RUSH

Ch. 19: Player Three

-Mason-

I should've never mentioned the gym's existence to Eric.

Anything would've been preferable to the sight of my best friend barging into Bennett's class unannounced only a day after the smoothie fiasco, curiously glancing around the court as if he didn't know exactly where he was.

I stopped jogging around the track and leaned forward on the railing, my left eye twitching at the sight. Eric had mentioned earlier that he was heading over to the campus' cafeteria to meet up with some friends, yet here he was, confidently striding towards Bennett.

Which, yeah, perhaps it was partly my fault for not questioning him a bit more when he didn't invite me to tag along like he usually did. I should've known better. And yet...

Nervously, I reached for my phone, my eyes widening at the awaiting, unread message from Eric that'd been sent just a few minutes prior. According to the text, he'd "spontaneously" decided to stop by my gym to visit me, which was complete and utter bullshit.

Perhaps I'd believe him a bit more if I couldn't see what he was actually doing.

Eric knew I kept my phone on silent, so he'd definitely been banking on the fact that I wouldn't see the message until it was far too late to barricade the main entrance. That scheming little—

I shot back a pretty straightforward text: REALLY, DICK???

He didn't even glance down at his phone as it vibrated against his pocket. And there was already such a menacing glint of determination in my friend's eyes as he approached Bennett, which had me helplessly reeling from upstairs. I glanced at the exit, wondering if I'd even be able to make it down there in time before he managed to embarrass me... or worse.

I couldn't hear much of anything, yet I did see Bennett smile twice. I was fuming by the time Eric actually started glancing around and noticed me glaring daggers at him from upstairs; he winced immediately, likely not having expected to be caught so soon.

Yet, the mischievous glint was back in his eyes within seconds, somehow shining with more intensity than before.

I immediately ducked when he waved up at me, cursing under my breath because I hadn't expected him to call me out like this. I sent back another text in all-caps: WHY WOULD YOU WAVE???

"Mason, is that you?" Eric called out sarcastically, loud enough that my heart momentarily stopped beating altogether. I cursed him under my breath, bracing myself before slowly peering over the railing.

"Eric! What are you doing here?" I asked through gritted teeth, forcing a smile for the sake of appearances. Bennett glanced warily between us before shyly waving up at me, seemingly confused about what the hell was going on.

' "Mason? Hey, I—I didn't see you up there."

I released a weak chuckle. "Yeah, uh, hey there! I was just—uhm, you know—warming up. How are you?"

I opted to ignore Eric's sarcastic thumbs-up, which quickly disappeared as he covered his mouth to muffle a laugh.

"Oh, I see. That's cool! I'm just busy with—" Bennett was cut off by the hitch-pitch sound of his own name being called. And within seconds, he was busily distracted once again, sparing me a single apologetic smile before heading off to ask the kid what was wrong. It was probably for the best, considering there wasn't a doubt in my mind that Eric was plotting something.