(36) Queen

"Makennah. Kitchen," Will said shortly as they arrived home. The boys applauded Makennah endlessly for her act of courage. Will and Carolynn failed to chime in. She was feeling a little self-conscience and also really strong at the same time. She felt conflicted because she knew that fighting would not live up to Will and Carolynn's standards. But there's no way Makennah could deny her heritage and put Maisie in her place.

So far, she hadn't had time to check her phone. However, she briefly glanced at the screen and saw ten new text messages from Theo. Silently, she wondered if he echoed similar sentiments as the Sinclair brothers who were still absolutely astounded at Makennah's strength and resilience.

In the kitchen, Makennah collapsed in a kitchen stool. She wasn't that tired but her body was crashing from the adrenaline. And she was still covered in blood. Considering the mistakes she had made recently and not wanting to further upset them, Makennah started by apologizing. "I'm sorry for fighting. I know you wouldn't like that."

Both Carolynn and Will crossed their arms over their chest. Will took his stance by the stove while Carolynn leaned against the counter. "Apology accepted. However, we feel the need to set some ground rules."

Will cleared his throat and glanced at his wife. "Our rules for the boys apply the same way for you. In this household, we never use physical violence as a means to an end."

"We believe that violence is never the answer," Carolynn added.

"However," Will curled his lips in. He looked like he was trying to cover a smile. "We do support self-defense and protection. In the case that someone were to hit you first, of course we believe that you should be able to defend yourself."

Carolynn nodded in agreeance. "As far as we could see, that girl hit you first. Obviously, you bear the evidence of that."

Makennah glanced between them. She was very confused by this conversation. She expected more yelling and disciplining. "Okay..." She wasn't sure what else to say.

"We are a bit concerned..." Carolynn shot a look to Will. "...that you would have taken out some anger on her that might have been unwarranted for the moment. That is where we draw the line. Do you understand?"

She nodded once. "Yes, I do." She was getting off way too easy right now.

"We are not grounding you because you never actually hit her. You bore the embarrassment of getting benched for the game. Plus, you took a hit to the face. We figure that's enough for one day," Will said.

Carolynn sighed and dug into a medicine cabinet by the kitchen sink. "Here's some advil. I'm sure that hurts a little. Go get cleaned up." Carolynn deposited the pills into Makennah's hand before disappearing into the back of the house where their room was.

For a second, Will just looked at her. Then he circled the kitchen island and offered her his fist. "That was wicked awesome. I'm proud of you, kid."

Makennah weakly smiled and bumped his fist. "Thanks. I don't really feel like the victor though."

"The ref treated you unfairly. Don't lose sleep over it. I know you would have pummeled that girl if you had the chance," Will told her as he ruffled her hair. She kind of felt like a little kid. She kind of didn't care.

--------------------------------------------------

That night, Makennah fell asleep texting Theo about a show he was watching on Netflix that he recommended she start. There was some general flirting, winky faces, and just one sexual remark. Texting him provided a great distraction for the other issues going on in her life. Not to mention, it kept her from lying awake and thinking about her mom in jail...again.

She fell asleep on Theo and texted him a cute little good morning text apologizing for her sleepiness. He never responded but she knew she would see him soon.

The entire school existed in a state of chaos. As if it didn't happen every year, homecoming provided a source of excitement, competition, and contention. From what she had heard, all of the girls 'competed' for the nomination for Homecoming Queen. Each grade nominated one girl and one guy to court except for the senior class which nominated six girls to court and six guys to court. The freshman, sophomores, and juniors weren't in the running to win, but it was still considered very prestigious to be nominated.

At Braxton, Homecoming operated more like a pageant than a small little high school celebration. For the dance alone, the school rented a hotel ballroom for the occasion and put in quite a bit of money for a world-class deejay. Makennah was pretty behind because she didn't even have a dress. Consistently, Carolynn pestered her about going shopping. She declared that Makenneh was depriving her of her motherly duties and privileges.

"You look grumpy. Today is a great day! Take my coffee!" Grace always harbored way too much energy and enthusiasm as 7:30 in the morning.

Even though Makennah didn't usually drink coffee, she accepted the gift and took a sip. A little too sweet for her tastes but she would drink it. "Thanks. And I'm not grumpy."

"Well you're not smiling," Grace pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I'm grumpy." She opened her locker and stuffed her little black bookbag inside. She picked out her books and notebooks that she needed for first period.

"In my world, it does."

Makennah rolled her eyes. "Oh, I know."

"So who are you voting for on the homecoming court?" Grace propped a shoulder against the locker beside her and stole back her coffee cup for another sip.

"I don't know a lot of the senior girls so I'm not sure. I only know who I'm voting for in the junior class."

Grace offered the cup back which Makennah accepted gratefully. "Well who are you voting for?"

"Meredith and Nick." Because it was just way too adorable, she couldn't help herself.

Grace laid a hand over her heart. "Okay, I won't take it personally that you aren't voting for me only because Meredith is beautiful and will do the role justice."

"It's homecoming court not a beauty pageant." Makennah rolled her eyes and started walking to class. Grace had class in the opposite direction, but she followed Makennah anyways.

Grace gasped. "Don't say that! This is an ancient tradition in Braxton! Homecoming is a bigger deal than prom!"

