I'm Trying ||m.z||

Chapter Eleven

Mackenzie glanced down at her watch as she ran into school early the next day. She still had to finish up her math homework that had been assigned on Tuesday, so she’d asked to be dropped off early.

          Her silver sequined boat shoes—which she borrowed from Maddie—clicked against the linoleum flooring in a way that she hated. She hated being overly loud and calling attention to herself, and that was exactly what she was doing.

          “Mackenzie!” Someone called, and Mackenzie knew exactly who it was.

          Ava.

          Twenty steps until I reach my locker, Mackenzie thought. Then I can run.

“Mackenzie, wait!” Ava called again.

          Mackenzie stopped and ran a hand through her Maddified—she liked word—hair. It was nice a wavy and fell halfway down her back.

          “What d’you want?” Mackenzie asked. She honestly didn’t want to talk to Ava right now. The only reason she’d gotten to school early was so she could finish her math homework and Ava was cutting into her hand.

          “I want to know why you’re mad at me.”

          Really, Ava?

          Mackenzie let out a harsh laugh, “If you don’t know by now then you must be insane.”

          “Okay, stupid question,” Ava started. “Why did you and Grace run out of the bathroom when I came in?”

          “Because we didn’t want to talk to you.”

          Ava wiped under her eyes even though she wasn’t crying. “You’re being really mean to me, Mackenzie.”

          “Just shut up, okay?!” Mackenzie rolled her eyes. If they weren’t at school, she would have started screaming, but there they were, right next to her locker.

          “I’m sorry,” Ava whispered.

          Mackenzie shook her head and turned to open her locker, “Save it, Ava.”

          “The only reason I asked Tyler to the dance was because Grace asked Ryan. You should be mad at her, not me.”

          “Please stop talking.”

          “I’m serious, Mackenzie! This is all Grace’s fault!”

          Mackenzie sighed. “How do you even know she asked Ryan to the dance? Maybe he asked her.”

          “Well,” Ava’s gaze dropped to her own black ballet flats. “I asked her to ask him if he liked me, and when she came back, she had his number, but no answer for me.”

          “You would make an awful lawyer,” Mackenzie pulled out her math book and a pencil. She could do math and talk, right? “That doesn’t justify anything.”

          “What’s making me so upset though, is that I never knew she liked him.”

“It’s Grace, Ava,” Mackenzie said. “If she had a crush on Ryan, do you honestly think she’d tell us?”

Ava shook her head, “No, but-”

“Have you ever considered that, maybe, he didn’t like you? I mean, he might’ve back when we were, like, six, but people change.”

“Mackenzie,” Ava picked at her lilac nail polish. “Am I a bad person?”

“Sometimes, like right now, yes. Other times, nope.”

“Then why don’t the boys like me?”

Mackenzie froze. She honestly couldn’t answer that question. Ava could be relatively nice when she wanted to be. She was pretty and kind of athletic. So why didn’t the boys like her?

Ava was crying now, and even though Mackenzie hadn’t forgiven her, she pulled her into a hug. She knew that there were few things more painful than feeling sad and having the people you depended on for comfort hate you at the moment.

“I still haven’t forgiven you,” Mackenzie said when she pulled away from the hug.

Ava shrugged. “And I’m still going to the dance with Tyler,” She laughed. “I don’t want to pull him into this.”

Mackenzie wanted to say, ‘Then why am I talking to you?’ She wanted to slam her locker in Ava’s face and run…but she didn’t

“Okay,” was all she said.

The bell rang, and Ava walked away while waving at Mackenzie.

But then, Mackenzie remembered one thing. Her homework. She glanced down at the page, and let out a deep breath she’d been holding. Only one of the six problems was completed.

She sighed, this is perfect…absolutely perfect.