Sooner or Later

If there was one thing Kenzie didn’t like about her job was the early Saturday morning shifts when she had to open up the shop. She had started working at the small record store in town back when she was in high school. The boys loved it; they greatly benefitted from her friends and family discount. It had only been a part time job back then and through her first semesters of university. It was full time now seeing as she’d moved out into an apartment on her own, away from her parents, and had taken a year off from school. She claimed it would only be a year, but she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. She’d jumped from one program to another for a couple of years, trying to decide on something, but last year she’d had enough. It was too much work and too much stress for things she really wasn’t that into. Besides, she felt like she was wasting her parent’s money by extending the number of years she would be in school. So basically, as her dad put it, she quit. She had every intention of going back, but her parents couldn’t really see that side of things. It was still a sore point in their relationship at the moment. Once she figured out what she wanted to do, she’d gratefully go back to school. If she ever found something, that is. After announcing to her parents over the summer that she would not be returning to school in the fall, they told her that she would have to start paying rent, so she figured that she may as well just move out now. She was 22 anyway, it was time.

Anyway, until then she was working full time at the record shop, which she loved, except for the whole Saturday morning thing. She had to get up at the crack of dawn to open and clean the shop. Fridays were their busy days, they had a lot of costumers, they were open late and they got their shipments. Needless to say, when you worked on Fridays, you were exhausted and just wanted to go home, which was why there was a mutual agreement that a Saturday worker would go in early in the morning and get a head start on the things that needed to get done for the day. She punched in at 7, they opened at 9 and she would be alone until two more employees came in at 11. The work itself wasn’t so bad, she got to blast her music, sing and dance along until 9 am without having to worry that a costumer would come into the store and see her trying to pull off such embarrassing moves. It was a good time to think too. Some people thought in the shower, Kenzie thought while she cleaned. It had proven to be a pretty good habit, let’s just say when she was under a lot of stress her apartment was always spotless.

It couldn’t be later than quarter to eight; she was currently jamming to the sounds of Elvis as she filled up the Pop section with CDs. There was a tapping sound coming from the front door. She glanced at her watch and groaned. She hated when people tried to get into the store early, there was a sign on the door that said they opened at nine, why try to get me the door earlier? The person knocked again and she turned with a sigh before finding John standing behind the glass. She rolled her eyes and strode over to go unlock the door for him.

“Nice moves there Darlin’,” he greeted her as he stepped inside and she locked the door behind him.

“Shut up,” she muttered. “Did you just come here to make fun of me or do you have another purpose?”

“Just browsing, looking for a new Petty record…” He paused in front of one racks and started flipping through some vinyls.

“You have all of Tom Petty’s records,” she scoffed and she went back to placing CDs in alphabetical order.

“No, I have all of his albums on discs. I don’t have them all on vinyl.” Kenzie rolled her eyes, John and his music. She’d learned years ago never to question it; just smile and nod.
He hung around the shop for most of the morning; it was pretty quiet so they got to catch up. They hadn’t seen much of each other over the past week. John was busy with Shannon every other day while the Kenz was busy wording.

“So, want to do lunch when you get off? The guys are meeting me at the coffee shop,” he asked as people started to file in. He was paying for the CDs and vinyl he’d found.

“Seriously John? You haven’t seen me or the guys all week and yet when we get together you still have to find some way to include this girl you’re dating.”

“I really like her Kenzie, what do you want me to say?” he laughed. “I also kind of want you guys to get to know her more than just the girl who serves us coffee. She’s really great,”

The girl paused as she stared down at the last CD in her hands. “Icona Pop, John?” she said, holding it up, wondering if it was a mistake. She had nothing against the band; it just wasn’t really John’s type of music. She knew for a fact that he always switched the station when the song I love it came on.

“Yeah…She told me she liked them, so I figured I’d get the CD and leave it in the truck for when we drive somewhere,” he replies sheepishly. His friend stood there, amazed, with her eyebrows raised to her hairline. She finally ended up scanning it and placed it in the bag without a word before announcing his total. “I like her,” he repeated and he produced the card he was to pay with.

“Okay…And okay for later, I will have eaten by then, but I can join you guys for coffee.”

“We’ll wait for you. See you in a bit,” he waved goodbye before walking out of that shop. Kenzie was curious now, she wondered if Shannon would be as great as John proclaimed she was. She really hoped she would live up to her expectations, John was her best friend after all, she knew what was best for him.

Three o’clock finally rolled around and Kenzie punched out before changing and climbing into her car. She drove to the coffee shop, wondering if John would keep his word and that he and the guys would be waiting for her before ordering.

“Finally, she’s here,” she immediately heard Garrett groan as she walked through the door. She watched as they all stood up. Garrett was first in line to order, followed by Pat and Jared, leaving her, John and Kenny at the back of the line.

“Go ahead Kenz,” John said, being a gentlemen and letting the girl go first.

