The Token - A Guns N' Roses FanFic

Chapter 7: Cousin Kendal

"So what did you do last night? Have any fun?" Derek quizzed as I was wiping down the display cases between rushes.

"Went out with Walter and Macy, and it was...interesting. Went to a couple bars that had okay music. Nothing I won't forget in a couple weeks though. How about you?," I shrugged back. The bar hopping part of the night might have been my idea to get away from a certain group of people.

I continued to listen to Derek as he talked about the girl he met last month and was still going out with. He kept going on and on about how cute and sweet she was, making my heart warm. Yeah I was quickly growing tired of his constant praise or borderline obsession over his girlfriend, but I was glad at least one of us had a healthy relationship, hell a relationship in general. The best word to describe my relationship status was nonexistent. I froze for a second as an unfamiliar figure stared back at me. I remained frozen staring at my own reflection. I hadn't noticed it at first, but Michelle the brunette bassist who worked at a coffee shop seemed to be slowly turning into a stranger. A mask I would put only only when needed.

" I hope my father hasn't been working you too hard," my heart stopped at the familiar voice that came from behind me.

"No Kendal, but just enough to keep me out of trouble," I quickly turned around and sent the familiar face a smile, except she wasn't as familiar as I had expected her to look. It wasn't her hair, her clothing, or her makeup that was different, but something was. She quickly pulled me into a hug before letting go of me and placing her hand under my chin.

"Did you grow? You have to at least be part giraffe by how tall you're getting!" She quizzed as I felt her look me up and down

"Giraffe? I'm not even 5' 10"!" I teased back.

"Ohh there is my college girl," I turned to see my uncle running out of the back office to give his daughter a large bear hug. It was nice to see them back together after the six months that had passed. I sent them both a warm smile before returning back to work.

"What major is she this week?" I had to hold in a snort at Derek's comment. He had many options about Kendal, and a majority, arguable all, of them weren't good.

"Hey now, do you know what you want to do for the rest of your life? It is both a scary and hard choice!" I whispered back. Kendal had tried marketing, accounting, journalism, typography, design, and now she was sitting in general business management.

He shrugged and joined me in washing the dishes.

"What would you do?" As he shot up from organizing the pastries, it was clear that my question had caught him off guard.

"What?"
"I said, what would you do if you had the money to go to school?" I repeated.

He shrugged before returning back to the pastries, after a couple of seconds I heard him reply, "I would go to culinary school. Once I got the degree I would head to New York and never look back," I felt a sense of comfort flow through me as he talked.

"I have always heard that New York has the best dining. Unless it is deep dish pizza, that belongs to Chicago," I smiled back earning a nod from him.

"Yeah I would become an apprentice or some shit like that and save up enough money until I could own my own local restaurant. It may take 10 or 15 years, but when I have it....ohh god when I get it I will name it after my dad and have his sausage stew as a permanent item on the menu. I will do anything to get there. Hell, I got one more year before I can start affording to go to college part time. I have and will do whatever it takes," he added.

"Let me know when you open because I will be the first in line. I will camp out a week before your open if that's what it takes!" I smiled back, his face quickly mimicking my own.