(6) Who's That Girl...? It's Mack

As someone who had to start over at a new school her junior year, I relate to Makennah in a very special way. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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"Time to go! Come on, kids!" Carolynn yelled from downstairs. For the seventeenth time, Makennah reassessed her half-up top-knot before flicking the light off in the bathroom, grabbing her shoes and backpack, and running down the stairs along with Nick and Josh.

"Good morning, wonderful children!" The most picturesque perfect TV mom, Carolynn was dressed and ready to go from head to toe even though Makennah knew she was a stay at home mom. She wore a smile that could dazzle the president and she held four cards in her hands. "Your ID's came in the mail yesterday. This is to pay for your lunch food, Makennah." Carolynn handed out the cards to each perspective child and stopped at Makennah to give her special instructions.

"The most important meal of the day is breakfast. Don't miss it," Matt said in an open announcement to all who missed it.

"I've got it covered, Matthew," Carolynn scolded, poking her finger in his chest.

He smiled and charmed the frown right off her face. "Love you, Mom." He kissed her on the cheek and bounded our the door with his keys in his hands.

"Indeed since you missed breakfast, I got you a protein bar," Carolynn whispered, sliding a wrapped protein bar in Makennah's hand. Although she couldn't form any words, she was actually grateful that Carolynn cared enough to think of her. Even though she woke up an hour before everyone else, Makennah changed her mind about her outfit and hair more times than she could count due to her anxiousness at starting a new school.

"Let's go!" Nick shouted before he ran after Matt our the door quickly followed by Josh.

"Mom, are you sure I have to go to school with them?" Jonah whined while he tied his shoes.

"Yes, baby, not up for negotiation."

"But school doesn't start for forty minutes after them. I'm just gonna sit there."

"Well you did it last year and you'll do it every year after that until you're in middle school which is very soon might I add."

"It's just so unfair!" Jonah complained.

Carolynn shot Jonah a look that silenced him. So he huffed his backpack onto his shoulders and slumped out the door.

And then there was one.

"Are you okay, honey?"

Makennah nodded and stared at the door.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. It's a wonderful school and the boys will take care of you. Ask them for anything and everything. Plus, you can always text me. They don't allow phones but...you know." Winking, Carolynn guided Makennah to do the door despite every screaming thought in her head that told her to run in the opposite direction. "Have a good day, dear!"

Taking a deep breath, Makennah opened the door and hesitantly slid through the tiny gap. Her heart leaped into her throat as she got in the backseat of the Jeep. All of the boys rode to school together in the morning. Even Jonah, although he was in elementary school. He just waited in the office of the elementary school until it began.

She shared the backseat with Jonah and Josh. Despite his grumblings, Jonah squeezed in the middle and clutched his backpack to his chest while he complained about how loud the music was. Makennah agreed that it was a little unnerving. Then again, anything could set her off right then considering how tightly her nerves were wound up.

Makennah wasn't sure how far away the school was but every minute in the car was agonizing. She knew no one. She didn't know how the girls would act around her. She didn't know if anyone would want to be her friend. She didn't know if she dressed right. She didn't know if the classes would be hard. Where would she even sit for lunch? Where would she sit in class? Would she have a difficult time finding the classrooms?

There were so many questions running through her head that she couldn't even think straight. Her only saving grace was the three packs of gum in her backpack that she could share with others to get on their nice side and maybe spark a friendship.

"You good back there?" Nick directed his question towards Makennah.

"Yeah," she muttered past the lump in her throat.

"Good, cause we're here!" Matt announced. "Get out, Jonah."

"Open the door!" Jonah screeched to Josh who slid out so that Jonah could be dropped off at his elementary school which was just across the street from the high school.

Makennah kind of felt like she could throw up as Matt parked close to the school in a student designated parking lot. Everyone piled out of the Jeep all together.

Josh and Nick sparked up a conversation and Makennah lagged behind. She didn't want to force them to walk in with her. She was the newbie after all. They didn't have to be seen with her.

"You coming?" Matt asked in her direction as he walked backwards towards the school.

She nodded. "I'm coming. Go ahead."

"No, we walk in together," he said.

Nick and Josh stopped beside Matt, all watching Makennah and waiting for her to join them.

"No, it's okay. You guys don't have to walk in with me." She avoided their gaze by glancing down at her shoes.

"Don't be ridiculous," Nick scoffed.

"Come on, Mack," Josh nodded his head towards the door, motioning for her to follow.

Because she couldn't say anything or open her mouth, Makennah forced her feet to move towards the entrance to the school.

She wished she wore something else. This wasn't okay. This was wrong. She liked it but it seemed wrong. She wore a distressed white mini skirt with a red and white striped relaxed button-up shirt with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows and the hem tucked in. She matched the outfit with tan suede espadrille sandals and a gold simple necklace, bracelet, and earrings. Matt told Makennah that they didn't carry much in their backpacks so Makennah only purchased a small fashionable black leather backpack.

She actively glanced around, noting other girls' outfits. She spotted several other students in cute skirts and fashionable tops like herself. Most girls curled their hair or straightened it. Makennah was one of the only ones with a messy top knot or slightly imperfect tresses. However, she grew to like her hair. Even if she was the only one, she liked to look casually put together.

As they neared the school, all four of them merged into foot traffic and entered through the huge glass doors of the school. They walked into the marble high ceiling foyer where the principal, vice principal, and super intendant stood on a huge symbol printed on the floor where they waved to students and shook hands with parents.

Matt and Nick informed Makennah that all of the grades had their own hallway of lockers that generally correlated with their perspective classrooms. Knowing this, Makennah followed Nick to their hallways acting like she knew where she was going. She found her locker, separating from Nick, and spun the lock to unlock the door.

