Big Sis, Little Sis #Wattys2016

Chapter 3

When Mallory and Mackenzie reached middle school, they were little more than strangers who happened to live in the same house. They hung out with different people, had different interests, and were altogether just on different levels. According to Catherine, Mackenzie was the child prodigy whom she fussed over and loved, while Mallory could be a heroine addict who killed dead kittens and she wouldn't even care. 

But family ties are strong, and they were twins. They still had those rare moments of twin telepathy, where Mallory would glance at Mackenzie to find her looking back, smiling and thinking the same thing. True, those moments were as rare as Godzilla getting a manicure, but they still happened. And Mal rarely forgot anything. 

In the end, that was the deciding factor for Mallory and Mackenzie's relationship.

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It is often said that one of the many things that can break apart friendships between girls are boys and embarrassment. Especially during middle school.

At this point, Mallory still wasn't thinking of doing anything drastic to her sister, maybe something little. Something harmless, that'll just make Mackenzie more humble and Catherine appreciate Mal more. 

And then came Ms Calburton and the Civil War project and Jamie Connerly and Brady Hartfurton. That was when Mackenzie didn't step over the fucking line, she leapt over and did a little tap dance too.
Ms Calburton... there was only one word to describe her, and that was... a batshit fury that probably crawled from the depths of Tartarus to torture eighth-grade students. I know it wasn't one word, but it basically created the mental picture that was appropriate. 

And of course, she loved Mackenzie. That was nothing new, but Ms Calburton worshipped the ground Mackenzie walked on, and probably also has a little shrine tucked away in her closet dedicated to Mal's sister. Mallory wouldn't be surprised if she had found one. Oh, she didn't make it obvious, but unless you were brain damaged, you could see that Ms.Calburton had a favourite; Mackenzie .

Now to Mallory though, she showed her hate in subtle ways. And that's where Jamie comes in. He was probably the most obnoxious guy ever created, but by the rule of middle school; if someone was hot, it didn't matter if they rivalled Beelzebub in personality. Jamie was gorgeous; brown "puppy" eyes, muscles, the whole shebang. Also, the worst person you could probably get for partner projects. Guess who Mallory was partners with? Yep, Jamie. The biggest history project of the year and Mal needed the points if she wanted to get an A. She decided that Jamie could go play football or whatever, and she would do it and slap his name on it to satisfy everyone. She said as much to Jamie, who just shrugged and donated fifty dollars, which was more that she expected him to do.

Mackenzie was paired with Brady Hartfurton. The smartest, cutest, politest guy Mal had ever met and talked with. Needlessly to say, she had a huge crush on Brady, along with the other girls that actually valued personality AND looks. Brady was a mix of Hispanic, Chinese, and German and boy did it work on him. Mallory personally thought that he was maybe the first person she had ever seriously loved from after. Well, it wasn't the l-word yet, but .... 

Mallory had three weeks to cook up the most amazing Civil War whatever to impress Ms.Calburton into giving her an A, and to somehow convince Brady that she was the Juliet to his Romeo. Hopefully without the deaths, though if it came down to it, Mal wasn't sure that she could hold back...