Chapter 9
MASON
The sound of an email coming in jolts Mason out of his quantum physics homework, forcing him to rip his eyes off of his workbook to look at the subject line of the email.
He pauses his music and clicks on the email, seeing it’s from Fiona.
He hovers over the subject line, where it says what everyone’s next assignment is, and as his eyes scan the email, he has to go back and read it again.
Mason Fanning: Player Profile on Callum Brown
He shakes his head. He probably looks ridiculous to everyone else in the library.
Yesterday feels like a fever dream. He’s not going to do it. He refuses to do this.
The nightmare continues as he keeps reading.
Deadline is before the next home game, which is September 30th.
Mason looks up at the ceiling of the library, looking for an answer to his wishes that he could disappear into nothingness.
The one thing he does for someone else ends up being all about Callum Brown.
His coverup is biting him in the ass. And rightfully so. He’s lying to his parents, and to cover it up, he’s doing The Goldberg. Only something as ironic as this would happen to him.
His study session is decidedly over as he slams his laptop closed, picks up his things, and begins speedwalking to the journalism building.
He’s going to ask Fiona to give him something else. He doesn’t care how scary she is or how her eyes burn holes in his face. Or how she acts like he’s the gum on the bottom of her shoe. He’s going to stand up for himself and do something else for the sports beat.
He gets some stares as he speeds past everyone. He knows he looks like he’s on a mission, and the speed at which he’s traveling is likely only drawing more attention to him, but he doesn’t care.
He speeds into The Goldberg office and walks straight to Fiona’s desk.
She notices him and raises her eyebrows. “Oh good, you got the email—”
“I am not doing it,” Mason says as he slams his index finger on her desk. It’s angrier than he intends it to be.
He’s angrier at himself than Fiona, but he still hates how she speaks to him like she expects him to do everything she wants.
She glances between his index finger on her desk and his eyes. She closes them and inhales as she intertwines her fingers together.
She plasters a fake smile on her face. “You know how much of a privilege it is to be on The Goldberg, right?”
Mason nods. “Yeah.”
She narrows her eyes. “I don’t think you know, Fanning.”
She says his last name with a certain knowing. Like she knows that his parents are both prolific writers. But how could she?
“I tried out for the paper for a reason. I got in for a reason. I feel like I can do more than player profiles on the ‘star quarterback’ of the football team, no? So why don’t I do something other than sports? Like helping Alex with his secret clubs beat?”
She laughs again and shakes her head. “I told you, we only had one spot left, and it was for sports. You were the one who applied late. You were the one who tried to submit a piece to get in. You were the one who offered to do the player profile. If you really don’t want to do sports, then you’ll have to just leave. ”
“But—”
“No ‘buts.’” I’m actually going to give you an ultimatum, Fanning.”
Mason tries to keep himself from rolling his eyes at her using his last name to address him.
“I know you’re not a journalism major. I have no idea what you’re doing here if you’re not.
But what I do know is that you need to be on this paper.
For some odd reason you feel obligated to do it.
So this is your choice. I’ll make it simple.
Either you stay on the paper and do sports, including the player profile, or you don’t. ”
Mason clenches his fists. He hates how right she is. He has no business being on the paper other than the fact that he has to save face for his parents. And if he says no to doing sports, his cover will surely be blown, since his parents get sent a copy of every issue of The Goldberg.
They’ll find out if he drops it. Which means more questions, and which means more lies.
But if he stays… God help him if he stays. He’ll have to be intimately involved with Callum more than he ever wants to be ever again.
Going to the games is one thing, but having to sit down with him and spend uninterrupted time with him asking him questions? There’s bound to be some kind of blowout, and he doesn’t have the emotional leverage to be doing anything of the sort.
But he has to do it. Because he’s a good kid and he does what he’s told by his parents. Most of the time.
Mason smiles with all of his might. “I will stay. I want to make my parents proud.”
Fiona squints at him with a conniving smile. “I am certain you will if your writing stays how it is.”
Mason smiles back at her, trying not to stare daggers at her as he huffs and leaves the office, not daring to take a look at Fiona as he leaves, lest he feel like she knows too much about him.
He huffs and takes out his phone and begins typing up an email. They left Callum’s email in the message, so all Mason has to do is email him and set up a time to meet.
He’s unsure if Callum will even want to show up either. Maybe Callum will reject it, and then Mason can happily interview another player, like Craig Monteith. He seems to actually like Mason. He’ll take him over Callum any day.
Mason pushes the doors of the Journalism building like they’re his sworn enemy and squints as the sun hits his eyes.
He’s too focused on the blinding light of the sun to notice the hulking figure in front of him as he makes contact with it, getting a surprised grunt as he bumps into him.
“Sorry,” Mason says, as he looks up, but his words die in his throat as he notices Joel Whitlock staring down at him.
Mason wants to immediately take his words back as displeasure rushes over him.
“You wear glasses and still can’t see where you’re going?” Joel asks, his face contorting into a grimace.
“The sun was in my eyes…” Mason says, trailing off as he starts to walk away. He doesn’t want to start a fight or have Joel say something else mean in front of everyone on the quad.
“Whatever, loser,” he hears Joel mumble.
Mason shakes his head and trudges back to his dorm. Joel was never the biggest fan of Mason in high school, but for some reason, Joel seems hellbent on making Mason feel worse.
Being thrust into the spotlight with The Goldberg is doing more harm than good. He’s creating enemies and becoming someone he doesn’t necessarily want to be. But he has to. If he wants to ever have a career he’s happy with, he has to stay.