thē ງirl ຖēxt ໓໐໐r ✰ jenzie

-chapter twenty one-

lauren's pov

"Don't open your eyes yet!" I scold Kenzie, clapping my hands over her eyes, which struggle to stay closed.

I lead her into the backyard, which Maddie, Mrs. Ziegler, Johnny, and I have been working on all afternoon. Fairy lights are strung across the yard and little tables dot the edges, leacing the middle for a dance floor. The tables are covered in light purple tablecloths, and in the center are candles with pictures printed on them. We put colored filters over the underwater lights of the pool, so the water is colorful, and a floatie anchored to the bottom holds a flower arrangement with a candle in the middle of it.

Johnny and Kenzie still haven't spoken since last night, but I aim to change that before the end of the day...

Maddie takes my position holding her hands over Kenzie's eyes, and I place a little paper crown on her hend before taking out my phone to film her reaction.

"Okay, you can look now." I grin as Maddie removes her hands.

Kenzie's eyes widen, and her jaw drops. "You guys did this??"

"No, the magical unicorns came here." Johnny says, rolling his eyes.

Kenzie glares at him, but her excitement takes over, and her bright smile returns. "Anyways, thanks so much guys!! I can't believe this is real. It's adorable."

"Of course, honey." Mommy Mel says, giving Kenz a hug. "Happy birthday, baby."

"It was mostly Johnny," Maddie and I say at the same time, and I look at her,  laughing, and we high five each other.

"Thanks," Kenzie says shortly, barely making eye contact with Johnny. Maddie and I look at each other again. That didn't work...

Mommy Mel disappears inside to finish her cooking, while Kenzie hurries over to one of the tables and picks up a candle.

"OMG." She squeals. "THIS IS ADORABLE!!"

"That was Johnny's idea too," Maddie and I say together.

"Wow, we have sibling telekinesis and we're not even related," I joke.

"...yet." Maddie finishes for me, and we burst out into giggles.

Johnny's cheeks flush bright red, and he shifts awkwardly on his feet. Kenzie gives us a look and then moves on to see what picture's on the next candle.

"You're no fun," I protest to Kenzie, and she purses her lips, looking more flustered.

"Come on, just laugh. Have fun," I beg, pleading with my best puppy dog eyes.

Kenzie drops the candle abruptly on the table, and I jump.

"How can I have fun when my boyfriend was just taken away from me for a crime I didn't think he could ever commit??" Kenzie bursts out passionately. "And my best friend's brother knew and decided not to tell me?"

With that, Kenzie throws down the paper crown from her head and runs inside.

kenzie's pov

"Thanks for coming! I'm so glad you could make it." I give Emily, another actress from Where's Home, a big hug and a bright smile.

Inside, I'm far from happy. After I stormed out of the backyard because Lauren and Maddie were getting on my nerves, I locked myself in my room.

Mom made me come out when the guests started arriving, and I plastered a smile on my face and hoped it looked real.

"It's only a couple more hours." Lauren whispers in my ear and squeezes my shoulder. "You'll make it."

I look at her in surprise. "Can you tell?" I whisper back. "I'm trying so hard."

"You look fine. Look, Kenz. I know it's easier said than done, but can you just try to enjoy yourself?" Lauren looks at my hopefully.

I shrug. "I'll try, I guess. No one even knew I was dating, so they wouldn't understand if I burst out into tears right now-" I cut off as Nadia, one of my friends comes over and wraps me in a hug.

"Happy birthday, beautiful!"

"Thanks," I give her a smile that goes only as far as my lips. "And thanks for coming!"

"Are you okay?" Nadia gives me a concerned look.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I grin. "I'm just tired, that's all."

I notice Lauren sigh out of the corner of my eye.

"Anyways, do you have any song requests? Our amazing DJ is super nice. Go tell him you're favorite song." Beaming, I motion her to the DJ's station, where he's currently booming Dear Future Husband by Meghan Trainor.

"Ooh, I'll do that! Talk to you later, Kenz!" Nadia starts heading over that direction, and she waves goodbye to me and Lauren.

"Yeah, see ya."

"Get something to eat." Lauren demands, nudging me towards the food table.

I didn't think I had an appetite, but I see all the delicious food on the table and it makes me hungry, so I grab some food and find a table with Lauren and some other friends.

The music plays around me, and the party atmosphere slowly starts to unwind me.

"Come on," Maisy says, grabbing my hand. Lauren grabs my other one and they pull me to the dance floor.

"No, no, no, don't come back around. Cuz I'mma turn you down. No, no, no, don't come back around. No, no, no, I'm living good right now."

I can't help but dance with the music, and the girls around me jump to the beat too, belting the lyrics out at the top of their lungs.

"You must have forgotten that I got it good. And comfortable, playing all of these games. Always claiming you gonna fix what we got. You tried for a day, then it goes down the drain."

I look around, laughing, and spot Johnny. He still looks cute, dressed nice with dark jeans and a thin t-shirt. But just because he looks hot doesn't mean I'm going to forget what he did.

Johnny's eyes probe the room until they stop on mine. I look at him straight as I sing the next line.

"I did everything for ya, including being loyal, now there's one thing left to do. I'mma go through my contacts and skip over your number cuz right now I'm over you. Oh, no, you will never learn. So just like us she said, you should let it burn."

Johnny looks away, and I do too, my mind jumping back to the whole Mark situation.

"Hey, get your mind off of that," Lauren whispers to me.

"Are you reading my thoughts??" I can't help but laugh as the song changes.

"Can we, still be, friends. Does it, have to end. Know we didn't end this so good. But you know we had something so good."

My eyes meet Johnny's again. He looks at me with almost a pleading look as the next line plays.

"I'm wondering, can we still need friends. Does it have to end, and if it ends, can we be friends."

It's my turn to look away.

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A/N: the first song is Don't Come Back Around by l2m and it's SO good y'all need to listen to it