Meeting The Family, Part One

July 10th, 2017

Throughout summer break, Kenzie and I met up once or twice per week on average, spending time in the promenade and also exploring other places. On July 10th, I spent the day with Kenzie, though I told my parents that I was going to have a study session with Ray. My sister, who I’d been keeping in the loop, asked me how it went.

[Sis]: How was your ‘study session with Ray’ lol

We had a ferry ride and went to the space museum together
Also we studied

[Sis]: Wow that sounds like my first date
[Sis]: Studied??

Probably more productively than if I were at home honestly
I brought my Econ notes
And she tested me time to time

[Sis]: Wait that's so weird

At some points we'd just sit down
And then she'd be like
wAnNA reViSE some ECON

[Sis]: ...Okay
[Sis]: How long were you out for?

Met 10:30 parted at 6:30

[Sis]: Wow that's the whole day
[Sis]: Was it fun?

Mmhmm
It was :)))))

[Sis]: Cute
[Sis]: Is her facebook still deactivated

HAHAHAHA you wanna stalk?

[Sis]: You told me she stalked me before so it's fair~
[Sis]: Or you can introduce me when I'm back from the states lol

July 20th, 2017

We also fulfilled our earlier idea of going to Ocean Park. I got home at around 1 in the morning.

[Sis]: Were mom and dad mad about that

They weren't
And they were just busy watching Netflix
Though they did nag me a bit

[Sis]: Lol ok

But Kenzie told me her mom didn't get mad cuz she knew Kenzie was just with me

[Sis]: Wow much trust

Although I did have fun, I felt a bit uneasy at the end because Kenzie chose not to have a goodbye hug like usual. It left a bad aftertaste, since I was used to it. I didn’t share that detail with my sister because I thought I was just being too sensitive, but I walked home thinking something was wrong.

I asked Kenzie about it but she told me not to overthink it.

By the way just curious we usually have a goodbye hug but why not today

[Kenzie]: I was tired
[Kenzie]: Also smelly
[Kenzie]: Also sweaty
[Kenzie]: Don't overthink it

Sure sure
I mean you're always smelly
But sure

[Kenzie]: Wow ok

Despite calling her smelly at first, I still managed to be honest with her about what it meant to me.

Just saying even if you're smelly or sweaty
A proper hug from you is honestly one of my favorite things

[Kenzie]: Aww ok I'll keep that in mind

 July 30th, 2017

Since going to Ocean Park with her, we hadn't met up for the rest of the month. I texted her to see if she wanted to hang out.

If we're both free wanna do something?

[Kenzie]: got anything in mind?

We could get lunch somewhere

[Kenzie]: I have leftover food at home to finish though
[Kenzie]: Also it might rain
[Kenzie]: You don't need to spend time with your family?

If you don't want to meet up that's fine I'll stop asking

[Kenzie]: I just don't know what we could do

Do you feel up to going to the promenade?

[Kenzie]: Wait actually I might work tomorrow

Ah
What do you mean by that?

[Kenzie]: I'm in this group where there's someone who sends out info about places to work
[Kenzie]: Probably like urgent stuff
[Kenzie]: And then I just message if I'm interested

Oh ok so
Kinda like sudden jobs?

[Kenzie]: Yeah like that

So you just messaged the guy seeing if there's a job for you tomorrow

[Kenzie]: Yup

[Kenzie]: I'm trying to find more work

Partially because I didn’t feel like it, and partially because I thought she didn’t want me to, I didn't message her for a day after that.

Since we had been texting every day since April, this was a long time for us.

August 1st, 2017

[Kenzie]: How was your day?

Eventually, she broke the silence by asking how my day was. I replied, telling her about my hangout with Ray that day as if everything was normal. But eventually, I told her what was on my mind.

I'll be honest with some feelings here cuz I couldn't find it in myself to be a while ago
Ever since we parted ways after Ocean Park something felt a bit off with you
And then it further put me off a bit that you danced around my question asking if you wanted to meet up, then ultimately decided to prioritize a chance to work instead of meeting up even though we haven't seen each other for longer than usual and my summer break is ending soon
So I waited until the next time you messaged me before texting you
Along the way I also regularly told myself at least most of it was just in my head but I also thought it'd be better if you were clearer in your non-verbal communication

[Kenzie]: Thanks for the honesty
[Kenzie]: Maybe one day I'll explain
[Kenzie]: I don't wanna lose this friendship so don't randomly assume I wanna cut contact or anything like that

Please do explain some time
I always want to hear your side of things

[Kenzie]: I'll keep that in mind

That was it, and things returned to normal. We didn’t follow up on that conversation, so that “Maybe” served its purpose. And it never felt right for me to suddenly bring it back up.

