not as strong as you think i am (i'm no superman) [dalkenzie]

Chapter 4

MacKenzie honestly didn't want to go to school. He even waited until the last possible minute to get out of bed and get dressed, something else he almost never did. As he listlessly stared at his walls, plastered with colorful posters and game write-ups, he couldn't help thinking of Dalton having to wake up alone and facing plain white walls.

A quick check of his phone showed no new messages, not even from the Rapattonis.

This was going to be an incredibly long day.

Mom had already left for the work by the time he came downstairs, so it was just Dad at the table with coffee and the morning paper and who raised an eyebrow at his son shuffling into the kitchen nook.

"You sure you don't want to stay home today, son?"

"I do," MacKenzie muttered as he stuck bread into the toaster and rifled around in the cupboards for the peanut butter. "But it really wouldn't look good. I mean..." He rubbed a final bit of sleep-yuck from his eyes and looked his father over. Either his sleep-deprived brain was hallucinating things, or that was the same empathetic face he saw from Fran yesterday.

It's gotta be what I'm seeing. Dalton said they still care about me, right?

"I mean, people talk," he finished.

Dad nodded. "How about I drop you off on the way to work and you take the bus after? I don't think you're in the mood to drive right now."

Mack knew that almost anyone else in his class would balk at an offer like that. Being seen with your folks just wasn't "in", unless you struck it lucky and had cool parents like Fran and Kiva. But how often was he himself going to get this kind of offer?

"Okay."

***

The ride to school ended up being quieter than expected, but MacKenzie wasn't expecting Dad to be a chatterbox. The rush of the highway speeding by under him while he didn't have to drive just brought back vaguely pleasant memories of being in the backseat on long road-trips, especially if they were the ones where both Mom and Dad had to go on business and there was no one to watch him at home, so he got a few days off school and could watch the cities pass by through the window.

Things really did used to be simple.

If going into school yesterday was quiet, going in today was...cold. The temperature in the building usually was crisp, yet it had never made the hairs on the back of Mack's neck stand up before. But by the time he got to his locker, he pinpointed the source of the chill.

MacKenzie was used to people looking at him as he passed in the hallways whether or not Dalton was with him; being one of the more regarded members of the basketball team did that. But these weren't looks of admiration.

I was right. People are talking. Somebody is talking. But who-

"MacKenzie!" He was jolted back to reality by two people dashing towards him that he definitely recognized. Will was Dalton's best friend and arguably the only other candidate for best singer in the school, and Kitty was a year younger but could shred a mean guitar and she and Dalton would sometimes jam at parties. He knew the look of terror on their faces well.

When the two were close enough to talk in frantic whispers, Will started with just that. "Dude, the gossip circles are going nuts! What happened?"

"Is Dalton dead?" Kitty asked with wide eyes like her nick-namesake animal. "Please tell me he's not dead."

MacKenzie backed against his locker in shock at the blunt question. Especially since Dalton had been so close- "No! No, he's not dead!" He asked Will, "Who talked?"