Teenage Casanova

Don’t let him get to you, Kennedy.

Too late for that. The second that Harry had weaseled his way into her life, she knew that he had already began to get to her. And not only that, but he managed to make her feel like a complete idiot all in one night!

How could she let that happen? She was usually so good at judging someone’s character and yet she was so oblivious to the fact that this guy, this attractive and frustrating guy, was a slut.

Okay, maybe slut was taking it a bit far. But that’s what he was, right? He was a player! A whore! He was the most ridiculous guy that she had ever had the displeasure of meeting and she wanted nothing more to do with him.

So why the hell couldn’t she stop stressing over him? He wasn’t worth her time. And he definitely wasn’t worth the stress.

“You look like you’re about to kill someone,” Hannah walked out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel. “Who were you yelling at?”

“An idiot,” Kennedy mumbled and collapsed onto the couch face forward. “Can I just go home? I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“You want to go home because of one person, Kenny? Now who’s being an idiot?” Hannah rolled her eyes and walked into her room. “Why don’t you just go outside? I’m sure you can find something to take your mind off whatever is bothering you.”

“I don’t want to go outside. I want to lay here for the rest of my life.”

She hadn’t felt this lousy in so long. She didn’t even know why all of this was upsetting her so much and she had a feeling that her sister was going to get curious sooner or later for her bad attitude. She knew that if Hannah knew exactly what went down either two things would happen; one, she would laugh and probably tease Kennedy about it until the end of time or two, she would definitely tell their parents what happened and they would force them to come home.

Actually, that didn’t sound like such a bad idea now that she was thinking about it. She could have her easy escape back to her normal life and forget that Harry ever existed and screwed her over.

But she also ran the risk of that first option happening and she knew that the odds would probably not be in her favor. So this was one secret she would take to the grave. Or, at least, hide from her entire family.

“You’re so damn overdramatic. Go make a friend or something! Stay out late and party! Do anything except be here!” Kennedy couldn’t help but get the feeling that her sister was trying to run her out.

“What do you have going on that you don’t want me here for?” Kennedy sat up and leaned over the back of the couch, staring towards her sister.

“If you must know, I’m meeting Brian a little later for some drinks,” she shrugged as she shuffled through the clothes in her closet. “You know how I get when I drink.”

“You turn into a whore.”

Hannah shot her a warning look. “Just don’t be here, Kenny. Go anywhere.”

“Stop calling me Kenny, Hannah Banana.”

Kennedy forced herself, unwillingly, to get up from the couch. She grabbed her bag from the corner and headed out the door without another word to her sister. She obviously wasn’t wanted and she wasn’t going to get in the way of her plans.

She started to head down the hallway towards the elevators, but stopped quickly when she saw the same green eyed bastard that she had just gotten rid of. She couldn’t just walk right by him, right? He would definitely stop her and probably waste her time some more.

She turned on her heels and bolted down the opposite end of the hallway and towards the stairs, only occasionally looking back to make sure she wasn’t being followed by the same nuisance. Luckily, she wasn’t.

She slammed the door behind her and sunk down on the top stair of the empty stairwell and sighed. What was she supposed to do? How in the world would she avoid this guy when he is staying in the room right next to her? This would be impossible. She wouldn’t be able to go all summer without being bothered by him at least once more.

Maybe I can hire a bodyguard.

She started laughing to herself, getting out a few embarrassing snorts, as she shook her head. No, she didn’t need a bodyguard. If Harry was dead set on seeing her she would prepared. And that may or may not mean a nice punch or kick in places that he wouldn’t very much like.

After laughing for a few more moments and getting a few strange looks from a group of people opting to take the stairs over the elevator, she pushed herself off the step and jogged down the, surprisingly, long thirteen floors until she finally reached the lobby.

The door swung behind her with a loud thud as she crept her way through the lobby, hiding between anything and everything she could just in case a certain curly headed boy just so happened to be around. She wasn’t going to risk being forced into a conversation with him again.

She managed to make it to the front doors and ran as fast as she could out onto the streets, jogging in any direction she could. Unfortunately for her, once she reached the curb and was about to, stupidly, run out into traffic she was stopped by the large object squealing to a stop. She let out a yell and jumped back, once again, landing right on her bottom.

