thē ງirl ຖēxt ໓໐໐r ✰ jenzie

-chapter eight-

mackenzie's pov

"That was great." The auditioner nods in approval and looks down at his clipboard. "Can you read part 35 for us?"

The other auditioner, the director, I think, taps his pen on the paper in front of him. "You can rehearse the lines in your head by yourself for a minute or so."

I nod, and flip to part 35. After reading the passage a couple times in my head, I look up.

"Go whenever you're ready."

Taking a deep breath, I bite my lip and begin.

¥¥¥¥¥

"Sorry, Jack, you wanted to talk to me?" I look around to try to see his face, but his head is bowed, and his hands are covering his face.

"...jack?" My eyebrows furrow in concern. "What's wrong? You know you can tell me everything."

Jack makes an indescernible noise in his hands, and I look closer at him.

"...what's going on..." Breathing hard, I move his hands from his face and cup his face with my hands...only to drop it in horror.

"Oh my gosh!" I stagger back and stare at his mangled face. Deep scars run across his cheekbones and his cheeks are all disfigured.

"Don't say it." Jack gulps, and he starts crying.

I shake my head in disbelief. "W-what happened??"

"A-at the chemical p-plant today," he starts brokenly, "There was a guy...t-t-terrorist."

My eyes opened wider as my breath quickened. "...a-and..?"

"I don't know. He...tried to change things in the system and I tried to stop him. So he threw acid at my face and shoved it into a bucket of..." Jack shudders in rememberance and buries his face deeper into his hands.

"I-it's ok, Jack. I think you still look...fine... Did you go to the doctor?"

He nods. "Everyone from the plant did."

"Well, we have to do something about this guy. He can't just get let off like this. Did the guy get caught? Then we need to do something."

¥¥¥¥¥

"Thank you, Mackenzie. That was very nice."

I let my arm fall to my side and wait for further instruction.

"We will get back to you within about two weeks. Thank you again, and have a nice rest of your day!" The director smiles encouragingly and I nod politely back.

"Thank you. You too."

Once I leave the room, I check my phone. There's a text from Lauren.

--------

Lauren

hey kenz
u left your wallet here 😬
😂😂

oh lol whoops
i'll stop by when I get home
i just had an audition

sounds good
how did it go??

p good
I can never tell how they went tho

haha ok tell me all about it when I see you

for sure :)

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Mom picks me up outside, and soon we're back at home finally. It's been a long day, and I'm super tired.

"I left my wallet at Lauren's house so I'm just going to run over and grab it."

Mom smiles, knowing I'll stay longer than to just 'grab it' "Make sure you're back by at least 7:45 for dinner."

"Yupp."

Exiting the back door, I shove my phone into my pocket and climb over the Orlando's fence like I normally do. I quickly make my way to the door and knock.

Johnny opens the door. He looks like he just woke up, and I especially want to run my fingers through his sleep-mussed hair.

He tugs awkwardly at his loose white shirt. "Oh, hey Mackensis," he says sleepily.

Stepping aside to let me in, he runs his fingers through his hair. Dang it, I wanted to do that...

"Oh. Uhh, Lauren's not here. She just left." Johnny suddenly realizes.

I laugh. "Seriously? She told me to come over. Is anyone else home?"

He shakes his head.

"Oh. I forgot my wallet. Do you know where it could be?"

"Hmm...We can look in Lauren's room. She'll kill me for it, though." Johnny chuckles and leads the way upstairs.

"I'm sure she'll understand."

We open the door to Lauren's room and start poking around. No where to be found.

"Rippp."

Laughing, Johnny opens one more drawer and rummages around for a second.

"Dang it. Sorry, Kenz."

I smile. "It's ok. Lemme text her."

We go back downstairs, and I plop down onto the couch. Johnny disappears into the kitchen.

-----

Lauren

hey
im here at ur house

oh sorry
mom had to make a run to the store and she wanted me to come with
we'll be back soon so just wait there

ok

-----

Johnny comes out of the kitchen with two cups of water as I put down my phone.

"She says she's gonna be home soon." I say as he hands me a glass.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem." He sits down next to me. "So in the meantime, are you going to go home?"

"O-oh." My heart almost sinks. "We-ell...I can wait until she comes...if that's ok with you."

"Totally okay with me."

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A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't been updating as often AGAIN. I got writer's block, but I think I'm getting over it. It's crazy trying to write literally four books at once...(I'm working on a new Bryson/Brynson book yeeeeeet)