28)Not You Again

Let's see how this goes

Sam POV

Earlier that week (following the events of Chapter 25)

After parking the car next to the field I make my way to the change room where I can already hear all the chatter of my teammates.

I ignore all the voices when I enter not really caring what they're going on about.
It's funny, I think the guys gossip more than the girls in our school.

Whispers started to fill out any kind of silence that I would have wanted to find in the morning, especially after having a killer cold.

It had been a long night with Mackenzie around. She's a real piece of work, seriously, who has that much energy on a Friday night?

I think my body knew exactly who was standing at my front door before she knocked as my body immediately tensed up, plus it didn't help that a mild headache started developing as soon as I heard a thudding noise coming from the other side of the door. I knew I was going to be stuck in a world of torture for the rest of the night.

I don't remember much about the night. I blame it on the medication the doctor gave me, she wasn't kidding when she said they were strong and would knock me out within a couple minutes. But from what I do recall it involved soup, superheroes, and for some reason, I have a vague memory of feathers and corn. I also woke up with a bruise, which I don't remember having recently.

When getting up in the early morning to get a drink of water and I ended up finding Macey out dead on the couch. Her snoring sounded like a piglet. I wanted to pour the water over her but she looked too cute to disturb.

Cute? What am I saying? The medications were obviously making me delirious.

Ignoring that she was drooling on the sheets that she was practically cocooned in. I went back to sleep hoping it was all a hallucination that the meds had given me.

I was surprised to find that she had stayed over the entire night but I can't blame her. If Dotti's back, it's time for us both to go into hiding.

Even thinking about her name gives me chills.

"Hey, dude, it's good to have you back" Joel yells across the room "heard you've been out all week with the flu. Sucks to be you."

I salute him before putting my bag down next to Lee.

"Did you hear that Dotti's back? As in Dorothy Cobrey; the chick who threw a stiletto at your head?" Lee comes from behind and claps me on the back "good luck buddy". Oh yes, how could I forget the incident where I rejected her date offer and she pretty much exploded like a nuclear bomb. She thought the best way to show how unhappy she was, was to throw a shoe at my head. Not childish at all. Though the heel did end up sticking in the wall which was pretty cool.

"She might be crazy but she is totally hot" there are murmurs of agreement and hi-fives.

"Shut it, Greenberg. You sound like a 12-year-old, " Lee pushes him into the locker.

Another joins into the conversation "Well if we compare her to her somehow related cousin Mac and Cheese whose just plain crazy, no attractiveness to weigh it out. I'd have to say Dotti is the better choice at least she can make up for that crazy with beauty, " he wiggles his eyebrows.

What I want to know is how the nickname mac and cheese caught on?

I feel a tap on my shoulder "Hey, Sam, could I borrow a shirt I spilt chocolate milk on myself," Lee asks looking down at his stained singlet. Seriously why am I still friends with this idiot?

"Sure, there should be a spare one in my bag," I chuck my duffle bag at him not bothering what he takes.

"Dude why does your shirt smell like sunshine, fire and a bakery?" he looks back up at me in awe "Did you set a bakery on fire without me? Did you at least save the doughnuts and cupcakes?"

Aren't clothes supposed to smell like laundry detergent? Why does it smell like sunshine and what was that, a bakery? I remember leaving in a pile on the floor to donate to the Salvation Army, how did it end up in my bag?

"Mackenzie," I say under my breath as I have a revelation.

Charlie seems to comes out of nowhere at the mention of his best friends name. How did he hear that? "Mackenzie? As in 'I hope you choke on a cookie and die ', my friend with slight anger issues? My best friend."

I merely shrug which makes him more furious "Why does your t-shirt smell like her? Wait, why was she even near your clothes in the first place?" he stalks towards me with an expression of frustration. He is tense all over and has a furrowed brow. I'm not in the mood to deal with an upset puppy right now. He's all bark no bite.

I should probably say something to shut him up before this gets out of hand "She must have used the shirt last night; she might have slept in it or something. I don't know" I shrug again and brush off the stress I'm getting from being around him.

"She slept over your house? " he raises his voice that gains more attention from most of the team.

I interrupt him before he can make more accusations "I really don't need this right now. Don't get your boxers in a bunch. Nothing happened between us lover boy, there's nothing for you to worry about. She brought around some soup because I was then she ended up crashing on the couch as she didn't have a safe way to get home. Plus I didn't even know she stayed over till this morning" I add while throwing a more suitable shirt over my head.

"Why would she willingly walk to your house? She hates any type of physical activity," he whispers to himself "She could have called me to pick her up."

"Yeah well don't tell me that, " I zip up my bag quickly.

"Soup, eh?" Lee nudges me while winking. At least that what I think he's doing.

"Don't give me that look, Lee, it was just chicken soup, good enough to cure a black soul like mine."