Makennah dramatically looked at Grace. "How dare you say that! I object!"

Grace narrowed her eyes and halted. "You're making fun of me."

Makennah nudged Grace with her elbow and urged her onward. "Oh, stop. You know me. I just don't think it's not that big of a deal." She stopped in front of her classroom.

Before she departed in all her blonde, long legged glory, Grace stole her coffee for another drink and shrugged. "Whatever. You'll see what I mean next week when the school is so full of Wolverine pride that you won't be able to hold in your excitement." Grace spun on her heel and threw one hand up in the air. "Happy voting, people!"

Shaking her head at her friend, Makennah took her seat in class and pulled out her phone. Braxton did everything electronic and the votes were tallied in seconds, announcing the winner for each grade. Makennah was told by Penny that everyone voted during homeroom and then the principal announced the results over the speaker before class started.

Mrs. Dubowitz presented her usual detachment for all things children and resisted partaking whatsoever in the voting shenanigans. One of Makennah's classmates instead rose to the podium, instructed the students how to vote, and wrote down the website on the board that they should go to on their phones. They had to enter their school and a code which the girl also wrote on the board.

Once Makennah navigated her way through the website, she came to the freshman page first and voted for Josh obviously. For the girl, she just scrolled through and picked a random person. The system made it easy because it listed every single person on the roster for the school for that grade so Makennah could choose any random individual. It made it simple considering she didn't know anyone in the sophomore class. When it came time for the junior class, she quickly scrolled through and found Nick and Meredith's name.

For the senior class, Makennah voted for five of the senior girls on the soccer team and had to come up with one random girl. She only made sure it was not Cassandra. For the boys, she secretly found Theo's name first and voted for him. In the back of her mind, she questioned if he voted for her. Then she thought about it and it didn't make sense for him to vote for anyone else.

In less than a minute, the principal was cackling into the microphone, making a joke with the assistant without realizing the microphone was recording everything he said to the entire student body.

"Oh! Uh...yes. Here we go." He cleared his throat. "Today we are going to announce the nominations for homecoming court starting with the freshman class. Michael Harper and Lindsey Davis, congratulations. Sophomore class...Ying Ming and Taylor Johnson, congratulations. Junior class..." Makennah held her breath. Please be Meredith and Nick. "Nick Sinclair and Makennah Thomas, congratulations."

Makennah coughed and gagged.

The principal continued announcing for the senior class and Makennah completely tuned it out.

Half of the class congratulated her and the other stared in surprise.

Catching her breath from hacking up her coffee in surprise, Makennah nodded her head in thanks and smiled meekly. She really did not enjoy having all of the eyes on her.

It hit her all over again. Mentally she was screaming her head off. Internally, she wanted to shrivel up and hide like a turtle. This was not planned! She didn't do this! She didn't even know enough people to get voted in! Who on earth voted for her?

For the entirety of Mrs. Dubowitz class, she sat dazed and confused without taking notes. Her phone blew up with text messages that she didn't read. At the end of class, Makennah hesitated to even leave the room and depart from Mrs. Dubowitz charming and enthralling classroom experience. However, she had other classes to attend. Maybe if she kept her head down, no one would try to talk to her.

Wrong.

The second Makennah left the classroom, people bombarded her. They asked her questions, they wondered if she had a dress, they congratulated her, and they asked if she had a date. Makennah avoided all of it and tucked tail and ran.

Breathing heavily from jogging away, Makennah hid in a private hallway.

"Hey, queen."

Makennah closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. She slumped to the ground and lay her books beside her. "Theo. I cannot believe this."

"I can." Smiling like the Cheshire Cat, Theo kneeled down in front of Makennah. "I told you I would find a way to make you go to homecoming."

"First of all," she held up one finger. "You can't call me queen because I can't even win the title. Second," she held up another finger. "Did you have something to do with this? There's no way the whole school voted for me."

Theo shrugged. "You don't need the whole school to vote for you. You just need the majority."

"The majority doesn't even know my name!" She yelled in frustration. She didn't want this. She wasn't even going to go to the dance!

Theo leaned in closer and capture her hand. His thumb rubbed a lazy circle over her knuckles. "Hey, look at me." She made eye contact and regretted it. He was about to be his charming self and talk her down and convince her to go and even have a good time doing it. "People are aware of you more than you think. You're naturally beautiful and that captures everyone's attention. You don't even realize the way people check you out. Not to mention, you've a hotshot on the soccer team who recently got in a fight that was recorded and put on social media. People know your name simply from that. Not to mention, you were a hot bartender at the senior party and everyone learned your name because of the way you mix drinks. Plus, you live with the Sinclair's. People are nosey. They ask about you. They know your name. I won't lie I might have persuaded the entire senior class to vote for you, but hey! Now you have to go! And maybe someone will even ask you to Homecoming!" Theo removed his hand, winked, and stood to his feet in one solid smooth motion.

Makennah craned her neck back to look up at him. "What does that mean?" She asked curiously.

He shrugged. "I'm just saying, that's all. Get to class, queen."

"Theo!"

He walked away and ignored her entirely.

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The next chapter is coming pronto! Please comment and let me know what you think!

xoxo

W. Carolina