The Many Loves of Samantha Greene

4 | Mason: The Beginning

    But on the other hand, he was awfully attractive for a sophomore in high school, and the hormonal teenage girl inside of me was begging me to say yes.

    "Sure, why not?" I answered, hoping that my inner dialogue hadn't made an extended awkward silence.

    "Great." He smiled in what appeared to be a genuine way. "We can go to dinner if that works for you...say, Friday night?"

    "I would love that." I smiled back, "I'll see you then."

<><><>

    "Another boy?"

    "Dad, it's been like a month since things ended with the last one."

    I could hear my mother laughing from across the kitchen as she ate her breakfast. It was Saturday morning, the day after my first date with Mason, and it appeared that my mother had conveniently forgotten to tell my father about my weekend plans.

    "Olivia, did you know about this?" My dad asked, walking over to his wife and leaving me to continue slicing grapefruit. "Did you know our daughter is dating another guy?"

    My mother looked up with a look of pure innocence, causing me to giggle.

    "Sweetheart, Samantha's a big girl now. She can date whomever she chooses." She turned her attention towards me, "As long as she chooses wisely."

    I nodded seriously as the front door opened loudly from the other side of the house.

    My parents both looked at the clock by the stove and shrugged, unsure of who would be visiting so early in the morning.

    Three pairs of footsteps could be heard walking through the house until they reached the kitchen, revealing the Ward family waltzing in.

    "Hey guys." Uncle Patrick, Jessica's father, grinned as he opened our fridge. "Anything good to eat in the Carter home today?"

    My mother rolled her eyes as she hugged Emma, Jessica's mother and her long-time best friend.

    "Eat whatever you want Patrick."

    "That's what I like to hear."

    Jessica came walking in last, and when she saw me she ran up to me, squealing excitedly.

    "So how was the date with Mason last night?" She asked, sitting down next to me at the kitchen counter. "Did he hold your hand? Did he hug you? Did you kiss?"

    "The answer had better be "no" to all three of those things." My father muttered.

    "Let's go up to my room." I said to Jess, wanting desperately to get away from my parents so I could give her the full scoop. I didn't have a wide frame of reference, but as far as I was concerned, the date had gone exceptionally well.

    "So? I want every last detail. Don't leave anything out."

    I grinned sheepishly.

    "It went so well. I don't think that any date with Tyler went this well--"

    "As happy as I am to hear that, do not compare Mason to Tyler. That won't end well."

    "You're right." I nodded. "I'll just jump into the date."

<><><>

THE DAY BEFORE

    "You look great." Mason's first words when I walked over to the table caused me to blush an embarrassing shade of red, and I sat down at the chair he pulled out for me. "Like, really hot."

    "Thanks." I replied, scooting my chair in and trying not to sound like I thought so too; I had read multiple online articles about how confidence was not attractive to men. "You look great."

    Mason shrugged, smirking.

    "Comes with the territory." He laughed, and I decided not to try and figure out what that meant.

    The restaurant was nice, but not fancy; something that was appropriate for sixteen-year-olds on a first date. The wait staff seemed friendly enough, and there was nothing that I disliked about the place as a whole. I was still on edge about being out with a guy though, and the entire premise and recollection of what had happened with Tyler was enough to make me judge the entire place to no end.

"Are you alright?" Mason asked, looking at me with genuine concern. "You seem uncomfortable. Do you want me to get them to change the temperature or something?"

Another rich boy with influence. Harrison Wright, Mason's father, owned half of the town, most likely including this restaurant.

"No, I'm fine." I nodded, "I'm just nervous. My last date with a guy didn't go too well."

"Well, I'm not about to reveal a secret girlfriend to you, so don't sweat it." Mason laughed.

"How did you know about that?"

He raised his eyebrows at me.

"How did I know about that? Samantha, the entire school heard about you punching Tyler Vanzy in the face. It's insane and totally rad of you. I just happened to get the inside scoop on why you did it."

I shook my head, laughing a bit.

"I swear I'm not a violent person--"

"I didn't think you were! If I were in that position, I would have kicked him where it hurt." Mason grinned, "But I doubt I'll ever be in the position of having a guy reveal he's cheating on me."

I couldn't help but laugh, and the tension significantly lifted.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"Thanks?"

"For being so cool about everything."

Mason reached across the table and took my hand.

"You're a special girl, and you deserve the world. Don't settle for anything less."

The rest of the dinner went smoothly, with jokes and laughter and random cute lines from him. I could see the driver pulling up outside to take me home just as Mason handed the check back to the waiter.

"I had a wonderful time." I said as we stood to walk out of the restaurant. "Thank you for being such a gentleman."

"It was my pleasure." He replied, his hand slipping into mine. "I'm just glad I got to spend the night with you."

I sincerely hoped the driver wasn't looking as he leaned down and kissed me on the curb outside of the restaurant, his face lit up by the fluorescent lights shining down. His lips tasted like the chocolate from dessert mixed with the smell of mint from his cologne. I kissed him back, unsure of exactly what I was doing, and we broke apart after a short honk could be heard from the driver.

    "I'll see you later." He said, kissing my hand as I walked off and got into the limo. I watched him as we began to drive away, waving at me like a child on Christmas.

    "I'm assuming I should keep quiet about that stunt to Mr. Carter?"

    Mr. Ferris had been our family's driver since before I was born, and I rolled my eyes at his comment.

    "Don't make me close the partition on you." I warned, laughing giddily at what had just happened.

    I had had my first kiss. My first kiss. I was sixteen years old and had had my very first kiss.

    I hoped it was with a boy I would be proud of.

A/N: I loved writing this chapter honestly because in the next chapter I get to crush all the happiness, and I'm pretty sure that's what being an author is about.

Also! I'm going to be on vacation this week to celebrate my graduation! So if an update is late/missed between today and next Wednesday, that's why!

-Katherine