Samson

Chapter 3

Mackenzie~

My head was so far inside my locker that if someone came along and shut the door, it'd sever my head at the neck.

This day sucked.

Contrary to Charlie's pep talk this morning, things weren't okay. It wasn't that people were being mean or anything like that, but everyone was whispering, and I knew that they were whispering about me. It also hadn't helped that I'd had Phyllis Montague in my second period, and I'd gotten some serious territorial vibes off the girl when I had passed her to go sit in the only empty chair in the back of the room.

"Okay, so maybe I lied," my cousin's voice hit me from behind.

I pulled my head out of my locker, then turned to look at her. "Ya think?"

She winced, but then tried to fake it with a lopsided smile. "Brayden's not very well liked around here."

I had never bothered following football just because my boyfriend had been on the team. All that I'd known about Brayden and football was that he'd been a defensive end and a captain of some sort. Brayden wasn't overly big, but he was quick and tenacious, and good at the position that he played.

Nevertheless, even if I'd been completely ignorant of sports, everyone knew that the sports rivalry between Ridgeview and Eastwood was serious in every category. The baseball teams couldn't play without at least one fight breaking out between the two teams, and I'd heard that the swim teams were even worse. Could you imagine trying to win a swim meet but fearing that you'd be drowned if you did? Still, even I knew that football was the be-all-end-all of the rivalry. Brayden hadn't made any friends in Eastwood, and me having been his girlfriend for over a year wasn't doing me any favors right now.

I grabbed my AP English book from my locker, and was grateful that Charlie had this class with me. "It's not like I was a cheerleader or something," I mumbled discouragingly. "I just went to his games and watched him play. Hell, if I'm being honest, I didn't even watch him play. I played on my phone half the time."

"Mack, even if you weren't who you were, you're still the new girl," Charlie pointed out sympathetically. "You would still garner attention. Besides, a lot of these people don't know that you've broken up with Brayden."

That was another lie that I'd had to pull off when we'd moved. I'd told Charlie, Shondra, and Ella that Brayden and I hadn't wanted to do long-distance for our senior year, so that's why we'd broken up. Ella and Charlie had bought it, but Shondra was more astute. She had pointed out that it was only a twenty-minute drive between towns, and that was hardly long-distance. I had finally convinced her when I'd pointed out that senior year was all about sowing wild oats and having fun. What kind of fun would me and Brayden have just missing each other? She'd bought that explanation, or so I'd hoped.

Still, Charlie was right. Since I had deactivated my social media accounts, there hadn't been this big public announcement that we'd broken up. Well, at least, not from me. However, I suspected that Brayden also hadn't posted anything because no one had been blowing up my phone with questions. Now, while I wasn't sure if he had moved on or not, I wasn't about to open myself up to finding out. I wanted nothing to do with Brayden, and I wasn't going to go fishing to find out what his relationship status was. It should be single, even if it was subtle.

Forgetting about Brayden, Charlie and I headed towards class, and the stares and whispers hadn't subsided just because Charlie was walking with me. "Maybe I could have the administration lady broadcast it over the speakers when she does the morning announcements tomorrow," I said wryly.

Charlie laughed. "You'll be old news by the end of the week," she predicted, and I wanted to believe her. However, walking to class, I wouldn't realize until much later how very wrong she would be.