Chapter Two

Adrianna’s POV 

            Kenzie and I walk out to my car silently and she doesn’t protest when I open the passenger door for her. When I see she’s settled and starting to put her seatbelt on, I gently close her door as to not set off another attack. I walk around to the driver side and get ready to head to her house.

            “I have navigation on my phone, so you can just tell me your address.” I let her know. When she gives it to me, I put it into my phone and we set off. It’s only about a 30 minute drive and the blonde next to me doesn’t seem to want to talk to me right now. I don’t blame her. I know it always took her a while before she talked after she had an attack, so I always let her be the first to talk. I let my mind wonder while we drive to her apartment.

            “Who are you texting?” my 12-year old sister, Liliana, asks me as she walks into the living room. I’m on the couch lounging in a t-shirt and sweats, watching (well, more just listening to) Degrassi playing on the television. It is mine and Mackenzie’s favorite TV show and she’s watching it at her house right now too.

            “Kenzie.” I state in a monotone voice, but I have a cheesy smile on my face, because seriously, my girlfriend is so cheesy. Oh yea, we’ve been dating for just over a month. We decided the day after her panic attack, thanks to her b***h of a sister, that we should try this whole dating thing. We haven’t told anyone yet, because she doesn’t think her family will react well. I want to tell my family soon, because I know they will be fine with whoever I date. Girl or guy.

            “Gah! You were just at her house like an hour ago, can’t you take a break from each other?” my older sister, Nickayla, asks as she and her twin, Carlos, walk into the room. I swear, I never have any peace in this house. A family of seven, living in a 9 bedroom house; you’d think people would keep to their own space, but my family just stays on top of each other.

            “Look at that cheesy smile too! She’s had it on her face since she’s gotten home. It’s starting to creep me out, Ade. You gotta stop.” Carlos teases me as he sits on “his” recliner. Honestly, I’m barely listening though, because I’m too busy talking to my blonde.

From Kenzie <3: Knock knock.

            To Kenzie <3: Really? Knock knock jokes?

            From Kenzie <3: Pwease? For lil ole me? :’(

I’m just picturing her pout and I swear it’ll be the death of me. Ever since we met, whenever that girl pouts, I want to do whatever I can to make it into a smile. I’m not even immune to it now and we’re 3 blocks apart from each other.

To Kenzie <3: I’d do anything for you, my love. Who’s there?

            From Kenzie <3: Owl. ;)

            To Kenzie <3: Owl who?

            From Kenzie <3: Owlalwayslubyou. <3

I actually start laughing out loud at her cheesiness. She is always so cute and makes me so happy. I look up from my phone and my brother and sisters are staring curiously at me. I look back at my phone and text back.

To Kenzie <3: I will always love you too, choochie. <3 :) I wish I could talk more, but the fambam is closing in on me. There are already 3 in the room. Only a matter of time before the other 3 show. ;) Love you, babe! I’ll text you as soon as I can. <3

I go to put my phone away, but get a text almost immediately.

From Kenzie <3: Please do, bubbles. Because my family is all gone. :(

Ugh, this is why I hate her family. They play all nice when people are around and then they just push Kenzie aside when their “happy family” isn’t needed. I can’t bear to stop talking to her now. She’ll be sad and I can’t have a sad girlfriend.

            “Hello? Earth to Adrianna!” I hear Nicka say.

            “Yea, I’m here, cállate!” I say as I text back. In that case, I’ll be here as long as you need me. :)

“Why don’t you tell Mackenzie that you’ll talk to her later? Your family wants to spend time with you.” I hear my mom say as she enters the room with my dad and my oldest brother, Miguel. Of course, now my whole family wants to be in this Adrianna Tease Fest. “I’m serious, Adrianna Isabella. You need to tell her you’ll talk later.”

From Kenzie <3: Awe! Thank you. :) It actually may not be that long. I’m getting really tired and my tummy is hurting. :’(

            To Kenzie <3: Chooch, why didn’t you tell me before? I’ll try and hurry with my family and I’ll bring you some medicine and soup.

            “Mamí, I can’t do that. She just told me that she doesn’t feel good. I need to go bring her medicine.” I say as I’m getting ready to get off the couch. They like Kenzie, but they don’t really know much about her because she likes to stay in my room when she’s over and she doesn’t talk to them much. The person in my family she talks to most is Liliana, but even then it’s more to give her advice than actual conversation.