She groaned at the soreness of her rear and sighed looking up and finding what had caused her to trip again. She wanted nothing more than to smack her forehead after realizing who it had been again.

“Blue eyes, we’ve got to quit running into each other like this.”

Zap boy, which Kennedy has decided to refer to him as since she has yet to get his name, kicked the stand down on his bike and climbed off. She couldn’t help but glance up and down his body, making note of actually how fit this guy really was.

He came around his motorcycle and stuck his hand out once he was standing near her feet. “Come on. Get up.”

“No thanks, the ground is comfy,” she turned her head away, obviously rejecting his extended hand. But that didn’t stop him from continuing to stand there, arm stretched, and waiting for her to take it. “I said no thank you.”

He let out an annoyed sounding sigh and reached forward, taking her wrist as softly as possible without warning and pulling her up, much to Kennedy’s protest. The two were now facing each other, his hand still wrapped around her wrist, and their bodies slightly touching. She couldn’t help but feel her breath starting to pick up and she wasn’t exactly sure why she felt threatened by this guy.

“You just don’t take no for an answer, do you?!” she yanked her arm away from him and stumbled back a bit, putting a distance between the two. “Who do you think you are?”

“Apparently I’m the guy who was nice enough to pick you off the dirty ground,” Zap boy crossed his arms and stared at her. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

Kennedy followed his lead and crossed her own arms, looking away from him and making a face. Was he really expecting her to thank him? Not only had he almost hit her with his stupid motorcycle, twice now, but he actually ignored her and helped her up anyway.

But the more she thought about it, she couldn’t help but know that he was probably just trying to be nice and not trying to piss her off. She sighed and dropped her arms, turning back to him. “Okay, fine. Thank you for picking me up even though it was your fault.”

“My fault?! You’re the one who was planning on running right out into the middle of the street!” The boy let out a surprised huff and motioned with his hands towards the street. “You’re lucky I stopped in time. I could have flattened you like a pancake,” he reached forward and grabbed her arm again, holding it up. “Not like that would matter much since you’re basically skin and bones.”

Kennedy snatched her hand back and glared. Who did this guy think he was and what gave him the right to be so rude? She knew that he could tell how mad she was just by the way he started chuckling.

“You’re so worked up. I’m just joking with you. Don’t you have a sense of humor, Kennedy?”

“You remember my name?” That caught her by surprise. She had only met him that one time for such a short period that she really didn’t expect him to remember.

“Believe it or not, but I am great with putting names with faces. Plus, who wouldn’t remember the mango girl with a boy name.”

“Boy name?!” That one offended her, she had to admit. “I do not have a boy name! Kennedy is absolutely a girl name!”

“Name one other girl who you know with the name Kennedy,” she couldn’t see anything but his eyes behind his helmet, but she knew that he was smirking at her underneath. She stood there in silence and began racking her brain, thinking of any other female with her same name. There had to be someone, right? She had always considered it a girl name, at least. “Can’t think of any, huh?”

“Just you wait. I’ll think of someone one day and you’ll feel so bad for saying that I have a boy’s name.”

Zap boy just shrugged his shoulder and turned away from her, returning back to his bike. He climbed back on and adjusted himself to his liking on the seat before turning back to her. “Wanna come?”

“You’re kidding, right?” she chuckled and shook her head, thinking he was being crazy. But the look he held in his eyes through his visor told otherwise, and she knew that he was sincerely asking if she wanted to go with him. “No way! I don’t even know you!”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t come,” he cocked his head sideways and narrowed his eyes, as if he were trying to convince her. “Come on, you don’t really want to stay here and mope about whatever was eating you when you were running out into the street.”

“How did you–”

She didn’t even bother finishing, because she knew the answer. She had always been considered an open book. She wished so many different times that she could put a lock on that book and hide away, but she knew that she was just too readable. And apparently, this stranger was interested in the story.

“So how about it?”

She had no idea what to say. This was the second person she had met in this damn city that wanted to hang around her. Why? Back home she was boring and second rate compared to her sister. So why now was everyone so interested?

“I think I’ll pass. I don’t know you. I don’t even know your name!”

She had expected him to just drive off. Maybe even tease her a little more into actually going with him. But, unfortunately for her, he sat in the same position, looking right in her direction. Finally, his hands lifted up to the helmet and grasped the bottom before he pulled it off his head.

