Mackenzie | √

Chapter 52

With a lot on my mind, I'd done less of paying attention while Mrs. Martinez taught. I'd also done less of smiling and just talking in general, instead, I'd done more of zoning out, closing my eyes and opening them. I'd rubbed my eyes occasionally, either from feeling sleepy or just trying to prevent tears from falling.

Tanner had thrown a million glances at me during class and I feared meeting his gaze.

The thought of mom crying about wanting to come home scared me. 

It wasn't that I didn't want her home, I mean, it was a little tough living without her, but how would I handle it? How would I work? My mind would never be at rest knowing she was home alone. My mind wouldn't even let me rest while I was away at school. Food was no longer a problem and I was extra grateful for that, but then, what about electricity? I'd woken up early this morning to the sound of the knock on the door. Before I could wash my face and do all that I could to make sure I was looking presentable, the person had left, leaving a letter at the door, though.

When I opened it, it was a warning letter about electricity, saying I should pay the bills on time before the power supply would be cut off. It left me wondering what to do before I heard Bambi's car pull up to the house.

Speaking of Bambi, she and Ryan didn't know anything about the electricity and I wasn't so sure I wanted to tell them about it, or maybe I should?

But what if asking for help began to seem too much. What if one was even scared to ask for help?
One would think I had gotten the things for mom to eat yesterday. It had been Ryan. On the way to the hospital, he made a quick stop at the supermarket, with the impression that he wanted to grab something for himself, Bambi and I, but instead, he'd come out with a basket of things for Mom to eat.

*

"Darren, could we at least talk?" I asked. It was lunch time and I stood my locker, not ready to go for lunch when I saw Darren walking past my locker.

"I'm sorry... can't," he replied, walking away.

"What did I tell you last time?" Tanner looked at me, closing his locker.

I bit my lip, swallowing.

"You wanna get lunch?" I heard him ask.

"I- I'm not that hungry-"

"Great. Let's go." He took my hand and I looked down at my hand in his.

"I said I'm not that hungry."

"I heard you, but you're gonna eat. So, let's go."

I rolled my eyes as I fell in step beside him and started walking to the cafeteria.

"He's gonna think you're needy." Tanner said after a short period of silence as we walked.

"Who?" I looked up at him, confused.

"That dude. If you keep trying to talk to him, he's gonna start thinking you're need in need of love and emotional support," he said. "That's if he hasn't started thinking that way of you," he added and he just kept walking, his eyes forward, not making eye contact with anyone. Not even the girls that stood, staring at him.

*

"Did you see how Tanner literally forced her to finish her spaghetti?" Bambi laughed while Ryan smiled, looking at me.

Honestly, if Tanner made me finish my food the way he did , I could then see how he probably made Renée finish her food. He'd taken my fork from me, dividing my spaghetti into four parts, saying the food wouldn't look so much that way.

"Ugh, Bambi," I rolled my eyes and threw a quick glance at Ryan. "I gotta go now. I need to get to the hospital," I told them.

"Why? What's up?" Ryan asked and I shrugged, "I have to just try to convince mom about not coming home."

Ryan and Bambi looked at each other quickly, before turning to face me. "Oh," they said.

"We could have gone to the hospital together but I have a class," Bambi explained.

"Me too, uh, Brooke asked me to wait," Ryan said.

"It's okay, guys. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

*

"Baby," mom smiled as soon as I walked into her ward.

"Hey mom," I smiled back, sitting beside her. "How are you doing?"

"Words can't describe how happy I am, MZ."

"Why? What happened?"

"I'm coming home," she smiled widely.

"Here you are. Hey Mackenzie," Doctor Colt greeted, smiling as she entered the ward. "Your mom will be discharged tomorrow. She could have been discharged today, but we asked her to stay a day more. Anyway, I'll be at your house every day possibly, if you want me to, but if not, I can come every two days."

"I- I'm sorry, Doctor Colt, but... this is... I didn't pay for her to come home."

"Well, it's paid for already," she looked from mom to me.

"By who?" I asked, a little irritated.

"It's anonymous​," she smiled lightly

"Why are you so against me coming home?"

Her question made me feel bad. I didn't want it to seem like I didn't care or anything. "Mom, I've told you... It's not like I don't want you home.. it's just that it's gonna be really hard. For us."

*

"Really, guys!" I literally screamed into the mouthpiece during a conference call with Bambi and Ryan. Turns out, my two best friends went behind my back and paid for Doctor Colt to come home to treat mom. "You should have told me!"

"Look Kenzi, we're sorry we didn't tell you about it. We really are, but we knew you were gonna object," Ryan said.

"Well, did you think of the reasons I'd object? Did you think of who'd look after her while I'm away at school? Did you think of who'd stay with her while I'm at work till 2am? Did you think about how uncomfortable this would be for me? For mom and I?"

"Kenzi, we're sorry," Bambi said quietly.

"Guys, I'm not ungrateful you did this for me. I really am not, it's just that, merely thinking about it, it's gonna be extremely hard for me."

"We'll help-" I heard Ryan start to say, but the line went dead. My phone died.

"Just great." I huffed, tossing my phone to the bed.