Car Swaps (TF)

Claire's lips pushed into a pout, and she looked at Kenny with the most painfully sad puppy dog eyes the teen had ever seen in his life. The choice was made for him before it he even registered it in his head, "Uh, yeah, I mean, I am!" He stumbled back with a reassuring smile to the short blonde, "I am totally driving you home; I...I forgot we decided that"

"Obviously," Claire sweetly smiled as she reached out ever so lightly, running her hand down his arm. Kenny felt goosebumps, and he couldn’t fight off a grin from the minor affection while Claire turned to Mindy and Juliet, "So I guess that means you can drive Mindy home, Julie."

Kennedy crossed her arms and let out a bitter scoff that matched Juliet's narrowed eyes, "Claire...what are you talking about? Why are you suddenly so close to my cousin?"

"Do I need to spell that one out for you?" Kennedy sarcastically answered for the brunette,

"Julie, don't blow a gasket," Kenny interjected, determined not to let his cousin blow this for him, "I'm just doing her a favor, and besides, you don't look well this morning; it's probably best you take Mindy. That way, you can drop her off and then go lay down or something back home,"

Juliet began to open her mouth, but Mindy beat her to the punch. The Asian girl quickly reached out and took Juliet's hand, "Oh, come on. Julie, this works out. When was the last time you and I got to hang out together without Kenny?"

Kennedy let out a snicker, "Probably years, not much reason to talk to you,"

Mindy blew out a more than unamused exhale and turned to the blonde, "Don't you have some little children to terrorize or some fucking potions to brew in your cauldron?"

"That your best attempt at an insult?" Kennedy shot back,

Kenny's eyes widened as he saw his best friend press her tongue against her inner cheek, letting out a little click as she slowly stepped closer to Kennedy, "Not even close; you want my best attempt, you stuck-up little cu --"

"Okay!" Kenny quickly exclaimed with a clap of his hands, overtaking Mindy's voice before things escalated any further, "I think it's best if we just head out, right Claire? Shouldn't we get you and Kennedy home?"

"Hmm?" Claire hummed back, seeming blissfully unaware of what was moments away from unfolding between Mindy and her twin, "Oh yeah! We should get going!" Claire laced her arm right around Kenny's and moved with him to the front door, "You have your own car, right? It's not even your dads or something?"

Juliet watched as Claire left with Kenny, her upper lip twitching in frustration. If there was one thing that every girl knew and was expected to listen to, it was to stay the hell away from Kenny. It didn't matter if Claire was an incredibly sweet girl or not; she knew better than to do this. "Get your sister in check," Juliet muttered to Kennedy, "She knows the rule,"

"Ugh, God, Julie, let's not think that way. Claire has a type, and Clark doesn't fit that bill. No way she's doing something with him...she...she must be using him to get closer to JJ again," A hint of desperation trailed with Kennedy's voice. Surely her twin sister wouldn't be getting involved with some loser like Kenny Clark.

"Oh, I think Kenny's fitting Claire better than either of you or me even know," Mindy couldn't help but throw in one last jab, even if it did end up hitting Julie as well. But regardless, Mindy wasn't too affected; she'd stick up for Kenny, everyone else be damned.

A short ride down the mountain's tram car and the teenagers were loaded up in their cars and on the road heading back to Greenwall. Kenny was led out of the two cars, and as Juliet drove behind him, the brunette's blue eyes were all but trained on the back window, trying to watch what was happening inside. "This is absolutely, positively, unacceptable..." Juliet muttered under her breath, and Mindy sighed, kicking her feet up on the dash while scrolling through her phone, "Friends don't date other friends' family. That's a rule. A simple code that any moral person knows, right?"