Luckily, there weren't many students lingering near their lockers so Makennah had some elbow room. Old friends reunited with one another, squealing and hugging. Guys fist bumped or did secret handshakes. Brainiacs unloaded endless school supplies into their lockers. Makennah took note of all these things around her as she hung her backpack in her locker and magnetized a small mirror to the inside of her locker. The only other things she withdrew from her backpack was a few pens, a stack of sticky notes, and a mini lotion bottle.

"Hey!"

Makennah realized someone was friction that welcome to her so she stuck her head out of her locker where she was hiding from all mankind. "Hi," she said back before she even knew who she was talking to.

A cute blonde with long straight hair and endless tan legs leaned on the locker beside Makennah, clutching a binder to her chest and grinning over the top. "You're new, right?"

For the sole reason that Makennah knew she needed to make friends and play nice, she smiled back and closed her locker. "Yeah, I am. My name is Makennah."

She touched her hand to her heart. "Grace. My opening line is that I have an identical twin sister. So if you see someone like me that's not me, it's her."

Makennah ducked her head and laughed a little. "Thanks for informing me. I would have been pretty confused."

"Fortunately, our lockers are pretty close together." Speaking of her locker, Grace tucked her bonded under her arm while she unlocked her personal locker. Makennah couldn't help but notice the very expensive shoes on her feet or the Chanel backpack hanging from her shoulders.

"So what time does class start exactly?" Makennah asked. She knew already but she needed something to talk about.

"Hoemroom starts at 7:40. We have announcements and then class officially starts at 7:50. But don't be late. All the teachers have huge sticks up their asses, and those sticks are labeled timeliness and punctuality."

Okay, Grace was a little funny. She liked that. "Noted," Makennah responded.

"Where's your homeroom?"

She memorized her schedule so she didn't have to look like a little nerd carrying it around and referring to it in times of need. "Room 417 I believe."

"Damn, not the same." Grace shrugged and brushed her hair out of her sparkling captivating blue eyes. Everything about Grace screamed sophistication and well...grace. She was beautiful in an old Hollywood sort of way, sporting a cute mole on her upper lip. Her classic beauty could not be compared to anything modern.

"Maybe we will have some other  classes together," Makennah offered, hoping she wasn't going too far and being too presumptuous.

"Hopefully!" Grace closed her locker door but not before Makennah spotted all of the pictures and decorations already hung up inside. "Unless you're on the AP class course," she rolled her eyes. "I'm not that smart."

Makennah grinned. "Me neither. Normal class schedule for me. So what do you guys do before class starts? It's kind of early."

More and more students filtered into their hallway. Makennah mentally captured pictures of obviously popular students - both guys and girls. She would figure out whether to befriend them or avoid them in the near future. Maybe Grace would show her the ins and outs of the junior class.

"Well, we kind of just walk around. It's like social hour. It's the time we can see our friends other than lunch or study hall," Grace explained. "Oh here come some of my friends!" She announced, casually pointing to a group of brightly colored, basically identically dressed students heading straight for Grace and smiling as bright as the sun.

And right behind them was Theodore Alexander Rose III.

Her heart skipped a beat in her chest and her hands grew warm and tingly. Instantly, she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt in order to stop her fingers from trembling. When she glanced up again, Theo was looking right at her, holding steady eye contact as he weaved through the throng of students, beelining in her direction.

Her throat closed in on itself. Because he was a senior and very clearly did not belong in this hallway, some of the juniors took notice, glancing at him and wondering about his presence. Makennah couldn't believe it, but some of the girls even stopped and stared at him. Although she really couldn't blame them. He sure was mighty fine to look at.

Grace laid her hand on Makennah's arm and started to drag her into her group of friends but Makennah was locked in an eye embrace with Vogue's sexiest man of the year.

Before she could be introduced, Theo welcomed himself into their circle and sidled up beside Makennah. Turning on his mega watt smile, Theo silently disarmed and charmed every lady in the circle. "Ladies....good morning."

He directed the statement at the circle, but he turned his head and looked straight into Makennah's eyes. His eyes twinkled with amusement at her speechlessness and obvious nervousness. To cause her anxiety to skyrocket, Theo propped up his arm on the locker behind her head and leaned into her. His eyes looked her up and down, while Makennah clutched her necklace in her fist.

"Hey, Theo," someone said.

"How was your summer?"

"Good morning to you too," some of them said.

All eyes were on them. Makennah felt their gazed lingering on her and Theo who intimately leaned into her space as if he belonged there.

"Good morning, Kennah," Theo said under his breath in a mesmerizing low tone that all girls in this school wished to hear over the phone late at night as they lay in bed dreaming of unspoken things.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she kicked one leg over the other and smirked to hide her obvious uncomfortableness underneath a cool calm exterior. Resting her back on the lockers, she said, "That's a new one."

"I'm trying it on for size," he said, winking with his right eye which was hidden from view from the group of Grace's friends. Speaking of, they whispered in low tones, keeping their eyes trained on the two of them but trying not to obviously check them out.

"What do you think?"

"I'll let you know. Have a good day, Kennah," he said her nickname again before pushing off the locker and spinning to continue on in the same direction he came. But not before his finger slyly and inconspicuously grazed the bare smooth skin of her thigh along the hem of her short skirt in a very intimate manner on skin that otherwise would not allowed to be touched by boys without permission. Fire erupted over her leg where he touched her. That fire flamed over her body to her heart where it flourished in her chest.

"So...that was you in that Snapchat." Grace grinned from ear to ear as well as her friends as they pieced together who the mystery girl was.

"That's me," she admitted unmistakably. "Kennah."

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The first day of school isn't over! Much more drama to unfold. Stay tuned 👍

Don't forget to vote and comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Xoxo

W. Carolina