Important author's note in the end.

BTW, an advanced Eid Mubarak to everyone who's celebrating it around the world! I can't wait for Eid!

[Published: 03/06/2019]

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

I honestly don't know just WHAT is WRONG with Mom!

I've noticed that lately there have been some DISGUSTING COCKROACHES (ewww) roaming around our house! I first spotted one of them a few days ago, under MY BED!

I FREAKED out! But one of our maids Susan was cleaning the halls. She noticed my scream and she FREAKED out too! I thought someone else would come and get RID of the STUPID ROACH! But no one came and so we screamed even LOUDER!

That's when someone else came and killed the cockroach without even freaking out!

It was AMANDA!

She was laughing at us. "HAHAHAHAH! You're all scared of a STUPID roach! Like it's SO SCARY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!"

"OMG, Amanda," I said, walking over to her. "SHUT UP!"

"NO! I WISH I had recorded that but I don't have a phone!" Amanda whined and then went down to complain to Mom about how she didn't have a phone but I did.

Instead of thinking how stupid she was because I'm OBVIOUSLY older than her and so I SHOULD have a phone, I was relieved at how she left my room without making a big fuss.

"I'm very sorry, Miss Mackenzie," Susan said and bowed to me.

"I was hoping you'd make yourself more useful," I snapped because I was in a bad mood.

"I'm very sorry again, Miss MacKenzie. It will not happen again," Susan excused herself.

I had more important things in my mind, like the fact that there was NO WAY I could have my birthday party at my house when it was SWARMING with roaches.

Which is why today I decided to talk with Mom about it. I asked her politely if she could change the venue to the Country Club like one of my friends did.

NO.

Obviously, we had a big argument about it but Mom said that it was already discussed between Dad and her and they decided to have it at our house.

"But why?" I asked, fuming in anger.

"None of your business, young lady," Mom snapped.

"Seriously? OF COURSE, it is my business," I snapped. "It's MY PARTY!"

"I'm talking about things only adults will understand," Mom said, and before I could say anything else, she ordered: "You might as well change into something decent as we are going to attend a part in Williams' house in two hours."

"OMG, LIKE, TWO HOURS?!" I said, finally losing it. First, it's the roaches. Second, it's my Mom. Third, it's this last minute party. "And you're telling me this NOW?!"

"You weren't aware of this?" Mom asked.

"NO, I WASN'T!"

"That is not how you speak to your mother, young lady!" Mom said coldly. "Now go to your room and quickly change into something decent. Amanda is already getting ready."

"Don't even compare me to Aman-"

"Silence," Mom said, her voice dangerous and then turned to Mary, one of our maids. "Mary, take her to her room."

"I can go to my room by MYSELF, thank you very much!" I snapped and stormed to my room.

I was picking up my outfit when someone knocked on my door and it was someone unexpected.

"Surprise!"

Randy.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"What? I can't visit my beloved cousin's house?" Randy said innocently, making himself comfortable in my room. He sat on my bed and shrugged at me.

"Suuuuuurre!" I smiled, folding my arms. Seeing Randy here made me feel a little better, but also, like, a little annoyed.

"Okay, the thing is, I forgot one of my assignments here," Randy said, cutting to the chase.

"On purpose, most probably," I said, closing my door. "And then you told the teacher that you forgot your assignment in your second cousin's house, which is one state away from your place."

"You guessed it," Randy winked.

"Which is why," I said, moving to my desk. "I kept it here." I took out a bunch of papers full of scribbled mess. I remember looking at it and understanding nothing.

Randy got up and walked to my desk. "I knew I could count on you, Mac!" He took the papers from my hand and then examined it. "All in order, I see."

"Obviously," I said, and went to my closet, trying to pick a dress. "Can you help me pick a dress, Randy?"

"Oh? What are you up to?" Randy asked, sitting on my chair.

"New neighbor. Party next door in two hours," I summarized.

