summertime sadness | ethan dolan

faith kirkpatrick

chapter five
——mackenzie's pov
june 2nd, 2019

"what's your deal, sighey mcghee?" veronica asked, sipping on her smoothie.
"what?" i blinked and sat up straight.
"you just sighed, like, four times in a row," david drake pointed out.
marshall confirmed with a nod of his head as he sucked half his shake down through the green straw.

"i was just thinking...maybe if i stay with my dad, i could get a second job here," i said, leaning my elbows on the table. "i could just spend all my time out of the house, working, and kind of...power through the summer. then, i not only wouldn't have to live with my mom, john, and the cheerleader, i'd also barely have to deal with my dad and all the awkwardness."
"that sounds like fun." veronica rolled her eyes.

i rolled my eyes back and stole an onion ring from marshall. "well, i'd hang with you guys, too." i pointed out.
"i'm for that plan, then," marshall said, giving me a joking wink.
"your mom hasn't said anything to you about it yet?" david asked, his feet bouncing under the table.

i shook my head. "she said she got the message and we'd talk about it later. so now i'm both dreading and looking forward to later. whenever that ends up being."

i had tried, as promised, to talk my mom into calling my dad and hearing him out—i had even hinted at his grand master plan—but my mother had basically shut me down. she'd said she would call my dad when she was good and ready. when i'd asked when that might be, she'd turned up the volume on the television so loud my eardrums hurt.

"kenz, all i'm hearing here is that you want to avoid all the conflicts in your life," veronica put her drink down and laced her fingers together.
"what do you really want and what are you going to do to get it?" she asked.
my smile faltered a bit. because what i wanted was for my parents to get back together. and i wasn't going to get it if they were apart all summer, no matter what kind of plans my dad had up his sleeve.

"can we go now?" i said, looking at the guys.
"most definitely." marshall rose from his chair, shooting veronica a disturbed look. she was still eyeing me carefully, as if waiting for me to bare my inner soul.

"you stop watching dr.phil," i admonished.
"cause you're freaking me out right now."
she shook her head as she got up, sliding   
her tray from the table. "all i know is, if you don't talk to them soon, you're gonna bottle it all up till you pop. and when you pop, it's not gonna be pretty."

"everyone always says that, but it's so not true," david said as he shoved his tray into the garbage. he'd cut his hair so short for the summer you could see his scalp, and it shone under the fluorescent lights. "i say, clam the hell up, put on a happy face, and get through the next year. then you'll go away to college and you'll never have to see these people again."

"i like david's plan," i said. "It lacks confrontation. and i, personally, am extremely anticonfrontation."
"speaking of confrontation...," david said under his breath.

we all spotted her at the same moment. faith kirkpatrick. her now very light brown hair was back in a tight ponytail, and she wore a floral minidress that left zero to the imagination with a trendy little vest tossed over it. her wedge sandals were so tall it was a miracle she hadn't bumped her head on the banner that was advertising some book club. dangling from one hand were her car keys, on a coach leather key chain, even though she had a purse and all those shopping bags. as soon as she saw us, she stopped and almost tripped. where the hell were kylie and madeline? i'd hardly ever seen faith without them all year. they were like her permanent accessories.