August 5th, 2017

There was also a time when I invited her over to chill at my place. I told my mom I’d invited some friends over to study.

I was having a weird childish phase that involved building forts, so we made small one in my room. I’d laid out a spare mattress on the floor, lined it with cushions, then made walls using the sofa pillows. To add the finishing touches, we suspended laundry poles over the walls, and draped a blanket over the top. Kenzie and I sat in the fort while talking about the books I had in my shelf, our friends, and occasionally a bit of Econ.

“Looking for Alaska. We just call it Alaska. It might have been ruined for my friends since we had to study it in-depth for English, but I thought it was an amazing read,” I commented.

“Can I borrow it?”

“Yeah – tell me how it goes. How was uni registration?”

Kenzie had recently visited her university to handle some registration processes. She’d decided to attend a local university, and her first semester would start in September.

“Nothing much. I just hope I can find a group of friends to do fun stuff with. Kind of like you with Ray and the others.”

I shrugged. “We have our ups and downs. Things are back to normal with Yunyun on the surface, but it’s like there are some unresolved feelings there.”

“Is he still annoyed at you for talking with me so often?”

“…Hm. He apparently doesn’t have a crush on you anymore, but I can’t be sure.”

“On that topic, I’m meeting up with him soon. It was my idea.”

“Oh, nice.”

“I think we should meet up together with him and get dinner like last time. I can ask if he’s okay with you joining us.”

“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal…”

“You’re graduating in a year. You might as well fix things up as early as possible so you can enjoy your last year together. Anyway, you’re free to join, right?”

I gave in. “Okay, okay. I’ll make the time.”

“Anyway, what were we talking about?”

“University friends?”

“Oh, right. I’m hoping to find friends I can get along with. Like you and your friends that always roast each other but don’t really mean it.”

“Well, yeah. Roasting people is fun. What do you think people would roast you about?”

“Uhhhh.” She thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I don’t think there’s much about me that people can easily make fun of.”

“Except you’re short.”

“But the joke gets stale.”

“Like your growth rate.”

“Ugh.”

So that we could feel some semblance of productivity, the Econ revision guide was open in front of us while we talked.

My mom’s mouth was also open in front of us when she walked into my room and saw only me and her.

After eyeing the two teenagers in the room, the first thing she asked was, "Hi, what's your name?"

"Hi! I'm Kenzie."

"Kenzie. Nice to meet you! Rob, I thought you were bringing more of your friends over?"

"Uh, they couldn't make it so I'm just revising with Kenzie." (10% true.) I pointed at Kenzie. "Kenzie's already taken the exam, so she knows what it's like." (Actually true.)

Mom mostly minded her own business after that, but she and Kenzie did have a chance to talk for a bit. My mom told Kenzie that she managed a nearby café, and that Kenzie could help out.

Kenzie left before the sun started setting. After she left, my mom came out of her room and said, “You brought such a pretty girl over and you didn’t tell me?”

“Again, my other friends weren’t available,” I lied.

She went on for a bit about how I was a young man and that she didn’t know what I could’ve been doing in my room alone with a girl and et cetera et cetera.

I’d been a bit too embarrassed to ever tell my parents what was going on with me and her. But I suppose her presence in my life had become a bit too big to hide by then.

In my parents’ defense, I really didn’t tell them just because I didn’t want to risk the embarrassment of being grilled about it; especially because the relationship between me and Kenzie wasn’t exactly straightforward. They wouldn’t be particularly strict about my romantic life and/or who I date, and treated my sister’s boyfriend pretty well. And I think they’d rather I be straight, but I’m pretty sure they’d accept it if I were into guys. That’s more than a lot of teens could ask for.

[Kenzie]: I feel bad about lying to your mom
[Kenzie]: "Revision"

HAHAHA well we did revise

[Kenzie]: Barely 

More efficiently than if I was alone

[Kenzie]: True
[Kenzie]: By the way was your mom serious about working part-time 

In fact, my mom didn’t really mind the fact that Kenzie and I were alone at home that much. Kenzie was looking for part time work, so I gave Kenzie my mom’s contact details.

That’s how Kenzie ended up working part-time for my mom. I would've preferred it if my sister were the first family member she met, but that would come in due time. My sister was scheduled to fly back from the states the next week.