"Sure," Randy shrugged. A stranger may think I'm, like, NUTZ to ask a GUY in helping me pick clothes. But Randy is no ordinary guy. He's got a good taste in fashion. A really good taste in fashion. And he makes himself look good in literally anything. So he helped me pick, like, the perfect dress for the occasion - a long baby pink gown with a sweetheart neckline and frills it the end.

Since Randy was here anyway, Mom invited him to come along with us. And obviously Randy would never say 'no' to a party.

The party was, like, HUGE. Now I understand that the Williams are, like, super rich, but I still don't know to what extent. Most of the people of the neighborhood were invited and there was even security standing outside! Which was pretty unnecessary considering our neighborhood ALREADY has good security.

"Sandra Williams," the new girl said, extending her hand to me. She was beautiful. She had lush curly red hair, blue eyes and freckles dotted across her perfect face.

"Randy Hollister," Randy said, butting in although her hand was extended to ME.

"That's my cousin," I said quickly, and I extended my hand to her. "MacKenzie Hollister. I live next door. Welcome to our neighborhood."

"Thank you," Sandra smiled, tilting her head. I noticed that she had dimples too. "I hope you're enjoying the party?"

"Yeah, we are!" Randy said quickly. "It was very polite of you to invite all of us!" I rolled my eyes. All of us, he says. She invited all of us, not him. He just happened to be there and was, like, dragged along.

"My pleasure," Sandra said.

"So are you going to attend WCD?" I asked, curious.

"WCD? No," Sandra said. "I'm actually going to attend Pacific Grove High School."

"OMG, PHS? Seriously?" I asked, taken aback. Pacific High (it's what everyone calls it) was pretty far from here – about an hour ride. It is an average school - actually VERY average and very CHEAP, unlike WCD. In fact, a even a BEGGAR could afford to go to that school. It isn't even a private school, to begin with! It is a government school! With her money, I expected her to go to North Hampton.

"Why? Is there a problem?" Sandra asked, with an unreadable expression on her face.

"What problem?" Randy asked, covering it up for me. Being a really social person, he can easily diffuse any situations. "She was just surprised because it's so far from here and WCD is so much closer, ya' know?"

"Oh okay," Sandra said. "Sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought you were thinking of something else."

Which I was, but thanks to Randy's magical socializing powers, she was convinced I wasn't.

The rest of the party went smoothly.

"She's so pretty," Randy gushed. "And such a sweetheart!"

"Yeah, whatever," I said, then realization dawned upon me. "OMG, don't tell me-"

"What?" Randy asked innocently. "That I like her?" Smooth.

"Like, way too direct," I muttered. "You didn't even BOTHER keeping it, like, a secret, did you?"

"It's only you, Mac," Randy said. "You can know these kinds of stuff about me."

"Yeah but what about Elaine? You were so, like, in love with her for a year?"

"I got over it a few weeks back," Randy shrugged. "When she managed to get a boyfriend for herself."

"OMG, really?"

"Yeah," Randy shrugged. "Anyway, I'll be on my way. My parents are waiting for at home."

His chauffeur, Abdul, drove him home.

The party was great but I am EXHAUSTED! And my hand is paining right now because I wrote so much.

Still ticked off at Mom for not changing her mind though.

Toodles!

-MacKenzie

Hey everyone!

In canon, Mac is basically a mean spoiled brat, and according to Nikki, "an evil genius" (I don't think she's an evil genius – her plans depend on way too many coincidences).

So here (and in the chapters where her cousins came for a sleepover) we see a different side of Mac. I imagine her as this girl who acts really authoritative at school and shows her true self at home. However, in my head she acts like a regular teenager in front of her joint family.

Why?

Mainly because among her extended family members, there are people far better than her that she feels intimidated and her daring to act better than them is stupid. Like Laura, for example. We all have that kind of cousin – the one who's perfect at everything. And then she has cousins like Randy, the le cOoL KidZ but also lE GoOD dUdE. And then she has cousins she hates like Emily (Aunt Clarissa's daughter, not in canon – she's an OC) who's honest, kind and dislikes people like Mac. I'll also make her appear more in the future.

A little family rivalry and genuine hatred to spice it all up.