ye make out at least? Was it good?"
Her eyes narrowed, but she shouldn't have been shocked that Fanny didn't care much about the wholesome facts.
She gave in regardless, nodding while suppressing the girliest squeak deemed to have been uncharacteristic of her. "It was."
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When she woke up around noontime, with Fanny and Virginia snoring away toppled on top of each other, it was to a text message tone. An unsaved number, but it was safe to assume she knew who it was.
'Free to have fun tonight, McKenzie?'
It was only the beginning of the summer, but she had a hunch it wouldn't be as boring as the previous holiday breaks: grandparent visits, community service, and afternoon tea with the snooty daughters of her father's associates.
She just needed to find a way around these damn rules.