“Hmm, I don’t know what I want yet, you better go…Besides you owe me five bucks anyway, maybe you should pay for me,” she pointed out, recalling their bet from last week about Shannon’s outfit for their first date. “I still don’t know what I want though,” she muttered, looking up at the menu board.

John ignored her, stepping up to Shannon’s cash and smiling brightly at her. He ordered his lunch and a coffee first. “And she’ll have an extra hot peppermint white chocolate mocha with a chocolate chip cookie on the side.”

Kenzie stared up at him wide-eyed. “How did you know that?” she asked.
“You’re kidding right? You always order the same thing,” he chuckled, handing bills over the counter to the blonde girl. Okay, so maybe she did, she liked habit. Why change a good thing you know? But that doesn’t mean John had to memorize it. She was positive that none of the other guys could have gotten her order right, other than the cookie part that is. She was truly impressed.

“It’ll be ready in a couple of minutes,” Shannon grinned. The two stepped aside and let Kennedy place his order.

“So what’s she like?” Kenzie asked, feeling slightly obligated.

“Great,” he grinned. His best friend only glared at him though, was that really the only quality he could attribute to her? “She’s sweet and funny and caring,” he added with a sigh. “She likes music, she hates cats,” he grinned. “She’s a little shy, and it’s absolutely adorable how she gets all self-conscious sometimes. “

“And has she heard about the Maine?” She had to ask, you’d be surprised how many girls had only wanted to date John because he was in a band. Or, well, because he was John Oh. Honestly, Kenzie never really understood it.

“No! That’s the best part. I’m going to have her listen to us soon. I’m really stoked to find out what she thinks.” Kenzie smiled, he was certainly smitten with her. Shannon called her name and she walked up to the counter to grab her coffee and cookie. She paused for a minute, however, as she was taking the paper cup from Shannon’s hand.

“How did you know my name?” she asked, seeing as she hadn’t given it to her.

“John’s told me about you,” she grinned. “I think it’s adorable that you guys have been able to stay friends your whole lives. He’s such a gentleman; which is so hard to come by these days, don’t you think?”

“I guess…” Kenzie replied, not to sure what this girl was getting at. “Oh, no,” she exclaimed, suddenly getting it. “He doesn’t usually pay for my stuff, he just owed me from a bet we had,” she explained.

“What did you bet on?” A wave of guilt his the short brunet as she stared back at the taller blonde in front of her. She felt bad for having judged her so quickly, she seemed nice enough.

“Just something stupid with the guys,” Kenzie brushed it off. She turned to head back to the table before pausing. “You should hang out with us sometime,” she suggested.

“I’d love that,” Shannon answered with a grin before Kenzie went back to join her friends.

“That took a while,” John noted as she took a seat in front of him, making her shrug it off.

“She seems nice enough, for now.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” John demanded.

“Sweetie, you should know by now that the girls you date end up insane, one way or another,” Kenzie laughed, making the boy pout.

“Are not.” Everyone else at the table laughed along with the girl. They had all seen it too, over the years. John was the only one who was completely oblivious to it. The poor sucker was too blinded by love.

“So what are our plans for tonight?” Garrett asked once everyone was done eating. They were just hanging around, sipping on coffee, catching up.

“Video games, my place?” Jarred suggested making Kenzie groan.

“No, not again,” Kenzie whined. “I’m sick of sitting around and watching you play. It’s Saturday night, let’s go out!”

They all seemed to agree with her, except John, who seemed slightly reluctant, but gave in. At least he would be there this time to keep an eye on her. She wouldn’t be able to get into too much trouble with him around. They agreed to meet up at their usual place, a bar that was in walking distance of all of their homes in case someone drank too much and couldn’t dive, and they all got up to part ways. They all headed out towards the parking lot except for John who headed back over to the counter.

“I want to change my wager,” Kennedy said, leaning against his car as they waited for the lanky singer. “That girl has got him under her spell.”

“Nope, no fair, you can’t do that,” Garrett protested as they saw John heading towards them.

“Shannon’s going to be joining us tonight,” he grinned.

“What, no! Guys night out man!” Jared whined.

“Hey! It was my idea!” Kenzie protested, she may be one of them, but she never liked when they referred to her as one of the guys. She was a girl and had the boobs and other parts to prove it.

“Not the same Kenz, you’re not anyone’s girlfriend.”

“Come on guys, I want you to meet her, besides it was Kenzie who gave her the idea,” John argued.

“I said ‘sometime’, I didn’t mean tonight!” she defended herself.

“Well, too bad. She’s really excited to meet you, she’s coming and that’s final. I’ll see you tonight.” With that he stormed off towards his truck, got in and drove away.

“Alright fine, we can make a new bet,” Garrett caved as Kennedy started to elaborate his new theory of how he thought the relationship would crash and burn.