Page 65 of Life of the Party

“I don’t think so, not tonight anyway. My last test is tomorrow.”

“Oh, great. I bet you’re looking forward to those being done.” She was exhaling her smoke; I could hear it over the phone.

“I am. And, you’ll never believe this but…I think I just got kicked out of my house.” I cradled the phone against my shoulder.

“What? Really?”

“Yeah, I think so. Ultimately, I guess the choice is mine, but there’s no way I’d choose to live here with all their new rules.”

“No kidding. Wow, that’s crazy. What? No, Mackenzie got kicked out of her house.” She was speaking to someone there. “I think so. Hey, Mac?”

“Yes?”

“Grey wants to know if you’re okay.”

I smiled. Pure happiness spread through my entire being. “Yes, I’m okay,” I answered. I heard her relaying my message.

“Grey’s wondering if he should come and pick you up.”

I laughed. His concern made my whole night. “Tell him thanks, but that’s probably not the best idea.”

“So, what are you going to do? Where are you going to live?” Charlie wondered when she was back to me.

“I don’t know, I guess I’ve got to find a place. You don’t know of anything, do you?I can’t afford much…” I thought of my measly paycheques at the restaurant. “But once school’s done, I can work full-time maybe?”

“I’ll see if I can figure something out. I’ll let you know if I do.”

“Thanks, Charlie. I should let you go have fun.” I decided wistfully. “I probably won’t be out tomorrow either, I think some of my family’s coming out for grad.”

“Oh right, that’s this Saturday, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Oh, hey.” I bit my lip. “Can I ask another favour? I forgot to get an appointment for my hair and stuff…do you think you could help me get ready?”

“For grad? I’d love to.”

“Oh, thanks, Charlie. I owe you huge.”

“Of course. Hey, I’ve gotta go; it’s time to hit the rails. See you Saturday?”

“Yeah, Saturday. Have a good night, do one of those for me.”

“I already have.” She giggled. “Night, Mac.”

“Night.” I hung up the phone and sighed heavily. I tried not to think of all the fun they were having without me. It didn’t work.

CHAPTER 27

Saturday morning dawned clear and bright. I lay in my bed, blinking at the sunlight and thinking about everything I had to do that day. I was actually a little bit excited. Our school didn’t go all out for grad or anything, there was a family reception followed by a formal ceremony and then the grad party that happened afterwards. It was just an excuse to dress up and celebrate the end of school and the beginning of the sweet, sweet freedom I’d been looking forward to for so long.

Noise floated up the stairs as I lay there. The house was bustling. My Aunt Linda and Uncle Paul had come the night before with my three rowdy little boy cousins; I could hear them running around downstairs. The only other family coming to my ceremony was my Grandma and my Uncle Pat, who lived in town. My other aunts and uncles and cousins either lived too far away to make the trip or were all grown up with kids of their own, too busy to come so far for just the weekend.

(Though nearly every single one of them had shown up when Marcy graduated.)

I guess I couldn’t blame them. There would be no honours behind my name when I crossed the stage, no scholarships or awards, not like when Marcy graduated. I wasn’t even sure I passed. No, my family would see nothing that day but an unremarkable Mackenzie who scraped by with minimal effort, and that was just how I wanted it.

My mom dropped me off at Charlie’s house early that afternoon. I could tell she didn’t like the look of the place—her nose did that flare thing it does when she’s not impressed with something. At least she didn’t say anything about it.

I could tell she was trying extra hard to get along with me.

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