Mackenzie

I wake up Saturday with a slight hangover, but not as bad as I would expect with how much I drank. Kate is still gone when I make it out of my room and into the kitchen. I can hear Penny moving around in her room, but she doesn't show her face. I briefly wonder how her date was, but am not sure that I care enough to knock on her door and disturb her.

I make myself a quick breakfast and then pack my bag and I'm off to school to start layout of the paper for next weekend's editing, and then finish off some assignments.

My hangover is gone by mid-morning, and the rest of Saturday flies by. Kate still hasn't returned on Saturday evening, or she's returned and left again, so I watch a movie by myself and fall asleep on my floor on accident.

Sunday morning, I wake up to Kate singing in the kitchen. I had managed to sleep the whole night on the floor, after I'd made a makeshift sleeping bag to watch my computer while laying at the foot of my bed.

When I walk into the kitchen, Kate gives me a massive smile. "How are we doing?" I ask her.

"Oh, really good." She tells me with a giggle. I've never seen Kate like this.

"Did you stay at Lea's?"

"Yeah." Kate lets out a dreamy sigh. "It was awesome, Mack."

"I'm glad."

"Lea is--" Kate searches for words as she stirs her eggs. "Amazing. Lea is perfect. I think I'm falling in love with her."

"Well, that was fast." I say, trying not to sound sarcastic, because I really am happy that Kate's happy. I'm just shocked that it's happening so quickly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I wouldn't say that to her face." Kate smiles at me. "We just spent all day together yesterday, just talking and kissing, and it was really fantastic. It felt so natural."

"I'm really happy for you." I say. "Lea seemed really fun."

"Sorry I left you hanging out to dry on Friday."

"It's all good."

"Who walked you home? Was it Dane?" Kate looks intently interested in my life all of the sudden.

"Yes, it was Dane." I say, defeat in my voice as I prepare for the onslaught of questions.

"Cute." Is all Kate says. "I'm going back over to Lea's today. Movie night tonight though."

"You gonna invite her?" I ask.

"Can I?"

"You seem pretty into her. Who are we to tell you no?" I smile and Kate bounces up and down just slightly. I think Lea's mannerisms might be wearing off on her.

"Okay, I'll ask!"

"I'm off to the library to get some studying done for a test this week." I tell her. "I'll see you tonight."

"Have so much fun." She gives me a wry smile and a sarcastic tone of voice, which is much more the Kate that I know and love.

"You too." I wink at her and head out.

I'm halfway to school, having just stopped at the grocery store to obtain snacks for the day, when my phone rings and nearly causes me to jolt my steering wheel and drive off the road. I'm pulling up to a stop sign, so I answer it without looking and put it on speaker, praying it's not Edwin.

"Hello?"

"Mack!" It's Dane. "Are you recovered from your drunkenness?"

I'm mildly embarrassed but I remember everything that happened between us and nothing was really that bad. "I think so."

"Are you doing homework at school today?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I was just wondering if I could study with you." I'm surprised that he wants to since he's known me basically a week. "It's just good motivation."

"Sure. I'm headed to the library now. I'll be in my usual spot."

"Sweet. I'll see you there." The line clicks off.

I try not to overthink Dane wanting to spend time with me, because I'm sure it's exactly as he says, and he just wants to get homework done. A small voice in the back of my mind tells me that maybe he just enjoys hanging out with me. I squelch that voice as fast as possible, because I don't need to be giving myself any kind of false hope when it comes to this beautiful man.

I've just parked in the parking lot by the library when my mother calls. "Hey." I answer.

"Hello, sweetheart." Somehow whenever she says sweetheart, it never sounds like she actually finds me to actually be that sweet. It's like a pet term that she thinks that she should use, but doesn't sound quite right coming out of her mouth.

"How's it going?" I ask casually, wondering what she wants from me.

"I'm good. Busy as usual." She says brusquely. She works as a CFO and she's got corporate life down to a science. Unfortunately, it often bleeds over into her personal relationships. "How are classes? You maintaining good grades?"

"Of course." I reply, wondering what the point of this call is.

"And the paper? And your TA work?"

"All going well." I tell her.

"Alright, that's good." She rarely calls me to check on how I'm doing, so this feels very strange to me.

"Is everything okay, mom?" I ask. The term 'mom' always brings a sense of warmness to my mind that my mother does not have, but 'mother' always sounds so formal when I use it in a sentence.

"I just had a dream last night." Oh boy. "That you were hit by a car. And I woke up this morning very anxious that something had happened to you."

"I'm fine. Safe and sound." I tell her.

"That's good. Really good." There's a long awkward pause. "Mackenzie?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad that you're starting off so successful. I think this is a really good base in life." She lets out a long sigh, and I'm not sure what exactly I'm supposed to say. "Keep it up, I'm glad that you're doing so well." With that, she hangs up, not bothering to say 'I love you' or anything.

I let out a long breath through my nose, trying to focus on the present moment and the way the wind sounds as it moves through the trees. My therapist and I have talked about the odd relationship that I have with my mother, and I have to try hard not to let her occasional weird check in calls get under my skin for the rest of the day.

At least she cares enough to call me, my father is so wrapped up in his work that he barely pays attention to anything I do. He's a successful scientist, one of the best in his field, but he's hyper-focused to the point where me and my mother may as well not exist. No matter how many successes I have, nothing can pull his focus.

I stand still for a moment, leaning against my car, soaking in the morning fall sun, and then I walk to the library, trying to push all thoughts of my parents out of my head so that I can actually focus for the day.

When I get into the library basement, I get a spot by the windows that let in light from above. The sunshine bathes the table, and I can feel myself relaxing into the quiet ambiance of the library.

I lay out everything that I want to get through for the day and then pull out an apple to eat as I finish off my current set of papers to grade. I've only been grading for about ten minutes when Dane plops down into the seat across from me.

I glance up and he gives me a smile. "Hey, Mack."

"Hey."

"I'm impressed at your ability to hog an entire table." He looks at all of my papers and notebooks, carefully laid out in piles.

"It's a true talent."

He smiles and pulls out his own work, setting up in the tiny portion of the table that I've left uncovered.

We work in silence through the whole morning pretty much, with only one comment from Dane about the table that's three over from us where three girls are loudly talking about the football party that they'd attended the previous night. Dane rolls his eyes repeatedly through their conversation.

When they finally leave, I can hear him mutter, "Thank God."

Dane drinks two protein shakes as we sit in the library, and then eats some of my carrots and ranch that I'd picked up at the grocery store.

It's early afternoon and I'm onto my final assignment when Dane lets out a loud, dramatic sigh. I glance up at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. My roommates apparently broke the bannister on our stairs, so I have to help them fix it."

"Ouch." Dane looks really disheartened and I wonder if this is one of his only good work times of the week with all of his practices.

"What a bunch of fucking idiots." He mutters. "None of them know how to fix shit except for Noah, so I've gotta go help. And apparently they need me right now."

"Good luck!" I try to sound chipper, but I'm secretly bummed that he's leaving, because he's honestly a pretty good study buddy. He cracks the occasional joke, but mostly is just as focused as me.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mack."

"Later, Dane."

After he leaves, I can't help but be struck by the emptiness of the spot where he'd been sitting, and I stare at it for a long moment before I'm able to continue working.