When in Rome

Chapter ①⑧

Chapter ①⑧

I look up about to take a bite of my sandwich only to see that everyone's eyes are on me. I let my sandwich fall back onto the table which is covered by my brown paper bag.

Mia and I are back to eating in the courtyard since I don't have to avoid Mason anymore. We would have started last week since everything was resolved, but Mia's mom had stocked up on food for us, so we couldn't let it go to waste.

But here we are, on an early Monday afternoon, back in the good ole' courtyard with everyone staring at us like we're some foreign species. My stomach twists and I look at Mia to see if she knows what everyone's looking at, but then someone plops down on the bench beside me. I turn to face mocking green eyes and a panty dropping grin.

"What are you doing here?" I blurt out noticing Ben and Andrew sitting down as well.

"Well hello to you too," Mason says, planting a kiss to my temple, and my eyes widen to the point that I'm sure I'm the equivalent to a deer in headlights.

"I think what Ade meant was, why are you guys sitting here?" Mia asks since any sentence I had was erased from my mind.

"Well, we weren't going to let Mr. Lovebird sit over here by himself," Ben answers and then takes a bite of his pb and j. I look back up and again am met with all the gazes of the entire courtyard. I give Mia a worried look and she just shrugs in return. I fidget with my hands in my lap and look around. No wonder celebrities never leave their houses. Paparazzi can be very intimidating. Okay, maybe they never leave their houses because they live in luxurious mansions, but still.

"Hey," Mason whispers making me look at him. "Eat," He points to my sandwich and I can't help, but stare at it glumly. How can I eat when everyone's staring? "Adeline, love." He steals my gaze again. "You need to eat."

I think for a second before raising my eyebrow. "You know just because you say 'love' doesn't mean I automatically have to listen." He just smiles and shake his head before dragging my sandwich closer to me. I only sigh at the gesture. "But... I lost my appetite."

"Yeah?" He raises a brow and I nod.

"Yeah."

"Well what about...now." His fingers find my sides and I squeal. Before he can even think about tickling me senseless though, I swat his hands away and scoot away from him on the bench.

"Okay, okay." I pick up my sandwich. "I'll eat."

"Good." He grins and sits up a little straighter as if satisfied with himself.

"Hey Mason, are you doing some more volunteer work?"

I freeze and my sandwich falls back down to the table now with one bite in it. I look up only to see Natalia and her flawless blonde curls standing there with two of her friends. Remember when I said she wasn't particularly mean? Well, that's still true. But is she slightly intimidating in that 'she's totally judgmental' kind of way? Hell yeah.

So now is the time were I decide I forgot something in my locker and make a quick escape, but I guess Mason already knew this because just as I'm about to stand up his hand darts out and grabs my wrist keeping me pinned to the bench. I stare at his hand in its position securely locked around my wrist and notice just how small it makes my wrist look. I look back at everyone at the table and I'm glad I'm not the only one frozen in discomfort.

Mason clears his throat beside me and scratches the back of his neck with his free hand. "Um, no, just eating lunch."

"Oh." Natalia makes a popping noise with her gum. "Well I just assumed..." she trails off before pointing between the two of us. "You guys met in Rome right?" Even though the question was directed to Mason I find myself not able to meet her gaze. I look over at Mia hoping she's planning an escape route, but instead her eyes are staring daggers at Natalia.