Kenny's Investigation
1071 Words
[3rd Person]
At ten o’clock, Kendra woke up. Morgan was sitting on his bed, playing some game on his phone. She went to change and clean up. The shower was a definite need. Over twelve hours of travel left her feeling a bit gross.
After she changed into fresh jeans and a t-shirt, they went to the office to ask about good places for breakfast. The daytime clerk was an older lady whose nametag said “Lily-Ann”. She gave them her top three choices for quality. They decided on Maple’s Diner.
It was a bright, clean restaurant filled with the familiar smells of bacon, coffee, and pancakes. They were seated by a hostess and given menus and water. She returned a short time later with a hot carafe of coffee and some creamers. Kendra couldn’t help but notice the extra attention they were getting from the other customers. Strangers must not have been a common occurrence there.
“So, did you get the tea?” Morgan asked.
Kendra snorted. “So, so much. I don’t know if this place is crazy or just this girl. Maybe it’s both.”
“Then, is this a rescue mission?”
“It could be. I want to see her before we meet her. Like, see what she’s like when she’s not in front of him. According to Kirk, she doesn’t go a lot of places and she’s at the high school today. I wonder what time it gets out. My old school got out at three-fifteen, but other places have different start and end times.” She sighed. “There is one positive about a small town though, everyone knows everything.”
The waitress came to get their orders. After they ordered, Kendra asked when the high school let out for the day. Their waitress was a little guarded and asked why. Kenny explained that they were visiting family and her cousin was a senior. They wanted to pick her up from school, but forgot to ask anyone the time.
“Today’s an early day for seniors. School will get out at two for most of them. The ones that did summer learnin’ will be out around now.” She replied.
“Awesome. Thanks so much.” Kendra said.
The waitress left to put their orders in. Morgan watched Kendra as she made a plan in the little notebook she carried in her purse. Most of his time was spent watching what Kenny was doing. He thought she was hilarious and, if he were into the idea of relationships, he would’ve wanted to date her. They had more fun as friends, though.
After they finished breakfast, they headed back to the motel. Kenny got Jaxon’s suit and shoes put into the car. She made Morgan brush his hair again. It was only just after one in the afternoon, before she couldn’t stand waiting anymore.
“Let’s go. We can find a good parking spot at the school. Maybe grab some burgers?” She offered.
“You’re only throwing burgers in so I’ll say yes. You manipulative b***h. Whose burgers?” Morgan groaned as Kenny laughed at him.
“We’ll see what there is on the way there.”
They picked up cheap burgers at a local shop that was really well priced. A bag of ten burgers for ten dollars. Once they got to the school, they parked in the lot across from the entrance and ate while talking about Kenny’s plan for saving Jaxon if it turned out he needed it.
“I thought you believed in soulmates and ‘the one’, Kenny. Isn’t it possible she’s his ‘one’?” He asked between bites.
“Jackie wouldn’t know the one if she bit him. He’s not focused enough. You’ve seen him when girls are flirting. He has no clue. I think his sister badgered him enough and got him hooked up with this drama bomb so she could get the inside scoop on the family.
They’re, like, super secretive. The stuff that does come out is crazy. There’s a rumor going around right now that she’s having an affair with her stepdad. In the past people have said she was in love with one of her brothers, a lot of people think she broke up a couple just so she could date the boy, and there’s some who think she’s actually a lesbian. She turned down every guy until Jackie.
The mom never really leaves the property. Everyone thinks she went crazy and the family’s hiding it. The oldest brother is gay, dating a bounty hunter, and visits a b**m club regularly to be ‘punished’. Honestly, sounds like my kinda dude. The middle brother was kicked out of the house. Rumor was, they caught him doing something illegal and decided to make him society’s problem. Now he’s dating the sheriff’s daughter and became a deputy. Probably to cover things up.
The youngest brother is like five or six. Some people said he was actually Juniper’s, but is being raised as her brother. That one has mixed possibilities, she was like eleven or twelve when he was born. Could just be people being asses. The stepdad was just in jail last weekend for threatening to beat Jaxon’s nephew’s head in with a baseball bat.
This isn’t even everything I heard last night. Just parts of it. I lived in a small town, so I know you have to take it all with a grain of salt. There’s just so much of it, some parts have to be true.” Kenny told him.
“f**k. Small towns are scary. It’s like a living soap opera.” Morgan scoffed.
The bell rang and Kenny pulled out a baseball cap to tuck her hair under. She and Morgan left the car. She told him they would split up and if he heard a girl being called Juni, he was to raise his arm and wave Kenny over.
They waded through the students, who were rushing out of the doors and toward the parking lot. A lot of chattering, making plans, spreading gossip. Kenny had to restrain herself from listening. Gossip was her weakness. While she was wandering around, she felt a hard jolt in her back which knocked her into one of the seniors.
She squealed as she wrapped her arms around his waist, trying to keep herself off the ground, where she was sure she would be trampled. The boy pulled her arms off his waist and drew her in close to him. Kenny took a deep breath and sighed. He smelled as amazing as he felt.
- Writer
