Hype

~Chapter 4~

The next day, school came and went.  I swallowed my pride and apologized to Mackenzie in homeroom.  It seemed best to let her that I felt like a total jerk about the whole lunch table thing.  Now, after apologizing to someone, it would make sense that things would be a bit more civil.  Not with Mackenzie.  After I finished saying what I wanted to say, I was expecting a sweet smile and her maybe saying “No problem.”

Here’s what I got: a sarcastic remark.  “Oh, well I was so sorry that I sat in your precious seat.  I guess I didn’t notice that your name was on it.”  I hate to sway from the storyline again, but also, Mackenzie was one of those people who said “like” in every sentence.  It was almost as annoying as a pro-choice rally marching down the street. 

I wanted to do whatever I could to avoid further drama, so I finally told her: “Look, I’ve been at this school my whole life, it’s all I know.  I didn’t know that you sit wherever at public school.  We’ve had our favorite spots at the lunch table for years.  If someone is in our spot, we always tell them to move.  If you were in Ginger’s spot, she would’ve done the same thing.  I was wrong and stupid, okay?” 

That’s when a smile came across her glossy lips.  She said “Whatever,” then I went back over to my desk and put my head down.  I made an effort to tell Ginger about the dilemma.  She had the same lunch table opinion as me.  Your spot is your spot—whether it’s a few weeks or six years.  It’s okay to tell someone to move.  I talked to the other people at our table about it.  Jana, Jasmine, Peter, and Gabe all agreed that they would’ve done the same thing if Mackenzie was sitting in their spot.  But of course, the odds worked against me for some reason, and now I was dealing with it. 

The day went on.  I tried to get to our table as fast as possible, but Mackenzie was in my seat again.  I just pulled up a chair like the day before.  I don’t know why, but I felt like she was sitting in my spot on purpose—as if she was trying to make me annoyed.  The brat wanted to spite me, but why?  All these years when Reverend told us about the public schools, how every kid who went there was trouble besides the few Christians, I wasn’t sure I agreed with him.  I wanted to believe that not every kid did illegal drugs and was “fooling around.” Yet, the part about how they were unkind—now it was starting to seem realistic. 

I didn’t talk to Mackenzie the rest of the day.  Thankfully, she didn’t make any problems in math.  Even better, it was Friday, and that meant no Mackenzie for two whole days.  I was scheduled to work the afternoon shift on Saturday and Sunday.  Friday night I had to myself.  Ginger and I were going to grab something to eat after school, then see a movie.  I drove her back in the car with us, dropped off the kids, and we headed out.  On our way to the movie theater I saw the opportunity, and took it upon myself to talk about Mackenzie. 

            “So, do you still think you like Mackenzie?”  I asked, taking a quick glance at her.  She was smiling. 

            “Of course.  Why?  Do you not like her Frey?  She’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.” 

            Haven’t I heard her say that before?  Gosh, Ginger was starting to sound like a broken record.

“Look, I tried to apologize to her today, even though I didn’t do anything wrong—and she’s still mad at me.  She got all sarcastic about the whole thing.” 

            She laughed.  “She was probably just joking Frey.  She’s really good at acting.  She was obviously pretending to be mad at you.  During English, she told me about it.  I heard what went on in homeroom, so I asked her about it, and she was like ‘I can’t believe Freya thinks I was actually mad at her.’  She was totally kidding.” 

            I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel.  I was certain Mackenzie wasn’t just “totally kidding.”  How about totally lying?  Why would she lie to Ginger about being upset with me?  Could she be trying to turn my friends against me?  Never in my life did I think that I would come across someone who would lie to my friends.  Nonetheless, look at Ginger.  I couldn’t believe that my best friend since fourth grade would listen to someone who she just met yesterday, instead of believing me. 

            “Freya, you’re swerving all over the place!”  Ginger shouted. 

            I snapped myself out of my thoughts, focusing on the highway ahead of me.  How can I let myself get so upset that I can’t even keep my car on the road?  Stupid Mackenzie.

 “My bad,” I said.    

            “Are you all right Frey-Frey?” 

            I ignored the concern in her voice.  “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

            We got to the movie theater in one piece, thank God, and I tried my best to enjoy the film.  It was another crazy Sci-fi that we were huge fans of, and I had been waiting for weeks to see it.  Yet, all I could think about was this Mackenzie thing.  What if she started lying to all my other friends?  What if she tried to start rumors about me?  What if…

 In the middle of the movie, a thought came to mind.  Back to last year.  It was lunchtime, and I was arguing with Hayden again.  It was about the issue of bullies: a frequent topic that we loved to bicker about.  I remember her asking me: “What would you do if someone turned your friends against you, or started spreading rumors through the whole school?” 

            I remembered exactly what the rest of the conversation went like.  I told her that obviously, I’d ignore the rumors.  Besides, how could they have something to say if I had nothing to hide?   

            “That’s why it’s called a rumor.  It’s not supposed to be true.” 

             I rolled my eyes.  “Still, you just ignore it, and not be so oversensitive about it.” 

            Hayden was furious at this point.  “And what would you do if someone lied to your friends about you?” 

            “My friends would believe me, not some dumb person telling them a random lie.” 

            I remember the snide look on her face.  “People will believe anything.  Trust me” 

“People may believe anything,” I scoffed.  “Your friends won’t.”