Macie

Chapter One

Macie used to be the girl that everyone was jealous of. She was friends with everyone, had all the boys chasing after her (though she usually politely declined when they asked her out on a date), she got amazing grades, and seemed just all around perfect. That’s why I never understood why she wanted me in her close group of friends. I still don’t know exactly what it was that made her come up to me that first day in sixth grade.

I remember it so clearly; I was sitting by myself in a corner of the library, reading To Kill A Mockingbird, which to this day is still my favorite book. Macie must have spotted me from across the room, because I remember watching her make her way over to me, with a clear destination in mind. She sat down next to me and took her own copy of To Kill A Mockingbird. I was too surprised by the fact that she even sat with me to notice the fact that we just happened to be reading the same book for fun.

“What did you think about Tom Robinson’s death?” she asked me, with no introduction of who she was.

“Oh, um, I’m not that far into the book yet.” I replied like the socially awkward 6th grader that I was.

Macie instantly looked upset. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry!” She lightly smacked her forehead. “I’m always doing that! I’m terrible at keeping secrets.”

I couldn’t help but smile. She was so apologetic that I actually felt bad. “It’s fine, really. No worries.” I didn’t like surprises anyway.

“No, it’s not. But I’ll make it up to you. How about we meet up at the mall this weekend and see a movie that I can’t spoil for you.”

This caught me off guard. Before Macie, I never really went on mall trips, or sleepovers, or anything like that. “S-sure.” I finally replied. “Yeah, sure. That sounds fun.”

Macie grinned in a way that later came to be known to me as “the Macie smile.” She only smiled like that when she got something she wanted. “I’m Macie, by the way.”

“I’m Natasha.”

Macie sat for a minute with a thoughtful look on her face as if she was deeply contemplating something. “What about Nash?”

“Huh?”

“Can I call you Nash?”

“Oh. Uh, okay.” I smiled. “Why not?”

I’ve gone by Nash ever since. Even my parents and teachers called me Nash. It was my new “Macie-ified” name- and I loved it.

At lunch that day, Macie and I sat with a group of girls that had already met each other during gym class. I learned so much about Macie that first day of 6th grade. Like the way that she was never afraid to make a new friend. She marched right up to the table where Audrey, Callie, and Phoebe were sitting and introduced herself.

“Hi! I’m Macie. And this is Nash,” she gestured for me to sit down, and I did. The three girls seem a little put off by Macie’s forward nature, but once she introduced us, they relaxed a little.

“I’m Audrey,” said the girl on the left. She pushed her long, straight blond hair off her shoulder. “And this is Callie,” she pointed to the girl on the right, whose was typing something on her old flip phone. She looked up to smile at us, but then looked back at her phone.

“And I’m Phoebe!” the girl in the middle exclaimed, with a big smile on her face. As she giggled, her shoulder-length blond curls shook.

Macie giggled too and I forced an awkward smile. “Who are your guys’ teachers?” Macie asked them, effortlessly starting a conversation. “Do any of you have Matthew’s English class?”