Kennedy thought for sure she was going to fall right back over. She had expected some not-so-handsome gentleman with a scruffy beard and maybe a teardrop tattoo under his eye, but what was actually underneath was even more unnerving.

The boy was completely beautiful. It may not be “politically correct” to call a guy beautiful, but Kennedy didn’t care. This boy was.

His face was sculpted and chiseled perfectly as if God carved it to perfection, spending extra time just to make it as flawless as it could get. His bedroom eyes were the color of rich, expensive whiskey, pouring deep into her and dragging her into the pools. He ran a hand into the dark, unkempt hair on the top of his head, and tousled it into an attempt at a mohawk.

Kennedy’s eyes continued to scan his face after she ripped them from his own gaze. She really should have stopped, but she couldn’t help it. He was damn beautiful. His jawline was peppered with a bit of scruff and just added to the rustic, dangerously alluring appearance the boy had.

She had never seen anyone of such high-appeal. He was literally the most perfect looking guy she had laid eyes on. And he just so happened to be staring at her, a small smirk plastered on his lips.

“You don’t have to know my name. You can either trust me and come have fun, or you can stay here and stress about whatever is on your mind,” he shrugged, that stupid smirk still on his face. “It’s your choice, blue eyes.”

Dammit, he’s right, she mused silently. She could easily stay there with her thoughts wrapped up in how ridiculous Harry was and how much she wanted to kick his ass. She could go sneak back into her hotel room and lay on the couch and mope for the rest of the day, or even rest of the trip.

Or she could get on the back of his bike and actually have “fun” for the first time in her life.

Zap boy turned away and pulled his helmet back over his head before kicking the stand back up and revving his bike. This was it. She had to make her choice here and now whether to trust him or turn around and go back to doing what she usually did.

And as much as she was hesitating, she knew what to do. And somehow she found herself climbing onto the back, much to both of their surprise, and wrapping her arms around his body.

“I swear if you kill me on this I’m coming back and haunting your ass.”

The boy just let out one last laugh and stomped down to start the bike before revving it up and taking off without another word.

To say she was scared was an understatement. She was downright terrified. This guy was freaking crazy, swerving around and going faster than she would have liked him to. She wanted to open her mouth and yell at him to slow down, but every time she tried nothing came out besides a fearful whimper.

She was going to die. She was really going to die. This boy, who she had no idea who he was, was going to kill her. Why on earth did she think the smart thing to do was get on his bike and leave with him?

“Go make a new friend or something!” If only her sister knew that she had “made friends” with a guy who could, quite possibly, be in a gang or sell drugs in some warehouse.

He could be taking her off to kill her. Maybe force her to work as a drug smuggler for some big, bad operation. She really had no idea. She was starting to think how much of an idiot she actually was for choosing to leave with him rather than go back to her room.

But as the bike slowed down and her eyes were still glued shut with her face smushed into the back of his leather jacket, the fear hit big time.

“Don’t kill me!”

“What are you talking about?”

Kennedy opened her eyes, expecting to be in some dark alley and prepared to die, but was rather surprised to see that they were sitting in a parking lot of some random building.

“Where–” she glanced around, completely confused and finally found a sign dictating where they were. “Ocean View Retirement Home?”

“Yep,” Zap boy pulled his helmet off and shook his head to ruffle out his hair and waited for her to release her grasp around him. “Um, you gonna let go or do you just want to cling to me forever?”

“Oh, sorry,” Kennedy unwrapped her arms around him and did her best to climb off, but stumbled a bit, almost tripping and falling back to the ground. Fortunately, she saved herself. Damn these short legs. She sighed and looked around, focusing back on the sign. “Why are we at a retirement home?”

“I work here,” Zap boy shrugged as he kicked his stand out and got off the bike. He turned to face her and his face was filled with confusion. “You thought I was going to kill you?”

Kennedy’s cheeks flushed bright pink as her face fell stone cold. She felt like a complete idiot, more so now than ever before. She really though this guy, who apparently likes to work with old people, was going to kill her.

“I-well,” she had no idea what to say. If she denied it and tried to play it off as a joke, she would be lying. But if she told the truth…well, then she would look like an asshole, simply put. How was she supposed to get out of this one?

