Chapter 11

I turned off my phone after that conversation and caught up on much needed sleep, but not before downing a pint of water and taking the maximum dose of Tylenol.

My friends telling me that I turned into some flirty little mistress was making my head hurt way worse than a hangover ever could.

Monday and Tuesday went by in a blur, nothing in lessons sticking in my head, my notes not making sense. April and Faye sensed something was up with me but I wouldn’t budge when they asked and they eventually gave up when I started to snap at them.

I don’t think I’ve ever had to say “I’m fine.” So many times in the space of 48 hours in my life.

The only good thing to come of the first half of the week was soccer training. I got to push myself beyond my limit, putting my cocktail of emotions into playing better and working harder than I ever have before. Even coach was impressed with the effort I put into my first session. I don’t think anyone dribbled the ball past me that day, I felt like Virgil Van Dijk in his prime. I was a solid defensive wall in training and my ego felt much better for it.

Most people knew that I’d been having an off week so knew that was why I was acting like a serious, head in the game caption would, but coach just assumed I was showing the newbies what kind of effort and focus to aim for at training.

Mackenzie fit in great with the team. All of the girls love her, except for Emma, she obviously knows how to play, we just haven’t done any shooting or attacking practice as of yet so I can’t tell if she’s the striker were holding out for. We also haven’t put her into a competitive game situation so it’s one thing being able to shoot with no pressure, it’s another thing being asked to shoot whilst being surrounded by several defenders who wouldn’t mind snapping your legs in a tackle if it means we don’t score.

Time will tell I suppose.

It’s Wednesday now and I’m running down my driveway, a half eaten bagel clamped in my mouth as I hold my car keys in one hand and my sports bag in the other. I’m running behind. School starts in twenty minutes, but despite that giving me plenty of time to get there I have a meeting with principal Webber in ten. I think it’s to do with Mackenzie, so it’s not formal but I don’t want to be late for it.

I unlock the car and throw my stuff into the passenger seat, slotting my keys into the ignition and turning.

Only the engine doesn’t start.

I try a couple more times before screaming with frustration and slamming my hands down on my steering wheel. Out of all days, why did today have to be the day when my car broke down. I only just got the darn thing fixed and it’s already cutting out on me.

I’m going to have to walk, and even if I walk I’ll be late for first bell. April doesn’t have a car, Faye is already at school and I’d rather be late to school than get in a car with Clay right now. We’re on even worse terms than before, on my side anyway. He’s acting all lovely and nice and I let him in front of everyone, because he isn’t a mind reader and can’t tell I’m annoyed with myself about it.

I can’t bring myself to be okay with him just yet even though I know in my heart he hasn’t done anything wrong.

I grab my phone from my bag and scan through my contacts, hoping a name pops out that I could ask to give me a lift. The only person who lives anywhere near me is Freya, but I know she wouldn’t even pïss on me if I was on fire, so she definitely wouldn’t pick me up.

Then my thumb stops on Mackenzie and I ponder asking her. She’s the only person who knows I slept with Clay besides Clay himself so I’ve not had to be defensive around her this week. She hasn’t asked me how I am, she’s not pestered me to fill her in, frankly she hasn’t brought it up again. She’s the only person who’s not constantly checking in on me and for that reason we’ve been getting on fine this week.

We teased and joked with each other during first period English and she even sat with us at lunch on Tuesday because Freya and Raven had gone to a French resit at lunch. To be fair, quite a few of the girls on the soccer team sat with us during Tuesday lunch because they actually like me but Freya makes them scared to talk to me. I caught up with Elise Myers, a junior who had managed to step into the varsity squad this year who would be playing centre half if I ever got injured or Raven needed a break. She was lovely, very friendly, but didn’t want to make Freya annoyed by talking to me.

“I can’t be late for my meeting.” I mumble as I press Mackenzie’s name and watch as my phone begins dialling her number. I bite my nails as I wait for her to pick up the phone, my knee bouncing in apprehension. If she doesn’t pick up then I’m royally screwed because I’m the only one home.

“Alex?”

I sigh in relief as her voice comes through my phone speaker, and it sounds like she hasn’t left her house yet as I can hear keys in the background. “Hey, have you set off for school yet?”

“I’m just about to, why? Do you need me to pick you up?”

