Time: Back In The Day, Afternoon of #53 / Kinsey: Age 13 / Pre-YIM
Rating: Minorly Inappropriate
“I’m nervous,” Tif admitted as she and Kinsey pedaled their bikes towards the Hanson’s house.
“Why? They’re not worth getting nervous over. Trust me,” Kinsey laughed, “I’ve known them my whole life, and they’re just like any other guys.”
“Who happen to be famous and I listen to their CD all the time! Come on, Kinsey, they’re not like other guys,” Tif said, “Are you sure they want to meet me?”
“For the hundredth time, yes! You’re my friend and I’m their friend, so it’ll be good, I promise,” Kinsey said, trying to be encouraging. They turned the corner and rode up their wide driveway, hopping off their bikes and making sure they were secure before heading around back.
The only person they found in the backyard was Zac, who was filling up a huge squirt gun with the hose.
“Zac!” Kinsey exclaimed, leading the way to him with Tif lurking behind her.
“Kinsey, check this out!” he said excitedly, pointing the large blue gun right at her before pulling the trigger.
“You jerk!” She was on him in a second, trying to rip the gun from his grasp while he repeatedly shot her with water. “Will you stop it so I can introduce you to Tif?”
“Oh, right. Sorry,” he relented before dropping the gun to the ground. Kinsey laughed and gave him a playful shove.
“Zac, this is Tif. Tif, this is Zac, my obnoxious best friend.”
“Nice to meet you,” Tif said quietly. Kinsey gave her a questioning look, wondering why her every-chatty friend was suddenly being so well-mannered and reserved.
“Any friend of Kinsey’s is a friend of mine,” Zac said, “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“Where are Ike and Taylor?” Kinsey asked.
“Ike’s changing and who knows what Taylor’s doing,” Zac shrugged as he picked his water gun up.
“Moisturizing?” Kinsey suggested. Zac laughed loudly, but stopped abruptly as a familiar noise sounded in the distance. Tif and Kinsey looked at each other excitedly.
“Ice cream man!” Zac yelled, “I’ll meet you out front!” Tif and Kinsey took off for the front yard, digging in their pockets for change while Zac headed for the house. Seconds later, they were all waiting at the curb while the truck rolled lazily down the street blaring its obnoxiously repetitive music.
“I love summer,” Kinsey grinned as Zac threw an arm around each of their shoulders, prompting Tif to turn a brilliant shade of fire engine red. When the truck had pulled up in front of them, they took a step forward.
“I’ll have a Snoopy Ice Cream Bar,” Zac started before nodding his head towards Kinsey, “The lady will have a Rocket Pop. And the other lady will have a…” He waited for Tif to speak.
“Same,” she managed.
“Another Rocket Pop,” Zac said before releasing them from his hold, “And two fudgesicles” He paid for all of the ice cream and then they headed back.
“Thanks, Zac,” Tif said.
“It’s the least I could do,” he said.
“Yeah, they just spent the last forever touring the planet, I think he can afford to buy us a popsicle,” Kinsey teased, giving him a playful elbow to the ribs.
“If that’s your way of saying thank you, I accept,” Zac told her. Kinsey laughed and linked her arm with Zac’s as they rounded the corner to find Isaac and Taylor talking by the pool.
“You guys went to the ice cream truck and didn’t get us anything?” Isaac asked.
“Well, I did get you guys fudgesicles, but never mind. I’ll just eat them,” Zac shrugged. Isaac rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand, waiting to be paid in chocolately goodness. Zac forked one over, but threw the other one at Taylor.
“What’d you do that for?” Taylor asked, picking it up off the ground.
“I’m sure you did something wrong,” Zac said.
“You definitely needed to be punished,” Kinsey laughed.
“What did you say?” Taylor asked quickly, looking slightly panicked. Kinsey cocked and eyebrow as she unwrapped her Rocket Pop and ignored him.
“Anyways, guys, this is Tif. Tif, this is Isaac and the other one,” Kinsey introduced.
“My name is Taylor.”
“She knows who you are, doofus. She knows who all of you are, I’m just being nice.”
“It’s really nice to meet you guys. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Tif said.
“All good, I hope,” Isaac smiled.
“Yeah right,” Kinsey said, trying not to laugh, “I can’t just lie to her, you know.”
