The Bad Boy and The New Girl

Chapter 4

The rest of English class was pretty uneventful. I didn't speak to Mason for its duration, but every now and then I would catch him out of the corner of my eye. He was always slouching in his seat, either staring blankly with his arms folded or tapping out a rhythm with his fingers on his desk or texting under the table. I was getting the impression that he wasn't much of a star student. 

As soon as the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson, I packed up my bag and went to speak to Mr Davidson. I noticed Mason leave the room.

"Excuse me, sir, I just wanted to apologise for what happened earlier. I didn't mean to cause any disruption to the class."

He chuckled.

"Nonsense, Maddie! That was not your fault, at all. Don't blame yourself. Mason can be a...difficult student at times. This was one of those times." He paused for a moment, before adding, "Look, Maddie. You seem like a smart girl. It's only your first lesson here and I could already see how well you were engaging with the work."

I smiled. He lowered his voice and continued. 

"I just want you to be careful about who you choose to spend time with. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Mason is...notorious in Bluedale for being a troublemaker. He's a bad influence and I wouldn't want to see someone with your potential being held back by someone like him. Now, of course, you make your own decisions about how you choose to live your life and I'm not going to stand here and tell you what you should and shouldn't do. But that's just what I would recommend with your best interests at heart. Keep that in mind."

"Okay," I nodded, trying to process what he'd just told me, "erm, well...have a nice day!"

With that, I turned and left the classroom. As I pulled open the door I saw Mason talking with the guys I'd assumed were his friends. They stood in a group in front of the door to the stairwell just ahead of me. 

Mason looked up when I opened the door, and our eyes met for the briefest moment before I quickly turned and started walking down the hallway. 

"Hey, Maddie, wait up!" he called and I could hear him jogging after me as I speed-walked away. I didn't turn back to look at him, just kept walking. He soon fell into step beside me, easily matching my pace.

"What's the rush? Where are you going?" he asked.

"I have French," I replied bluntly. I didn't want to talk to him right now after what he'd just done in class.

"Okay, I'll walk with yo-"

"I'm good, thanks," I cut him off.

"Maddie, come on, I'm sorry about what happened in there," he said, reaching his hand out to gently touch my forearm.

I immediately stopped walking and yanked my arm away from his grip, more flinchingly than I had intended. 

"Maddie..." he whispered, sounding hurt.

Well, I guess we were talking now.

"You can't just do that, Mason!" I exclaimed exasperatedly. "You can't just attack people if they do something you don't like!"

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just...I knew how nervous you were about starting a new school and meeting everyone and 'first impressions' and..and I just lost it when I heard him say that. I'm sorry, Maddie. I really am."

I didn't say anything. I just stared up at him, my eyes meeting his intense hazel ones. 

"I shouldn't have gone after him like that. I know. I'm working on it...you know, not doing things like that but...I don't know. I just got so mad." He looked away, rubbing his lip with his thumb. He sounded genuine and sincere.