I fist pump the air at her offer, grabbing my bag from my passenger seat and nodding my head even though she can’t see me. “Yeah if you could, my car decided to break down outside my house.”

She laughs, and even through the phone it sounds great. “I’ll be at yours in five minutes, be ready.”

“Thank you so much.” I gush, pulling my car keys from my ignition and locking my car once I’m out. “I’ll owe you.”

“Your favours to me are starting to add up Alex.” She teases. “Maybe this might work out well for me.”

I could hear the undertone of flirting under her voice and I grinned despite knowing I shouldn’t. I decide to flirt back. “I’m not kissing you again, Mackenzie. Favours don’t work like that.”

She barks out another laugh and I can’t help but join in as I hear her start her car and put the phone on speaker. “Like you said on Saturday Alex, favours come in different forms.”

“Don’t twist my words to suit your agenda.” I snort as I hike my bag up onto my shoulder and walk to the bottom of my drive. “I know you’re attracted to me and everything but you’ve got to at least buy me food first.”

“I did buy you food, Alex.” Her response is lightning quick and my cheeks redden at my realisation. I hear a car turn down the street and I see Mackenzie’s head sticking out of the window, a shît eating grin on her face. I end the call and walk towards where she’s pulled up, my cheeks flushing deeper and her grin widening. “I bought you pancakes and a milkshake, so do I get a kiss now?”

I glare jokingly at her as I walk around to the passenger side and slip in, throwing my bags in the back. “You’ve really got it bad for me.” I tease, watching as the tips of her ears turn slightly pink. “Just admit you like me already, we’re already friends.”

“Shut up Alex or you can walk to school.” Mackenzie rolls her eyes and starts driving. “The way you go on about it might make people think you like me back.”

My eyes snap to her face at her words, her face unreadable but her skin considerably paler than normal. Did she just admit that she likes me? Did she let that slip by accident? Or was she just saying it in context to the game? I mean, she did pick me so people know that I’m her type. I scan her face for any tell signs that she meant it, but her mask is on and her guard is up so I decide to take it as a joke and ignore the way it made my chest flutter. “We both know you’d like that.”

Her mask breaks as the corners of her lips tilt upwards, her eyebrows raising just as we pull into school. She parks close to the door and I hop out, waiting patiently for her to lock up so we can walk in together.

We laugh and joke all the way to the office, and I’m confused as to why she’s here. It looks like she’s confused too. “Did we both get called in to see principal Webber?”

“Looks like it.” I shrug, pushing open the door to the office and taking a seat in the waiting area across from Mrs. Beverly’s desk. She looks up from her computer and smiles at me over the top of her wire frames, a gesture I find myself returning without thinking about it. “It’s probably about how your first week went and how well I showed you around.”

“I had that conversation with him on Friday.” She says, looking at me with a smirk. “I told him you were a dreadful guide and you should be kicked from the team and that your captaincy should be given to me.”

“You’re being a teasing bitch.” I say teasingly, my lips skimming her ear. I dropped my voice to a quiet whisper so Mrs. Beverly wouldn’t hear, and I grin when Mackenzie’s ears turn pink. “You’re only being mean because you like me.”

“This isn’t preschool, Alex.” She tilts her head so we’re nearly lips to lips. “If I liked you I would just say. Unfortunately your ego ruins you, otherwise you’d understand fully what being teased by me feels like.”

I’m not given time to respond, which is good considering I doubt I would’ve found the words in time. I can feel heat creeping up my skin starting at the base of my neck, just as Principal Webber opens his door and calls us in. Mackenzie obviously sees my blushing but says nothing, just dusts off her black ripped jeans and walks towards him, myself following a few steps behind.

“Take a seat girls we’ve got a few things to talk about.” Principal Webber says as he walks behind his desk and takes a seat, leaning back into the plush leather and lacing his fingers together. I drop into the chair on his left and try not to get nervous, because I highly doubt I’m in here to get told off, I haven’t done anything wrong. I try to match Webber’s stare as my palms rub over my jeans as a way of calming myself.

“Firstly, thank you for the stellar job you did of showing miss Daniels around school last week, Alex.” Principal Webber begins, his face not really giving anything away. “Mackenzie had nothing but nice things to say about how you helped her integrate into school, showed her around and made her feel welcome so for that a genuine thank you from me.”

