the first one • j. hughes

5

Age 16:

"Kennedy," Mom shouted from downstairs. "Your boys are here!"

Rainer frowns at me in the mirror. He's sitting on my bed while I finish getting ready at my vanity. "Your boys?"

"It's just what she calls Luke and his brothers," I explained. My blush looking just right was much more important than any concern my boyfriend was having at that moment. A girl only turns sixteen once.

"Really?" He mumbled.

Rainer had a habit of mumbling so badly that it was nearly completely incomprehensible. I had a habit of letting it slide. Even when it was comprehensible and flat-out disrespectful.

"Really," I echoed.

"Kennedy!" Mom shouted again.

I rolled my eyes but still got up. Rainer followed behind me. As usual. That's another thing that looking back was something I should have cared more about. The boy was always at least one step ahead or at least one step behind. Never side by side.

Our lake house has always been my favorite place. It's been in my dad's family for generations. Built by our great something. Through renovations and improvements, it's the most gorgeous place ever. It's big while managing to stay cozy. Like, yeah, our family's rich. But it's more emphasis on the family part of it. Not to mention the history. I love places with history.

My grandfather proposed here. Dad spent his summers here just like we would. Mom went into labor on a trip here. While kids had their birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese and parks, I had mine at the lake house. My first kiss was out on the dock. It's my place.

"There she is," Dad said as Rainer and I made it to the living room.

Jimmy was next to him. Both of them with a drink, dad-stancing and looking out the glass patio doors. I raced over and practically jumped into his arms. It's tradition that he's my first hug at my birthday party. I don't know when it started but it's the way it is.

Jim pulls back, looking over my shoulder. "And who's this kid?"

"Oh," I said while motioning for Rainer to come closer. "This is my boyfriend. Rainer, this is Jimmy."

The dads exchanged a look. Briefly. Rainer held a hand out. "Good to meet you, sir."

I was so glad he didn't mumble it. It would've been embarrassing. My dad liked Rainer. My dad liked almost everyone until they did something wrong. He was the kind of guy where respect wasn't earned but it was always able to be lost.

Jimmy knew that. Obviously. So, like with every boy I ever brought around, the Hughes father played the role of bad cop. Or I guess the role of the stern father who you need to impress. His handshake was firm and silent and I think even made Rain pale a little.

It didn't matter to me because not a second later, Jack was rounding the corner. He must have been out on the porch and snuck in through the side door near the breakfast nook. Even more than I did to his dad, I raced over to Jack. My arms wrapped around his neck as his made their way around my waist, lifting me and spinning us around once.

This is the part where I want to make something clear. I wasn't always the greatest girlfriend. I'm not going to pretend like I don't get how my boyfriends of the past could see some great scheme going on with Jack and me. Did I see it at the moment? No. I was a kid. I figured every time a guy asked about me and Jack that they were being ridiculous. Not once did I ever have feelings for Jack while I dated someone else. I wasn't — and still am not — that kind of person.

But at some point in our lives, Jack and I got really comfortable with each other's touch. Even when neither of us had any feelings for the other. We weren't shy with physical affection. It was simply part of us. Our dynamic. If a boyfriend ever told me they didn't like it, I would have tried to limit it. No one ever has. It's always an issue they bring up after the fact. Another way of saying "The End" for the boyfriends of Kennedy Reed.

"Happy birthday, Prez," Jack said, putting me down and stepping back to act like he was getting a good look at me. His hands were on my arms. "Did you put on makeup like we aren't gonna go swim?"

I rolled my eyes. "I put on makeup fully aware that we're going to go swim."

"She puts on makeup for everything nowadays," Holly commented as she walked past us to go to the kitchen. I turned back to look at Rainer and saw him very focused on the ass that was hanging out of the bottom of her shorts. I brushed it off. It made me want to vomit but I brushed it off.

"C'mon. Quinn and Moose are already down—" Jack cut himself off. "Who's that?"

Rainer walked up to us then. His hand went to my lower back and Jack's hands fell away from me in an instant. Honestly, seventeen-year-old Jack looked a bit nauseous. I didn't know but at the time, he was chest-deep into a Kennedy phase.

"Rowdy, this is Rainer," I said. "My boyfriend."

Jack frowned and I wanted to push him away from us. "Of how long?"

"A month," Rainer answered at the same time as I said, "Two months."

"What? Which is it?" Jack asked.

"Two months," I repeated. My arm moved back to brush Rainer's hand off of me.

I felt a little nauseous myself as Jack looked Rainer up and down. He asked, "That your truck out in the drive, then?"

"Yeah, man."

"How old is that thing?"

"Uh..." Rainer laughed slightly before mumbling, "Couple decades but runs like a beaut."

"I'm sure it does, dude," Jack said. An edge to his voice.

A warning came from his dad. A firm, "Jack."

He's a good kid so he listened. He nodded toward the patio or I guess the dock. "Let's go swim."

On the walk down the hill and onto the dock, Rainer walked ahead of me by a few steps. He ignored Quinn introducing himself. He ignored Luke greeting him. Meanwhile, Jack walked by my side the whole way down. Chatting about some stupid thing Quinn did on the drive over.