Mack

Genre: General

Word Count: 2278

I stop at stop signs in the middle of nowhere. I’m just a cautious guy, I guess. Jack says I’m a bit too careful sometimes, but I disagree. You can never be too careful.

But I have to admit, I do wonder sometimes how things would be if I were different, if I weren’t so picky about rushing into things. I hate that, getting into something without any preparation whatsoever. I mean, don’t you hate it, too? I like to know what I’m getting myself into before I volunteer. Jack says winging it is fun. I don’t know what he’s talking about.

When I was young, I remember this one time that there was this old lady who fell into the lake. We were at this sort of picnic, I dunno for what, but apparently my parents had been invited. So there I was, standing at the edge of the lake—there’s this like tall-ass concrete wall at the side of the lake, it’s sort of like a dam, but not, I suppose—up on the top at the end, and I was just sort of chucking rocks in and watching them splash in the water. I was bored, you know, because of course, I was just about the only kid there. There was this one other boy, but he wouldn’t let me play with his toys, so of course, I was off on my own.

So this old lady, I suppose she must have lost her step or something, but she fell into the lake—like twenty feet into the water. You could hear her screaming the whole way, and of course, everyone comes to see what happened.

And there was this guy, maybe it was her son or something, but he just sort of kicked off his shoes and jumped in after her. I guess maybe he thought he would be the hero or something. Someone went to call the police, but by the time they got there, it was too late. I guess maybe the guy overestimated his own ability to swim or something, but there was no way they were getting out of the water without help anyway. That wall was smooth as heck and straight up. Afterwards, the city put ladders down the side like every twenty feet. That didn’t work out so hot either because the kids would all dare each other to climb down and, well, you can probably guess. I think they just took the whole wall down in the end. There’s just a gentle slope down now—almost a beach, I suppose.

But that guy, I remember watching him come up with the lady—she was just kicking all over and he was trying to calm her down or something. But they came up and got to the wall and then he just sort of stopped, like he just had the realization that he had no way to get out of the water. I guess he must’ve just figured that he’d think of something, like maybe there’d be a mini-dock or something like that.

We all just sort of stood there and watched while just the sort of floundered around desperately—some people were throwing stuff down, sort of hoping it would float or something, but it really didn’t help much. When my parents found me after the police came and told everyone to leave, I remember feeling really sad.

I think I decided to think before I jumped then. You know how it is with childhood memories. They’re just sort of hazy and you’re never quite sure of anything, even when they seem clear. I think that’s where it started. All I know now is that, well, I’m a cautious guy.

But back to the present. So there was this party last night—well, no, I suppose you can’t really call it a party, but who cares—and Jack and I were just sort of sitting around. I didn’t know all that many people there, see—

Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. Truth is, I don’t really get out all that much. I felt awkward enough being there in the first place, but Jack dragged me along.

So we just sort of sat there on the couch. Jack kept telling me to get up and meet some people, but I didn’t really want to—well, I wanted to meet people, but I didn’t want to mess up and say something stupid at the same time—so we just stayed there.

But this friend of Jack’s came up, said his name was Alex. Apparently, he was buying a game from Jack or something. They talked about that for a bit, and then Alex told Jack to hold up for a second, he wanted to introduce a couple of friends.

Jack just sort of shrugged. “Sure,” he said.

“I’ll be right back,” and Alex disappeared through a door.

Jack flipped open his phone. “So,” his fingers worked on the keypad, “having fun yet, Mack?”

“Loads,” I told him. “Who ya texting?”

“Oh this one girl from Kent. She goes to St. Thomas’s.

“You’ve told me already, Rachel?”

“Oh, well, you know,” he finished and slipped his cell phone back into his pocket. “Nothing special, of course—“ he turned and winked, “yet.”

“Right—”

And Alex returned with his friends, two girls who just looked short next to him. But then I guess you had to remember that he’s Alex, the basketball player. They weren’t really that short. The latter one—she was a brunette—might have looked a little interested, but the other one—a redhead, though sort of brownish, too. I don’t remember what that’s called, auburn, maybe? Yeah, but anyway, I could definitely get the impression of boredom from her. Jack sat up quickly.

“Back, Jack,” and then Alex grinned, as though he noticed that the two words rhymed. Very amusing.

The brown-haired girl yawned. “Are these the bozos you wanted us to meet?”

“I’m Jack.” Jack moved aside on the couch, closer to me. “You want to sit?” He didn’t seem to register that the girl had called us bozos.

“No, it’s alrigh—” she started, but Alex had different plans.

“Move,” he said to the people sitting in the couch across from ours.

“Make us,” one replied.

“Come on, let’s go,” his friend stood up.

Alex sat down. “Come on.”

“I thought you said you just wanted to introduce us to someone.” The brown-haired girl was wearing a shirt from Regal Cinemas with a big crown emblazoned across the front. She must have worked there.

“Just sit down,” Alex patted the cushion next to him. The red-head sat down. “Come on, Jess, you don’t want to play video games that badly, do you?”

“Hey, it’s the new Ring.”

Jack looked interested. “I don’t think I’ve ever known a girl who liked to play Ring.”

“I call on the spirits to unsex me when I play,” she grinned.

“What?”

“It’s from Macbeth,” I said quickly.

“What?” Jack looked at me blankly.

“I don’t think I’ve met you before,” the girl shook her head slowly.

The thought came to me that I had probably not made the kind of first impression I wanted to. “I’m Mackenzie, Mack.”

“Oh!”

“I’m Jack.”

“Mack and Jack, huh?”

“What, what was that about being sexist?” Alex frowned.

