The Love Triangle: Mackenzie Meets Jean-Luc

Chapter 4

Bluey woke up the next day with a stomachache. She asked to stay home from school that day, but Bandit told her no. "It's the second day of school, kid," he said. "Don't want you to miss anything."

The blue heeler made his daughter some eggs, but when she ate them, she upchucked them all over the floor. She was allowed to stay home that day.

When her friends were in Math class, their first class of the day, Bluey was compulsively checking the group chat. Yes, Mackenzie had met Jean-Luc earlier that day. Yes, the collie had flipped his wig and started a shouting match. Yes, he had called Jean-Luc nasty words. Yes, Mackenzie had gotten suspended for a week for saying those words. Yes, he was planning on visiting Bluey.

Bluey flopped back onto her bed. This was too much to handle so early in the morning.

"Hey, Bluey," Bandit called. "I'm going to the office today, so you'll be home alone. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah," Bluey called. "I'll be okay."

She decided to directly contact Mackenzie without the group chat interfering. Unfortunantly, the doorbell rang just then, and Bluey went downstairs to peek through the peephole to see who it was. It was Mackenzie, with a large bunch of flowers.

Bluey opened the door, and started screaming at him.

"What the hell, Mackenzie! You are causing so much trouble, for me, my friends, and Jean-Luc! You got yourself suspended over cussing at one of my oldest friends, who, by the way, doesn't speak English as his first language! Why are you ruining my life?!"

Bluey was breathing heavily after this, and Mackenzie silently put the flowers on the couch by the doorway. "Please take these."

Bluey picked up the flowers and hurled them out the door. "No!" She shoved him out the door, and before Bluey shut it, she said, "Oh, by the way? I'm no cheater, Mackenzie Collie. I never responded to your text. Asking me out doesn't mean I'm yours, okay? And in case that didn't make it clear?" She leaned in close, so close she could smell cologne he probably stole from his father and put on just for her. It was sweet, but too little, too late. "I reject you, and your stupid flowers. Cussing at my friends is not going to make me like you anytime soon, all right?" She slammed the door in his face, ran up to her room, hurled herself on the bed, and started to sob.

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Mackenzie didn't go home. He went to the park where the picture of Bluey and Jean-Luc had been taken and sat down at the bench where they had sat. He thought long and hard about Bluey. He had liked her since he was six years old, for half his life. But was it like or love?

For six years, whenever he saw or even thought of Bluey, his heart did a little backflip. He sometimes thought of Bluey Heeler as Bluey Collie, or even sometimes as Mrs. Mackenzie Collie. Now with this new player, a French Labrador, who Mackenzie had to admit was definitely muscled. Wasn't that Bluey's type, anyways? I thought I was Bluey's type, Mackenzie thought bitterly. She wanted to yell at me for asking her out and getting myself in trouble defending her and bringing her flowers? Fine. I can exact my revenge. Bluey Heeler is going to regret this.