Mackenzie | √

Chapter 24

"W- who's Brooke?" I asked him, very confused.

"She's the one you and Bambi have been seeing me with." I was surprised at his calm and unhurried voice.

"When were you gonna tell us?", I flared up, "How long have you been seeing that girl-"

"She's not just any girl, Kenzi."

"Of course she's not." I let out a laugh.

"No, Kenzi!"

"How the hell could he be so calm about this?"

"How else am I supposed to be? You're already mad. One person has to be calm," he shrugged. "Look, I can explain."

"I'm listening," I said, eager to hear what he had to say, but the moment he started struggling to even get words out of his mouth, I knew there was a problem.

"At this point, it's whatever, Ryan," I shrugged. "Text me when you want to talk, okay?"

He swallowed, watching me walk away.

*

I appeared at Tanner's doorstep just in time and rang the doorbell, waiting patiently for Tanner to get the door. I frowned two minutes after ringing the doorbell occasionally. I reached for the doorbell to ring again, when the door opened and Tanner growled, "For God's sake, mind the bell!"

I gasped.

His face softened, "I- I didn't know it was you." He cleared his throat as he stepped aside from the door, "Come in."

I couldn't help but wonder if he was okay. I shyly walked in as he closed the door and then walked behind me.

*

As I talked, I couldn't feel Tanner paying attention. He hadn't said a word, he didn't nod or do anything that'd make me know if he understood what I was saying.

I cleared my throat, "Uh, Tanner. . . I need to know if you understand what I've been saying." I said, but he didn't say or do anything.

"Are you okay?" I asked, knowing full well that he wasn't, but he didn't say anything, still. I sighed as I looked at him, "What's wro-"

"For godsake, Mackenzie, mind your damn business!" He snapped.

It was going to take a long, long time adjusting to this weird behaviour of his. I breathed, "I should go. Clearly, you're not in the mood for the lesson, but we're even, because I'm also not. Just know that you're not the only one who's had a bad day." I said, voice soft and measured.

I picked up my bag and watched as his face softened, but, still, he didn't say anything.

And with that, I left his house.

*

The class was very quiet today. Mrs Martinez seemed to be the only one having fun, as she just laughed to her own joke. Everyone simply stared back at her, and she was uncomfortable so she covered the laughter up with a cough and got back to teaching.

It was minutes later, Ryan strolled into the class, carrying a straight face and not making eye contact with anybody.

"Ryan!" Mrs Martinez called, but he kept on walking to his seat, "Ryan Smith, I'm talking to you!"

I looked at Ryan as he got to his seat and sat down, looking at Mrs Martinez with red eyes. Mrs Martinez sighed, rolling her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't have control over us, she was just too soft. She'd once told me she had four kids. Two were in college and she knew exactly how teenagers worked. I knew her well enough for her to understand that something was wrong with Ryan and there was a high possibility that she'd call him after class to ask what was wrong. She was a good teacher. That's what I knew.