Mum's The Word (Sequel To Just Say The Word)

Chapter 6

I reread it three times before calling for Melody. When she came rushing in, towel barely wrapped around her body, I immediately bombarded her with questions. "Why does this poem have Mackenzie's name in it? Why do I have it? Why is it on my computer? What is wrong with her? Who is she? Did i know her? Why does everyone know her but me? Where is she? Who is she?"

Melody looked at a loss for words. "I-"

"Did you know her?"

"Mom!" She went running out of my room.

Lance's POV

I was already regretting not telling Liam she was alive. I knew what it would do to him and I let him suffer. It was cruel and heartless of me and I deserved whatever he was going to put me through. She didn't though. So I went to go see her the day after he stormed out of my yard.

When I got there Melody looked half surprised. After recovering, she swiftly ushered me upstairs and into her room.

"Mel, what's going on?"

She got right down to business. "We had to lie to her again."

That thought alone almost crushed me. The more lies we told her, the harder it would be to get the old Mack back. "What is it this time?"

"There was an old poem on her computer that we missed. We got all the other Mackenzie related things, but this one got past us. Naturally, she found it. She started questioning us about Mackenzie and we panicked. We talked to Dr. Cortez  and she said we needed to give her some sort of palpable information. So we told her Mackenzie was her twin sister and that she committed suicide that night."

I couldn't believe they told her that. "What does she think her scars are from?"

Melody chuckled non-humorously. "She found her sister, slipped on some glass, hit her head, and her wrists landed in some broken shards."

"How dumb do you think she is?"

"She believed us."

Well that was that. "So now if I mention Mackenzie she won't freak out?"

Melody shrugged. "No idea. We haven't tried it yet. Be our guest." She motioned toward the door, insinuating that I should go attempt to not set Mackenzie off into one of her manic fits again.

Sighing, I entered Mackenzie's room. It was...different. Her band posters were gone, as were any pictures of the two of us, and the two of them, and basically any pictures of her and friends..New or old. "Mack," I greeted her, announcing my presence.

She smiled. "Lance, hi." Then her smile dropped. "I'm not her, you know. Don't call me her nickname. I get it now." She sprawled out on her bed. "Tell me about her?"

I didn't expect her to be so open and direct about it. "I don't know what you want me to say."

She shrugged, focusing her eyes on the ceiling. "Anything. Everything. She was my twin. I just want to know her."

"Why do you think I can tell you who she was?"

"You were her boyfriend, right?"

I choked on my spit before recovering and catching my breath. "Um, I was...I mean that I...uh.." ain't cleared my throat. "We were best friends."

Mack's eyes met mine. "But you clearly were in love with her."

I smiled to myself. Even Mackenzie's alter ego could tell how much I loved her...yet Mack couldn't. "Yeah, I did," I admitted.

She layed back down. "So inform me."

I took a seat at Mackenzie's desk. "Well, she was a nerd...the ultimate one for a while. She loved reading, hot cocoa, cookie dough ice cream, poetry, The Big Bang Theory, and Criminal Minds. She was helpful. Kind. Compassionate. She would befriend people simply because they had no one else..no questions asked. She was more concerned with comfort than with style. She just...she wanted to be her."

While I was speaking, Mack-Makayla had sat up and began watching me. "So why'd she kill herself?"

I gulped. "Um. Well, she lost a lot. The people she cared about the most stopped being there for her."

"That included you?"

I paused. I didn't mean to turn my back on her. I just wanted for her to for once just choose me. Just stop picking him. She always picked him. "Yes, including me."

"Why?" She was relentless.

"She hurt me...bad. I just wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine. I wanted her to know what it felt like to have someone care about you and know that they care about you but be completely inaccessible. I wanted her to feel the way I felt."

"Where did I fit into this?"

I thought really hard before answering that question. "You had your own group of friends. They didn't like her. They were terrible to her. Even...even your boyfriend was cruel to her...and they were really good friends." I couldn't help the lie. Makayla reminded me So much of Mackenzie 2.0 that that part of Mackenzie's life seemed to just naturally belong to her.

She looked appalled. "So I let my own twin sister go through that?"

I shrugged. "You were blinded by love and the need for acceptance."

She stared at me. "I was a bitch."

I shook my head before approaching her. "You weren't. She knew you loved her deep down. You were kind to her. It was just all the nonsense surrounding you two. She would have forgiven you." I forgive you. I don't say it out loud but the thought is there. I forgive that version of Mackenzie. I understand.

"Lance?"

"Yes?"

"You'll help me out at school right? You'll introduce me to my old friends and fill me in? You'll be there for me?"

I pulled her into a hug. "Of course. I'll be there for you." This time. This time I'll do things right.