Seven

6.5

"Mackenzie, is Liam Johnson camped out in your car out in the parking lot?"

"Are you gonna join him during your free period? Fit in a quickie?"

"Do you just hit Liam Johnson every two years or do you two have a secret thing?"

"You're really getting into it with the Johnson family lately, huh, Mackenzie? One sexually and one friendly, eh? Or is it sexually with both Liam and the loser?"

When I can't take the horrid comments anymore, I stand up from my desk and have to run to the bathroom, where I end up with my head over the toilet, releasing the contents of my stomach. People at this school are so completely disgusting that they cause me to throw up, which is just about my least favorite thing to do on the entire planet.

My math teacher being absent today was probably (surprisingly) the worst thing that could have occurred this week. Apparently the office was short staffed and didn't have anyone to substitute for the class, so now I'm left with the actual abusive remarks coming from my obnoxious classmates.

After washing up, I force myself to go back to class and sit back down at my seat in the back of the room. I actually feel like God sent me a blessing when I make it through the rest of class without anymore comments made.

"Hey." I hear as I'm at my locker, removing a textbook from the shelf.

"Hi, Myra."

"I heard someone talking about what just happened in your math class. Are you alright?"

I nod my head slightly, but I don't say anything. There isn't much to say. Even without a verbal response, she knows. She embraces me into a hug and with the slightest touch, I start to cry. I hate myself for it, too.

"I'm crying in school," I mumble. "How did I let this happen?"

"I'm sorry I'm such a shit friend," She tells me. "We should always be there for each other, but we haven't been."

"I'm an even shittier friend," I say. "You keep being there for me when I've been nothing but bad to you. I don't know about anything going on in your life and it's all because I don't go to help you when you may need it."

"Trust me, you need it more than I do right now," She promises as I pull away from our hug. "One way or another, we should have always been there for each other."

"I don't know what to do with myself anymore. All this shit that's been happening feels like it's continuous. I feel like it's never ending."

//

By the time last period finally rolls around, it's pouring outside. With that being said, I'm not surprised when I get a text from Graham.

Graham: Do you think you could maybe give me a ride home today?

Mackenzie: Sure.

He obviously knows that I'm still angry with him about the pictures due to the fact that neither of us have said a word to each other since they went all around the school. Somehow, mixed with the pictures, people found out that I slept with Liam again, and now I'm most definitely the biggest slut in the school. The amount of ridicule that I've gotten the past couple of days is worse than one would imagine.

When the bell rings, I walk down to the parking lot by myself and already see Graham standing next to my car. I unlock it and then we both get inside, neither of saying anything. I make it all the way out of the spot and out of the parking lot before he speaks up.

"You know I'm sorry, right?"

"Mhm."

"Are you still mad at me?"