Ken Ch. 02

Mike started to laugh, somewhat restrained, but the reaction, very appalling to his sister, was obvious. Nick seemed a little more apprehensive and let out a nervous chuckle. Yet, his amusement was apparent too. Kendra needed a few seconds to comprehend the scene that was unfolding before her. Just like old times, she was the one being wronged; the familiar sensation felt like a terrible déjà-vu, and if it was not bad enough, her brother started to snicker at her.

"Damn it, Kendra, you scared the shit out of us. I see you've taken up your old habits again. School is that way, though, and where is your goddamn helmet," he sneered.

The car must have come out from the little street at the right corner, which she now remembered led up to Nick's house. She did not hear the car driving out from that direction, and they probably did not catch sight of her in time for them to anticipate and let her turn all the same. For the moment, the only thing the young woman managed to accomplish in the aftermath of the near-accident was to continue gazing at them in a disorientated way, which caused both guys to look a tad more concerned.

"Hey, don't be a pussy. Calm down, will you?" Mike uttered in an irritated tone, followed by a deep-voiced "Where where you going anyway?"

She glanced at the handsome young man sitting next to her brother, who uttered that last question. Out of the blue, then, she started to hysterically mutter in an angry, high-pitched voice.

"You fucking assholes!" was the only discernible sentence the boys could make out from her frenzy, after which they instinctively proceeded to step out of the car in an effort to soothe her. It turned out to be an unsuccessful endeavor, considering that the girl hastily went on her saddle. She pedaled off in the opposite direction with the intention of going home and at the same time as far away as possible from the car, from the incident that just had transpired, from them, and surtout: from Nick.

"Well shit" was the last thing she heard before escaping. She identified the cussing as Nick's.

The bike ride back went by in a panicky haze. She started to overanalyze what had just happened.

'Did I just went total nuts for a stupid accident that was nobody's fault?' She wondered. 'No, but their reaction was so unapologetic. So rude. I'm glad I gave them a piece of my mind.'

She was cringing because she literally had gave them a piece of her mind. Her mind was scattered all over the place when she crazily blurted out her anger.

'Oh my God, I basically made no sense. They must think I'm a total nutbag!' She painfully realized.

She did not know how in earth she got home without going astray, but as she was putting her bike in the garage, she started to excuse the wild reaction she had.

'It wasn't my fault, but Mick's. The douchebag. The immature but healthier thing he could have said would have been: 'Please don't tell Mom, and especially not Dad, they would freak out. I would do anything for you if you could keep this down.

Kendra was actually expecting, or rather hoping, that all hell would break lose once the outrageous news was delivered. She was already fantasizing about some satisfactory 'ass-whooping' on her mother's part. Her father could put some icing on the cake by giving him a condescending speech on responsibility or civility or anything else; it was for her Dad to choose the main topic at hand, provided it was exceedingly annoying.

She was so angry and upset with her brother and was counting on some physical and moral reprimanding by her parents, but at the same time she started to be unsure about Nick's involvement. His reaction was not ideal to say the least, but he did look more taken aback right after the incident happened. And although he could have defended her in some way, Kendra was thinking she should not be holding that much of a grudge against him, since it was her brother who had taken the cake in handling that situation very, very badly.

She heard her parents in the living room watching some documentary on Animal Planet. She gazed at them from their back, but could clearly perceive how relaxed they seemed, with her mother's head resting on her father's shoulder, whilst his left arm enlaced her smaller frame. The scene looked so endearing that she decided to give the news blast a rest for the time being, and walked upstairs to the bathroom to take a shower. She could throw in some extensive hair washing as well, Kendra figured, because she had all the time, space and comfort she needs to be taking care of those disobedient curls of hers - the shower and bathroom's size was logically much more to her liking compared to that of her dorm.

After a soothing shower, followed by her usual hair care regimen, she felt more appeased. 'I should take a nap now,' she thought, but vaguely heard the slamming of the kitchen door and a few heavy footsteps entering the house. 'Nap be damned,' she reasoned. She believed that she needed to confront her brother with that awful behavior of his. And she was not only bearing in mind the near-accident episode, but his poor conduct towards her in the last couple of years altogether. They had been arguing about that, but he never seemed to have changed, or to have been trying to change for that matter.

He was grabbing some Oreos when she stumbled upon him, which did nothing but fuel her resentment more. She pondered about a minute before she started to speak.

"You are one hell of a douche, you know that?"

He looked slightly dumbfounded, looking up from some sports magazine on the counter with one Oreo in his right hand, but proceeded to chuckle and shrug soon after.

"Hey, yea what was that about, Ken? You nearly jumped out of your skin back there."

"Yea, I did! Ya have nothing to say to defend yourself?"

"Defend what? It was an accident, I didn't try to run you over." He protested, calmly, whereas she was raising her voice. They both heard their parents distantly sighing and discussing whether they should intervene. But it appeared that none of them rose from the coach to take any action. Kendra instantly felt remorseful as she remembered how peacefully they looked, relaxing in front of the TV.