But as she stressed with something good to say, the boy just smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry. A lot of people think I’m some scary guy,” he didn’t seem too affected by it, which made Kennedy relieved a little. “But you should really try not to judge a book by its cover. The story could surprise you.”

She wanted nothing more than to press the rewind button and go back to just a few moments ago. She felt terrible for thinking that he was going to harm her in some way. She was acting nothing like herself at this point. She always stressed the point of getting to know someone first, regardless of how they look.

And yet she went and had to be a jerk. Great going, Kennedy.

She followed behind him quickly, saying nothing more about what happened and how stupid she was. Instead, she opted to say, “so why exactly are we here?”

“Well, it may not look like much fun to you, but these are some of the greatest people I know. And I kind of was on my way here when I ran into you,” he glanced down at her as she caught up to him. “Thought I’d bring you with me. You seemed like you needed something to take your mind off things.”

That was…actually really nice of him. Kennedy was completely stunned and caught off guard. He wanted to take her mind off of all the drama? Maybe he wasn’t as bad as she was thinking he was.

The doors glided open automatically as the two approached in and they walked inside side by side. Kennedy glanced around at all the older people, watching them do their own thing as they walked towards the counter.

Zap boy (wasn’t it time she got to knowing his name?) gave her a smile as he walked up to the counter and spoke to the woman behind he. Kennedy wasn’t exactly sure what he was saying, since the two of them were speaking in Spanish, but by the looks of it and the door buzzing to let them into another hallway, she could tell that it was okay for her to be there with him.

As they continued on their way, to somewhere she wasn’t quite sure, Kennedy couldn’t help but slip a smile as he greeted every single older person they passed in the hall. He would stop occasionally, sharing a few words with them about nothing much, like the weather or what they had for breakfast, before he pulled her towards a certain room marked ‘333’.

“What are we doing?”

“I thought I’d introduce you to my friend,” he opened the door slowly, peaking in slightly before opening it all the way. “She’s really great. I think you two would get along.”

Kennedy walked in behind him, shutting the door once they were in and turning to face the older woman sitting in a rocking chair near the window.

Zap boy walked over to her and knelt down beside her, placing his hand over hers. The woman turned slightly and the biggest smile swept over her face as she covered his hand with her own and held it tightly. They mumbled something to each other, more Spanish in which Kennedy couldn’t understand, before he finally turned towards her and motioned for her to come over.

Kennedy slowly made her way over, doing the same as the boy and kneeling closer. He turned back to the older woman and motioned with his hands towards her. “This is Kennedy.”

The older woman’s eyes flashed towards Kennedy, that same smile she had with him still on her face. “Kenn…edy?”

She nodded as her eyes fell back towards him. “She doesn’t speak much English and when I met Adalia I did my best to learn the language more than I knew.”

“You two seem really close,” Kennedy grinned over at him, still a little surprised by him. She would have never guessed any of this about him. “How did you meet her?”

“Like I said, I work here. Well, more like volunteer. She was really sick when she came in and so I stayed by her side and tried to make her as comfortable as possible,” he squeezed the woman, Adalia’s, hand, meeting Kennedy’s eyes. “She got better and we’ve been really close for over a year now.”

“That’s really wonderful,” Kennedy paused for a moment as he leaned in, letting the woman whisper something in his ear, before he laughed. “What did she say?”

“She said that you’re too pretty for me.”

Kennedy was even surprised by herself at how hard she was laughing. It had been the first time she had really let loose and actually laughed in such a long time. She had no idea why she was laughing, it wasn’t actually that funny, but for some reason the look he held on his face kept making her laugh more and more.

She stayed quiet most of the time that they were there, just enjoying watching him interact with Adalia and the other people in the home. He seemed so comfortable and himself, which still kind of surprised her.

She was feeling incredibly guilty for judging him after watching him all afternoon. He seemed like someone who wouldn’t hurt a fly and she was almost convinced earlier that he was going to end up killing her.

How stupid was she?

“You’re so quiet,” he chuckled lowly as the two walked the hall of the hotel. He, being the gentleman and not the murder she thought he was, was nice enough to walk her inside. “Something on your mind?”

“I just feel a little bad for being a total ass to you. Sorry,” she sighed and glanced over in his direction. “I really had a great time today. Thanks for getting my mind off of stupid stuff for a while.”

