The Perfect Family

3. Maci is smiling?

Tesni gets Maci up and ready for school before heading to work and kisses Orson's head as he leaves with Samuel to school himself.

Maci grabs a Pop Tart out of the toaster then slings her backpack over her shoulder walking out to the car.

"Mac, would you like to intern at the office? Maybe get some experience before heading to college soon?" Tesni asks starting the car as she gets in and watches Maci put her seatbelt on.

"And be like Ley? No thanks. Unless I actually get paid."

Tesni sighs, gripping the steering wheel ready to have an outburst until she reaches for her thermal mug, popping one of her pills in her mouth and gulping it down with coffee.

"Ley gets paid, she's not just learning without being rewarded."

Maci scoffs, "Is that what you do with Oreo? Reward him everytime he doesn't go off his rocker like you? Like Nero, Lainey, me?"

Before Tesni could give Maci an answer, Samuel makes Tesni roll her window down to give her a goodbye kiss as him and Orson leaves.

Maci put her headphones on making herself invisible in front of Tesni's eyes, slouching down in the car's seat.

Tesni begins driving looking at Maci from time to time seeing where she went wrong.

Once they get in front of the highschool Tesni reaches over to kiss Maci's head but she's already out the car and meeting up with Cora.

"How's my invisible woman doing?" Cora jokes with Maci punching her arm smiling.

Maci rolls her eyes, "Tried to focus on the essay but I fell asleep midway."

Cora takes out a copy of her essay, "Hurry and write what you can but switch some words around." Maci does prayer hands, taking it and sitting at the picnic table jotting down what she could.

A few minutes later people start chattering as a new kid walks in with his backpack to his side as he runs in late. "Mr. Sanders!" The principal shouts out, making Maci look over her shoulder to see the surfer looking boy.

Cora pinches Maci cheeks, "Someone is blushinggg!" Maci smacks Cora's hand, "It's hot out here. You know? Outside? Sun?" Cora laughs with a snort making Maci look at her weird but cracking a smile.

"Wait...Maci is smiling? You're smiling?" Cora shakes Maci happily, "Oh I knew I could do it! Early in the morning too? This has to be the all-time record of all times." Maci puts her headphones back on getting ready to head to class seeing the new boy being talked to by the principal.

Getting a seat in the middle row, the new boy and Cora sit beside Maci.

"Jamison."

The new boy reaches his hand out to Maci thinking she would be just as friendly.

"Cora and Maci."

Cora says leaning over Maci's desk to shake Jamison's hand.

"You two sisters?" Jamison asks, chuckling, getting his notebook out.

"Best friends," Maci answers while stuffing her headphones into her book bag lying by her feet now.

Jamison nods, "Cool, so you two know your way around here then?"

Cora bites the eraser on top of her pencil watching the teacher's son, Irwin, go to the whiteboard to pin up a flier for his stop motion club.

"You say I was blushing? Look at your cheeks and drool slipping out your mouth." Maci says in a whisper to Cora.

"Shut up. He's just cute? Adorable? Likable."

Maci rolls her eyes uninterested waiting until the teacher walks in to start the school day off.

Once that was over lunch came rolling in and of course for the Reed's their days are never that easy.

"Hey! Reed girl!"

A snobby blonde says to Maci as she's in line next for her tray.

"Yes, Barbie?"

The blonde scoffs, "It's actually Elizabeth, anyways, I need you to give me the answers to Mr. Finches class."

Maci raises her eyebrow, "Mr. Finch? As in Bio?"

The blonde nods sassily, tapping her Burberry shoes on the cafeteria floor.

"No. Sorry."

Maci moves up one grabbing the tray with food already on it until Elizabeth trips her having the food get everywhere even on Maci's clothes.

"Sorry, crazy how you just slipped like that."

Elizabeth's friends giggled behind her making fun of Maci until Cora pushed past them helping Maci up.

"You bitch," Cora says angrily at Elizabeth.

Maci shakes the mac and cheese off her sweatshirt then pushes her long hair back behind her ears, sighing.

"Being a school bully really suits you Beth, I mean wasn't your brother the same way until he went to that end of the year party and was pants in front of everybody just to be taught a lesson?"

Elizabeth drops her preppy smile now gritting her teeth at Maci.

"Last time I checked, the embarrassment was so bad that he ki-"

Elizabeth smacks Maci in the face but Maci just scoffs, poking the inside of her cheek with her tongue.

"You may act all perfect and drift around school like some damn ghost but I see you Maci Reed. You are nobody with one friend who can actually stand you with no hopes of rising to greatness like your siblings."

That struck a nerve in Maci, Maci caught this rage in her that caused only one thing to happen and afterwards had her brother come in to bail her out.

"I'm sorry Mr. Reed, we just can't tolerate violence." The principal says as Maci and Nero are both seated in front of him.

"Violence? The other student hit her and tripped her first. Isn't that considered violence?"

The principal fixes his tie uncomfortably, "Yes-well-I do apologize but Maci here did in fact break the students nose."

Nero opens up his suit jacket pulling out a check book, "How much does this school make? The school board? I'm sure this won't have to come out and you keep things under wraps with this, right?" Nero slides the slip of paper towards him watching as he gulps in shock from the amount of money that's on there.

"Y-Yes right." Nero nods, "Well that's settled. I need the other students' name to apologize to the parents personally. I can assure you Maci won't cause trouble as long as they keep their kid under control as well." The principal searches for the information, handing it over to Nero.

"That's all I can give you," The man says dumbfounded.

"Thank you," Nero gets up, having Maci follow behind shaking his head, even all the way back home where Tesni and Samuel were waiting after getting the call Nero had made to them.