Tumbling Down (Dance Moms Fanfic)

Missing Middle School (Ch.1)

*Mackenzie's POV*

Huh. Another lonely day. I watch everyone around me laugh and talk as I sit in my seat alone. Because of the school district's boundary lines, all of my Junior High friends went to a different school, along with a good 80% of my school. None of the 20% here are in my classes, and I don't talk to anyone else. High School's supposed to be the best years of you life, aren't they? Well it's October and I don't agree. I wish I was back in 8th grade. I had so many friends and people said I was the kind of girl you just naturally liked.

Now I'm that girl who sits alone at the back lunch table. The one who doesn't speak in class; who never raises her hand, and is afraid to do or say something the least bit wrong. Being only a Freshman, I don't see the girls on my team. They leave me out a lot more, unintentionally, but that doesn't make it better. Maddie and Kendall are allowed to go outside for lunch, but they sneak away with Nia, Chloe, Paige, and Brooke, who are allowed to leave for the lunch hour. I can't do that, being a newbie in High School. I'm so lost in sad thoughts that I get yelled at for not answering my teacher.

Me: Oh I'm sorry.

Teacher: I asked you to come up here and write the list we're coming up with.

Stand up in front of the class? I don't know about this. I stand up and slowly walk to the board. I pick up the blue marker and turn to face the class, every eye is on me. I start to shake. The teacher start calling on people and I write the ideas down as they go. When done, my teacher lets me sit, and I can't get back fast enough. I nearly trip getting to me seat. Nearby students snicker. Heat rises to my cheeks and I look away, hiding behind my hair. When the class ends, I go to my locker, and put the books I'll need for the next class in my bag and go down to the lunch room. I see Maddie.

Me: Maddie!

Maddie(hisses): What do you want?

Me(insulted): I was just saying hi, gosh.

Maddie(fake smiling): Well I can't really be seen with my sister, can I?

Me: You were able to in Junior High.

Maddie: Well now I have a rep to keep up. Cindy! Wait up!

She pushes me out of the way and nearly knocks me over going to her friend. Classic Maddie. I should have expected that. Everyone's usually nicer. I sit in my usual lonely corner. Through the cafeteria windows, I see Kendall and Nia with a few other girls. They all wave at me and walk away. When I get up to buy my lunch, I stay in the back of the line. Chloe and Paige walk through the cafe, their usual popular selves with their popular friends, both boys and girls. I look up at my teammates. They say "hey" and wave with a smile.

I miss when I was that girl. I want my friends back. I don't want to be the lonely girl. I don't want to sit at this lonely table, or at a lonely desk in the classroom. If miracles could happen, I'd be with my friends at Harlem High, making people smile and laugh and feel better, but instead I'm here at Riverside High, where miracles are only parts of movies, books, and fairy tales.