chapter twenty three,
the aftermath

    I'm sorry.

    The words ran through Mackenzie's head like an ongoing train. She couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty for the fact that half of the people she knew were standing in the same hospital as her.

    "Doctor, are you sure there's nothing wrong with her?" Mackenzie heard her mother talk to the doctor outside her room.

    Mackenzie lied on a hospital bed, drinking from an apple flavoured juice box. She hadn't gotten physically hurt from the fight but she knew she was going to have nightmares about Miguel's fall.

    She feel frozen once again, just like at the school. She wasn't able to move, like she was stuck watching herself outside of her own body.

    Mackenzie finally found herself back inside her body again. She could still hear her mom talking to the doctor but now she had moved onto the topic of Demetri.

She needed to see how Sam was doing. She needed to make sure that she was okay. She needed to feel happy again.

The girl got out of the hospital bed. Opening the door to Faith and the doctor. "Baby, are you alright?" She asked urgently.

"Yes, mom." she smiled, "I'm just checking up
on Sam."

Faith nodded before realizing that the doctor had left, even though Faith still had a bucket load of questions to ask.

Mackenzie walking through the halls of the hospital. She hated hospitals. It lingered of death and sadness which just made her feel even more worse.

The girl eventually found herself standing in front of Sam's hospital room. She stood a moment before deciding to enter.

As she placed her hand on the door knob, the door had opened with Mr and Mrs Larusso standing in front of her. Mackenzie stepped back slightly, giving them space as they were leaving the room.

"How is she?" She asked timidly.

    Amanda hesitated. "She's alright, Kenzie." giving a nod.

    Mackenzie wanted to go inside the room to talk to Sam but she couldn't bring herself to it. Mackenzie bit the inside of her cheek. Contemplating whether to go inside or not.

    Before she could decide, Mr. Larusso spoke behind her. "You can go in, Mackenzie."

    Mackenzie looked back at the two. "No.. I don't want to bother her. I'll come back later."

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A week had passed, and Mackenzie was still eaten alive by the guilt. She could've stopped Sam from getting hurt or Miguel ending up in a coma.

She could've been the person to stop all of this mess. But, the reality was she didn't. People were hurt and there was nothing Kenzie could do about it.

    Mackenzie stood in front of her bathroom mirror, just standing there. Mackenzie stared at herself in the mirror. She clenched her jaw, feeling a wave of sickness over her.

    She couldn't believe herself, how she just froze up so easily during the fight. "Knock, knock." She heard her mother chirped.

"Come in."

Faith entered the girls room with a smile. "You ready? If you're not you can stay home from school, I'm completely fine with that."

"Mom," Kenzie sighed, "It's not like I was hurt. Nothing like Miguel.."

Shivers were sent down her spine as the sound of Miguel's bones breaking echoed in her mind. Faith's smile faded as she walked over to her daughter, resting a hand on her shoulder.

    "He'll wake up, Kenz."

Mackenzie looked away from the mirror to her mother. "You're right." the girl almost whispered.

"Come now," Faith smiled, "we need to get going, it's your first day back and all."

Mackenzie nodded, slinging her backpack over her shoulder, following her mom out.

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    Mackenzie showed up to school and was trying to adjust to being back. As she walked into the school she greeted by security and metal detectors.

    She didn't want any more drama so she didn't complain about it. She put down her backpack from the security to inspect, which was easily done.

    She then had to go through one of the hand metal detectors. She took a deep breath in before walking over to the security guard.

    Mackenzie walked through the metal detector, and it began to beep. She let out a sigh as the guard motioned for her to raise her arms on either side of her body. Mackenzie complied, raising her arms to allow the guard to search her.

    The beeps of the machine filled Mackenzie's ears, her blood running cold. She watched as the guard ran the scanner over her again, trying to pinpoint the problem.

    "Take out anything that's metal," he spoke.

Mackenzie furrowed her eyebrows, trying to think of what could've set off the metal detector. She began to check all of her pockets for items that could interfere.

Her hand landed on her back pocket and she pulled out her phone, holding it up for the guard to see. "Ah sorry," she said with a sheepish grin, "forgot about that."

She was finally signalled that she was clear to leave. Mackenzie hurried and picked her backpack up from the table and walked off, hoping nobody was watching her.

    But, as usual there was always a certain someone watching. Always.

Mackenzie huffed as she walked away from the security guards, and past Hawk. "Kenzie!" he called out.

    The girl continued to walk, trying her best to ignore him. "Kenzie!" He repeated himself.

As the girl walked away, she had run into her brother. Her face puzzled, "When did you get here?"

"Mom dropped me off while you were too busy checking yourself out in the mirror."

He hissed, his comment making some of his friend laugh. Mackenzie's eyes shifted along the boys while giving them a grossed out look.

    "Hey, Demetri." Eli announces his appearance.

Mackenzie rolls her eyes, pushing past her brother. "I'm not in the mood for any of you right now."

"It was a joke." Demetri chuckled, rolling his eyes at his sister.

Mackenzie shook her head, "It wasn't funny."

— leila's notes !

welcome back! super excited to write this season 😝