“Nothing but nice things huh?” I look over to Mackenzie and shoot her a self satisfied smirk. “Can you give me an example sir? Just to hold over her head in case of future arguments.”

“I take it all back, she’s terrible!” Mackenzie shouts, slapping me on the knee and putting a mock glare on her face. “She pushed me down stairs and she stole my lunch money. She was horrible.”

We both look at each other and burst out laughing, Principal Webber even letting his lips turn upwards at the sight of us getting along. “Alright girls, calm it for a quick second, we need to talk about something else quickly before your first lesson.”

We sober up pretty quickly. He leans forward and slides a piece of paper our way, my heart sinking when I see it’s the permission slip coach gave us on Monday that we were supposed to hand in yesterday. Coach arranged for the soccer team to sit in on a college team’s training session.

My mom and dad hadn’t come home whilst I was awake and they were both gone when I woke up so I had no chance of getting it signed. I’ve been practically by myself the past two days and it now means that I’ll miss out on a soccer trip because of it.

“You two are the only members of the varsity and junior varsity soccer teams that haven’t had their slips signed. We legally can’t take you on the trip, even if you bring those permission slips to the bus tomorrow morning, so the only options is to ring your parents and ask for verbal consent.”

I sigh in relief. One thing my parents are well known for is the fact the always, without fail, answer their phones; it comes with the job. If principal Webber calls them for verbal consent I’m basically guaranteed to go on the trip tomorrow. I turn to grin at Mackenzie but my smile slips from my face at the sight of her. Her face is pale and void of colour, her eyes darker than I’ve ever seen them before. Her shoulders are tight, her muscles tensed and coiled and they look like they’re about to snap. Her jaw is clenched, and I swear I can hear her teeth grinding in her mouth. She looks like this is the last conversation she wants to be having.

“Alex, we’ve rang your parents before so we have them on file, I just wanted to double check that these numbers are still the same.” Webber slides my emergency contact information across the desk and I nod when I see that the numbers are current and up to date. “Great, now Mackenzie, we don’t have a phone number for you, so if you could just…”

“My parents aren’t my legal guardians.” She says icily, grabbing a stray pen and quickly scribbling down a name in number. “Call that number it’s my brother. He’ll give consent. Can I go?”

Principal Webber looks taken aback but nods, and Mackenzie doesn’t need to be told twice. Gone is the girl who was joking, teasing and shamelessly flirting with me less than ten minutes ago. She’s been replaced by a girl who looks like she could kill a person with a sparing glance and she storms from the office like a girl with a lot of pent up anger.

“Thanks, Principal Webber, but if that’s everything I think I’m gonna run after her and make sure she’s okay.” I find myself saying. I want to make sure she’s okay. Mackenzie is my friend and I want to be there for her like she was was for me.

I grab my bag and jump from my seat, prepared to chase after her, but Webber calls after me before I leave. “Go and make sure she’s okay, but if she leaves school premises and you go with her, expect to both be dropped from the soccer team faster than you can say ‘sport’. Understood?”

“Yes sir.” I nod my head before slipping out of the office, grabbing mine and Mackenzie’s tardy slips and chasing after her.

The hallways are empty, which is no surprise considering home room started seven and a half minutes ago. I can hear her trainers slapping against the linoleum floor, and frown when I realise she’s heading deeper into school. I scrunch my nose, confused as to why she’s not heading home but I follow after her, watching her blonde hair whip behind her as she turns a corner and heads in the direction of the field entrance.

My lip quirks. I feel like I know where she’s heading. She’s going exactly where I go when I need head space. It’s also a much better better place to skive then actually leaving school property, we’ll get in a lot less trouble for it.

I pick up the pace and walk in step with her when I finally catch up. I don’t say anything, I don’t ask her if she’s okay because that could be the dumbest possible thing I could ask a person who just stormed out of a meeting with the principal.

She’s obviously not okay.

We walk out to the field side by side, the soccer nets up for lessons and practice at the end of the day. There’s nobody here, the fields are empty, which isn’t surprising considering home room doesn’t finish for another twenty minutes. The lesson has already been set up, with cones, bibs and balls laid out across the pitch. I drop my bag at my feet and snatch a ball from the ball bag and roll it over my arms, dropping it to the floor and kick it to my hands. I watch as Mackenzie studies me with narrowed eyes, her hands shoved into the pockets of her jacket.

