LABYRINTH | Scarlett Johansson x Daughter

31 | hold my hand.

Kenzie

"I'll pick you up at nine-thirty, okay?" Sam tells me as I step out of his car, pulling the straps of my tote bag over my shoulder.

"Nine-thirty? That's only three hours away," I complain, "besides, I'm perfectly capable of catching the subway home."

"I hate to tell you, but until you earn our trust back you don't go anywhere unless you're being driven. You've brought this upon yourself, kid. Now, which friend is it that you're seeing again?" He questions.

"Gracie. She works at the café I go to with Scarlett every weekend. We're going ice skating and getting hot chocolate afterwards, that's it," I explain for about the dozenth time this evening.

"Alright, have fun. Meet me back here at—"

"Nine-thirty, got it. Thank you for dropping me off," I say, closing the passenger door shut before I make my way across the street to ice rink at Rockefeller.

If I'm being completely honest with myself, the knowledge that I get to see Gracie this evening has been one of the only things getting me through this mess of a week.

The conversation Scarlett had with me on Monday after getting high the previous night wasn't exactly a breeze. She basically said in her own words that she didn't particularly think it was a good idea for me to be spending so much time with Oliver because he's 'not a good influence' on me, which in a sense I don't disagree with but he hasn't forced or made me do anything I didn't want to do so of course I felt the need to defend my friend which escalated the situation more than it needed to.

We also had the whole discussion of the danger of getting addicted to a drug like the OxyContin, which of course I knew about at the time but maybe didn't understand as much as I did once I was sober. So, much to Scarlett's relief, I think that scared me out of doing it again. At least I hope so.

I went home that evening and had Sam and Ryan put a whole new list of 'rules' in place. I was grounded for the remainder of this week, going out tonight was the only exception but even then I have to check in with the two of them every half hour so they know I'm not doing anything I shouldn't be.

Oliver was also grounded after Scarlett had a conversation with his parents. Only his grounding is for the entirety of winter break and he gets his phone and laptop taken away at ten P.M, so we have no means of contacting each other to even attempt to meet up after dark.

So, in conclusion, getting to spend time with Gracie is about the only thing keeping me from going insane. She seems as though she's quite a balanced person and I think I need someone with that kind of stability in my life.

It takes me a minute to spot her standing outside the ice rink. She's wearing a pair of black flare jeans with a white puffer jacket and a grey scarf to match her gloves.

Our outfits are similar, except mine has a lot more pink. A baby pink scarf, a pink pair of converse I recently got from Ryan for Christmas, and a pink long-sleeved shirt underneath my long black coat and tucked into my own pair of black jeans.

Sometimes I feel like I dress like a mom.

As I approach Gracie, a sense of excitement settles in my stomach. I've known her for over a year and this is the first time we're actually going to spend any time alone together.