dead | ethan dolan

costco brownies

chapter six
——mackenzie's pov
september 2nd, 2018

the first backslappers meeting was held in the bleachers alongside the soccer field where david, ethan, grayson, and hammond and the rest of the team were huddled around the coach on the sidelines.

this was my first time up at the field since i'd been back, and i suddenly flashed on a memory of a gorgeous fall day back in freshman year when kylie, madeline, faith and i  had spent an hour jogging around the track after school, pretending we were exercising, when really we were just checking out the hot junior and senior boys on the soccer team.

every time we caught one of them looking, we'd up our speed and ridiculously over-exaggerate our conversation to show them just how oblivious to them we were. in hindsight im sure they were all laughing at us.

faith had been in love with this junior named mike mancinelli at the time, so when practice was finished, i'd gone over and talked to him for her. mike had been kind of a jerk, giving me some line about how he'd take faith out if i came along, so i'd told him off, much to the amusement of his friends. then we took faith to scoops to drown her sorrows in mint chocolate chip.

the memory made me sad, so i trudged over to a bench near the back of the growing crowd and hunkered down. kylie, madeline and faith were already seated in the front row, chatting happily. had they forgotten about all the stuff we used to do together—how much fun we had? why does it mean so much to me and nothing to them?

"all right, everyone! let's get this meeting started." trista strickler, crestie senior and major joiner said. even back when i was a freshman and she was a sophomore, she'd been either a member or president of at least half a dozen clubs. she had red curly hair which was held back by a burberry headband and a smattering of freckles across her upturned nose.

"i have the sign-up sheet right here. the first thing we need to do is assign you all players. anybody have any special requests?"
instantly, two-dozen hands went up.
"i figured. lets start up at the top left. name?"
"melissa warner." the brace-faced girl spoke.

"melissa warner, sophomore. who'd you like?"
"ethan dolan." she blushed, giggling.
"no way. ethan's my best friend. i call him!" madeline said.
"i'm fine as long as i get grayson." faith said.
"wait a minute, i called him first!" melissa said bravely.
"i knew this was going to happen, so i wrote down every players name. you'll pick one out of the bag."

immediately, all of the girls ran towards trisha, trying to pick first. i rolled my eyes and stood up, walking towards the line. a few crestie freshman stood behind me, yet inched back as if i was offending them.

i watched faith pick, then saw her smile.
"grayson dolan." she smirked.
i saw many of the girls sigh, looking upset.
madeline fished through the hat, then picked out a piece of paper.
"hammond." she passed it to kylie.

"no switching!" trisha scolded.
"but it's hammond!" kylie pouted.
trisha shot her a look, but let her go.
madeline reached again and read the name out loud.

"austin ellins." she said with no emotion.
i have no idea why the hell she was so blank. austin was one of the hottest guys in school.

i patiently waited for my turn to come, and when it finally did, a pang of nervousness hit me. ethan still hadn't been picked.
i reached into the bag with my sweaty hand and picked up the first paper that made contact with my skin. i shouted in my head, please be david.
of course.

"who is it?"
"ethan dolan." i gulped.
immediately, sighs and scoffs were heard threw the crowd, looks of jealously thrown my way. my former friends looked like they wanted to murder me.