6. Mason #2
The rest of the weekend passes by, and I don’t hear from her once. I’ve texted, called, and even driven by her house like a crazy boyfriend—which I’m not, since she didn’t let me ask her.
I’ve come up with every scenario in my head as to why she could be ignoring me. Maybe she had a family emergency, or her phone died, and she didn’t have her charger…or…or anything.
I’m trying not to let myself think that she just regretted it and doesn’t want to talk to me. I mean, there’s no way…right? She was the one who came onto me.
My mind won’t stop racing on the drive to school that following Monday. I don’t even turn my music up like normal, because I can’t hear myself think over it.
I’m just ready to get to school, ready to see her, and for her to tell me everything is okay and that we’re good; she just got busy or something.
When I walk into school, it feels like a bunch of eyes are on me as I walk down the halls. I don’t know why they would be. Nobody normally pays me any attention here unless it’s about football or someone asking to use my house for a party since my dad’s never home.
Some faces look like they’re smiling—almost laughing. Some look like they have a sad, pitiful look in their expression toward me.
When I walk out into the courtyard between buildings, I finally see her. She’s standing against the wall with one of her friends, laughing. I walk over to them, and when she sees me, her smile drops.
Well, that doesn’t seem like a great sign.
She says bye to her friend, then walks up to me.
“Hey,” she says in a quiet, nervous voice.
“Um…hey,” I say back. “Are we…uh…good?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t we be?”
I try to hide the confused look on my face. “Um, I don’t know…maybe because I haven’t heard from you in days now, after we—”
“Oh…yeah,” she says, cutting me off with a forced smile. “I’ve just been pretty busy. I’m sorry.”
I’m so confused right now.
“Oh…okay? Well, would you wanna hang out after school today, maybe?”
She chews on her lip a little. “Um, I have practice and then a lot of schoolwork to finish up. I mean…we don’t really have to do the whole clingy thing after sex, okay?”
“What? I thought…I don’t know…I thought you liked me?”
“I do…but like as a friend, Mason.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “Do you sleep with all your friends?”
She looks up at me, offended. “Fuck you, Mason. No, I don’t, you asshole.”
She goes to walk off, and I catch her wrist, stopping her.
“Look, I’m sorry. I’m just…confused—”
“It was just sex, Mason. I…I have to get to class—”
She walks off without saying anything else, and I’m left standing there, completely lost.
What the hell just happened?
I go through the rest of the day overthinking everything, looking for her in the halls, wanting to talk to her again.
When the day ends and I have to head to football practice, I finally give up the chaotic battle inside my head, trying to figure out what I did wrong.
I put all my energy, anger, and hurt into the game. I go harder than I ever have, and Coach points out how much of a beast I am on the field today.
I don’t feel like a beast. I feel like a loser.
That feeling is only confirmed when I walk into the locker room after practice and overhear some of the guys talking about Delilah and me.
“Man, now I’m out a hundred bucks…I really thought he’d be too chicken shit to do it,” one of my teammates says.
I don’t let myself be seen, trying to listen without getting caught.
“At least she got some money out of the bet. She needed payment for all the work she put in, getting him to sleep with her.”
A bet?
“This is one of the longest-running bets I’ve been a part of, man. I really thought I was gonna make some money off him being such a pussy.”
She slept with me for a bet?
No…there’s no way…
I pull out my phone and send her a text as my fingers shake.
Mason: Did you have sex with me for a bet?
Three dots pop up…then disappear again.
I stare at the phone, waiting for them to return. When they don’t, I tuck my phone away and go to walk around the corner, running straight into one of the guys.
“Whoa, man. Watch it.”
“My bad,” I tell him, keeping my head down, trying to grab my stuff and get out of here.
“So how was it?” he asks with a gross smile.
“How was what?” I ask, not wanting to feed into whatever this is.
“Fucking Delilah. Was she as good in bed as everyone says?”
I want to punch him in the face for talking about her like that, but then I remember I’m apparently nothing to her, so why stick up for the girl?
“It’s none of your business…”
He chuckles. “I really didn’t think you would do it. You’re such a goody-two-shoes.”
I shake my head. “What…did you bet she couldn’t get me to sleep with her, too?”
He sucks his teeth, not even realizing how messed up this is. “Yeah, man. You lost me a hundred bucks. But hey, I’m kinda glad you got laid; maybe it’ll loosen you up more. You don’t have to be so uptight all the time, you know?”
I can’t help the anger and pain that spill out.
The hit is fast, and honestly…I don’t regret it. It feels good.
He stumbles back, holding his nose, laughing still. “Dude, chill. Maybe you need more than just one pussy to loosen your ass up.”
I don’t stay to listen to him or anyone else. I just grab my bag, slam the locker closed, and walk out.
When I throw my bag into the back of my car, my phone vibrates, and I pull it out to see Delilah’s name.
Delilah: I’m sorry Mason
I throw my phone in the car and slam the door shut, speeding out of the parking lot.
Why are people so fucked up in the head? Why do they love playing games with other people’s feelings? What the fuck did I ever do to these people?
Fuck them. Fuck her. Fuck all of this.
They want me to be cold-hearted? Fine. I can be cold-hearted. I can be just like them.
When I open the front door to the house, I’m met with four little arms grabbing at my legs.
“Mase! Mase!” Asher calls, pulling on my football tights.
I bend down and wrap one arm around Asher, and Easton folds into the other. I squeeze them and stand back up with one in each arm.
“How much trouble did you cause today?” I ask.
They smile and giggle as I walk into the kitchen with them still in my arms.
They’re all I ever need to clear my head and fix my shit mood.
“Come on, let’s go get a snack, huh?”