Don't Even Think About It

Chapter Two - It Happened Here

At the beginning of lunch, we waited in line by Nurse Carmichael’s office.

There were twenty-three of us. Most of homeroom 10B. 10A had gotten their shots the day before.

Adam McCall was missing—probably an ear infection. He always had ear infections.

Pi Ricci went in and came out first. Her real name was Polly, after her grandfather Paul, but her nickname was Pi because she could tell you the first thirty-nine numbers of pi. They’re 3.1415926535897 9323846264338327950288419, if you’re curious.

BJ Kole went in next.

Yes, he called himself BJ.

His name was actually Brian Joseph, but he started going by BJ in middle school. He thought it was hilarious. He was a bit of a perv.

He hurried into the nurse’s office and closed the door behind him. He thought Nurse Carmichael was hot, and was always trying to come up with accidental ways to feel her up. He tried to feel everyone up.

Next in line was Jordana Brohman-Maizner. Jordana filed her nails while she waited. She kept a full manicure set in her locker. Base coat, top coat, clippers, and eleven different colors ranging from Bliss (shimmery yellow) to We Were Liars (fire-engine red).

Behind her were Olivia and Renée. Renée was still not getting the vaccination. She was only waiting in line so she wouldn’t miss anything. She liked to know what everyone was up to at all times. She was the type of person who got email notifications every time her friends changed their Facebook statuses.

“Do you know that more people die from flu shots than the flu?” Renée asked.

“I’m not sure that’s true,” Olivia said. Actually, she was totally sure it wasn’t true, because she had the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website bookmarked on her laptop, and visited it frequently. In addition to having a lot of anxiety, Olivia was a hypochondriac.

“It’s going to hurt,” Renée said.

Her words didn’t scare Olivia, but they terrified Mackenzie, who was right behind them. She’d decided to do it. She couldn’t believe she was really going to do it.

Mackenzie was waiting with Cooper and Tess, although Tess was busy texting Teddy on her iPhone. Teddy was Tess’s best guy friend. Tess also had a massive crush on him.

“Maybe I won’t get it,” Mackenzie said, suddenly unsteady on her feet.

“Oh, come on,” Cooper said. “It’s just a pinch. You don’t want to get the flu.” “Everyone else is getting the shot. I won’t get the flu.”

“You might. It’s going around. And your Sweet is soon. You don’t want to be sick and have to cancel.”

Mackenzie’s parents would kill her if she got the flu.

It was all booked. Her brother and sister were flying in from Stanford. Her parents had spent a small fortune in deposits. They’d gone all out. They’d booked a hotel ballroom. Hired a DJ. Hired an event planner. Mailed out gorgeous invitations. Square, black, with cursive silver print.

The few of us who’d been invited had all RSVP’d yes.

Mackenzie was excited for the party. Kind of. Nothing was expected of her. All she had to do was dance and look pretty in her new black Herve Leger cocktail dress.

Mackenzie knew she was pretty. Ever since she was a kid, people had always told her as much. She had dirty-blond hair, dark blue eyes, a button nose, and a gymnast’s body. She’d trained at the NYC Elite gymnastics studio for years. She’d tried competing back in middle school, but it wasn’t for her. The night before one of her big matches, she’d stayed out late with her friends, broken curfew, been exhausted the next day, and tripped off the balance beam. Her parents had been furious. She had been relieved.