Dissonance | ✓

14 | Timing

     I missed Mason. As strange as it seemed, I pined for him: his forceful kisses; his strong grip around my waist. After the break I had, what I needed was to be wanted—amorously.

Luckily enough, Mason ended up texting me that evening.

     Mason: welcome back. come over in 10

      Colleen: thanks seeya soon.

     Hurriedly, I yanked on a pair of shorts in place of the sweatpants I had on, grabbed my keys off the nightstand and skipped out of the room.

     As I crossed the campus, I glanced at the store room. Its perimeter was bordered with red and white-striped tape, with a sign on the door that readout of bounds'. My stomach twisted into a knot, worry ensuing in me. I quickly returned my attention to the path and my stomach slowly untangled itself. No way, was I about to allow empty fear to bring me down.

     I lingered around the back of Mason's building (girls were restricted from entering. Even being caught around the building would have landed me in trouble) until he appeared from around the corner.

     "Hey," he kissed my cheek, causing me to blush.

     "Hi. I missed you," I greeted back.

     "Of course, babe," Mason's eyes wandered all over my body. "You look better than before the break. Why don't we head up to my room, huh? I got a way inside they won't see us."

     I eagerly nodded my head. Mason had a way of making my heart pound against its prison walls, whether it be by the flick of his chestnut hair, the dazzle in his eyes, or his authoritative demands. I was dying to touch his lips with mine.

     We tiptoed up the abandoned set of emergency stairs, to not draw attention from supervisors. I struggled to hide my huffing and puffing from the climb when we got to the door to the fourth floor. My hand reached for its copper knob when Mason pulled it back. Instead, he opened it and poked his head into the hallway, before looking over his shoulder and beckoning me to follow.

     Safely in his room, Mason flicked on a desk lamp. Its dim light only added to the burning desire I had to pull my shirt off.

     "Now, where were we?" Mason brought me to him with one swift pull of his arm on my hip. I rested a hand on his cheek and grazed his plump lips delicately, savoring those second before it turned forceful.

     His fingers twisted in my hair.

     A warm tongue pressed against my own.

     I felt teeth on the verge of piercing the skin on my neck.

     Albeit difficult, I swallowed a moan.

     UMPH! and we collapsed onto the bed, still entwined.

     Mason pulled away. My lips felt incomplete with his on them. I looked up at Mason: his eyes were dark and full of intensity. I felt a twinge of fear because I had never seen him so determined. Not even in a basketball match.

     A lecherous smile crept upon his face as Mason drew his hands up my stomach.

     I stiffened. "Isn't it...too soon for this?"

     The sun's almost down, it can't be." He unclasped the hooks of my bra. Of course, I was used to this sort of situation, and I supposed this was to be expected when Mason took me up with him in the first place, but something was undeniably wrong.

     "I mean in our relationship," I clarified, "Mas, I'm not comfortable with this. Just stop, okay?"

     He stared at me, annoyance evident in his eyes, but flopped down beside me, joggling the bed. "Fine. Next time." I repressed a sharp 'no' from escaping my mouth. We were somewhat a couple, and Mason could cut diamonds with his jawline and break bricks over his abs. There was no superficial reason why I could not go further with him. Probably because I had only ever gone further with one guy, or because Mason was not the person I felt ready to go further with again (I was a tease, not a slut). Either way, it was not happening.

     Period.

     "When you leave, though, make sure nobody sees you," Mason hushed.

     I fixed my clothes. "Because of supervisors? I get it."

     "Them, too, but I don't want people to see you..." his pause made me uneasy. "...around me."

     I bit my tongue, pondering over why he wanted that. Finally, I asked: "Why's that?"

     "I know you've been reading The Word, so you can guess from there."

     I got this sinking feeling when it clicked in my head; Mason did not like the reputation The Word gave me, and he was afraid of it hurting his own. What a jerk!

     "So...what I'm hearing is that you care more about what people think?" I said impudently.

     "Don't start, Colleen," he sighed, springing off the bed. "you know how things get when a guy like me gets in The Word. It's ugly. When things cool down, we'll be the same again. Timing." 

     I ignored his conceit and considered what he said. Maybe Mason was right; if this was like any other gossip circulatory system I had been exposed to in past schools, the rumors would fade fast—as long as nothing else decided to pop up.

     "Okay, I get it. I'll take the same way out, then."

∞

     I, along with some other girls, were filing into the dormitory just before curfew. Miss. Crawford had a clipboard in hand to check off the students entering. The line moved along fast, and soon I was next. When her abnormally glaring eyes landed on me, Miss. Crawford checked my name off, but scribbled additional notes beside it.

     She pulled me aside. "Don't make a habit of coming late." Her sharp tone shook me, to say the least. Her usual welcoming demeanor must fade during the course of the day. So, I simply nodded my head and got into an elevator. It hummed as it lugged on. With each ding of the passing floors, my anxiety grew. Surely I was not in trouble for being in Mason's dorm: nobody saw me; but, to be honest, I was not very surprised that I was getting in trouble so soon. I had hoped that Ravine would have been my chance to wipe the slate clean, start afresh—well, almost afresh—and make a good name for Colleen Baker. Anyhow, if I did land into trouble, my parents (scratch that, one parent and a 'guardian'?) would have talked their way out of me being punished harshly. 

     The doors slowly parted at the third floor. I was, once again, welcomed by the sniggers of girls gossiping in bands.

     "I heard she was with Josh at a McLaren club," one hissed.

     "Same!" another exclaimed in a hushed voice. "I heard they did it all break."

     I cleared my throat to announce my presence. "You know, if you wanna talk shit about somebody, it's probably best you don't do it right in front of their door?" I gestured my to my dorm, but the girls just rolled their eyes.

     "For once, it's not about you," retorted a short blond.

     "Yeah," one of the girls agreed. "It's Rana." Rana's name came out like poison. "Rana?" I repeated. "Yes, dumbass. She's a hoe. You'd know about that." The girl smirked. I flipped them off and walked into my dorm.

 "Miranda, I don't want to keep anything from you so I want you to know that I heard that Rana and Josh—" I blurted. But she was not paying attention to me.

I failed to see what she was doing. And who she was doing it with. "Uh...h-hi, Colleen." Josh said sheepishly.