"I know that!" She loudly answered nonetheless.

"So what do you want?"

"It's not my job to figure that out! Any other decent person would have known what to do by now. I want ..."

"We're sorry" was the next thing she heard. The apology did not come from Michael.

She turned around to see Nick standing in the hallway door. The atmosphere soon became unnatural and loaded seeing that no one was saying a word. Kendra needed to process the unanticipated presence of Nick as well, together with the fact that she was still in her robe and very aware of being scarcely dressed in the company of the object of her daydreams. Kendra did not bother to get dressed before she went downstairs, which she immensely regretted now. She was only wearing white cotton panties under her gown.

It was Mike who liberated them from the uncomfortable and pressing silence.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. We're both really sorry indeed, because it was also Nick's fault that I didn't see you. You see, he was talking about that chick who ..." He started to snicker.

"Shut up Mike, come on," Nick tittered in symbiosis with his friend. They were clearly appreciating a private joke, taking pride in their close affinity with each other, and perhaps compensating for the awkwardness that ensued just after Nick's mea culpa. Kendra did not know how to react to this. They were kind of annulling the validity of their apology by giggling in all but seriousness.

"I guess that this is the best I can get." Kendra said quietly, while suppressing the hurt in her voice.

Nick walked past her and put his hand on her shoulder. The gentle contact sent a shiver down the young woman's spine.

"Hey, for what it's worth. We are truly sorry. Well, you know us, don't you? We're idiots. And what we did was really stupid on our part. We should have had apologized immediately, especially because we really scared the hell out of you."

A barely audible and brittle "yea" was the only thing she managed to articulate, as her thoughts were going back and forth. Not only was Nick standing so close to her and smiling down at her while she was naked, making it very challenging for her to concentrate on the words he was saying, but also, luckily, in spite of this, she was debating whether she was satisfied with his confession of guilt, or should object some more, if only to make him talk to her some more. His voice was deep and velvety, in contrast to her brother's, which was more raspy and unsteady. The superbly masculine voice of Nick charmed her deeply and caused her to intuitively smile back at him, which he interpreted as an acceptance of his apology. Comforted, he joined Mike and stole an untouched Oreo from him and gave it to Kendra.

"Thanks," she kindly said, referring both to his apology and to the sugary treat. Nick lightly nodded his head , after which he went to Mike and gave him a brotherly blow in the guts, before leaving the kitchen and going off to the living room.

Kendra ran upstairs and did not give Mike any chance to add something. When she arrived in her room she could not help but feel very uneasy. At least she did not feel conflicted anymore about Nick. He was the bigger person then and there, and she was appreciative of how he took the initiative to ease the tension. But she wished she would not have worn such revealing gear, albeit that appeared to have left Nick indifferent. To be honest, the robe did not show that much of skin, but it clung to her body in ways that flushed her.

She strolled to the standing mirror and took a very scrutinizing look at her reflection. She did like how her dark kinky curls were unfolding themselves, framing her face and softening her features. Her tresses stopped at her shoulders when dry. Her rich brownish, even skin tone was a feature she took pride in too. In addition, she was fairly tall compared to her mother.

She was not too happy about her figure still, like ninety per cent of the female population obviously. She was not unhealthily overweight by all means, but her heavy breasts, little gut, wide set of hips and relatively thick thighs that developed during and after her puberty, constituted quite an unsettling sight to her. She has always had the notion that she could definitely afford to losing some weight, if only to appear more toned and vigorous.

Nick's body, though, was very toned. It was clear that he was no stranger to workouts on a regular basis, Kendra figured. He was muscularly built, without looking massive or heavy. He used to be more lanky in his preteens, but transformed to a reasonably athletic-looking young man later, and Kendra rapidly picked up on it, with the result of becoming infatuated with him. He had wavy dark brown hair and owned raw, greenish gray eyes that were expressive and full of attention at times, at least to those who were paying attention enough to perceive it.

She was smitten, not only thanks to his appearance, but also because of his personality, for he possessed every characteristic that would draw any attentive young woman in. He was full of humor but sincere. He did not take himself too seriously, and seemed only to care about enjoying high school and its perks like his close friendships and female attention. He was actually akin to Mike in mentality; he was poise and held an unbound state of mind, which made him likeable and approachable to people who just wanted to enjoy themselves, like Nick himself did.

He dated girls with that untroubled philosophy in the back of his mind. He has had several girlfriends throughout his high school career, which hinted at his desire of merely taking things the way they came. He simply enjoyed the company of pretty and cool girls; he loved spending time with them, exploring their physique and their sexuality.

Kendra never recalled seeing him with young women of color. The girl was not too sure how she should cope with that reality. It either meant that he was predominantly not attracted to black women, or that black women, who would potentially rouse his interest, never happened to cross his path. All the same, it presented an additional obstacle for her to even imagining being his love interest, or anything less romantic for that matter.

