Chapter Text
Mackenzie's alarm blared in his ears, jolting him from his peaceful sleep.
𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. Mackenzie thought, rolling over. 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭.
His mom knocked on his door, a final warning, telling him to get up. He groaned into his comforter, throwing it off to the side. He had been waking up at noon all summer, and now he had to wake up at 5:30?
Unbelievable. He grumbled his way through getting dressed, throwing on his nicest hoodie and a pair of jeans.
As Mackenzie ate his cereal, he thought. Nobody really knew what to expect from big school, but he knew it would get old quick. Last year, the only thing keeping him at school was Bluey. Trust him, he wanted to stay home.
"KENZIE!? BUS IS HERE!" Mackenzie's mum called from the living room.
Mackenzie dropped his spoon on the table, snatching up his phone and bag and running out the door. "Love ya, Mum!" He called, slamming the door behind him. Sure enough, there the bus was, waiting at the curb. He jogged down to it, the bus opening it's doors as he neared.
The bus certainly was a sight. Each seat jam packed with groggy high schoolers he had never seen before, all of them mumbling their jumbled up morning words to each other. He made his way down the aisle, clutching his phone as he scanned for a spot.
Then, he spotted Bluey. She greeted him with a smile as she gestured to the seat beside her, moving her bag out of the way.
He sat next to her, their legs touching, sending sparks up his spine.
Damnit. He hadn't seen Bluey in a month after having gone to New Zealand, he was convinced he had gotten over her.
Clearly not.
Both of them froze for a moment.
Bluey hadn't seen Mackenzie in years, she felt like. She had been so excited to see him again this morning, that she forgot how obsessed with him she was.
And he was completely oblivious.
His skin was a beautiful olive, a lot darker than he usually was, and his face was littered in freckles. They suited him. As much as she wished he had stayed in Australia over the summer, he seemed to have enjoyed his trip, and that made her happy.
The bus gradually got louder the longer they were on it, as more and more people woke up. Multiple times, their hands would brush up against each other, and the two would freeze.
Bluey cursed whoever made the seats so small.
Frankly, though, she was almost annoyed. She always had higher expectations than she should've. Now realizing that she most certainly was not over him, people don't feel like this about their guy best friends after all, all she wanted was for him to make a move.
"So, Kenzie... uhm, what's your schedule?"
Mackenzie realized he hadn't even bothered to look at it yet, he took that chance to run away from the conversation and check it on his phone. He was secretly hoping he would have every class with Bluey.
As he unlocked his phone to check it, Rusty boarded the bus and sat on the seat next to his friends. Oddly far to the edge to avoid touching the, what looked like a senior, next to him.
Rusty tried to ignite conversation with Mackenzie, so he just handed his phone off to Bluey so she could check his schedule herself. Mackenzie thought it was genius, mostly because he didn't even know how to find his schedule, and secondly because she could tell him if they had classes together.
Mackenzie turned to Rusty, just to be met by a face that looked oddly suspecting.
"Are you sure you don't... like her?" Rusty said quietly, but slyly, a huge smirk on his face.
Mackenzie was glad it was still slightly dark on the bus, because he was glowing so red he was sure it would show through his fur. "Shut up Rusty." He seethed, flicking his eyes over to Bluey beside him. "Do I need to tell Jack about how you feel?"
That just provoked Rusty even more. Mackenzie was convinced that Rusty wanted Bluey and Mackenzie together more than he did, and he was clearly willing to sacrifice anything to; 1) bother his friend, and 2) get his friend a girl.
"So, I'm gonna take that as a yes." He teased, his smile getting bigger. His eyes flashed mischievously, looking like he was plotting something. "Hey, Bluey!"
Bluey looked up, Mackenzie's heart raced. If Rusty was really doing this, Mackenzie didn't know if Rusty would make it home that night.
"How was your summer?" He finished, pulling a 'I tricked you!' face on Mackenzie.
Bluey smiled, handing Mackenzie's phone back to him so she could talk to Rusty.
Homeroom, Algebra, English, First Aid, Lunch, PE, Physics, and Drama. Not too shabby.
Bluey eventually ended her conversation with Rusty and returned back to Mackenzie.
"We have homeroom, First Aid, PE and... uh... let me look again," She started, Mackenzie's tail silently wagging with each word she said. She stole one more glance at his schedule before continuing. "And Drama. We have those four together, and then all of us have lunch first block!"
Again, Mackenzie was blushing. It was just her enthusiasm to be sharing all thee classes with him.
Bluey was honestly a little disappointed. She had that little glimmer of hope that she would share every single class with him, but the chances of that happening were slim. She should be grateful that she shared at least half the day with him. And she would be fine, she had a friend in every class.
The bus was filling rapidly, and she realized just how big her new school was. People eventually had to start tripling up on seats, starting with the freshmen first, who were naturally the smallest.
Jack boarded the bus, and he sat down next to Mackenzie after seeing people were doing three-seating. A few quick muttered hellos between the three sharing the seat before Jack and Rusty were engulfed in conversation.
At this point, Bluey was practically sitting on Mackenzie's lap, and it was... complicated. If they would have to do tis every morning all year, she didn't know if she would keep taking the bus. Her parents technically were able to drive her, she was just doing this to see Mackenzie.
Every time one of them moved, the other would move by association. And every time one of them moved, it would send sparks up their spines.
She just wished Mackenzie would make his final move already. She already did her part, she kissed him at Emmett Creek on his birthday in March. Last year. It had already been one year and six months since then, and she was baffled that they weren't already together. Could she had given any bigger of a sign?
Did he even like her? He had to. No guy acts like this around his 'girl best friend'. Bluey had seen opposite-gender friends, and they weren't like this.
She hadn't liked any other guy in the 4 years she had been... in love... with Mackenzie, either. Had he liked any other girls? Sometimes, she thought mind reading abilities wouldn't be too bad. Then maybe she could see if he liked her or not. If he didn't, she could finally move on and get over him. And if he did, well, she supposed she would ask him out.
But at the same time, she had no idea what a romantic relationship was like. She had never had a boyfriend before. Sure, she had her parents, but they were married. The only other couple she was familiar with was Uncle Rad and Frisky back when they were dating, but even then they were adults who had experienced love before.
Maybe she could hunt down her buddy, Mia. By now she was in college, but her and Captain were still together, last she heard.
Oh, this was all so hard. Maybe she would be better off a rich single lady with a ton of lizards. She could own a petting zoo. That didn't sound too bad to her.
Mackenzie was simply just a confused person. He didn't consider himself book smart OR street smart. Don't even get him started on love.
Especially Bluey. He knew that he would get flustered when she would hug him, that he would blush when anybody referenced him and her together, or when they would touch. He knew that he would overanalyze everything she would say until he could twist it into a reality where she loved him as much as he did her.
But that was a problem for another day.
Because they had their first day of high school to face.