thē ງirl ຖēxt ໓໐໐r ✰ jenzie

-chapter ten-

johnny's pov

Retelling what happened made me a little more dispirited. I don't hold anything against Jacob anymore, and I guess it's understandable if you are a coward. But these injuries, and my dischargement, however favorable, are because of his cowardice.

"Anyways..." I look at Mackenzie, and there are tears in her eyes.

"I can't imagine how hard that must've been for you." She says quietly.

I nod slowly. "Yeah...I'm managing. Well, enough about me...what struggles do you go through as a "famous person"?"

I can tell she's more at ease now, more comfortable then when we started talking. Mackenzie's a great listener, and I know why she's Lauren's best friend.

"Well..." She starts slowly. "I guess if we're getting personal now..." I chuckle.

"You know sometimes, I feel like no one will ever truly love me. Sorry, that sounds so cringy and immature, but I feel like they would only like me because I'm famous, and not for who I really am."

I stare at her. "Really? Because I feel the exact same way. I mean, I'm not famous, but first of all because I'm Lauren Orlando's brother, but also because I-I-nevermind." I laugh. "We're really getting personal here..."

Mackenzie laughs slightly. "I get it. Well, another one of my fears is being left out. Having two-faced friends. I'm glad Lauren isn't like that, though. That's why she's basically one of my only close friends."

"Makes sense."

"Another fear I have is not knowing what to do with my life. I'm going through that right now. It's awful." I say, the depressing sinking in deeper.

We continue to talk about many different things. What we want to do when we get older, what kind of things we think about, and the like. Kenzie's really good at giving advice, and she's so humble and easy to tell everything to. It's been quite some time when Mackenzie looks at her phone.

"Oh my gosh, it's 7:30. We've been talking for almost an hour! But I didn't mind," she finishes shyly.

"I didn't mind either." I smile. "You're really fun to talk to."

mackenzie's pov

"You're really fun to talk to."

I smile back, and blush slighly. "You are too."

I realize, this is the first time we talked as peers, or friends, and not as him talking to me like a little sister. I like this kind of "relationship" better.

"Johnny?"

Lauren comes into the living room and screams. "OH MY GOSH!!"

"What??" Johnny and I ask, self consciously.

"What are you guys doing??"

We look at each other. "Talking..."

"Aww," she says, disappointed, as she throws down her backpack. "I thought you were doing something else."

"WHAT?"

"Oh, nothing." Lauren says innocently.

"When did you get here?" Johnny asks accusingly.

"A second ago. You guys must have been so busy...talking...that you didn't hear the door."

I shrug. "I guess. Anyways," I get up from the couch. "Where's my wallet."

Lauren crosses back into the kitchen and opens a drawer. "Here." She hands me my wallet.

"Thanks. Hey, why didn't you just tell me where it was so I could get it myself?"

She smiles a secret smile. "You didn't ask."

Mrs. Orlando comes in, carrying a grocery bag, and Johnny hurries over to relieve her of it.

"Aww, how gentlemanly." Lauren jokes, and Johnny scowls at her.

"Hi, Kenzie, how are you?" Mrs. Orlando asks.

I smile. I love the Orlando's. "I'm great. How are you?"

"Good. Will you be staying for dinner?"

Shaking my head politely, I respond, "I don't think so. My mom wants me to be back home now."

Before she can reply, Johnny gasps.

"What?"

"Oh my gosh, Lauren's manager just emailed me."

"What did he say??" Lauren runs over and grabs onto his arm, standing on tippy toes to look at his phone.

"I think I should get going now." I smile at them all.

"Nooooo, stayyyyy," Lauren whines, leaving Johnny immediately to grab onto my arm.

I hug her. "I would, but I shouldn't. I'll see you tomorrow at set, though."

"Bye, Kenzie." Johnny looks up from his phone and smiles at me. "Really nice talking to you."

"You too."

johnny's pov

After Mackenzie leaves, Lauren turns back to me and starts jumping all over me. "WHAT DID HE SAY? What did he say?? WHAT did HE SAY? What DID he SAY??"

"Geez." I push her down gently and then turn to go upstairs. "I'll tell you later. I have to think about it."

"WHAT?"

I smile half heartedly and jog up to my room. Lauren's manager emailed me asking if I wanted to start doing more acting/modeling jobs since I got back. I have no idea what to do. I guess it would be fun, but there would be a lot more stress, and I haven't been in the public sphere since my "dramatic" return to the US. Would it be fun? Maybe. But maybe I would prefer a normal job. I had applied for one at a nearby coffee shop, and a hardware store near downtown.

"Johnny?"

"What, Laur?"

Lauren pops the rest of herself into my room and sits, for once, gently down on my bed. "Did he ask you if you wanted to start acting again?"

I nod.

"What are you going to say?" I know Lauren wants me to say yes, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

"I don't know. We'll see."

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a/n: so sorry about not updating for foreverrrrrrrr