The locker room had gotten weirdly quiet "Okay everyone show's over, get lost."

I got a reply of murmurs and something incoherent while the team leaves the room.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder I go to exit when I'm pulled back. Charlie grabs my arm with a forceful grip.

"You're not allowed to touch her, you hear me? She doesn't need someone like you in her life." his gaze sweeps over me like he's trying to work out what I'm hiding.

I restrain myself from bursting into laughter from how pathetic this is "Are you really trying to go all overprotective big brother on her right now? This is Mackenzie we're talking about here. No matter how sweet she may seem we both know what exactly she is capable of. She can take perfectly good care of herself without somebody looking over her shoulder 24/7," am I really defending her?

Charlie runs a hand through his hair; he's getting nervous "I know she is perfectly capable of kicking people in the shins. I just don't like how you make her life hell," he bangs his fist on the locker.

Ooo I touched a nerve.
"You're kidding me. It's called honesty which I think she needs more of because of all the secrets that people have been keeping from her. And she can be as bad as me and you know it, you're just too in love with her to see that your little perfect Mackenzie has grown up and doesn't need you as much anymore. Maybe you just don't want to accept it but it's too late."

"Don't you say that, " he says through clenched teeth.

"What? That she doesn't see you the same way as you do? I kind of feel sorry for you but it's just so funny watching you pine over her."

"You didn't try anything on her did you?" this is my cue to laugh.

I pat him on the back "Nah bro, she's all yours. But you need to decide if you're going to back off to give her space or if you're going to go get her and lay it all on the line. I doubt you've got the guts" I knock past him as I make my exit.

***

Present time

It has been a long day at school and I feel like I have overworked myself so I have a hot shower to relax my muscles. When I come out of the shower I almost drop my towel when a loud thump comes from my room. Quickly putting a pair of sweatpants on, I race to my room to find a person lying on the ground in a puddle of water next to my window.

"You should really learn to shut your windows, you never know what weirdo will climb through," a quiet voice says.

I would say I'm surprised but then I would be lying to myself.

At least I know she's not dead.

I haven't seen Mackenzie the past couple days. It's not that we've been avoiding each other; it was more of a mutual understanding saying 'I've had enough of you to last a month. Go away'. It was a peaceful and oddly dull couple of days.

But now that she's lying like a dead animal on my carpet surrounded by a pool of water, I'm slightly worried about what she's gotten up to.

It's definitely like her to make an entrance like this.

"Sheesh, Macey you nearly gave me a heart attack. You know there is a thing called a door?" I approach her slowly tilting my head.

"Doors are overrated" she huff like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

I crouch down next to her "Oh really?" I say in humour fighting a smile that has come out of nowhere.

She sighs dramatically "A lot of things are overrated you know like cinnamon scrolls. Romance movies. Self-service. Teen Parties. First kisses."

I should have expected her to be this over dra- wait why is she talking about first kisses? "Whoa slow down there." I take hold of her hands and haul her up onto her feet "How about we get you into a warm and dry change of clothes then you can tell me exactly what you are doing here."

She shivers, nodding to accept a jumper and goes to get changed in the bathroom.

Before I can think of where I want to start our conversation she barges through the door and sits on my bed. The red jumper is too big for her but at the moment it's bringing out the blush in her cheeks. Her hair is pushed back like she's been running her fingers through it tirelessly.

She seems to be talking to herself which is not out of the ordinary. I slowly approach her not wanting to frighten her, when I get a couple feet away from her she looks up at me with bloodshot eyes "Start from the beginning." I ask softly.

"WWelllll, you see, I thought going for a stroll around the block would help me clear my mind but I got about 30m away from your house when it started to bucket down..."

I get down to eye level with her "So you decided to break into my house through the window, very smart of you agent 99. But why exactly were you walking around the streets at this time at night anyway? It's not like you to go for a midnight stroll, the only reason I would go out at this time is to cool off or to-- avoid someone," I raise an eyebrow in interest.

Mackenzie starts to play with the loose string on the jumper "You could say that."

"I can't help unless you tell me what happened."

"Let's just say I have a tendency to freak out and obviously with that make very regretful decisions. It's what I do best, " she gives me a tight smile.

"Are you okay? Because If I'm being honest I have no idea what to do here. I'm not great at all this stuff" I gesture to her "I'm probably not the best person to come to if you've got a problem, I would say Charlie has a better concept on what to do in these situations," I watch as I see her slightly twinge at the name of her best friend. If I wasn't so close I would have easily missed it.

"Ohh trouble in paradise?" Now this is getting interesting.

She stays silent.

"Can I guess? There are three options you're either fighting which is unlikely, he's obviously not busy because let's be honest he has no life which means something awkward must have happened." The plot thickens. I feel like a detective right now, I'm on a roll.

I start to list things but I then have a light bulb moment.

