32) I'm Passionate, Not Crazy!

"Let's go over this one more time okay. Repeat after me. When a girl is ignoring you that does not mean she is playing hard to get."

Lee knits his eyebrows together in concentration trying to process the words "If a girl ignores me that doesn't mean she's trying to get noticed by giving me the silent treatment or playing hard to get. Sometimes people ignore me because they don't want to talk or they find me annoying."

Before our math teacher left us to fend for ourselves he gave us very specific instructions to use our time wisely and then zoned in on me like it was my fault that the projector got broken last time. I'd just like to say that it's not our fault the projector was in the way of the basketball.

Lee and I had gotten onto the invigorating topic of how to avoid people. I'm 100% sure this is counted as being productive as I have definitely made some progress with him.

I tilt my head slightly "More or less. But most importantly remember it's the quiet people you have to look out for. They're the ones that are secretly plotting your death."

"Are you saying you've plotted out everyone's death? Are you planning on killing me anytime soon because I haven't completed the whole Super Mario brothers game yet? Don't kill me, Mackenzie; I'm too beautiful to die."

This was the perfect time for the classroom to go completely silent.

I follow the turned heads who are all staring at the stranger at the front of the room. To them, he's a new and unfamiliar face, but I know him as the cookie thief. He adjusts his leather jacket that I'm surprised hasn't been confiscated yet for violating the dress code. His eyes skim over the classroom slowly.

I go into a panic, knowing that as soon as he sees me I might as well start digging my grave.

Being the inconspicuous person that I am, I try to slide down the seat. But sadly my legs are stuck to the plastic seat.

Do I dare go through the pain of detaching my sweaty legs to save myself from eternal death?

Maybe I'm being a tad overdramatic but I don't want to die. I haven't even tried a Cronut yet!

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Hide me or cover me in unfinished practice test papers, just make sure he doesn't see me," I whisper yell at Lee. All he does is give me a confused look while handing me a glue stick. This guy is useless.

Before and can dive under my desk a deep voice echoes "It's you" across the classroom. Evil cookie guy (who is most likely going to kill me) points his finger in my direction.

Now I'm reconsidering not having the extra waffle for breakfast this morning, you never know when it's going to be your last meal.

Pretending not to notice all eyes watching me I twist around to face Lee and grab him by the shoulders "What did you do this time?"

He blinks a couple times in shock "I-I don't know. I may have taken a packet of skittles that were left in the vending machine. I'm sorry man I didn't know they were yours. I'll buy you another packet. Just don't beat up my gorgeous face. I'll need it when I get old," Lee shields his face quickly with his arms.

Cookie monster storms up to our table. Maneuvering through the tight space between chairs table and utterly confused students.

"I wasn't talking to him. I meant you" he stops right in front of our table. Slightly knocking the side making my pen roll off the table. He glares, waiting for me to crack.

"Who me?" I give him my most dumbstruck look "I've never seen you before and I would know because I have an above average memory when remembering faces."

He leans in closer "I think I would remember the person who stole my food" I merely shrug and start to pick at my non-existent nails "You set me up. You stole my cookies" he points an accusing finger at me.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." My math textbook has suddenly become very interesting thing to look at.

He slams my book shut in my face making me jump back. "You're Maggie StClair."

"Nooo, this is mack-en-zie. Not Maggie. You must be mixing her up with someone else." Lee looks at us giving me a confused expression like he's missing a major piece of the puzzle.

"Yes," for once in Lee's life he said something useful and I decide to go along with it "You must be mistaking me for my evil identical twin sister Maggie."

Cookie thief narrows his gaze on me, I scoot further into my seat which I really wish was cushioned.

"You may have heard of her before. She was the one that almost burnt down the school. Total nutjob. I, on the other hand, am completely normal and love sharing food. I like cows which is an obvious sign that I'm a super nice person. Plus I once accidentally ate a paleo muffin, it tasted disgusting but it's the consideration of attempting to be healthy that counts in the end right?" I give him my award winning smile to seal the deal.

Scanning around the classroom I think he is starting to realise that we've started to draw attention. He mumbles to himself before turning his attention back to me.

"This isn't over, you hear me," He saunters over to an empty seat and put his ear buds in.

All the girls in the room can't take their eyes off him. Who can resist a new bad boy at school?

