When in Rome

Chapter ①⑥

Chapter ①⑥

Adeline

Hey. That was the first message.

Then after exactly eighteen more there was a call, three calls to be exact, and one voice mail.

The voicemail went a little like this,

Hey Adeline, it's me, uh, Mason. I was just wondering if you wanted to go to a party tomorrow night. I mean we, uh, don't have to go to the party. We could just hang out or do something if you, um, want. Okay well call me back when you get this or whenever I guess.

You know how many text I answered? Zero...and I guess it's kind of obvious that I didn't answer any calls either.

Now why didn't I answer any of them?

Well, if I was someone else I probably would have told him to screw off, or tell him that we shouldn't talk anymore. I would have at least had the guts to confront him about it. But I'm not someone else. I'm Adeline Preston and want to know what I do? I avoid things—at all costs. Whether it's procrastinating an assignment, or avoiding a person, it's just what I do.

We've been home for five days. That means that last week today we were putting final touches on the play and also heading to a street festival. I miss Rome so much, but I've been pushing away all thoughts about it because eventually my thoughts all lead back to one person.

The person I'm avoiding.

To be honest, part of me is wondering what he is thinking, but then another part of me doesn't care. I mean why should I care when he was the one who played me. He doesn't deserve a reason as to why I'm avoiding him. He should already know.

Now all this explains why I am currently curled up in a ball on my couch on a Friday evening watching television.

"Adeline, what are you doing?" My mom asks blocking the Pretty Little Liars marathon I was currently watching.

"What do you mean?" I ask my eyes still trained on the T.V. behind her. She grabs the remote off the coffee table and shuts it off, forcing me to look at her.

"Sweetheart, you've been mopping around the house all week," she says still standing in front of me.

"I went out..." I trail off, looking down and tugging my sweatshirt strings.

"Yes, you did go out with Mia on Wednesday." My mom comes over and sits down on the couch next to me. She pats my leg. "But you never fully told me how the trip went."

I turn my body so I'm facing her slightly. "Yeah, I did."

She shakes her head, shifting so she can face me as well. "You only showed me pictures, but even then you skipped a few." This has me biting my lip. So maybe I didn't mention everything. "Adeline, honey, what happened in Rome?" Her tired eyes flood with concern.

I was going to tell her eventually. I just couldn't find the words, but somehow it all manages to spill out of me.

I tell her everything. How much I hated Mason's persona, how only on our first day at the theater he saw me in my bra, how he annoyed me to no end, how he found out that tickling is my weakness, how nicknames became our thing, how he was able to prove everything I thought I knew about him wrong, and then only to find out it was all a lie.

Before I know it I feel a few tears trail down my cheeks, and I just let them fall. If someone would have told me three weeks ago that I would be crying over Mason Carter I would have laughed in their face and yet, here I am.

I mean it's not like we were together, but somehow he managed to wiggle into my life, knocking down whatever barriers I put up. And just like every other girl I fell for him.