Zero to Eighty

I spent the majority of dinner eating my food in silence. The main topic of conversation was Ella's wedding to Connor Kensington, a banker in Marlow Point. He was a gooding look man who knew how to kiss ass, and get on my parents' good side. The only sane one at the table besides myself, was my dad. I hate picking favorites, but I definitely sided with my old man more than I did my mom. He was just so laid-back about everything, and was the only one in the family who didn't mind that I spent so much time with Regan at The Warehouse.

"So Kenzie, did you want to go out for a movie or something after dinner?" dad asked. Him calling me Kenzie actually felt natural when it came out of his mouth. Not forced like when Ella or mom said it.

"No, it's okay Dad. I'm still pretty tired from the trip down here. So I'll probably just take a few naked selfies for SnapChat and knock out," I chuckled. Ella, Mom, and Connor were not amused.

"Oh, me too Kenzie," Dad joined in. Yep, definitely my favorite parent.

"Just let her rest," Ella started. She turned to face me, "we have to go get your bridesmaid dress fitted tomorrow at 9. Then we can have lunch afterwards. Just you and me. A girls day."

"Wooo," I mused. She smiled at my fake-sincerity. A girls day with Ella meant shopping, Starbucks, manicures, and gossiping. Which is normally fun for any other girl, but for me, I'd rather shop for car parts and alcohol. But she was my sister nonetheless, and I guess I had to play nice.

"Perfect! I can't wait," Ella whooped with excitement, clasping her hands together

Our waitress brought back the bill from dinner, which Connor paid for. He stuck his premium silver American Express credit card into his designer wallet with a smile, "I hope you liked this restaurant, Kenzie. It's been one of my favorites since they opened a couple of years ago."

"It's good. I liked my pasta," I didn't lie that time. The Mantra Grill had some bomb ass food.

"I just don't understand management," Connor professed. His gaze drifted past me to whatever was behind my head. I turned around, and I saw exactly what he was talking about. Harry Styles and Niall Horan walked from the swinging kitchen doors, and towards the main entrance where they exited. "Their choice in staff is beyond me."

I went to high school with both Harry and Niall--- Niall being one of the goody-two-shoes in my classes. Harry was… well to put it simply, he was a dick face. He and his other friends would always hang around The Warehouse watching my brother do his thing. Niall spent his free time studying for AP exams. When they decided to become friends probably happened when I left, because three years ago, I wouldn't have ever believed it.

"Did you see our food runner? I could see his neck tattoos creeping out of his collar," Connor scoffed. He saw the expression on Ella's face, like he had made a mistake and was about to get in trouble. He realized what he had done and quickly turned his attention to me, "no offense Kenzie of course. Your tattoo is very cute."

"None taken," I smirked. I guessed Ella told him to walk on eggshells too.

The second Harry brought out our appetizer earlier, I could already feel that the dick face in him still existed. Thank God he didn't recognize me, but I had to admit that I almost didn't recognize him either. He definitely grew up. He was no longer lanky, and slightly awkward as he used to pretend to be a hard ass. He was much taller, more buff, and fuck… he actually looked good.

"Is everyone ready go?" mom asked. I nodded, and proceeded to stand up from my chair. When we left the house earlier, I was surprised that no one forced me to change my clothes, but I could tell that my mom was suffering just knowing that I'd be going out in public with the clothes I had on.

Maybe eggshells weren't such a bad thing?

We left the restaurant, and as we waited for the valet to bring back our cars I scanned the area. It was just like how I remembered. Very affluent. I used to always count the non-luxurious cars on the streets because it was such a rarity. My eyes caught a beauty from across the street. A silver EVO IX and I was so turned on. It zipped from the parking lot, and down the street away from my eyes, but not before I caught a glimpse of the driver behind the wheel.

It would be Harry.

I groaned, unamused. As he drove past, something flew out of his open passenger side window and landed at the edge of the curb. I picked up the small, glossy paper, and right smack dab in the center was a photo of Regan. It was a flyer branded with different colors and graphics advertising a memorial and race for their fallen racing king at The Warehouse tonight.

"Kenzie!" I heard my dad call out after me. I looked at him. "Our car's here."

"Coming!" I stuck the flyer in my back pocket and climbed into the black BMW.

I sat in silence in the back seat as my dad drove back to the house. Ella had galavanted away with Connor, and it was just me and the parental units. I pretended to fall asleep so they wouldn't have to talk to me and ask me questions to things I probably didn't want to answer. When I heard the car's engine shut down about ten minutes later, I slowly opened my eyes, and the car was parked on the driveway.

"Thanks for taking me to dinner," I said, climbing out of the car.

"No problem sweetheart, I'm glad you enjoyed it," mom stopped walking to wait for me, and pulled me into a hug. "Go on and get some sleep. Looks like Ella has quite a day planned for you tomorrow."

"Sleep well," dad patted me on the back as we entered the house. I noticed him drop the car keys into the drawer of the circular table in the foyer. Perfect.

"I will, thanks," I ran up the stairs and into my room.

I pulled out the flyer from my pocket and slapped it onto my nightstand before grabbing one of the towels mom prepared for me, and heading into the bathroom for a long shower. After standing in the lukewarm water for what seemed like ten minutes, I decided to actually get some cleaning done. Hair washed, body washed, lady parts washed. When everything was squeaky clean, I trekked back to my room in just a towel.

I definitely put more care into my appearance than I did when I was in high school, but the people I spent time with in NorCal weren't like the ones who protected my virtue because Regan told them to. The new friends I met introduced me to more than just eyeliner, mascara, and red lipstick. I had my first sip of alcohol with them. My first puff of weed. My first line of coke. My first experience with ecstasy. My first sexual encounter. Granted, they never forced me into any of this. They simply offered, and I took it.

Red lipstick was definitely my signature, and the amount of tubes I had in different shades and sheers were ridiculous. I opted for a dark, matte red for the memorial tonight, as it was my favorite shade and it screamed "badass." After applying a coat to my lips, I unzipped my suitcase and pulled out a fresh pair of clothes. I decided onblack, skin-tight pleather pants; a cropped, frayed, jean vest that pushed my girls up when buttoned, and showed off the lace at the top of my red bra underneath. I stuck a black beanie on top of my head, grabbed a small purse and was out the door, making sure to lock it from the inside.

I'd be damned if I were to get caught sneaking out on my first day back.

The entire house was dark, only the moonlight and the outside lampposts casted light through the windows near the foyer. Using my phone's light, I held it above the drawer of the circular table and pulled it open. Eureka! Right where dad left the car keys. As I reached in for them, I noticed another pair of keys in the pile. I picked it up, and examined them, realizing what this meant.

My car was here.

Notes

Hiyaaa!

How's everyone doing on this fine Thursday? The weather is super hot here in SoCal, but I love it! It's perfect beach weather. Fun fact: Marlow Point was inspired by Newport Beach-- one of my favorite places to be! :) Anyways, here's chapter 3 and I hope you all enjoyed it! Looks like Kenzie is heading to The Warehouse, and what's going to happen next? I can't wait for you all to read the next chapter. Please leave feedback if you have any constructive criticism about this story, vote up, and subscribe. Thank you & have an awesome day!!

-Erica Jaine <3