She suddenly heard the distinct ringtone of her smartphone, and hurried to her purse to retrieve the device and answer the call. It was Jessica.

"Hi Ken, what's up? Are you home?"

"Hey Jess. Yes I am actually."

"Ok good, how come you didn't come by already? I thought we were supposed to do something today?" She asked dryly.

"Yea, I know. I actually planned on stopping by and catching up, but I thought that maybe you weren't gonna be home," she justified for her deed.

"Well no crazy, I took the week-end off from my library shifts to hang out with you. Plus, there's this party tonight that I desperately want to attend. Come with me," She suggested.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe."

Kendra was eager to do something with her which was more under the radar like that cute picnic she brainstormed about earlier on. She felt stupid. Jessica, more adventurous, could appreciate these kinds of ideas but did prefer more outgoing activities like parties, as it was clear now again. However, Kendra thought she could dodge that bullet.

" Whose party is it?" She asked, going on a limb.

"Clyde Redding is throwing it. He personally invited me and seemed totally okay with it if I brought other people. But I feel like going with you, because you know these people better than me, some of them went to your high school. I only know a handful of the people who are supposed to come. It will be fun, honey, come on!" She pushed.

"I don't know, Jess, can't we do something more chillaxing? And Clyde Redding is an ass," Kendra tried.

"I don't care, he's hot, and he was kind enough to invite me, even if he doesn't know me."

"I bet you got the invite through Facebook," Kendra derisively bit.

"Yea, so what? He said bring someone you like." She paused. " I do like you."

Kendra strongly sensed that her friend was foolishly smiling at the other end of the line. It was cute and it won her over.

"Stop wooing me." She says, eliciting a small chuckle from Jessica. "I can't believe you've talked me into this."

"Yes!" Jessica enthusiastically exclaimed. "We're gonna have a good time, you'll see. And we could do your chillaxing thing tomorrow if you want, to recuperate from the crazy-ass party! What was it that you said you had planned?" She asked.

"I haven't told you yet," Kendra corrected her friend. "I thought we could go on a picnic."

"Oh yea, I dig that, that's great. Let's! Tomorrow, I mean. Tomorrow would be perfect," Jessica carefully emphasized.

"Okay, so I'll drop in by your place tonight before heading off?" Kendra offered.

"Around ten then? We can take my Mom's car."

"Cool, I'll see you then."

Kendra was now standing by the very same mirror where she contemplated herself a few hours ago. But this time, she needed to select an outfit for tonight, which made her cringe. There were different options but she was not all too pleased with what she was seeing now. She was in love with the marine blue chino trousers which she often wore to classes and had just tried on, but she speculated on whether she should be sporting something more casually classy rather than chic and classy.

A pair of skinny jeans would do the trick, she decided. She owned a pair that complemented her shape; lifting her ample derriere, displaying her sizeable, yet womanly thighs. She was hoping that she could find some loose elegant blouse to go with it. Browsing her ward robe, she found something that fit the description and tried it on. It was an egg shell cotton blouse that showed a alluring, but reasonable amount of cleavage that spoke to her mind. 'Good.'

Most of her heeled shoes were at her house, and luckily not back at campus. She selected an auburn pair of pumps that matched the rest of the outfit before rushing to her mother's room to borrow some makeup. It was already nine-thirty, and she hadn't already started to style her mane or to apply a minimum of makeup. She slid past her mother, who was observing her intently. Wanting to help, she fetched another small makeup bag.

"Here, Ken, I have a foundation here that could work for you better that it does for me. Oh, here's some lip-gloss and eyeliner. I can give you some nail polish too."

"Thanks Mom. I'll take the foundation and eyeliner, but I'll use my red lipstick instead of gloss... And I have no time for nail polish."

"You seem anxious," her Mom observed serenely.

"I am," Kendra admitted.

"Why? I actually think it's great that you step into the world tonight. You hardly go out."

"Yea, I know, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, I assure you. It's better for me to focus on my classes," she explained.

"That's great, but it seems that you haven't met someone because of that."

"Don't start," she tactfully warned. "I'm in a hurry, we'll talk later. Thanks again for the foundation and stuff," she said while hurrying up to continue her beauty ritual. She finished with some mascara and settled on putting her hair up in a loose puffy tress. She wore a small golden necklace to adorn her open neck. 'Done, I'm off,' she thought, grabbing a black blazer and green foulard.

Jessica looked stunning in her olive green dress and light brown high-heeled boots reaching below her knee. She snatched her denim jacket and small purse off the coat rack in one swift moment, before joining and warmly greeting her friend on the front porch of her house. The porch lights were dimmed, but Jessica could discern some admiring peek on her friend's face.

"You don't look so bad yourself, Ken," she returned the compliment. "Love the hair and the makeup," she specified." She turned her gaze to the bike that was parked in the driveway.

"What the hell is that?"

"My bike, you fool. Gift from Mom's."

"Old school," Jessica taunted. "Like medieval times," she ironically added. "Let's go."