“I said unsex, not sexist,” the girl replied. She flopped down on the couch. “I’m Jess, by the way. Jess White.” She paused. “Are you really Mack Johnson?”

“Uh…” What do you say to that? “Yeah, I suppose so.”

“I suppose so,” she laughed. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

I could feel myself sinking down deeper. “Really?”

“Yeah, I have a friend at Invers—“ she crossed her legs. “She says you’re really smart.”

I briefly wondered who she could be talking about. The thought was cut short by the realization that I had basically been called “smart” at a party. Wonderful. “Umm… I’m not that smart.” Wrong.

“Oh, sure you are! Right, Melissa?” she turned to the red-head. “Oh, this is Melissa.”

“Hi, I’m Jack.” Jack waved in their direction.

“Umm… hi?” Melissa gave a short returning wave.

I felt sort of awkward. I mean, we’re sitting about three feet away from each other. Seriously.

“So, you like to play Ring?” Jack started.

Melissa was quick to reply. “Not me, her.”

“I like watching them get mad when I beat them,” Jess grinned and mimicked firing a gun. “Bam! Headshot.” She looked at Jack. “So you go to Invers?”

“Unfortunately.”

She laughed. “You gotta admit. Dunsnin is soooo much better.” Adressing me, “You still go to Invers too, right?”

I nodded.

She clasped her hands together. “It’s so Shakespeare don’t you think? That’s why I can’t ever resist Lady Macbeth’s little monologue.”

I think the two of us both knew that no one else really understood. Jack was the one who interrupted at last, “Lady Macbeth’s little what?”

“Monologue.” She stuck a dramatic pose. “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood; stop up my—“

“I get enough Shakespeare at school without you quoting it,” Alex complained. “Jesus Christ!”

“You just don’t appreciate his genius,” she sat back.

“Whatever.”

Jack’s phone rang. I was guessing Rachael from Kent who went to St. Thomas’s.

“Hello?...O-oh, hey, I’m sort of busy right now, could we talk later?...Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m out with some friends… what?! You’ve got to tell me later. Alright, bye!” He hung up.

I gave him a questioning look, but he ignored it. “Sorry, go on.”

“With what?” Jess blinked innocently. “The quote?”

“No, let’s not,” Alex stood up. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Naw, I’ll just stay and talk.”

Alex wrinkled his nose, but sat back down. “No more Shakespeare.”

“Oh, come on, who says you can make rules like that? You’re not like my boyfriend or anything. Mack and I can do Shakespeare if we want to.”

Jack almost looked relieved. “We’re playing you guys for the homecoming game.”

“Oh, I know!” She smiled devilishly. “I can’t wait to see you guys get slaughtered—you going with someone to the dance?”

“Uh, no, no one yet,” Jack fingered his cell phone. I gave him a puzzled look.

“Aww, got someone in mind?” she smiled.

“Uh… not exa—” I gave him another look.

“Oh! That reminds me, Mack!” she turned back excitedly, “I heard you were in the choir?”

Oh, wonderful, bring that up, too, “It’s my first year.”

“Well, it’s never too late to start,” she smiled. “That’s great though! We’ll get to sing the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ together at the game. We can be choir buddies.”

“Great.” Somehow, I wished that I could have at least sounded a bit more enthusiastic, but you have to know I was wondering what the heck “choir buddies” meant.

“Want to get a drink?” Alex stretched up to his full six feet eight inches. The red-head—Marissa?—got up as well.

“Oooh!” Jess clapped her hands, “Get me a Pepsi, please. Thanks!”

“I’ll have a Pepsi, too,” Jack asked.

“Alex scowled, but I don’t think anyone else noticed.

“You’re a Pepsi fan?” Jack asked.

Jess threw up her hands. “Pepsi, Coke, whatever. Caffeine, sugar, water, same thing.”

“Oh.”

Alex came back. “Hey, Jess. Ashley’s looking for you.”

“Ashley’s wha—oh.” She seemed to think for a moment and then got up. “Well, nice meeting you guys! See you at the game, maybe?” She gave a little wink and then walked out after Alex.

“Dude, Mack,” Jack sounded almost unbelieving. “She was all over you, man.”

I asked him if the call had been from Rachael from Kent who goes to St. Thomas’s. He wouldn’t tell me. He wouldn’t tell me why he had told her he didn’t have anyone to go to Homecoming with either.

“But seriously, Mack,” he said as we left, “I think she liked you.”

“Are you trying to tell me to do something?” I finally demanded.

He shut up after that.

Truth is, I searched her up on Facebook when I got home. Turned out I didn’t really have to since she’d already sent me a friend offer. She’s sure on top of things. I looked at her profile and noticed that she had writing poetry down as one of her activities. It really made me wonder what kind of stuff she wrote and the level she was at. To tell the truth, I’m a bit of a writer myself, so the curiousity was only natural, right?

I dunno what I’m going to do. I mean, I’ve never really experienced anything like this—I’m a loser, I know—Jack kept bugging me about her all night, too. He said he knew how these things worked, already called me this other name every time he remembers to. But seriously, we already match up in two things right? Reading and writing, choir… Jack said he would kill to be me right now. I mean, this might just be my big chance to get out in the world, be a little more social.

But I’m already talking like it’s a done deal. I mean, it’s going to be rather rushed already, getting two tickets and all, but, well, who knows?

So I sent a text message. She answered when I was driving home from work and I didn’t even realize that I’d ran the stop sign until I got home—I was that excited. It’s all right. It’s just once, and no one noticed. And, well, things are looking up, right?

A/N: Really more of a character sketch than a story, but you've probably noticed how corny the ending is already. :P