Headscratchers / Dork Diaries

• Why is Mackenzie so interested in Brandon? I can buy her flirting with him sometimes, on some level it might be to spite Nikki. I can also buy her genuinely seeing him as a potential candidate at least at the beginning, but Brandon isn't rich, doesn't hang out with the popular kids, Mackenzie herself called him a dork and she knows Brandon tried to stop her on occasion. Granted, she called him adorkable to be more precise, but she is the most popular girl at school, doesn't she have a lot of options regarding boys? Brandon might not be a Single-Target Sexuality for her, but in most of the first books, she didn't show any interest in any other boy and even dreamed of marrying Brandon in the future. Mackenzie might have some Hidden Depths, but I feel she is this interested in Brandon because it's plot convenient.
  • Well in-universe she could be into him because her rival Nikki likes him. (Mean girls in books and movies always go after the main character's crush/boyfriend - it’s the law). Their school might also lack cute boys or Brandon is the only acceptable dating option. The rest of the boys there may not be appealing enough or they are too weird for Mackenzie’s taste (or they are jerks)… Out-of-universe because the books need her to like him.