I'm A Monster

6.

Mackenzie changed two more times before she heard her phone ring. She was now wearing one of her usual casual, pastel pink dresses and her hair was twisted into a complicated looking braided updo. Her small burst of confidence from before was completely squashed the second she slammed her door. She quickly answered the phone while tugging on a white cardigan.

"Hello?" She said in her usual soft voice. She heard shuffling on the other line.

"Hey Kenzie! We're waiting for you outside but...um...ya know, no rush." Jeremy nervously said.

"Yeah , okay! I'll be right out. I just have to grab my shoes." Jeremy hummed in acknowledgment and then hung up.

Digging through her closet she decided to wear her spotless white ked's because she was not in the mood for sore feet. She figured that she would probably be dancing or chasing Jeremy around all night, so why not be comfortable? Once they were on her feet, Mackenzie turned to the mirror and applied a tiny amount of lipgloss and smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles in her dress and turned to face the door.

This was it. She could tell that whatever was going to happen tonight was going to alter her life one way or another. Stepping out that door felt like stepping straight off a cliff. But she held her breath, counted to three and crossed the threshold. Each step she took towards the front door her nerves started to fade. When she finally reached the car she was once again emotionless.

She opened the passenger side door and froze when she saw it was already taken...by Jeremy? Mackenzie blinked at him as he gave her a nervous smile that looked like it hurt since it was stretching his cuts and bruises.

Mackenzie had just assumed Jeremy would be driving but completely forgot what state he was in. He just got out of the hospital! Of course he's not driving, he's got a broken arm for crying out loud. But why did he agree to pick her up if he couldn't drive? Wait...who was driving.

Mackenzie blinked again and looked past Jeremy to see a very very grumpy Ashton hunched over the steering wheel, Carella Deville style, glaring out the windshield. Mackenzie made eye contact with Jeremy again and slow smile crawled onto her face. She licked her lips and bit down on them to try and keep in her laughter as she saw the same amusement shining in his eyes as well. Mackenzie's hand slapped over her mouth as the first giggle was released and she quickly climbed into the back as she tried to regain her composure. Once she finally felt like she wasn't about to explode into a fit of uncontrollable giggles, she chanced a glance back towards the front and instantly locked on to the agitated light brown eye of Ashton. She tried to keep a straight face, she really did but all of a sudden the laughter just bubbled out of her.

It started with this weird breathy squeaking sound, her shoulders heaving as they tried to appear normal. And then it slowly turned into a quiet giggle. Jeremy started snickering and that's what finally set her off. Mackenzie started full on crying with how hard she was laughing, she completely lost it! Her sides started hurting and she had to bend over so she wasn't in so much pain. Jeremy started laughing just as hard and soon they were both gasping for breath.

When they finally started calming down, they were pulling up to a stoplight, just a little more than halfway to Kevin's, when Mackenzie made the mistake of looking back at Ashton. She completely loses it again and starts cackling then she snorts so loud that she made the "I'm so tough nothing can scare or intimidate me" Ashton jump. How did Jeremy even get him to agree to take them? Nothing was making sense and that just made her laugh even harder.

Jeremy is screaming with laughter, tears pouring down his face as he clutched his sides. Laughing this hard was probably so bad for his broken ribs, but he simply couldn't help it. He had never seen Mackenzie laugh and it was the most beautiful contagious thing he hade ever experienced.