I'm Trying ||m.z||

Chapter Four

Hey, the text read. It wasn't much but it still made Mackenzie smile. She quickly typed a response.

Mackenzie: Hi :)

Tyler: I have a question to ask you...

     "C'mon, Kenz," Melissa beckoned her daughter out of the car.

Mackenzie: Can I text you back in a few minutes? Just got back from dance.

Tyler: Sure             

          Mackenzie grabbed her dance bag and upstairs to her room. No longer was it full of pretty shades of pink, purple, and yellow, but instead she had filled it with calming blues and greens. She put her bag on her desk and lied down on her bed.

Mackenzie: I'm back. What's your question?

Tyler: Well...my mom told me I could invite a friend to dinner this week. Do you have dance on Thursday?

     A smile crept onto Mackenzie's face. Thursday was the only day she didn't have dance.

Mackenzie: No, I don't. I'll just have to ask my mom, but I’m sure she’ll say yes

          “Mom!” Mackenzie yelled. She knew her mother didn’t like for her to yell in the house, but at this point, Mackenzie didn’t care.

          Her phone vibrated again, and she glanced up to see if Tyler had responded, but the text wasn’t from him.

Maddie: Mom doesn’t like it when you yell

          With a frown on her face, Mackenzie stood up and stomped over to Maddie’s room where she and Melissa were going through some crowns. This made Mackenzie’s frown even larger. She only had five crowns while her sister had almost twenty. Whenever someone talked about Maddie’s crowns, she wanted to throw them off the highest building in the world.

          “What do you want, Mackenzie?” Melissa asked.

          “Well…my friend, Tyler, asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner with his family this Thursday. I don’t have dance that day, and I really want to go.”

          “You can go,” Mackenzie gave Melissa a hug “Why don’t you have Maddie help you choose an outfit.”

          Though she hated to admit it, Mackenzie did think her sister had a good fashion sense. She let out a sigh, nodded, and led Maddie back to her room.

          Sunshine and lollipops were fixed in Mackenzie’s brain as she walked to her last class. She could easily coast through math and get lost in a daydream.

          “Hello, Mr. Watterson,” She greeted her teacher with a large grin.

          Mackenzie took her regular seat in the third row and placed her binder in the corner of her desk. Nothing could go wrong today.

          Mr. Watterson stood in front of the class, a smile on his face, “Pass your homework up. I will be grading these.”

          Mackenzie froze. Everyone else around her was passing up their papers while she sat still, showing no emotion.

          “Miss Ziegler…?”

          She looked up at her teacher and forced a small smile, “Yes, Mr. Watterson?”

          “Do you have your homework with you?”

          Mackenzie felt that all eyes were on her, “Um…no. I don’t; I’m sorry.”

          “See me after class.”

          Throughout the rest of the class, she tried to make it look as though she was paying attention, but all she could think about was her unfinished homework. She knew her teachers had the power to put her in the regular classes instead of advanced ones, and Mackenzie didn’t want that to happen.

          When class was over she grabbed her things and walked up to Mr. Watterson’s desk. He didn’t look upset, so Mackenzie took that as a good sign. Maybe he wasn’t that mad.

          “Mackenzie,” He said “I know you don’t need a tutor; you test scores are phenomenal, but you need to turn in your homework. You’re grades are beginning to drop. Is something going on at home?”

          “It’s just dance has been getting really stressful lately,” Mackenzie nervously twirled some of her hair around her finger.

          “I think you should talk to your sister about this; she always turned in homework on time and could probably help you come up with a schedule.”

          Mackenzie glanced down at her watch, “I’ll ask her.” She quickly left the room before Mr. Watterson could say anything else.

          “You look perfect, Kenzie,”

          Mackenzie glanced over at her older sister who had just finished straightening her hair. Maddie had decided to help her sister get ready for her “date” and everything was about done.

          “Do you have any advice for me?” Mackenzie asked.

          Maddie let out a laugh, “First of, don’t mess up that shirt ‘cause it’s mine.”

          Mackenzie lightly touched the dark pink fabric and nodded.

          “This guy is your friend, right?”

          “Yeah,”

          “Well then be yourself. He obviously wouldn’t have invited you if he didn’t like you.”

          At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Mackenzie took a deep breath. She slowly walked downstairs, hoping she looked as good as Maddie said she did.

          “Hi, Tyler,” she said.