“You don’t need to babysit me.” Her voice is detached and cold as she glares at me. “And you being here isn’t going to make me open up and explain why I left.”

“I honestly just followed you so we could play some soccer.” I shrug my shoulders as I spin a ball on my index finger. “I haven’t seen you shoot yet and as your captain I’m intrigued.”

Mackenzie’s eyes still follow me accusingly as I set the ball down on the penalty spot, like I’m going to ask her hundreds of personal questions. I roll my eyes and point to the ball. “Mackenzie. Take the shot.”

“Fine.” She snaps, dropping her bag to the ground next to mine and storming over to me. I grin triumphantly as I take my place in net, bouncing on the balls of my feet and waving my hands around. I’m not a goalkeeper, I’ve never played in net, but playing the part is half the fun and if it gets Mackenzie to put her laces through the ball then it’s fine with me. “I won’t feel bad if I hurt you.”

“I can take the pain babe just kick the ball.” I tease and stick out my tongue, watching as Mackenzie rolls her eyes before taking a few steps back. She squares her shoulders, takes a deep breath and runs straight for the ball, kicking it with impossible speed. I don’t even attempt to save it, I just watch as it flies into the top corner of the net. I turn and look at her with an eyebrow raised. “Well that’s one thing you can do better than Freya.”

Mackenzie looks smug, but she doesn’t say anything. I kick her the ball back and she places it on the penalty spot again. “Are you going to try and save this one, or are my penalties too mesmerising?”

“I see your ego is coming back, Daniels.” I say, lowering my body and promising myself that I will attempt to save this one.

Mackenzie repeats the same motions, stepping back, breathing deep, running up. I dive to the right and smirk when I manage to fingertip the ball onto the post. I hiss when I land on my fingers funny, the sting of the ball making it slightly more painful than it would have been. I don’t give her the satisfaction of seeing me in pain, so I just dust myself off, cringe at the grass stain on the knee of my freshly washed jeans and give her the ball back.

We repeat this for a good ten minutes until Mackenzie finally starts to smile, her shoulders relaxing, her posture not so tense and closed off as it was before. I’ve never seen Mackenzie with her walls up before, and when I did, I decided I didn’t want to see them again

“Why did you come find me?” Mackenzie says after she checks her watch. I pick the ball out of the back of the net and cock my head to one side, looking at her curiously. “You could’ve left me be, gone to homeroom, left me to myself. Why didn’t you?”

I shrug and walk over to the ball bag, putting the ball back where I found it before turning to face her again. She’s walked over to me and has stopped close enough for me to see the stray hairs falling in front of her eyes. “I already have a tardy slip, might as well take advantage of it.”

“I’m being serious, Alex.” Mackenzie scolds seriously, her arms crossed defensively over her chest, her eyes almost appearing vulnerable. She looks nervous. She doesn’t look like the hard headed flirt she’s painted herself to be since I met her in Benny’s. I feel like she’s unintentionally letting me in a little bit, like there’s a crack in her wall that she hasn’t even realised is there. “You come and find me, but you don’t ask me what’s wrong, you don’t pry for information. Instead, you just force me to kick soccer balls at you. Why?“

“You’ll tell me what was wrong when you’re ready to.” I say finally, reaching up and brushing some grass from her hair. She inhales sharply when I do, her eyes watching every movement of my fingers before I take them away and slide them into my pocket. “Forcing you to tell me what’s wrong isn’t going to help. We’re not close and I wouldn’t expect you to offload your darkest secrets to me. Playing soccer has always helped me clear my head, and the fact you brought yourself here lets me think it helps you too. I’m not going to force you to talk to me, but know that I’ll be here for when you do.”

Mackenzie stares at me, a smile pulling at the corners of her lips. Her eyes are soft, her smile gentle, her breath unsteady. She steps forward and winds her arms around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder. I tense in surprise but find myself hugging her back, my arms tightening slightly when I hear her mutter in my ear.

“Thank you, Alex.”

I breathe out shakily, my fingers digging into the fabric of her hoodie. “Anytime.”