Time: Back In The Day / Kinsey: Age 17 / Pre-YIM
Rating: Minorly Inappropriate
“What do you want to do today?” Zac asked Kinsey as they lounged on the couch in the Hanson’s basement.
“I don’t care,” Kinsey said blandly, not taking her eyes off of the repeat of ‘Saved By The Bell’ on the TV.
“Well, I can’t take this show. We have to think of something to do,” he sighed, turning off the TV and standing up, “We could go make something to eat.”
“Cookies?” she asked, perking up significantly at the thought of eating chocolate chip cookie dough directly out of the mixing bowl.
“Sure!” he said with a smile, “I was thinking more like a sandwich or something, but we can do cookies.” Kinsey followed him up the stairs, grabbing his long ponytail her hand as he reached the landing.
“You should really cut your hair, Zachary,” she informed him.
“What? Why, just because Isaac and Taylor did?”
“No. Because you’d look good with short hair,” she stated, “And your hair is getting longer than mine and that creeps me out.” He rolled his eyes and shoved her lightly as he grabbed things out of cabinets while Kinsey fished the recipe from the box on the counter. They were just dumping in the chocolate chips when Taylor stumbled in the room wearing only a pair of boxers.
“You two are so loud,” Taylor groaned.
“Jesus Christ. It’s three in the afternoon,” Kinsey said disgustedly, looking at Taylor with her nose crinkled as he scratched his stomach and yawned.
“Your point?” he snapped, his eyes still not fully open. Kinsey found it truly unbelievable how long it took him to wake up. She had once watched him walk around bumping into things for over an hour one morning on a joint family vacation while his brain worked its way back to normal functioning.
“My point is that you’re disgusting.”
“Not as disgusting as you. Why don’t you go cover up your cleavage. No one here wants to see it,” he stated through another yawn, looking pointedly at her low cut top before leaving. Kinsey had just bought the shirt the day before but suddenly found herself wondering if she could still return it even though the tags now lay in her bedroom’s garbage can. Instinctually, she pulled up the top a bit.
“Don’t let him get to you. He’s just been in full on bitch mode all week,” Zac explained, but Kinsey just turned her attention to the bowl of cookie dough. She could feel her pulse quicken and her heart start thudding. And then there were the telltale prickles of tears at the corners of her eyes. Before she started crying, she dug a spoon into the dough and shoved a big glob of it into her mouth. Then, she dropped the spoon into the bowl and grabbed the book of matches from beside a candle on the counter. “Kinsey, what are you doing?”
“Getting him back,” she said matter-of-factly, “Follow my lead.” She moved stealthily up the stairs before striking a match and holding it up towards the heat sensitive smoke alarm until it started going off noisily right outside Taylor’s bedroom. Before he could come to the door, she bolted back downstairs and started yelling in the hallway.
“Oh my god! Why is there so much smoke?” she hollered down the hallway to Zac, who was perched on the counter with the bowl in his lap, eating contentedly.
“Shit!” he yelled out rather convincingly, “Go outside! I’ll grab the phone!” And then, Kinsey heard Taylor’s feet coming down the stairs.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked, obviously still very groggy.
“Something’s wrong with the oven. We put the cookies in and smoke just started pouring out. We have to get outside. Zac’s going to call 911,” she told him urgently and he followed her to the door. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and nodded. If he was too stupid and tired to notice that there was no smoke anywhere in the house, it served his dumb, mean ass right, Kinsey thought to herself. Her smile had a touch of evil to it as she watched Taylor shuffle his way outside. She slammed the door shut behind him and turned over the deadbolt with a happy sigh, leaving him locked out on the front porch in his boxers in the middle of the afternoon.