            “Well, her family can take care of her then,” I stiffen at my papí’s words. “I’m sure they are perfectly capable of taking care of her.” They just don’t understand and I can feel myself getting upset.

From Kenzie <3: You don’t have to do that, Ade. Really. I’ll be fine. I’m just going to sleep it off. You enjoy your family time. I don’t want to keep all your awesomeness for myself. Share some with them. ;) I love you, Adrianna. Buenos noches.

There she goes being all adorable and sweet again. Whenever she can, she tries to talk or write in Spanish to me. Our friends think she’s weird, but I love it, and she knows it. She is always trying to get me to spend more time with my family, but I always feel lost when her and I aren’t together or talking, connected in some way. For a moment, I forget about my family and my rising anger.

            “Seriously, Ade. You act like she’s five sometimes. She’s sixteen with parents and siblings. I’m sure someone can handle her.” Miguel teases me. I seriously just wanna punch him in the face. If he wasn’t three years older than me, I swear I would.

            “Shut the f**k up, Miguel! You don’t know anything about her or her family. If I want to go help her, I’m gonna go!” I raise my voice at him, which is bad, because I forgot my parents are here too. I just want to make sure she’s okay. Is that so bad?

            “Adrianna Isabella Guerrilla! Ver su boca, ahora! You know better than to talk like that to anybody in this family!” My papí yells at me and I feel like I’m a little kid, because our parents rarely raise their voices. I am looking at my parents, but I can see my siblings flinch and look between us warily. I can feel the tears start to well up in my eyes.

            “Papí. Mamí. No entiende! If I don’t help her no one will! Her family just left her by herself tonight in that big house!” I don’t even care if my family thinks I’m being ridiculous. I want to be there for her. “She’s scared of the dark and sick and there’s a storm coming in tonight. She’s going to have another attack and no will be there. She doesn’t have anyone there to protect her!”

            “Honey, cálmate.” I more hear my mom tell me and then feel her arms wrap protectively around me. I try and relax into her, but I cannot bring myself to. I’m too upset. “Why are you so protective over her? I understand you two are best friends, but, cariña, you need to let her grow on her own. You’re going to make her too codependent on you and she won’t learn how to cope through little things like tonight.”

            I move out of my mother’s embrace and I glare at her and the rest of my family who are all staring at me. “But I don’t want her to think that she doesn’t matter. Because she matters to me.” I tell them all as I turn and run out of the room. I grab my car keys and go over to where I belong. With Kenzie.

            I run outside to my car and hear a loud crack of thunder as I’m sitting down. I inwardly curse myself because I know I’m going to be in so much trouble with my family for all of this, but right now I just want to make sure that Kenz is okay. “F**k” I think, because I still have to go to the store and pick up her medicine and soup. I pick up my phone to call the blue eyed girl to at least let her know that I’m on my way.

            Hello loves! This is Mackenzie! Well, not actually me, but my voice on my voicemail so you can leave me a message after the beep. So, wait until I’m done talking and then you will hear the beep and then you can start talking. Okay? Oh wait.. BEEP!

            “Mackenzie, I’m constantly telling you to charge your phone.” I say out loud to myself as I put my phone back into my purse. It’s in this moment that I hear my mother’s voice in my head, “You’re going to make her too codependent on you..” It’s not true though. It can’t be. My Kenz is so smart, just when it comes to other things. She knows music like the back of her hand. If you put her with a baby she could tell you all their cries and what makes them the happiest. Little kids love her and she knows anything there is to know about Hollywood and celebrities. She just forgets basic things, like to charge her phone and turning off electronics and such when she leaves a room.

            I continue to hear thunder and lightning as I pull into the grocery store parking lot. I get out of the car and raindrops start to wet my face and arms. I have to hurry, because this storm is coming in fast.

            I rush around the store and get her various stomach and flu medicines, some hard candies because she doesn’t like when the taste of the medicine stays in her mouth after she swallows it, and the ingredients to make chicken noodle soup. (She insists that canned soup makes her sicker.)

            I head out of the store and its pitch black, but I can hear the rain in a downpour. Before I leave the safety of the awning, I pull my phone out and call my girlfriend again.