"He did something but you guys would still talk unless..." I trail off until it hits me.

"You've got to be kidding me." I laugh "He actually had the guts to confe-"

"He kissed me okay," She shouts then quickly covering her mouth "well sort of. It was more of an accidental pressing of two mouths together due to miscommunication. "

My eyes widen as I feel the blood drain from my face.

My heart immediately plummets.

Why does it feel like I can't breathe? I have been having trouble breathing when I'm around Mackenzie lately. Maybe it's the intoxicating perfume she wears that smells like freshly baked cookies. I can't be around her if I keep having this reaction.

"You can't be here Macey. You need to go," I stand up quickly and walk to the other side of the room trying to gain as much distance from her as possible.

Mackenzie looks at me in confusion then looks outside "In the pouring rain out there? I'll catch a cold"

"It'll match your heart," I snap back quickly, immediately regretting it when hurt covers her eyes.

"Are you really doing this now?" she gets onto her feet and storms over to me "Okay, listen here Samuel; there are a lot of things I don't know at the moment. But what I do know is that my best friend kissed me, I then proceeded to have a mini panic attack and ran out of the store leaving my friend behind and out of every place in the world I could have gone, I ended up here." She is barely two feet away from me and she's not going to back down anytime soon.

"But why here?" I ask exhausted.

"I said I don't know," she says in a frustrated tone, then her cheeks suddenly turn a dark crimson and she looks down at the carpet.

"You should really put a shirt on, " she mumbles to her feet.

This makes a broad smile appear on my face "Why... intimidated?"

"No, distracted, " her honesty makes me take a step back and gloater.

She looks me in the eye, enjoying my reaction and leaving me to wonder what she's thinking.

"I just want to stab you sometimes."

"So violent" I take a step forward.

"So cocky" she takes a step backwards cocking her eyebrow. Well tries at least.

I can see what she's doing and she won't get away with it. I can't let her get to me like this; I can't let myself go through this torture anymore. I can't feel this way. Not with her.

I take a deep breath "You need to leave for real now Mackenzie, Just go."

The light goes out of her eyes as soon as I take a step back and open the door for her.

She looks at me square in the eye and starts to laugh? "You know what? I'm over this! Whatever this little game is, it's over. Are you Happy? My heart can't handle this anymore. One minute you're this half-decent guy who is kind of obnoxious and has a terrible sense of humour. Then jerk face turns up out of nowhere and I question if that nice guy really exists but I don't anymore..."

Before I can tell what I'm doing I'm standing in front of her and reaching out to touch her cheek. When I feel the tears on her face I almost retract.

"I'm not supposed to feel anything towards you or want to be around you all the time. It's too dangerous because you are my weakness Macey which makes no sense because you drive me insane and I question my sanity because I'm still here with you. I'm addicted to your presence. I always want more of you. That's why I can't be around you, that's why I need you to leave" this is all on the tip of my tongue but I can't bear to say it.

Instead what comes out is "I never meant to hurt you." the last couple word fall quietly out I bring her forehead to mine . Our sighs intertwine and for a second I can breathe again.

Mackenzie shoves me away and wipes away the tears that are streaming down her face. Her eyes turn dark which is something I've never seen before. It terrifies me.

"Quick word from the serpent's tongue

Both smooth and empty but still the same

Lies are all I hear falling from your mouth

But I guess that's the way you play the game" she recites.

She huffs before nodding her head "It's funny. For one split second, I thought you might actually be a decent person. I don't know why I thought coming here was-"

"Macey-" I begin.

"Just don't. You've already said enough. You won fair and square. Congratulations you're officially a true jerk. The thing is I still don't understand what you want from me," she forces a smile which makes everything worse, she looks up at me I can see the tears in her eyes.

" Just you" I barely whisper.

"What?" She asks.

"I want you, " I swallow hating the word that sits on my tongue "to leave."

Hurt crosses her face "That can be arranged."

Mackenzie pushes past me and storms out of the room.

What have I done?

Mackenzie: Ehem I think you're forgetting something

Sam: No I'm not

Mackenzie: *elbows Sam in stomach*

Sam: I don't want t- oww fine

Cupcake Theory #28 Feelings are dangerous. Especially if you keep pushing them down  

:):):)

Heyo
Me again
Honestly, what did you think of the chapter? Did Sams point of view work or was it a flop and made things more confusing?
I don't really know
I would LOVE feedback from you guys.
Tell me if things don't make sense of if there is a mistake. It would be greatly appreciated!!!

Top things that happened this week
-Crazy ex-girlfriend and her amazing singing is back!
-I got a swing chair with cushions # reading in style
- I wrote a chapter in Sams view which was fun and had the chapter ending completely different to how I planned it

Anyway
Vote like share hug eat a cupcake

Love you as much as cookie dough perfume

Theforgottonone