Samson

Chapter 7

Mackenzie~

The trip to my locker and to the gym were lost experiences. I had no idea how I had managed to get to class, but I'd had. My body must have been operating on autopilot, because my mind had been a jumbled mess after that...whatever that was with Samson Maddox.

I had barely made it through the doors of the gym when Charlie rushed forward, then grabbed me by the arm, yanking me over. "What in the hell, Mack?" she whispered-yelled.

"What?" I asked, though I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what.

"I was waiting by your locker for you when my phone started blowing up with notifications that I was being tagged in all kinds of different posts."

My phone had also been vibrating in my back pocket, and when I had put my stuff up in my gym locker, I'd seen a bunch of texts from Shondra and Ella, and even a few from people that I didn't really talk to anymore.

"Ladies!"

I looked over, and the coach was calling us all together. On the other side of the room, a group of boys were gathered with their coach as well. "Come on," I said. "The coach is calling us over."

Charlie fell into step next to me, but she was still demanding answers. "What the hell is going on, Mackenzie?"

We reached the group before I could tell her anything substantial, but it was clear that everyone was wondering the same thing. Everyone was whispering and staring at me, and some looks were curious, some were mean, and others were downright hostile. Hell, even some of the guys were glancing over our way.

"I'm Coach Brody," our P.E. teacher announced. "And just for today, I really don't care what you girls do as long as you're doing some form of exercise. I like to spend the first day talking with the students that may have restrictions or health concerns. So, go make yourselves scarce while I attend to business."

"Coach Brody, can me and Mackenzie walk the balcony?" Charlie asked.

"Just don't fall over the railing," she replied, and before I could ask Charlie what the hell walking the balcony meant, she was dragging me towards some stairs that led to the second floor. When I looked up, sure enough, there was a walkway that circled the entire gym.

Once we hit the second landing, Charlie was back to whisper-yelling. "So, what the hell is going on, Mack?"

I shook my head as we started walking. "I don't know," I told her honestly. "Samson and I have fifth and sixth period together, and...and I don't know. When I was walking out of science class, Samson was waiting by the door for me, and he grabbed me, then pulled me with him."

"For what?" she asked. "There are pictures and videos of you guys all over the place, but no one could hear what was being said."

"He asked what I was doing here, and if I was still dating Brayden," I grimaced.

Charlie started biting on her lower lip. "Okay. That makes sense," she mumbled. "Samson is our reigning quarterback, and there are rumors of him being destined for the NFL. It'd make sense for him to want to know if Brayden might come around and cause problems."

"He's...kind of intense," I hedged. I was juggling lies and half-truths, and I was starting to forget where I was with them all.

Charlie snorted "Dude."

I choked out a laugh. "What?"

"He's beyond intense," she said. "I don't think the boy knows how to smile. But I think that's because he's so serious about football and his grades. Mind you, I don't know him well, and I'm just repeating rumors, but he's always been...moody."