Heartbeats

Chapter Six

“You okay? Do I need to beat the crud outta him?” Mason had hitched a ride home with me. He told his mom we were going to study. Truthfully, he just didn’t want to deal with his mom screaming profanities at the receiver. That, and he wasn’t all too happy about the Charles incident. In fact, he was downright murderous.

“It’s fine,” I sighed for about the twentieth time, keying in the gate code to my housing track.

“No. It’s not. He friggin…annoyed you to the point where you cussed him out! You never cuss!”
Annoyed. That’s putting a feather in a heavyweight division. I raised an eyebrow to Mason. “Never cuss?”

“Only when you’re really annoyed. I know from experience.”

I sighed. “Just drop it, Mason. I mean it.

So he did. I drove quietly all the way to the house. When I got inside, I went through my usual routine: I dropped my stuff on the floor in the doorway, grabbed an orange soda, fell into the pleather love seat, and turned on the television in the living room. Mason plopped down beside me and stole a sip of my soda. I slapped his arm playfully.

I honestly tried to watch the movie, but it was hard. Mason did that stupid yawn thing where he put his arm on the back of the couch and around my shoulders. This tactic was supposed to make me want to snuggle closer to him. I’m not an idiot though (stubborn, but that’s a close cousin) so I scooted away and leaned against the arm of the love seat. For some reason this set Mason off.

“Damn it Jace!” I jumped when he shouted. My body grew tense at his tone but not too rigid since he had used his pet name for me. “This is so frustrating. You cringe when I touch you, which is hardly ever. You drive me crazy. I mean, come on, it’s not like I’m some random guy you picked up at the club. I’m Mason, that idiot kid who loves you so much he wouldn’t be able to see if you didn’t love him. You know me, Jace, better than most people, because it’s the real me. You aren’t one of those poseur jocks who just hang with me to get good popularity cred or a ditsy cheerleader who thinks I’m hot. You know me for me, not my facade. And if the real me isn’t good enough I’ll try to be better. It’s just—”

The darn boy wouldn’t shut up. I had to do something.

I kissed him.

It was awkward at first because he was still trying to form his next words. Then his brain caught up and he realized what was happening. He kissed back. It wasn’t one of those gross make-out sessions you see people on mall benches doing. We weren’t shoving our tongues down each other’s throat. It was nice. Conservative. It was different from any previous kisses I had taken part in, and I guess this is what kissing is supposed to feel like.

I never thought I’d be in this kind of a relationship with Mason, and I definitely never thought it would last. I guess once he stopped being a cocky jerk I warmed up to him.

Mason pulled away. “Wow.” All he said was the one word, and I fought to not burst out into hysterical laughter.

Mason chuckled but he stopped suddenly. His facial expression grew soft but serious. His eyes caught mine and held on. “If you don’t mind me asking, why were you so scared?”

I winced inside. “I wasn’t.” A lie.

Mason saw through it. “Jacie you can tell me.”

I could tell him. I trusted him. It’s just hard. I hadn’t told anyone before, not even Dekland.

“Jacie?”

“Yeah. Okay. When I was little my dad would drink. My mom never did. She hated how he would become different when he was drunk. He would get…abusive. Not when mom was around, of course, but that was hardly ever. Dad would snap over the smallest of things: my room, the volume of something, if he forgot to pay the bills. Basically anything and everything. He couldn’t control himself, so he’d take it out on me. At least wasn’t Tess.” I paused, shuddering at the thought. What if he had beaten up toddler Tess? As much as I could hate her, she was my sister. “I think the worst time was the last time. I was five and we were at a party. I had a big parka on because it was cold, New Year’s eve. My dad got totally wasted and I think the fireworks set him off. He picked me up and started swinging me around. I remember I felt so happy. Then he,” I paused, almost choking. “He threw me into the pool. It was ice cold and my clothes pulled me down, it was kind of dramatic, seeing the black sky erupt into flashes of red and blue and purple before I blacked out. When I woke up a few days later my mom was taking a swig out of a canteen and my dad was in jail. Ever since then she’s been a lush and he's been an in and out felon.” I paused; it was a lot to take in, but I felt like it explained a lot too. Why I had trust issues. Why I tensed every time someone yelled, or why I flinched when I was touched.