Ties (Book 1)

3. Rhino

I had fifteen minutes before I needed to go to first period. I went into the locker room to eliminate the memories of my dreadful morning. All the girls surrounded the mirrors with their mascara sticks and eyeshadow palettes talking about boys, homecoming, and dresses.

"Yup not listening to that," I muttered as I went to my locker to put my backpack up.

All of a sudden my whole body was shaken from head to toe. I stood aghast at Rina's way of asking for my attention.

My eyes opened to their maximum at Rina in annoyance. "Oh my goodness, what? A tap on the shoulder would have been enough, Rhino."

She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. "Sorry I'm just too excited! And don't call me Rhino."

"Then don't shake me like I'm some sort of rattle or maraca. What are you so happy about anyway?" I turned back to my locker to organize my things.

"Scott asked Julie out," she screeched.

Only slightly moving my head to catch a glimpse of Rina, I put words to my concern."Why didn't she tell me," I asked with a hint of disappointment.

"Because it just happened right now! It's wonderful, right?"

I returned my sight to the contents of my locker. "Yeah it is, but please stop screaming"

"Sorry I just get really happy!" she screeched.

Her eyes widened and then looked down after getting the view of my glare that could turn people into stone. You just don't know when to stop.

Quietly she said, "now it's just you and Lin."

I pulled out a binder and a notebook from my backpack and then zipped it up. "Well Lin can find a boyfriend. I on the other hand would rather be alone."

"Mackenzie, you know you could have any boy you wanted. You've got the looks and everyone knows you." The way she said it almost sounded like she was angry.

My gaze moved to the inside of my locker again. "People only know me because I was the youngest cheer captain there has ever been. And I don't want someone who just desires me for my physique either."

"Either way, you need someone so you're not lonely anymore."

"No I don't!" I threw my backpack into the locker. "Just because I am single doesn't mean I'm lonely. Stop trying to tell me how I feel or how I should behave. You don't know anything!"

I slammed the locker door shut and left with a multitude of eyes following me out the door. Maybe I had overreacted, but Rina always had a way of making me get upset over things that should not matter. There were far more important things to worry about than the status of my nonexistent relationships.

I used to always have boys trying to be with me, but in the end they all wanted the same thing; surely the high school population figured out I was not going to give that up. Since I had never been willing to give up my body, they gave up trying to flirt with me and accepted my friendship. I remembered how Damon had attempted to hook up with me our Freshmen year, but he came to realize what type of girl I was. After overcoming the initial awkwardness, we became friends and that was all.

There was a reason I begged my parents to allow me into a public school as soon as I turned eight. I wanted to be normal in school like everyone else. If it would have been up to my parents, I would have been in one the most tip top private schools far away from them. They probably would have sent me to Europe if I had not thrown a tantrum to force them to let me attend a public school. I just wanted to blend in, and I would have, if I had never invited Julie, Rina, and Kaitlin to my house. The moment they realized I came from money, so did the whole school. It was disappointing to know I couldn't really trust them. I was filled with joy when I went to middle school and I had made girl friends. Yeah right, there was no such thing.

I spotted Kaitlin and Julie by one of the benches. We talked about Julie's new relationship. I asked to see their class schedules for our senior year. It turned out I had three classes with both Kaitlin and Julie. I was glad I had at least one of them in most of my classes except for first period. Hopefully I know someone in there.

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