            Hello loves! This is Mackenzie! Well, not… “Great straight to voicemail again. Please please please be okay!” I think just as a huge crack of thunder roars in the sky. I run to my car and get in as soon as I can, but I’m still soaked when I sit behind the steering wheel. I pull my seatbelt on and head the five blocks to the house. It’s times like these I’m glad we will in Calabasas and traffic isn’t as bad as downtown LA.

            When I pull up to the house, I see through the windows that all the lights are on. There still aren’t any cars in the driveway, so I know she’s still by herself. I make a mental note to try and convince Mr. and Mrs. Jackson to get Kenzie a car. If Tyler and Quinn both got their cars at 16, why can’t Mackenzie have one. Just another thing I don’t like about this family. Add it to the list.

            The thunder is literally rolling for seconds at a time and I leave the groceries in the car, just until I know that she is okay. I run up to the front door and ring the doorbell a couple times. I start knocking on the door. Even though I’m panicking, I don’t want her to sense that and make her more upset. I still don’t see any movement behind the door.

            I ring the doorbell a couple more times. “Kenzie! Choochie! Open up, please! It’s Bubbles!” Nothing. “Mackenzie! Please open the door! It’s Adrianna!” Finally, I see her running towards the door and I know she’s upset before she even answers. She rips the door open and falls into my arms and I feel her chest heaving against mine. She’s crying into my shirt, even though I can’t tell because of all the rain. I practically carry her inside the house to the couch and I hold her while she calms down.

            After about five minutes of rubbing circles over her back, I feel her sobs start to slow, but her chest is still heaving and I know she needs her medicine. “Hun, I’m going to get your inhaler. I know you want to come with me, but I need you to stay here. If you get up and walk, your chest will hurt more.” I say to her as I look into her eyes and run my fingers through her damp, blonde locks. “I’ll run and be back in 30 seconds. I promise. Count for me.” I see her nod her head slightly. I give her a chaste kiss on her pouty lips and get up.

            When I come back, I sit down and hand her the medicine. “28 seconds.” She whispers right before she takes it from my hands and I give her a small encouraging smile to take her medicine. She takes two puffs and leans back into my chest. I instinctively run my fingers through her hair and she clutches at my shirt and pulls me impossibly closer. I don’t know how long we stayed like this, but every time we heard thunder crack I could feel her flinch and I just want to go crazy on Mother Nature.

            After a while, she finally started talking, “I did everything you said. When I got out of the shower, I heard the thunder and so I went around and turned on all the lights, but I forgot my phone in my room and I accidently tripped over the cord to my lamp earlier and so I couldn’t go back in there because it was too dark. So I sat in the office with the TV on because it has the least amount of windows. I tried not to get scared. I really did, but I just wanted to talk to you. I’m sorry! I don’t want to be such a burden.”

            I place my fingers under her chin and guide her head to look me in the eyes. I give her a small smile and a chaste kiss on the forehead. “You, Mackenzie Lynn Jackson, are never and will never be a burden. I promise you. I don’t lie to you, do I?” She shook her head. “You did everything fine, honey. I’m just glad you heard me at the door so I didn’t have to break it down when I got here.” I smile and wink at her. She lets out a little giggle.

            “There’s my girl. Now, is your chest feeling better?”

            “Yes, but my stomach is doing somersaults. I’m surprised I haven’t thrown up.” She says and I just now notice how pale her face is and how warm her back is.

            “Right. You look miserable, my love. Let’s get you all set up on the office couch since that is closer to the kitchen. I’ll put on season seven of Degrassi for you. I brought you some medicine, candies, and I’ll make you some homemade chicken soup.’

            "Thank you, because those canned soups will just make me sicker.” She frowns at me.

            “I think you just want me to be your little wifey.” I wink and she gives me a slight smile. “Don’t worry, my love. I’d love to play your wifey.” I lean in and kiss her on her lips that are still wet from tears. She leans into me and kisses back. Just as my tongue runs along her bottom lip asking for entrance, I hear someone clear their throat from behind me.

            We pull apart quickly from each other and I turn just as Mackenzie’s eyes widen. “Mom! Dad!”

Author's Note

Honestly, I'm in such a slump with this story and I haven't been able to write in it for about two years, but it's a goal of mine to finish, because it's the first thing I've ever written. Any constructive reviews could help or anything that would be cool to write about in future chapters. Thanks!