“No problem. And don’t feel too bad. I’ve just got one of those faces that tell people to avoid as if I’m dangerous, I guess.”

They reached her door and she turned slowly, facing him and leaning against it. “So…”

“So?”

“So…are you ever going to tell me your name? I kind of am getting tired of calling you zap boy,” she laughed slightly, a little embarrassed by her nickname for him.

“Zap boy?” he was confused for only a minute before he looked down at the tattoo on his arm. “Oh, I get it. I guess I am zap boy.”

“So…are you gonna tell me?”

He moved towards her slowly and began leaning down to her level. She froze for a moment, watching in awe. What was he doing? She stared for a few minutes before realizing how close he was getting. Oh God, he’s going to kiss you.

She panicked slightly, not exactly sure what she should do. Should she kiss him back? Should she push him away? What was a girl supposed to do in this kind of situation?

As much as it surprised her, she closed her eyes and let her lips settle out into more of a pucker position as she leaned forward. She must have caught him by surprise too, because he just stared at her for a bit longer before letting out an adorable laugh.

“What are you doing?”

Her eyes shot open when she realized that there were no lips pressed against hers and she stared at him. He wasn’t going to kiss you, you idiot! She blushed bright red, something that was becoming a common thing around him, and pushed her back farther against the door.

“I-well-you,” she had no idea what she was saying anymore. She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide there forever. How could she mistake that for him trying to kiss? So damn embarrassing!

He didn’t seem to think she was weird though. He just gave her a beautiful smile before winking and turning around and heading back down the hallway with his helmet in his hands. He stopped for a moment as Kennedy turned towards her door, unlocking it.

“It’s Zayn.”

“What?” Kennedy turned a bit and looked at him.

“My name…It’s Zayn.”

She smiled widely, kind of relieved that she finally got a name out of him. She was getting a little tired of calling him zap boy and now having a name to match the face…it was perfect. “Zayn…Thanks for today.”

“See you around, blue eyes.”

She moved into the room quickly and quietly shut the door behind her, leaning back against it and covering her mouth.

What in the world was happening? She felt her cheeks still holding that burning blush as she slid her heart down to her chest and exhaled. Her heart was pounding. What in the world did that even mean? Why was she freaking out so bad over some guy?

Some guy. Some guy that she actually didn’t mind seeing again. But the more she thought about it, the more the disappointment started to rise. She didn’t know him. For all she knew, he could be exactly like Harry.

And she really didn’t need that in her life.

She groaned as she walked towards her room, stopping only slightly at Hannah’s door. She made a face as the sound of moaning and the bed hitting the wall caught her attention. Oh, come on Hannah. Really? She shook her head and moved into her room, collapsing onto the bed immediately.

Her mind was so clouded with so many different things that she wished so bad that they would disappear so she could sleep. She tossed and turned for hours, covering her ears every now and again to drown out the extremely loud moaning coming from Hannah’s room. Whoever that guy was, he was definitely doing something right.

She finally thought that she had fell asleep, only to be awoken by the blinding sunlight through the window. She covered her eyes and let out a groan before pulling herself from the bed. What to do today? She figured maybe a beach trip could be arranged. A part of her was even hoping that she may run into, or almost get run into, by Zayn. A girl could hope, right?

She shuffled from her room, her feet dragging behind her. “Hannah?” Kennedy yanwed and looked around the front room, surprised that her sister wasn’t in there parading about how she slept with ‘the most amazing guy ever’ again. She sighed and headed towards her sister’s bedroom, pulling open the door. “Big sis, are you her –”

Everything in her mind was yelling ‘RED ALERT! RUN BACK NOW! STOP STARING!’. But as much as her mind was telling her to turn away, her eyes were still glued to the entirely naked stranger sitting on the edge of the bed with his shirt in his hands.

Or rather, he wasn’t such a stranger after all. You stupid, curly headed bastard.

“Kennedy?” Harry looked just as surprised as she was. He glanced from her to the girl that was still asleep in the bed and then back at Kennedy, trying to piece it together. But when his eyes grew wider and all the confusion washed away, she knew that he had figured it out.

Oh Harry…you better pray to God that I’m dreaming and you’re not really here right now.