I can definitely read that this guy is going to be trouble. I can tell by the smirk on his face and the word 'trouble' stitched into the back of his jacket.

Lee turns to me with a very serious expression written over his face "Since when have you had an identical twin? Is she hot?"

***
I used to think that lunch was a peaceful time where I got to catch up with friends and eat food. Apparently not anymore.

"I knew it!" My half eaten cookie gets snatched out of my hand.
Who would dare do such a terrible thing?

I swivel around to face the cookie thief once again. Behind him stands Lee and Sam. They look like the three amigos as they form a small triangle.

"Hey Mace," Sam's best friend waves at me "I've been talking to the new guy here who is like super cool and we happened to get onto the subject of you. He was so interested in getting to know you more that he wanted to meet you. So I said I could show him where you usually sit."

I let out a silent groan if that is even possible "Lee, sweetie" I sigh "you remember how we talked about reading people's true intentions?" sometimes I feel like I'm talking to a toddler.

"Yeah, you said always message you if someone was asking about-" he pauses for a second letting everything sink in "oh."

Zoe nudges me in the ribs a little too hard "Are you going to introduce me to this handsome stranger?"

"Zoe meet evil cookie thief. Cookie thief you stay away from my best friend otherwise I can't promise that your family will find your dead remains, capiche?"

"I knew you were the psycho that stole my cookies."

"Technically they weren't your cookies, I had them first then decided to be nice and give them to you. Within 30 seconds I had regretted my decision and went to get my cookies back," It's only logical that they're mine.

"You mentioned taking someone's food but you never told me he was hot" Zoe whispers.

"Sorry I wasn't concentrating on his looks I was too busy making sure that I got the last packet of cookies. You're welcome by the way."

He walks up to Zoe and flicks his fringe back "She might have stolen my food but you've stolen my heart," He takes her hand and places a delicate kiss on top. This results in a light pink blush finding its way onto her cheeks and an intense glare coming from Joel.

"Eh so cheesy" Joel mumbles to himself.

I lightly hit him on the shoulder "Jealousy isn't a good colour on you."

"Wait let me get this straight" Sam interrupts everybody's train of thought "you willingly let go of the last packet of Maggie's homemade chocolate chip cookies for a complete stranger?" Now that he says it out loud that doesn't sound like something I would do.

"I was feeling generous," I shrug like it's nothing to be concerned about.

"If I remember clearly I once tried to take a cookie from a plate in the middle of the table. And instead of getting a cookie I got a mild concussion because you tackled me to the ground. No offence but you get super scary and possessive when it comes to your food." Sam points out. I don't remember that day very well as when tackled him I got a slight concussion as well. On the bright side, I did end up getting the plate of cookies.

"It's called being passionate."

"There's a thin line between crazy and passionate," Cookie dude says to himself.

"And you," Sam points to Cookie monster thief dude (I should really just find out his name) "You should know never to get in the middle of a girl and her food. Especially Mackenzie. Who is crazy passionate about food and will cause you physical pain if you touch anything that is hers."

"Does that include you?" He looks directly at Sam and raises an eyebrow.

Trying to avoid any more questions or awkward silences I ask a straightforward question "What's your name? You've got that bad boy look going on with the leather jacket so it has to be something like Ryder, Blaze, Xavier or Alec."

The tension in his shoulders loosens slightly "I go by PJ most the time."

"Like pyjamas?"

"Pablo Junior?"

"Actually, it stands for Phillip Benjamin Johns. I don't put the 'B' because of peanut butter jelly references. It got old really quickly," he gives us a friendly smile.

"That's a very anti-climactic name. I was hoping to have at least one friend with a cool name that could strike fear into my enemies" I exclaim. There goes any chance of me forming a squad that could rule the world.

"Can I also just sort out the bad boy slash leather jacket stereotype? I only wear pleather jackets because the school jumpers are polyester which makes me itchy." PJ scratches behind his head.

"All school jumpers are itchy, it's one of their many torture mechanisms besides almost transparent white tops and uncomfortable plastic chairs," I stop to inspect his jacket closer "Did you say pleather?"

PJ nods "Yeah I'm a vegetarian and an advocate raising awareness against animal cruelty. I lived in the Amazon rainforest for 2 years with my parents doing a conservation project."

The whole group stared at him stumped "I was not expecting that. Does that mean no cheeseburgers?"

