7. Mason
Chapter 7
Mason
Freshman Year
I’m sitting in English scrolling my phone to pass the time until class starts when I hear a deep breath coming from outside the doorway. Without raising my head, I look up to see who’s standing there.
Damn. She’s beautiful. Her dark hair is pulled back into a ponytail. She’s wearing black skinny jeans that show off her long legs. I’d guess she’s around 5’5”. Her eyes though. They’re the most beautiful shade of green I’ve ever seen.
She walks to a desk across the room from me and I want nothing more than to go over and talk to her but despite being popular I’m a pretty shy guy. Talking to girls, or anyone really, is not something that comes easy for me. Sure, I’ve talked to the cheerleaders here and there but that’s only because I feel like I have to. They’re at the game cheering us on, after all.
When the bell rings she all but runs out of the room, but I catch her turning the corner at the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, she's going in the opposite direction that I have to go.
We don’t have second or third period together, but when I walk into fourth she’s sitting at the back of the room. As much as I want to grab the desk next to her, my feet carry me two rows away from her.
I noticed every time she’d steal glances at me but couldn’t bring myself to say anything to her. As soon as the bell rings for lunch I sprint out of the classroom and notice she hangs around a bit.
Dude, just talk to her. She won’t bite and if she does you might like it. I try to talk myself into it but it doesn't work. I chicken out and keep walking towards the cafeteria.
I open the cafeteria door, step through, and proceed to the line, but decide to turn around and go talk to her.
I reach to open the door and am met with a body smacking into my chest.
All those anxious feelings I’ve felt when thinking about talking to her go away as soon as I feel her touch. She apologizes and quickly zooms around me into the cafeteria.
I watch her go through the line and then walk towards a table to the far right of the cafeteria, close to the door. The same table she’s sat at since school started.
Once she’s seated I begin walking over to her. I’m not sure if she’ll give me the time of day, but I sure hope so. She allows me to sit and we sort of talk. I get the feeling, right away, that she’s just as shy as I am and isn’t comfortable with my sitting here. I figure why wait and just throw it all out there.
“Excuse me, what?” she asks as if she didn’t hear what I had just said. She’s fidgeting with her tray and trying hard not to look at me.
I laugh, mostly to myself. “I said, you asking me to keep my eyes off of you is like asking a fish to live without water. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.”
“I heard what you said. It’s just..” She looks down at her plate, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. “I just… I don’t get why you’re talking to me. Is this some kind of prank?”
“A prank? Why would I prank you, Callie?” I ask, dumbfounded. Does she actually think I would prank her? Is that how low she thinks of herself?
“You’re a football player. Popular… And I’m… me.” She quickly glances up at me but then looks back down at her tray.
“Callie, I’m not pranking anyone. I promise. I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to talk to you since you first walked into Mr. Stewart’s class. Believe it or not, I’m a little shy too.” I say, never glancing away from her. I want her to know how serious I am. I hate that she feels that because I’m “popular” I’d never want to talk to her.
“But you’re a football player and have so many friends. I never would have pictured you being shy.”
“I talk to my teammates because we’re all friends, but you won’t catch me being that talkative in a group of people that I don’t know.”
“Oh,” she says. It barely reached my ears with how quietly she spoke.
We continue with small talk until the bell rings. She’s slowly coming out of her shell, and I hope that over time it’ll be easier for her to understand that I’m not talking to her as some part of a prank. I want her to know that I’m here because I want to be.
As we walk back to class I ask her if she’d like to exchange phone numbers so that we can get to know each other better. She tells me that she’ll think about it, and I spend the rest of the period wondering what she’ll say.
The bell rings, ending fourth period, and I grab my stuff off my desk. I don’t want to bother her or make her feel pressured to give me her number so I simply wave bye to her before leaving the classroom.
I make it about three steps before I hear my name. I turn around to see her walking towards me, a shy smile planted on her face. She slips a piece of paper in my hand and turns to head in the opposite direction.
There’s no way this is actually her phone number… I open the paper up, expecting to see a “gotcha” but nope, it’s her number, or so I hope. I slide the piece of paper into my pocket so that I don’t lose it and finish walking through the crowded hallways to my next class. When I sit down at my desk I pull it back out and add her as a contact in my phone.
I shoot her a quick text.
Me: Hey, it’s Mason.
Callie: Please don’t make me regret giving you my number.
Me: I’ll do my best, Callie.
Whew. Okay. I guess I’ve got it cut out for me with this girl.
Callie and I have been hanging out and talking every day since she literally ran into me. We’ve been opening up to each other a little. Me more than her. She’s still a little reserved and I wish I knew why. We don’t get much time to talk in class because ya know, rules and all. But we’ve been texting back and forth every day, pretty much all day.
I’ve found our conversations to be all over the place—from school to football to life. I’ve loved learning about her.
Today we’re meeting after school in the library to work on a history project. Even though I’d much rather hang out and not do school things, I’ll take whatever I can get.
“Hey, girl.” I try my best at a flirtatious tone and I’m pretty sure it kind of came off more cringe than anything.
“Uh, hey Mason.” Callie’s face tells me it definitely came off more cringe than flirtatious. Dammit.
“I’m going to stop at my locker then I’ll meet you in the library.”
“Okay, I’m going to go grab us a table, hopefully away from everyone. I’ve dealt with enough people today.” She turns toward the library and I remind myself to check back on that comment when I get to the library.
I walk to my locker, twist to put my combination in, and pull it open. A piece of paper falls out when I pull my history notebook out. Picking it up off the floor, I realize it’s the little slip of paper Callie wrote her phone number on. I have no idea how it got in my locker but it puts a smile on my face, nonetheless.
