Bite Me

Chapter 5

"Cella, guess what?" I rolled my eyes at Mason's excited voice. Of course, I'd known he arrived before he spoke—I got that aggravated feeling—but his deep voice was just an annoying reminder. I looked up boredly to see him plopping down in his chair just as the bell rang.

"What?"

"Blake's coach really liked how I played the other day, he wants me on the team!"

      Marcella squealed in excitement. "Mason, that's awesome!"

     "I know, right?" Mason's voice was overflowing with excitement. "He said that if I keep playing as good as I did on Tuesday, I might score a spot on the starting lineup!"

      "I'm so happy for you!" Marcella cheered. "You're gonna be the star of the team, Mason!"

     "Yeah." A huge smile was present on Mason's face. "It's pretty exciting, huh? The only issue is there's practice today. I can't come help with the project, I'm really sorry."

     I gazed up at the ceiling. "Bless," I said in relief. I looked back at Mason to see that his smile had disappeared.

     "You know, Cella, I was actually wondering if you wanted to hang out after," though he was speaking to Marcella, his eyes kept flickering back to me. "Just the two of us—maybe we could catch a movie or something. There's a few in the theaters that I've been dying to see."

     Marcella smiled sweetly, her cheeks turning pink. "That sounds like fun, yeah." 

       Mason's grin stretched from ear to ear. "Sweet." He flashed me a smirk—too quick for anyone else to see, but enough for me to know what he was doing. The glare I was giving him was pure malice, but he'd turned his smiling face back to Cella and was completely ignoring me again.

      I had to confront him about it. So I did. When class was over, as soon as we were out the door, I grabbed his wrist and dragged him away from Marcella. My friend called out in surprise, and Mason said "What the hell?" but I didn't stop. Mason resisted, and I had to admit, he did a good job, but he eventually gave up struggling when he realized I wasn't about to stop. I pulled him out of the hallway and behind the school building, ignoring the shock I felt stepping into the sun, until I was sure nobody was around.

      "Dude, what the fuck?" Mason snapped. "I'm going to be late!"

      "What do you think you're doing?" I didn't beat around the bush. That wasn't how I rolled.

      Mason gave me a strange look, but I could see him fighting down a different expression. "What are you talking about?"

       "With Cella!"

      Mason gave up on subduing his grin and smirked. He looked proud, arrogant, and—to my extreme annoyance—amused. I felt the urge to punch him in the face. Then again, I always felt that around Mason.

     "I don't know what you're talking about." There was no more snap in his voice. He sounded completely nonchalant, and completely cocky.

      "I'm talking about the fact that you're constantly flirting with Marcella, and you just asked her out," I said pointedly. "What are you trying to get?"