let her go ; jenzie

13. | you need to be more honest

MACKENZIE ZIEGLER accepted the leaflet tate mcrae handed to her. she stared at the leaflet, quickly skimming her eyes over the small font, then looking up, rather confused as the two have never spoken to each other at all. "uh, thank you tate," mackenzie said awkwardly.

"you're welcome ziegler," tate shrugged. she pulled her hair into a ponytail, revealing a smudge of yellow paint on her left cheek. "i think you would do great in it, you being confident 'n all."

mackenzie resisted a scoff. instead she settled for a what she hoped to be a confident smile. "yeah, i guess.. are you auditioning?" making small talk was clearly not her strong point.

"eh, well, yeah. drama isn't really my forte, y'know? but it sounds fun. i heard lily chee and mads lewis are writing it,"

"they're writing it?" mackenzie repeated, shock spreading over her face. "so it's not like a play that already exists?" it was astonishing how people still are determined and hardworking. kinda rare nowadays.

"yeah," tate shrugged again, maintaining eye contact. "good luck, on the audition, ziegler. see ya around," tate walked off, her footsteps silent amongst the crowd of students.

one week later..

"can i get your name please?" the dark brown haired girl glared harshly, looking impatient. "well?" she said, tapping her pen against the sheet of paper. mackenzie's eye darted to the names, realizing all of her enemies' names were scrawled messily across the page. oh, fuck it.

"hello?" the girl snapped her fingers in front of mackenzie's face, rolling her eyes to what one might compare to a spoiled brat's.

"mackenzie. mackenzie ziegler," mackenzie replied (finally), feeling her cheeks heating up at an alarming rate. "uh, yours?"

the other girl didn't respond. instead, she seemed to be more interested into mackenzie now. " mackenzie ziegler, hm? aren't you the younger sister of madison ziegler?"

mackenzie cringed. "ah, yeah,"

"hm," the girl jotted down her name, a smile that seemed quite real now spreading across her features. "can't have the sister of maddie ziegler hate me now, can i? lily chee." the girl now known as lily extended her hand. mackenzie accepted it, unsure where this was going.

"nice to... meet you?" mackenzie laughed slightly at lily's wry smile.

lily sighed, the smile still visible on her face. "you need to be more honest, ziegler," she said bluntly, ignoring the fact that mackenzie flinched, "go break a leg,"

mackenzie chuckled awkwardly, pushing through the doors. she noticed a younger girl looking intimidated by lily's glare, and mackenzie's laughter increased, although it quickly stopped when she noticed her elder sister smirk at her. what the...?

"wait, madison, you're one of the judges?"

• • •

－ author's note.

welp, this is gonna be kinda cliché, but i hope the plot twist(s) will distract you from that