Chapter
Twenty-three
Gossip
The minute Paige had gone upstairs
Mackenzie turned to Darcy. She was wearing a flicked ballet skirt and pink
rimmed sunglasses to match her sparkling lip gloss and much too thick mascara.
Mackenzie pulled her sunglasses down to her nose as if she was making a closer
inspection of Paige’s absence.
“Did you see what she was wearing?”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Darcy said as he
flicked through the pages of the Spring
Awakening script on the couch. Darcy couldn’t believe how lame the part
he’d been designated was. He was only doing it because it was that or an entire
subject and he was pretty sure this would be less work. Besides the teacher,
who was a screaming fashionista, already liked him. It was an easy A.
“Did you notice how Paige looked? Girlfriend was covered in dirt and those
jeans are so last season. Did the edges actually have mud on them?” Mackenzie
laughed.
“I’m sure she’s not bothered by a bit of
mud,” Darcy threw the script on the coffee table, “we were in a playing field
after all.”
“Well, I doubt you’d want your sister
Blair traipsing all over the neighborhood, alone, in unfashionable clothes.”
“She wasn’t alone. Her sister had walked on
ahead of her. In any case, I’d be more concerned for her safety, than her
style, after all Blair is younger than Paige.”
“Well, I think Paige Bennet needs a lesson
in how to dress and act in public. I mean, I can’t believe she’s a member of
the Princesses. I was told those girls had style… some certainly don’t have any
class.”
“What did you say, Mackenzie?” Ryan asked
from the corner where he entered the room from outside.
“I was just suggesting that Paige could use
my advice.”
Mackenzie batted her eyelashes at Darcy as
he frantically texted somebody. It was obvious Mackenzie had a crush on her
brother’s best friend but Darcy wasn’t giving in to her or her snarky ways.
“Okay, I gotta go,” I announced, so over
this place of bickering juniors and seniors.
“Do you want a lift?” Ryan offered breezily.
I beamed as he grabbed his keys, also eager
to get out of Mackenzie’s airspace.
“And Mackenzie, stop embarrassing me. In our
last school you ended up with a reputation as one of the meanest girls who ever
lived. You promised me things would be different here.”
“Promises, promises brother,” Mackenzie said
under her breath. After all, Darcy had wandered out to the pool area to talk on
his cell and without an audience there was no need for Mackenzie to pretend to
be nice. She wished Darcy had noticed
her new outfit. Just for once, though. Mackenzie really couldn’t understand it.
Darcy had always been immune to her charms yet she was slim and beautiful and
blonde and… perfect. Well, she had her ways. Mackenzie had whispered to me as
Ryan got his car, “I’m not going to wait forever to be with Darcy, you know.
I’m not like those dopey Bennet girls always playing hard to get.”
“He’s going to be so easy,” Mackenzie said.
I thought that was a little bit of an
‘over-share’ as Mackenzie waved me off and wished me ‘cheers on my little TV
show.”
