[Ira and Rachel] -Star Crossed.💙

Chapter 9: Rachel VS. Mackenzie

Rachel's POV,

The moment I arrived at Johnny's place to drop Ira off, there was trouble.

And when I saw the scowl on Mackenzie's face at his front door, the other girls at her side, I knew it was big trouble.

Johnny's eyes seemed to say "sorry," as he sheepishly stood next to my friend. As tall as he was, he looked awkward and defeated next to the fiery and fuming Mackenzie.

Maya didn't meet my eyes with hers, but rather gazed at the ground. She had an innocence to her face, like a child who had just been yelled at.

The rest of the gang looked like they were anticipating a bad fight; and from the looks of it, I was too.

"Sh-should I hide...?" Questioned Ira, sounding a little panicked. He began to pull my hair in front of his face in an attempt to conceal his identity.

I wanted to feel butterflies and giggle at his actions, but Mackenzie's spiteful voice cut through.

"You won't need to do that," she quickly snapped at him, having heard.

Clara flinched, and even the always-snarky Regina was looking humbly quiet. And as I met my eyes with Mackenzie's, I could totally see the pure anger and irritation.

"You really thought you could keep this a secret, huh?" she began, raising her voice. Our steps approached her, and Ira was at my side as I faced my friend's fury.

"Making promises, telling us what we wanna hear," the fiery girl continued, "lying to us about your stupid boyfriend, it was ALL to protect HIM!"

a solid, fixed finger shot up in the air and pointed at Ira. She stared at him menacingly, with the most intense scowl I could ever imagine Mackenzie's face make.

"You don't even care about Splendorious! You don't care about me!"

She bit her lip, sniffling but keeping her dirty look intact.

"The terrible things Rory rumored about," she spat, "They were true! And you're just like that...that..—"

She eyed Ira intensely, tension building, and I could feel his cold fingers grip onto my arm. I prayed she wouldn't say it, and his thumping heartbeat against my back seemed to do the same.

But she groaned in frustration, seeing the shielding stance I had him in. And she said it.

"that bloody demon!"

her scream made me flinch as hard as the others. And the words tore through my heart.

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Ira's POV,

Spade's words left her mouth and echoed out into the street. They echoed through the trees, and throughout the sound of distant traffic.

But most of all, they echoed through me.

That bloody demon.

That's what we all heard. That's what she said.

Was it true?

And I momentarily peeked from Rachel's hair to see the look of bitterness plastered on her friend's face. It made me want to throw up, and I stumbled away from Rachel.

My breathing became shallow, and I noticed how shaky my legs really were. How they had been all day.

And I fell down on my knees, hearing my stomach grumble and feeling my intestines swirl. And I could still hear Mackenzie's voice in my head, except now she was taunting me and repeating her words over and over again.