I Will Never Love You~Jenzie

14. The Old You

Johnny

Mackenzie's words hit me like a truck. No way nadia did that, she's just mad, and that scares me. I've never seen her so angry before even though I haven't known her long. One glance towards Lauren confirms my thoughts that something is seriously wrong. As I think about everything she said I feel more and more awful. She hates me, I hurt her, everyone hates her, the people at school broke her hand, her dad is dead, she hates herself. I've been standing in the same place, in the same position, for five minutes. I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder but I turned to just see Lauren. She had a look in her eyes that most likely mirrored my own. "We should go inside," she said and I nodded.

We were sitting in complete silence, both just thinking about what she said and how she said it. She screamed at me in pure rage, something I've never seen or heard from anyone before. It was scary, her eyes were so dark that they looked like staring into an abyss. "She hates me," I said and lauren looks up at me. "She really hates me." lauren just nodded. "Why is she lying about Nadia though?" I asked and she looked up at me again. "Maybe she isn't John." My expression hardened. "There is no way that nadia actually did that." lauren rolled her eyes and stood up. "If she was angry enough to scream at you and tell you many things that none of us ever knew then I'm sure she wasn't lying. I don't believe it for a second that she was lying." And with that lauren walked up the stairs.

*next day*

Johnny

I walked into school pissed off as hell. Pissed at all the bullshit mackenzie said yesterday and how lauren is trying to defend it. Nadia would never hurt anyone on purpose, mackenzie just wants someone to blame for what happened. But she did say that someone at school did it, and I intend to find out. The bell rang for homeroom and I slammed my locker closed which caused Nadia to jump next to me. "Oh, hey baby I didn't see you there," I said before I gave her a kiss. She wrapped her arms around my neck and mine went around her waist. Before it got too heated I pulled away which caused her to pout. "Can we talk about something, Nads?" I asked and she nodded skeptically. I grabbed her hand and walked out to the courtyard, when we got there I sat down on a bench with her and took a few deep breaths before speaking. "So, Mackenzie got really mad yesterday-" Nadia scoffed and rolled her eyes. "That girl is crazy, she probably didn't get fed enough food for her massive appetite." I ignored the twinge of anger I felt from her comment and cleared my throat before I continued. "And she said that you were the "leader of the group who hurts her." And that you were the girl that her boyfriend cheated on her with, Hayden Summerall?" Her face was filled with mixed emotions and she looked down at the ground before looking back to me with a smile. "Johnny, baby, are you really going to believe anything that delusional whore says? She was probably so hyped up on meds from the doctor that she was just talking nonsense." anger overwhelmed my senses and I squeezed my eyes shut to try and calm down. "Relax Johnny, it's not true." I opened my eyes and saw her looking at me with a smile on her face. I swallowed before answering her, "Then why is she saying all of this? What's the point?"

"Maybe she wants us to break up, maybe she likes you John." I laughed at her response.

"Nadia, Mackenzie hates me, she said it herself. There is no way she likes me, and I don't like her." It pained me to say that, I like Mackenzie, maybe more than I should.

"Maybe, but, why else would she say this utter bullshit? It's not true so why?" I just shook my head to say I don't know and sighed. "I'll ask when I get home, but I have to go." I said and started walking away. "Where are you going?" she asked, standing up. I stopped and turned around to look her in the eyes.

"To find out who broke her hand."

Mackenzie

Today has been just like the other two of my imprisonment, boring, lonely, and angry. I woke up early as usual and listened to music for a couple of hours before coming downstairs and watching some TV. That got boring too so I rummaged around in the garage and found a few baseballs. So that's what I'm currently doing out in the backyard, pitching practice, pretending I'm in the dugout for my dad's favorite team the Mets. "And Ziegler throws a MASSIVE fast ball!" I yelled and whipped the ball at the shed, five feet in front of me. It hit the shed right in the middle where I aimed and made the most satisfying sound when it did. I grinned and grabbed another one, "Here comes a curve ball from the star pitcher, Mackenzie Ziegler!" The ball curved fast and hit the shed with a bang. I'm glad that my right hand isn't broken so I can still throw. I've always liked baseball, I watched and played with my dad and was on a team when I was younger. He came to all my games and helped me get better after every one. It all stopped when he died though, then Maddie left and my whole life fell apart. My dad was everything to me, he taught me everything and loved me and Maddie more than anything else. He taught me little things like how to play ball, how to shoot a gun, how to tie my shoes, but he also taught me valuable things like how to survive and to never give up. Love yourself, treat people how you want to be treated. Tears pooled in my eyes as I remembered all the baseball games with my dad, all the camping trips, all the life lessons. A tear ran down my cheek but I quickly wiped it away and chucked the ball in my hand as hard as I could. It slammed against the shed and made the loudest noise out of all the balls I threw. It landed in the grass next to the twenty five other balls I've thrown. I went to get another ball and tried to control my breathing when someone spoke causing me to jump. "Nice arm," I looked up and saw Mark leaning against the glass door opening with a grin on his face. I smiled and ran up to him, embracing him in a hug. He chuckled and hugged me back before we both pulled away and walked into the house.