"Sure, Julie," Mindy lazily agreed with the Clark girl,

"And Kenny should know that too! He should know as my cousin, hell, almost my brother; he has no right getting close to Claire!" Juliet exclaimed,

"Yep, he's a real monster, Juliet," Part of Mindy did want to tell Juliet to get a grip. Mindy had more than a few personal reasons why she could be upset over the fact that Kenny seemed to be getting involved with Claire Thomas but at the end of the day. Even if she was a bit envious of the blonde, the simple fact that Kenny was absolutely glowing this morning was more than enough for her to keep her mouth shut. If Kenny was happy, then Mindy was happy, though that didn't ring true for Juliet.

"And what is he even fucking thinking here anyway?! Claire Thomas?! She's been passed around the hockey team all fucking year! Kenny should know he can do better than that! He should have a little fucking self-respect!" Mindy slowly lowered her phone, looking over to Juliet with disapproval; insulting and bad-mouthing friends wasn't Juliet's style, and she knew it, "Does he even have a concept of what being linked to someone's reputation can do to his own?"

"Hmmm, that's a point," Mindy put her legs back down and sat up in her seat, "Do you feel the same way about Brian?" Juliet's anger left her in seconds. The brunette tightly gripped the wheel, and her face turned ghostly white, "Julie, chill. I know you and all these cheerleaders play this game of manipulation and backstabbing, but I don't. All I'm saying is I heard that little back and forth, and something tells me that someone here isn't exactly practicing what they are preaching," Mindy nonchalantly finished and then returned to her phone,

Despite not getting any further pressure from Mindy, Juliet's felt a defensive nature come over her, "Mindy, I don't know what you think you heard, but whatever you're trying to say about Brian and me, you're off touch," Mindy shut her phone off and looked over to Juliet, "I'm not into that asshole, I never have been! He...He did something to me last night; he got into my head and...and manipulated the situation so he got what he always wanted! So this morning, you heard me tuning him up!"

"Sounded more like the morning after regrets," Juliet tightened her lips, "Julie, relax, I'm not putting you on blast. Brian White was definitely a shit head, I didn't like him for a long time either, but...well, he's changed. I know that we all remember who he was, but that's the past. So treating him like who he used to be isn't exactly fair,"

The car was silent and for a moment Mindy thought she had gotten through to the brunette, but she to her dismay, Juliet shook her head, "No way...Brian's a manipulator. He made it a game to learn how to trick people and to get into girls pants. He did something, he fucked with my head someway and now he's trying to make it look like he did nothing wrong. It's not going to work on me, Mindy. It's not," She defiantly finished,

Mindy sighed with disappointment, "Fine, I can't **** you to see another way, but...for like, two seconds, can you just play pretend with me?" Juliet gave the Asian girl a side eye before giving a half-hearted shrug of ****, "What are you going to to do on the off chance, that tiny little percent chance, that Brian wasn't playing a game and the only thing he is at fault of, was liking you."

Juliet's lips slowly tightened, and she uncomfortably readjusted in her seat, "I...I don't have to think about that, Mindy," She murmured back, deflecting the question, "I'm right...I know I'm right...I know I am," She softly repeated back to herself, but the words couldn't have felt more hollow.

Meanwhile, in the car ahead, Kenny was happily making his way back to Greenwall with the Thomas twins. Kennedy was crammed in the backseat, her foot kicked up, pressing into the back of his seat, and she couldn't have look more frustrated with the situation. Claire on the other hand was happily sitting in the passenger seat, so far she had flipped through just about everything she could in his car, and messed with nearly every dial, but had finally settled on fogging up her window to draw with her finger.

There was something so strangely infectious about her sweet, simple-minded nature that just made it impossible for Kenny to get annoyed. Even as Kennedy began to complain, he was able to tune it out and focus on the girl sitting next to him. "God, Clark, this car is a piece of fucking shit!" Kennedy exclaimed giving his seat a kick, "Couldn't you get something from this damn century and didn't look like you just pulled it out of a junkyard?!"

"The car's engine is in great condition, it's just the body that needs a little love," Kenny simply corrected, and Kennedy almost flinched. She expected a snappy comeback, an annoyed response, anything that she'd come to expect out of the teen. Yet, just like this morning, he was as happy go-lucky as her sister.

