Grey 2 (PUBLISHED)

Chapter One

"Thinking about who?" I play dumb. When she raises her eyebrows and looks at me as if saying: You take me as a fool? I sigh and shrug. "How'd you know?"

She glances down and says, "You're playing with his charm."

I follow her eye trail and flush as red as my bikini top. "Oh."

She pauses and asks, "You want to talk about it?"

I scoff and look away. "For the hundredth time? No, thanks. I think I have the moment I realized I screwed him over down well enough." I stare at the cerulean eyes and imagine him throwing an inflated ball. My lips twitch, but I straighten my posture and sit up, clutching the arms of the wooden chair; she backs up and gives me another look that sends my stomach into a washing machine routine. "Plus, talking about it won't bring him back."

She opens her mouth, but is cut off when Mason pops up from the water. His cocoa eyes widen as he shakes his head, sending droplets of water to land on my heated legs. Landing his eyes on mine, I send him a soft smile, and he swims over with energy. I glance at Louise and lift an eyebrow, silently telling her to leave. She frowns deeply and clutches her floral dress. I widen my eyes and, muttering in Spanish, she hikes up her knee length dress and walks back into the house. I know she only wants to help me get through this painful process of starting over, minus... him, but no amount of hugs or cups of tea will get him out of my mind. Especially not if I can't even say his name.

"How long was that?" Mason asks, exiting the pool. He pulls his trunks down and pants for air subtly; I give him his glass of dripping lemonade and he plops into the chair next to me.

I check my watch and lean back in my seat, facing him with a wide smile. "Three minutes and forty-two seconds."

Out of boredom, he and I have been clocking how long he can stay underwater without passing out. The last time he passed three minutes, I had to revive him and almost had a heart attack. We could go down to the boardwalk or explore the city, but we have and now we are subdued to this childish game. I am so glad I brought him here, for the summer. He has been my rock through my time at campus after everything that happened. Apparently, he was awol during and before Christmas because he had to call his sister and meet up with her. I thought it was terribly sweet. And now he's here. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

"How you doing?" he asks in a weird tone after putting his glass down. He scrunches his eyebrows together and leans on his elbows as he looks at me. I wish I could see past those glasses he's slipped on.

"Fine, why?" I'm grateful for mine.

"You're playing with that charm," he says and nods at me, and it is then I realize I am playing with the charm. Again. In the small span of time when Louise caught me doing it. Why is it so easy for me to slip off into la-la-land and show when I've exited this plane? I should take it off and chuck it into the Atlantic Ocean. It'd be tremendous in my mission to move on. But I can't. I can't find it in me to do it, because it'd mean cutting my ties with him. And I'm just not ready for that. Not yet, at least...

"I am pathetic," I groan into my palms.

"You are not pathetic," he breathes around an air of bemusement. I face him and peek at his sparkling smile between my fingers. "You're just still hung up on him, it's natural... you loved him. And you don't get over someone you love quickly. It'll take time and trials and errors. You're human, Liv." His words offer a glimpse into the future, a future that stings when I realize it doesn't have him in it. But it is a future where I am not snapping at Louise or fidgeting like I have a bomb or lying awake thinking of lying on gravel, bleeding out. It's a future that is pleasant and meant for me. Safe and content.