“Hey, Cal. Are you ok? You sounded a little off. Said you’ve dealt with enough people today?” I ask when I finally find Callie in the library. She’s hidden in the back corner, far enough away from people to not hear anything but the soft sounds of feet hitting the floor.
“It’s just been a long day. We had a group assignment in Science today and I just really hate being the only person in a group to actually put in the work. So I talked to the teacher today about it and needless to say, my group mates weren’t too happy about it. It just put me in a weird mood, dealing with that and the attitudes afterward.”
“Hey, don’t worry about them. You shouldn’t have to bear the weight of the whole group’s work.” I say in an attempt to reassure her.
“I know. It just sucks having to deal with the aftermath of it. I’m not particularly friends with anyone who was in the group but still… I have to sit in class with them for the rest of the year. You know what they’re capable of, how much of an asshole they can be for no reason.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like this and I’m not sure how to respond so I just repeat myself, “Don’t worry about them. They’ve got to answer for themselves. And don’t forget you can always come to me if you need to get anything off your chest.”
“I appreciate that, Mase. High school is hard. I hate it. But having someone to talk to does make it easier. Thank you.” She gives me the smallest smile before turning back to her computer to work on her project.
My phone rings as I’m getting ready to jump in the shower. Seeing Cal’s name pop across my screen, I quickly pick it up. She doesn’t normally call because she hates talking on the phone.
“Cal, everything alright?” I ask, hoping that she’s good.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just wanted to share some news with you. Are you busy?” I can hear the excitement in her voice.
“I was just getting ready to get in the shower, but what’s up?” You can hear the worry that was present when I first picked up get replaced by happiness in my voice.
“Remember that project I was telling you about in the library a few weeks ago?”
“The one that you did all the work yourself and talked to the teacher about? Yeah, I remember.” I’m not sure where this is going.
“Mom got an email today from Mrs. Williams about it. She’s decided to only give me credit and she’s making them redo it if they want credit for it. Which I’m sure will piss them off more but I’m glad that they didn’t get credit for the work I did.”
“Good! That’s what should have happened. I know you’re relieved. And again, don’t worry about whether or not they get mad. If they didn’t want to deal with the consequences they should’ve helped you in the first place.”
It feels good knowing that she felt comfortable enough to call me even though I know she hates talking on the phone. She’s even told me before that if I call her she’ll decline the call and text me back. I guess this means we’re moving in the right direction.
“Go get your shower and I’ll see you tomorrow morning at school.”
“Okay. See you tomorrow. Night Cal.”
“Goodnight Mason.”
Over the last month, I’ve grown really close with Callie and I’m ready to make it official. I’ve been stressing over this for days but it’s time I just get it over with.
Me: Callie, can you meet me before class starts tomorrow at your locker? I’ve got to talk to you about something.
Callie: Can’t we just talk about it now? I can call you before I go to bed.
Me: I’d really prefer to talk about it in person.
Callie: Ugh, okay. 8:50 good?
Me: Yep, thank you. Goodnight. See you in the morning.
Callie: Goodnight. Still don’t know why we can’t just talk about it now. See you tomorrow.
As I lay in bed, I go over what I want to talk to Callie about in the morning. Why is asking out a girl so hard? Why can’t I just simply say “Hey Callie, I’d like to make this more official, will you be my girlfriend?” It’s easy, right? Yeah, easier said than done. I drift off to sleep hoping that tomorrow won’t be as hard as I’m making it out to be. We’ve been talking and hanging out for a month so I don’t know why I’m so worried she’ll say no. I guess it’s because I don’t want her to say no or to feel like I’m pushing things too quickly.
I woke up this morning with a smile on my face. I hope that I’m not getting my hopes up, but I’m pretty sure this is going to work out exactly as I want it to.
I walk out the front door, head to the end of our sidewalk, and turn right towards the school. I’m rehearsing what I want to say to Callie, thinking of all the many ways that I can phrase it. Also, the many ways that I can mess it up. You’re overthinking this, Mason. Just simply ask her out. I’m about a block away from the building when I see her. Her mom’s car is pulling away from the curb after dropping her off at the sidewalk leading to the front door.
I stop in my tracks, hoping that she doesn’t see me. After watching her enter the building I begin walking again. Wow, that makes me sound like a stalker.
She’s standing at her locker getting her books ready for the day. I wonder if she’s as nervous as I am. Everyone knows when someone says “I want to talk to you” it normally doesn’t lead to anything good. She must sense me staring at her because she turns her head, meeting my eyes, before smiling and walking my way.
“Mason, I still don’t understand why this couldn’t happen last night on the phone.” She looks a little annoyed.
“It’s something I wanted to talk to you about in person, that’s all,” I say while fidgeting with the brim of my hat.
Callie takes a step closer to me. “Okay, well what’s up?”
“Well, I was curious…” I look away. Surely my cheeks are turning pink.
“Mason, you can talk to me about anything. You know that.” She places her hand on my left arm.
She’s right. We’ve shared so much over the last month with each other. I know I can tell her how I feel without her being weird about it.
“Callie, the thing is. I like you. The last month has been awesome getting to know you and hanging out with you. I wanted to ask if you’d consider being my girlfriend?” I spit out quickly, probably sounding like an idiot.
A smile forms on her face, touching her eyes. It’s then that I feel this is going to go the way I had hoped. She doesn't reply right away and it starts to make me nervous. I look down, waiting for her to say something. Anything.
“Mason.. Look at me please,” she pleads.
Once our eyes meet, she begins talking again. “Mason. I like you, too. Of course, I’d consider being your girlfriend… and I’m glad you kept this for an in-person conversation.”
She takes another step towards me and immediately I pull her to my chest, wrapping my arms around her. She doesn’t know how happy she’s just made me.