Page 36 of Reviving Kendall

Maverick honks the horn outside. “God, he’s such an impatient prick,” I mumble.

Lucas pulls me from Goose and throws his arms around me, “Go easy on him.”

I go to nod, but Teagan comes up from behind me and squishes me against Lucas, “Kendall sandwich!”

I try to laugh, but it comes out muffled against Lucas’ chest.

“Ok, ok,” Goose says, “Mav’s going to murder us all if she doesn’t get up there.”

Reluctantly, I step away from them and wave bye as I make my way up the stairs.

My hand has just closed around the doorknob when Teagan’s voice calls out, “Hey, wait a second.”

When I turn around, he pulls the beanie that we’ve been trading back and forth out of his pocket and puts it on my head. I smile up at him and he leans down to press his lips against mine. It’s just a quick stolen moment, but it’s still sweet. My eyes catch movement by the stairs. Lucas. He’s standing with a curious expression on his face, but he doesn’t look angry like someone typically would in this situation.

His face is front and foremost in my mind for half the trip home. Maverick ruins it by opening his mouth, “Heard you punched some girl in the face.”

I roll my eyes, “Maybe. What’s it to you?”

“Just sounds kind of hypocritical if you ask me,” he says. “You stopped me from giving that guy what he deserved the other day and then turn around and start punching people at school.”

I turn my head to look out the window, “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He sighs with exasperation and I look back to him, “Stacey was talking shit about Nana. It was just the last straw. She’s been in cahoots with Derrik, and trying to make my life as miserable as possible. Gramps had a bad weekend and I got no sleep, so when she started running her mouth, I warned her. As you can see, she didn’t listen. I stopped you with Derrik because it looked like you were going to kill him. I didn’t stop you from giving him what he deserves. In my opinion, they both got what was coming to them. I apologized, because I brought drama to the party, and because I’m sure that I embarrassed you guys.”

By the end, I’m looking away from him again, but his next words have me whipping my head back around, “I’m sorry I’m being such a dick, Kendall. You didn’t embarrass us at the party. I was more pissed at myself than I was you or even that guy. I see how the guys are with you. They like you and that could turn out to be a very bad thing. When Teagan told us what had gone down, at first I got pissed at the guy, then I was furious with myself for how much I cared.”

“Why would it be such a bad thing if you guys cared for me? Because I don’t come from the right family?” I ask carefully.

Maverick looks like he gets pissed for a second, but then his face settles back down, “That has nothing to do with it, and you know it. Do the math, Kendall. There’s four of us and only one of you. How exactly do you see this ending? I’m going to speak for myself when I say that I don’t share well with others.”

“I’m not asking you to,” I say quietly. “It’s just nice to have friends again.”

His eyes cut over to me, “Think things will stay that way?”

That’s not exactly something that I can answer honestly. I’ve kissed two out of four of them and have almost kissed one of the others. I didn’t set out for any of this to happen, but it’s like being on a rollercoaster. Once you’re strapped in and the chain is pulling you up, there’s no turning back. You can’t do anything but crest the hill, fall over and pray to all that is holy that nothing will go wrong before you make it back to the loading dock.

Everything in the Rover is quiet for the next few minutes before he says, “What happened to your hair? Goose make you ride with your head out the window of the truck or something?”

If it wasn’t for the barely contained smile on his face, I would have probably smacked him. Who would have thought Maverick had it in him to hand out a joke?

By the time that we make it to Sleepy Pines, things with him are better than they’ve been since the first day that we met.

We pull up outside of the trailer and I grab Goose’s bag as I hop out, “Thanks for the ride Mav.”

The smile that he throws me before pulling off leaves me with sweaty palms, a racing heart, and my mouth gaping like a fish.

A Million Other Excuses

After apologies were made, and bridges were rebuilt with the quad, the next month or so flies by. Almost every day is spent with at least one of them, but I have taken Maverick’s words to heart and haven’t let any of them kiss me. I haven’t even given them the opportunity to do so. I’d rather have them as friends than not at all.

Thanksgiving comes and goes just as it has every other year. The guys invited me to Lucas’ house and even extended it to Gramps too, which I find super sweet. There’s no guarantee to how many I have left with him, so I decline, and Gramps and I spend the day together. I even cook some of Nana’s favorite recipes. He doesn’t eat much, but I can tell that he at least appreciates that I take the time to do it. I see more smiles out of him that day than I have in a full year.

School doesn’t even suck as bad as normal either. Neither Derrik nor Stacey bother me in the least. I just have to fend off advances from Billy at least once a week. It’s not all bad, truly. The genuine attention is nice for a change. He just doesn’t do it for me. It might partially have something to do with there being no room left anywhere inside of me for him. Brain or heart.

Today is the first official day of winter break from school, and I’m more excited about sleeping in than anything. I should have known that the guys would have other plans. Around seven-thirty my phone starts going off. I let it go to voicemail the first time, but then it starts ringing again right after.

I swear under my breath as I dig it out of my jacket. Waiting until I’m back under the covers, I answer with a mumbled, “Hello.”

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