Claire turned in her seat to face Kenny fully, "I think it's really cool! I never drove in an old car before,"

"Well...I can drive you around in it more...you know, if you wanted me to," Kenny coyly suggested and Claire let out a little giggle,

"Is that a promise?" The blonde girl started to lean forward, "Because I can think of a thing of two we could do once we --"

"Whoa!" Kennedy all but jumped out of the backseat, getting her arms and head in between the two, forcing Claire away from her sister, "What was that ?!" Claire slumped back in her seat and gave her eyes a lazy, slightly annoyed roll,

"Nothing, Kenna, relax. Why are you so weird?" Claire mumbled back, using the very last bit of fog left on her window to draw a tiny heart,

"Me being weird?! Look at you?!" Kennedy exclaimed, "You were just flirting with Clark! Clark of all fucking people!" The blonde couldn't have sounded more horrified, and despite having all the cause to be offended, Kenny couldn't help but grin, "You're acting like --" Kennedy's eyes widened, a moment of realization hitting her just as Kenny let out a snicker, "Oh my God, Claire no, please tell me you didn't."

Claire gave her sister a sheepish smile, "Um...Didn't do what?" She innocently asked back,

With revulsion, Kennedy fell back into her seat, "Oh my God, eeeeew!" The blonde girl all but gagged while she watched her sister happily lean back over to Kenny, snaking her arms around his right one and resting her head on his shoulder, "Clark?! Fucking Clark?! God, Claire, you've been around the block a few times, but I expected you to at least keep your fucking standards!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Claire retorted,

"Clark is a fucking loser!" Kenny lightly cleared his throat, silently giving the girl a reminder he was in fact still in the car, "I mean fuck, I didn't think you could sink any lower after dating the goalie with half a brain stem but now you went and fucked that thing?!"

"Hey, don't be mean, Kenny is really nice!" Kenny briefly looked down at the blonde clinging to his arm. He didn't know a lot about Claire, but the one thing he did know was her devotion to her twin sister. She would defend Kennedy night and day to anyone, no matter what Kennedy had done, so the fact she would say anything in his defense was more than a welcomed surprise. "And he might not be playing on the hockey team, but trust me..." Claire let out a humming giggle, "He certainly has a big stick."

"Oh my God, shut up!" Kennedy cupped her hands over her ears, "This isn't happening! This isn't my fucking life! This is not my fucking life!"

Kenny flicked his eyes up at the rearview mirror, "Why are you so bothered by this? It's not like you're involved,"

"She's my fucking twin, Clark! You seeing her naked is like you seeing me naked, and I never wanted to have a pathetic creep like you knowing what I looked like! So can it!" Kennedy sharply barked back,

"Don't mind her, Kenzie just gets cranky on long car rides," Claire calmly reassured the teen, "Once we get to my house she'll be fine, plus....then I can show you my bedroom,"

"No!" Kennedy shouted once again, "First off, ew! No fucking way is Clark allowed in our house, especially if you're thinking of having sex with that thing! And second, Claire, have you forgotten about Juliet and her fucking rule?!" Kenny's brow raised and Claire let out a curious hum, "Her one rule that I never thought I'd have to talk about, but it's to leave her loser cousin alone, he's off limits! You know she won't allow this!"

Claire lifted one hand, mockingly using it as a mouth to her sister, "My name's Juliet, and I won't let anyone get close to my really nice, big dicked cousin. If anyone tries to, I'll get really angry and, blah, blah, blah, blah!" Kennedy groaned in defeat while Claire and Kenny shared a more than amused laugh together, "I don't care what Juliet says, I'm doing whatever I want with Kenny for as long as he'll let me,"

"I have zero intentions of stopping you," Kenny eagerly replied,

Kennedy cupped her hands over her face, "God, I'm gonna be fucking sick,"