The Bad Boy and The New Girl

Chapter 8

"Just here," I said as we pulled up alongside my house. Mason drove onto the end of the driveway and stopped in front of the gates. I quickly hopped out of the car to enter the password into the access keypad, then climbed back in as the gates began to slowly swing open, revealing the mansion and the grounds.

"Holy sh*t," Mason muttered under his breath as the car passed between the gates and travelled up the driveway. "This is your house?!"

"Yeah..." I replied awkwardly.

The car pulled to a stop and we both got out, then headed to the boot to retrieve our stuff. I pulled my keys out of my bag as we walked up the steps, then unlocked the huge double doors, pushed open one of them, and stepped into the foyer, holding the door open for Mason to walk through behind me. He stared, seemingly awestruck, around the room, his eyes sweeping over the grand double staircase with its ornate railings.

"Not too shabby," he joked, and I laughed softly. 

I walked through to the kitchen, and Mason followed behind me. I offered him a drink as I refilled my water bottle, then opened the fridge and grabbed a can of Coca Cola for him, as per his request, and a bag of dried apricots for me.

"Did you want anything to eat?" I offered, passing him the drink.

"Nah, I'm good, thanks," he politely declined. He opened the can with a satisfying pop, then raised it to his lips and took a sip. 

"Okay," I said, scooping up my stuff from the kitchen island, "so I was thinking we should go to my room-"

"So forward, Maddie!" he chuckled. I immediately whipped my head up to look at him. He was leaning forward, elbows on the counter, smirking at me. I blushed, suddenly flustered, as I realised what he was implying.

"Oh my god, I didn't mean-" I blurted out hurriedly.

He laughed, and said, "I'm just messing with you."

"I just meant to work on the project-"

"I know, I know. Sorry, it was a dumb joke," he apologised. 

I stopped rambling and looked straight at him for a moment as I caught my breath, then looked away shyly, shaking my head. 

"Yeah, of course," I mumbled with a nervous laugh, trying to brush it off. 

There was a brief moment of silence.

"So," I announced, probably a little too abruptly as I tried to change the subject, "we should get started."

He nodded in response, so I grabbed my stuff and headed out of the kitchen, Mason following behind me. The entire time we were walking I couldn't stop replaying what had just happened in my mind. Why was I so awkward?! I took a deep breath. Relax, Maddie. Stop thinking about it.

As we entered my room, I noticed that my desk was still in a complete mess from what I'd been doing the night before. My laptop sat in the centre, surrounded by a disorganised jumble of sheet music, chord sheets, music books, and stationery scattered across the tabletop.

I rolled my eyes and groaned, then dumped my stuff onto the floor and walked over to my desk.

"Sorry, I forgot I left it like this. Just give me a minute," I said, hurriedly gathering loose papers together to try and tidy up the desk.

"It's fine, you don't have to mess up what you were doing," Mason replied, as he walked over. I tapped the pile of papers in my hand against the desk to align them into a neater stack as Mason came up behind me, looking over my shoulder. I placed the pile back down on the desk and turned to face him. He was closer than I'd thought.