“So, shall we?” Zac asked, gesturing for the deck chairs. Kinsey and Tif followed him over while Taylor and Isaac headed for the pool. After shimmying out of their shorts and tank tops, they stretched out in the chairs to enjoy the hot sun. Kinsey was still feeling a little self-conscious about her body, but having Tif around was definitely helping. Kinsey was about to take a lick of her Rocket Pop when Tif leaned over and grabbed her arm, pulling her close.
“Is Isaac looking at me? I think he keeps looking at me,” she whispered.
“I don’t know. Probably. You have boobs,” Kinsey whispered back, trying not to laugh.
“So do you!” Tif exclaimed.
“Yeah, but he doesn’t look at mine. I’m like a sister to him.” Tif gave her a pointed look before leaning over Kinsey to talk to Zac. Apparently, her nerves were gone.
“Zac, do you think of Kinsey as a sister?” she asked.
“No… why?” he asked, looking at her suspiciously. Kinsey just waved him off, letting him know it wasn’t worth worrying about, but Tif had stood and was standing at the edge of the pool.
“Guys,” she called out, immediately stilling Taylor and Isaac’s movements.
“Yeah?” Taylor asked.
“Do you two think of Kinsey as a sister?”
“Absolutely,” Isaac said at the same time Taylor replied with an emphatic, “No!”
“I told you,” Kinsey said in a sing-song voice as Tif sat back down.
“Okay, so he does, but the other two don’t. So they’re probably looking,” Tif said. Zac perked up.
“Looking at what?” he asked.
“Kinsey’s boobs,” Tif said, prompting Kinsey to smack her hard in the arm, leaving a red handprint behind.
“Of course I am,” Zac shrugged, “I mean, not to be gross or anything, but they weren’t there last summer and I’m just not used to them yet.”
“This is not happening,” Kinsey mumbled before sinking back into her chair and finally starting in on her Rocket Pop. They sat in the warm sun for about a half hour, Kinsey willing her cheeks to lose their embarrassed flush, Tif working on her tan, and Zac yelling out random comments as Taylor and Isaac made repeated trips off the diving board.
“Grandma Hanson could do a better cannonball than that!” he yelled after one of Isaac’s attempts proved less than stellar.
“I’d like to see you do better,” Isaac challenged. Zac practically flew off his chair and sped towards the diving board. He ran to the end, feet slapping against the web board, and took one big jump before soaring through the air. His body curled into a tight ball and when he collided with the water, a huge splash erupted, going so far as to soak even Kinsey and Tif on the edge of the pool deck.
“How was it?” he asked when he resurfaced.
“Just great,” Tif mumbled as she attempted to swipe the water from her skin. He swam over to the edge and looked at Kinsey.
“Was it a record-breaker?”
“Well, I’m sitting all the way over here and you got me wet, so I’d say yes,” she laughed, not noticing that Taylor shut his eyes in irritation and disappeared under the water.
“Lunch is ready!” Mrs. Hanson called out from the back porch.
“Diana, this is my friend Tif,” Kinsey said once they’d reached her.
“Nice to meet you, Tif,” Diana greeted, “I hope my boys are on their best behavior.” All three of them rolled their eyes and started to fill up their plates with the food she’d covered the table with.
“Thanks for lunch,” Tif said. Diana smiled and nodded before headed inside.
“This is quite the spread,” Kinsey commented as she surveyed her options.
“Hotdogs!” Zac exclaimed before throwing two haphazardly into buns and drowning them with ketchup.
“Mmm, you looks delicious,” Kinsey said to the hotdog she was preparing to put on her plate. Taylor dropped the spoon from the potato salad onto the ground, swearing under his breath as he picked it up. Once all of their plates were full, they headed back to the chairs by the pool.
“So, tell us about yourself, Tif,” Isaac said.
“Not much to tell,” she started, “Kinsey and I were in the same class in school this year, I have an older sister, and that’s pretty much it.”
“She forgot to mention that she’s completely obnoxious,” Kinsey chimed in.
“Oh, you so don’t want to start that game,” Tif laughed and Kinsey backed off, shrinking back in her chair and consuming half of her hot dog in one bite.
“ Hungry?” Zac laughed.
“What?” Kinsey managed with her full mouth.
“You just put, like, half of it in your mouth!”
“I’ll be back,” Taylor said abruptly, abandoning his plate as he practically fled for the house.
“What was that all about?” Kinsey asked. Isaac shook his head, trying not to look amused.
“You so don’t want to know,” he said.
“Is he always this weird?” Tif asked.
“You have no idea,” Kinsey laughed.