12:02am

CHAPTER 9: ELAINE MADDENS 7:13 am 10/4/21

The sound of my alarm going off woke me up from my deep slumber. Was it seven already? I got out of bed, changed for school and made my way downstairs. As I was getting ready I kept asking myself if last night really happened. I'm pretty sure it did, or maybe I was just so tired I started to imagine things. I snapped back to reality, when I heard my mom call out, "Honey, come sit down for breakfast" "Since when do we eat breakfast as a family?" I asked her in return "What are you talking about, we always spend time together, come sit." she answered me.

 I sat down and my mom started again, "So we decided that the wedding will be in two months" Ugh now I had to pretend to be happy for her and everything, she was getting married again to some guy after her divorce from my dad. "Oh great!" I say in my happiest tone. "Let me know if you need help with anything, but I have to go now or I'll end up being late." "Of course, have a good day sweetie!" She yells out to me as I am closing the front door.

 I thankfully was able to get on the bus early enough that I could stop by "Joe's Java" to get some coffee. I made it to school right on time and walked to my first class. Math sucks. But, at least Mason's in my class, and we sit next to each other. Just the thought of seeing him so soon made me feel giddy inside. 

The bell rang and I sat down in my usual seat, the teacher was already writing on the board. Where was he? Is he avoiding me? No, he was probably just late, ya that's what it is, he always sleeps in, but he said he had an early morning. I have got to stop overthinking this. The teacher just kept droning on and on about formulas. Usually, I'm pretty into learning and stuff but I have a headache and it's way too early for math. I put up my hand and asked to go to the bathroom. 

As I was walking in the hall, something crashed into me, "Oh god, Elaine, I'm sorry," Mason said as he grabbed a hold of my waist to keep me from falling over. "Hey stranger, I was looking for you in math just now," I told him. "Just running a bit late is all" "Ya, that's what I thought." I felt him tighten his hold on me before letting me go. "We should probably get back to class now," I said as I started off heading in that direction. He followed me and we sat next to each other when we got there. 

After half an hour of note-taking, I heard, "Psst, E," I looked over to Mason and he was sliding a folded piece of paper over to me. I opened it and examined the message. 'Go out with me tonight?' Damn it, I'm working at Joe's today with Caspian, I shook my head at him, and mouthed work. He put on a pout and whispered, "tomorrow then?" I eagerly nodded back yes and gave him a smile. 

Holy shit, I have a date with Mason Dhar. I hear the bell ring, signalling the end of class. Yes! I have a free period now, which means a whole seventy-five minutes in the library. This day couldn't get any better. I waved bye to Mason as we split ways, and headed back to my locker to drop off my textbook. 

I saw Maeve loitering there. "Hey!" I call out to her with a big grin on my face. "I missed you this morning, what made you so happy?" she asked me in return. Do I tell her? Probably not right? But, I don't want to keep any secrets from her, and she assured me countless times that she didn't like him, I should still stay on the safe side though. "Just woke up on the right side of the bed, what's up with you?" I lied to her. This feels wrong. 

"I think Adonis is mad at me," She answered me. "Oh don't worry, you know he always looks like he hates everyone," I assure her. "Ya, but this time it felt personal, I think I made him upset when I kind of avoided talking to him while we were walking home" She explained. "I'm sure he'll get over it, plus he does that all the time to everyone so he's just being a hypocrite." "Ya, I guess," She told me. "Well, Imma head over to the library now, so if you need anything just text me," "See you at lunch then" Maeve answered. 

I made my way over and waved good morning to the librarian, whom I've gotten to know pretty well by now. I sat down and picked up where I left off in my novel.