"Well, I've never really liked the taste of meat and I'm lactose intolerant so no cheese for me."

The bell rings just as Zoe is about to approach PJ. Not wanting to be around the odd tension anymore I quickly slip out of my seat "Friends" I tilt my head slightly.

"Um PJ it was nice to be fully introduced to you. I hope we don't have any other food predicaments in the future."

Before I can shuffle away he yells "You still owe me a packet of them cookies."

Scoffing I look over my shoulder back to the smirking bad boy "That's not going to happen anytime soon mate."

Before I can get into the classroom block an arm loops itself through mine.

"Okay so I've been pondering over a couple things," Zoe says.

"Oh do tell me more about your philosophical thoughts and discoveries."

She bumps my hips lightly "Well as Aaron is now out of the picture I need to reconsider all the guys in your life and their purpose."

"Purpose? Is this really necessary? I'd personally be perfectly fine if it was just the both of us. We don't need no men in our lives. I'm speaking partly as a strong independent woman. And not so much as crazy-cat-lady-why-doesn't-anyone-love-me."

"Yes, now zip your lips and let me talk" she clears her throat "So we have Charlie who is your best friend who kissed you. I'm still trying to process that happening."

You're not the only one. I feel like adding on

"Then we have your new bad boy which is PJ, that leather jacket looked scrumptious on him today." She looks dreamily into the distance.

Why do people compare someone looking hot to being edible? If someone came up to me and said you're so cute I could eat you I wouldn't know how to react. Do I say thank you for the compliment or do I run away?

"Lee is the stupid pretty boy who will give you good advice two times at most in his lifetime."

"Then we have Sam" her quick pause indicates she's waiting for a reaction out of me "He can't be a bad boy anymore because PJ has the title. He's not the golden boy because he's not an idiotic player. Can't be boy next door as he lives at least a 2.5-minute drive away from you and he-"

I stop her "Does he need a title. Can't he just be 'Sam- not exactly a friend but I would offer him half my cookie of he was starving'?"

Zoe gives me a suspicious look "Just Sam it is."

"What about me?" Joel comes out of nowhere and starts to walk beside Zoe.

"I only see you as my best friends' boyfriend. I like you but you will never be good enough for her. You know what I mean?"

Zoe clears her throat and quickly glances at Joel then back to me "Um there's nothing going on between Joel and me."

"You sure? Because I was definitely getting the cutesy couple vibes from you two," I wiggle my fingers in their direction.

"Well surprise, nothing's going on between us. We're just two tight friends. We're like peanut butter and jelly. Corn Chips and salsa. Fried chicken and waffles. Milkshake and-" I cover Joel's mouth as my stomach starts to rumble at the mention of food.

"Okay that's enough talking for today." He slowly nods and sighs."I might have a nap under the desk, I'm suddenly very tired."

I pat him softly on the back understanding what he's going through. It's written all over his face.

"Wait up new friend," someone calls across the hall. I ignore them and keep walking towards class.

A strong hand pulls me to a halt. "I yelled out to you. Didn't you hear me?"

I don't bother looking to my side "I heard you PJ. I decided to keep walking because nobody ever is calling out to me."

"I thought to start our new friendship would be to bond over something we both like. Food!"

I keep walking but slow my pace "I'm listening."

"You and I skip school-"

I turn to him and start to walk backwards "And let me guess. We ride on your motorbike to a diner and we have a D&M? I slowly fall for your charm then we ride off into the sunset?"

"I don't actually own a motorbike. I find riding a normal cycle much more environmentally friendly."

I stop out the front of my classroom "Where in the world did you come from Phillip?"

"It's a long story but it started-"

I lift my hand "Rhetorical question. And I don't skip school as I'll have to catch up on the work tomorrow and I'm too lazy to do that. Until next time which I hope is not soon," I salute him and slam the door behind me gaining the attention of the entire class plus the teacher.

I should really work on my entries and exits.

Cupcake Theory #32
If in doubt blame your evil twin.

:):):)

I never knew how hard it was to edit a book at a party until now.
The good thing is I got the chapter out semi on time and I got cake!

What do you think of PJ?

Three good things that happened this week:
-I made a vision board (epically failed)
- currently rereading Heist Society because I can't get enough of teen thieves and Hale
- got given free books

I hope your week has been good and I know it will get 100x better.

Lots of suspicious but loving looks
Theforgottonone