Chapter 6 – Mackenzie, Age 21
CHAPTER
SIX
Iwalk up the stairs to the hockey house, my nerves firing, anticipation buzzing through my veins. This is not my scene. Not to mention, I hate all the attention I get from the rumors circulating around about Trey and another girl. That’s why I’m here—to get answers and fight for my relationship.
It’s Halloween, and I’m surprising Trey by showing up to his place for the party.
In the last year, I’ve become more focused on my studies, while he has done the opposite.
He keeps his grades just good enough to stay eligible to play hockey.
As soon as he was drafted last year, he began to change. None of it for the better.
We’ve had our ups and downs over the years, but always seem to find a way through it. The last six months have been a little worse. His jealousy has ramped up noticeably and he spends more time at the hockey house partying than anywhere else.
I’ve never been much of a party girl, but tonight I’m putting in the effort. I even dressed up for the occasion. It’s completely unlike me to draw attention to my body, but I want to snag Trey’s attention and hopefully pull him away from this party early.
The bass is bumping so hard, the walls are shaking as I step through the front door into the wide-open living room.
All the furniture has been taken out, so all I can see are bodies dancing.
It’s hot and crowded as I push my way to the kitchen, hoping I can find one of the hockey guys to point me in Trey’s direction.
I hear a few whistles as I enter the kitchen, until I turn and face them.
“Kenzie? Is that you?” I hear Michael—Trey’s best friend on the team—his voice questioning. Smiling, I walk closer, seeing his eyes widen as he takes me in from head to toe.
A black leather suit hugs every curve, paired with sky-high black stiletto boots and a tiny black mask. I have a smoky eye, fake lashes, and my lips are painted blood red. The ears on top of my head pull it all together, and I’ve transformed into Catwoman for the night.
“Hey, Mike. It’s me. Happy Halloween!”
Mike starts to look around nervously and I get self-conscious instantly.
“Is it too much?” I pray I’m not going to trigger my boyfriend’s outrageous jealousy.
He pulls his gaze to mine, shaking his head. “Nah, Kenzie, you look perfect. I was just looking around for your boy.” He says it with a tone I’ve never heard before and my gut tightens.
“No worries, I’ll go find him.” I say as he grabs my hand, keeping me in place.
“I’ll text him while you stay here.”
That instantly puts me on edge and I pull out of his grasp, walking over to the sliding glass doors and out into the yard. I hear Mike distantly calling for me, but everything fades away as I see a guy with a scantily dressed girl on his lap by the bonfire.
Not just any guy.
My guy.
Trey freaking Spencer has a girl on his lap, and it isn’t me.
I see him grab his phone out of his pocket, reading the text before freezing. His eyes dart to the back door and find mine.
In an instant, he’s throwing the girl off his lap and barreling toward me.
I turn on my heel and push my way back into the house.
I hold the tears in as I fight my way through the kitchen and sweaty dance floor.
I rush out the front door, pulling my stupid heels off my feet so I can get away faster and not break my neck in the process.
I hear Trey calling my name as I turn and walk quickly down the sidewalk to my car a few houses down. I hustle, grabbing my keys from the one place I could put them with this costume, my bra. Classy, I know.
I press the unlock button and climb into the driver’s seat. As I start it and put my seatbelt on, there is a pounding on my window.
“Kenzie! Roll down the window! It’s not what it looked like! That girl just sat on my lap and I was trying to push her off. She knows I have a girlfriend.”
I grit my teeth at his lousy attempt at an explanation. I wish I could say it’s the first time he’s been seen or talked about being with another girl. It’s not. This time, though, I witnessed it. I don’t respond, as I put my car in drive and peel out onto the road, leaving a screaming Trey behind.
As I pull to the first stoplight, a few blocks away, I finally allow a few tears to escape.
I grab my phone and press call on the only person I can talk to about anything.
After a few rings, they pick up.
“Mack, are you okay?”
“Jordan, I need to talk to you.”
JORDAN
My hand flexes at my side as I quietly walk away from my sister’s door. It’s well past two in the morning, and Reagan just fell asleep.
I don’t know exactly what happened between my sister, Riggs Hart, and Drew, but she’s a wreck.
We were all at The Draft Halloween party and Drew was running his mouth, per usual.
The rest is a blur that ended with my sister crying in the parking lot, Riggs long gone, and Drew’s lucky I couldn’t find him.
I carried Reagan to the car and drove her home, my twin more upset than I’ve seen her in years.
The last time she was this devastated also had something to do with Drew.
It took a while for her to get ready and into bed. Standing by, I could tell she didn’t want to talk to me. I decided to sit beside her closed door, listening to her quiet sobs until they finally stopped. I hate tears—especially when they come from my twin.
That’s when my phone rings in my hand.
Mackenzie. It’s nearly midnight there, and I rarely hear from her this late, not to mention it’s typically in a text.
I answer, hesitantly. “Mack, are you okay?”
Sniffling meets my ear, and my heart starts beating fast. It takes her a moment to compose herself before she answers me.
“Jordan, I need to talk to you.”
I walk into my bedroom and quietly close the door. I sit on the edge of my unmade bed, bracing myself for what she’s going to say next.
After Mack started dating Trey, I tried to keep my distance. We spent the next few months ignoring each other, but it didn’t last. Like two magnets drawn together, we eventually found ourselves friends again. It’s been that way for the last eight years.
I’ve hated every single minute.
As much as I play my part, I can’t get over Mackenzie Banks. And trust me—I’ve tried.
I listen as Mack unloads the events of her evening starting with the Halloween costume—which gives me a vivid image of what she looks like right now and ending with her driving away from the party, Trey yelling after her.
I’m lying on my back, one arm covering my eyes in frustration, the other holding the phone to my ear as I listen to the girl of my dreams cry over her terrible boyfriend.
We’ve had these moments over the years, me listening, and her unloading.
There was a time when Trey went berserk about my friendship with her and we didn’t talk at all.
It didn’t last long, thankfully, and I can still remember the relief in my chest when she texted me again for the first time.
We don’t talk a lot, but it’s increased in the last six months, to the point I think I know more about what’s really going on with her, more than my sister does.
Things between Trey and Mack are getting progressively worse. And does it make me a horrible person to be a tiny bit hopeful it ends? Probably. But I do—and I won’t apologize for it. If I had known back then that they would still be together, I’d have fought harder for her. Hindsight and all that.
I was a coward. And now? I’m stuck firmly in the friend zone.
After a night of no sleep, I convince my sister to make me an omelet—or two, and after we are able to talk through what happened between her, Drew, and Riggs, she seems to be in a slightly better headspace.
Me? Not so much. I can’t stop going through all the things Mack told me last night. I’m distracted at practice and end up having to run suicide sprints for twenty minutes after the other guys leave.
She confides in me about all the hard parts of her relationship with Trey, and shares all the happiness with my sister. Reagan thinks Trey is a great guy, but she doesn’t know the truth. He has taken Mackenzie for granted since they moved to California.
She deserves better.
I’m not sure that’s me, but I know for a fact it isn’t Trey Spencer.