It was Monday today and like any other sane person, I hated Mondays. I was half asleep as I stumbled my way to my first class of the day and spent the rest of it in a blur. It was my last class of the day: Algebra. I made my way to the mathematics building and took my seat in the room. Our professor, Mr. Gibbins, walked inside while talking with another student. They stood at the front of the room and I adjusted my eyesight only to find that the guy was familiar. He was too familiar.
"Okay we have a new student joining our Algebra lessons from now on. This is Max and he's great at math, I'm glad to have you join us."
"Glad to be here," he said with a grin and went to take a seat at one of the empty desks. He pushed up his black nerd framed glasses as he sat down.
I was clearly in shock and soon closed my mouth as I noticed it was open. The same Max at the party was the guy sitting here. He didn't even look a bit like the Max that I saw the other night. The other Max was arrogant, perverted and jerky but this Max sitting down across the room seemed like a total book freak. I was confused and kept on looking in his direction to understand if it really was the same guy. Maybe my lack of sleep from last night was causing me to imagine things.
I kept on weighing out all of those facts in my head during the whole hour and wasn't even concentrating on the lesson. Soon the bell rung and everyone shuffled in their seats.
"Don't forget we are having a revision test on Friday!" Mr. Gibbins warned everyone. I quickly stuffed all of my belongings in my bag and rushed to make it out of the classroom.
Once I was outside and into the hall I heard someone behind me. "Hey! Please stop for a moment!" I turned around and saw it was Max. He ran up to me out of breath.
"What do you want from me?"
"Hi sorry I just wanted to apologize about the other night, at the party," he said nervously.
"Well thanks for at least apologizing but you don't look anything like you did at the party," I pointed out.
"Yeah it was my first party and my friends slipped some alcohol in my drink so I lost myself. I just remembered your face so well and the guys told me I got into a fight." He moved his dark brown hair to the side, revealing a few light scars. "So sorry for anything I did or said that night and for getting in a fight with your boyfriend." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Oh he's not my boyfriend just my roommate. And yeah I know the feeling of a first party. I pretty much passed out at my first party. As long as you don't get drunk and obnoxious again then I guess we can hang out."
He smiled lightly. "Yeah that sounds great. Well I better get going." I nodded and he started walking down the hall. He soon stopped suddenly and turned around while chuckling. "I forgot to ask for your name."
I laughed and nodded. "It's Audrey and I know yours already."
"Yeah." He laughed in agreement and we soon went our separate ways. This Max seemed like a nice guy and the type I was before meeting Mason: socially awkward, bookworm and nerdy.
I smiled a bit as I walked back to our dorm. Mason came inside only a few minutes after me with two plastic cups in his hands.
"Hey, I brought us some coffee so we survive this Monday."
"So I'm not the only one who can't seem to wake up since morning." I smiled.
"Nope, I feel like I haven't slept the whole night when actually I slept for like 10 hours." He handed me a cup. "It's new hazelnut coffee I thought we should try it."
I nodded and took it from him, taking a sip. "Thanks and yeah it tastes great."
And so we sat down and drank our coffees while talking about nonsense that happened during the day. We had lunch, briefly did some homework and crashed on the couch, watching TV. Mason left the dorm at around 4pm and returned at 7pm with a large basket in his hands.
"Hey I'm back."
"Hey, what's up with the basket?"
"Well I was thinking we could go have dinner under the moonlight tonight by the beach. This is Florida and the beach is like right next to the campus."
"Oh that sounds nice but are we even allowed off campus on week days?"
"I know a spot where there are no security cameras so we can get through from there easily."
"Are you sure we won't get caught and expelled?"
"Nah, I've gone there at least 3 times this year and no one has found out." He smirked. "Go get ready so we can leave."
"Fine, fine so moonlight picnic, that sounds romantic is this like a date or something?" I giggled and went to pick out new clothes to wear.
"Only if you want it to be." He said and I didn't answer anything back because I was extremely blushing red at the moment. I through on a random casual outfit with my pink converse and we left the dorm. We practically had to walk to the other side of the campus were there was a ladder against the wall.
"Are you serious?!" I scream whispered since there wasn't anyone outside. It was mid Autumn already so it was pitch black outside with the stars and moon high up in the sky.
"Yeah just trust me." He climbed up the ladder and jumped on the other side of the wall. I followed his steps and on the other side was a long sidewalk which led to an endless sandy area next to the beach.
"Wow it's empty."
"Yeah it's too cold for swimming so no one shows up here anymore." He started walking forward with the basket in his hands. We walked until we were closer to the water and set up the picnic there. We unpacked all the food and set it across the blanket. Once we sat down a light wind started blowing my hair right into my face. I laughed as I pulled it back into a ponytail so it wouldn't bother me. We started munching on different types of food: small sandwiches, crackers, cold slices of pizza and cheese.
I tugged the collars of my jacket closer as it was pretty cold outside but Mason did the complete opposite by taking his T-shirt off and dropping it on the sand.
"It may be Autumn but it still is hot by the beach." He grinned and I just stuck my tongue out at him.
"I can't believe you're hot in this weather."
"Thanks for the compliment darling." He winked.
"What the- I didn't mean it that way!" I threw a cracker at his face and he started laughing.
"I know what you meant." There was silence between us for a bit as we stared at the waves crashing onto the shore. I sighed and turned back to Mason who was staring up at the stars in the sky. Being a girl that I am I made eye contact with his upper body. He didn't really have abs but wasn't a wimp either. Somewhere in the middle and I was completely fine with that.
Even in the dim lighting I spotted something on the right side of his chest. It was a heart, printed in black.
"Is that a tattoo?" I asked, breaking the silence.
He turned to look at me and followed my gaze down to his chest. "Oh, yeah it is," he said in a low voice.
"I haven't noticed it before, have you had it for a while?" It wasn't really a large tattoo, medium in size. A perfectly drawn heart.
"Yeah I've had it since high school," he said nervously while scratching the back of his neck.
"I've heard that every tattoo has a story what's yours?" I asked with a grin. He sighed.
"It's a long story."
"I've got time."
"It's not really a big deal. I just had this girlfriend of three years in high school. I got the tattoo when I was a junior. It was senior year and we were still going strong, couldn't wait to graduate. I was waiting to take her out on a date when she never showed up. Then her mom called and told me that she had been in a car accident and died. I guess I've still had it since. It kinda bothers me, still having it here on my body as a permanent reminder of the person I'll never see again. But I've gotten over it now. I took it pretty hard in the beginning."
I didn't bother him while he was speaking and just listened. I kind of felt bad about asking about it now but I just nodded.
"That's terrible to hear," I said in a low whisper.
"Don't worry much about it, life goes on you know." He flashed me a smile and changed the subject. "So when are we getting you your first tattoo? I doubt you have one."
I shook my head. "I don't and I never will. I'm not a delinquent."
He chuckled. "It's not a bad thing, I'll take you for your first one."
"I'm good for now." I raised my arms in defense.
"I know a good one only 10 minutes off campus so I'll take you."
"My parents will kill me if I get one."
"You can blame me for it, tell them I did in your sleep." He chuckled and we laid down, watching the stars.
