"What?"
"I'm not repeating myself for the third-time USA."
I lifted one hand to the air in excitement.
"You're being serious?"
Molly shrugged and fell backwards onto her bed.
"As serious as I, Molly Colton, can be."
My face split into a grin and I squealed. "Oh my God, you're being serious. London. We're going to London! This weekend. That's in-"
"Two days." Molly finished, eyeing me from the bed with dry amusement. "You're not going to faint, are you?"
"Why are you only telling me this now?" I asked, unable to hide the manic grin on my face.
Molly shifted upwards and started to tug out her dark ponytail. "Well originally, we weren't going to tell you. You know, to make it a surprise and all. But then Mason said that you don't like surprises-"
"He did?" I interrupted.
Molly narrowed her eyes. "Was he wrong? Because if he ruined the epic plan I had-"
"No he was right." I laughed. 'I'm just surprised that he remembered."
I didn't remember how the topic had come up, but during the flight over, I had mentioned to Mason that I didn't like surprises. The fact that he had heard and remembered that was slightly astounding to me.
Assured, Molly leant back against the wall, her blue eyes meeting my own. "Okay good. So, we're leaving on Friday right after school-"
I frowned, sitting down on my own bed. "Are we allowed to just leave?"
Molly nodded. "Yeah, anyone is free to leave the campus after two on a Friday. We call them weekend leaves. We have to be back at school on the Sunday night before eight because that's when the leave ends. So, we'll only be in London for two nights but-"
"It's perfect." I interrupted with a grin. "Thank you."
Molly returned my smile. "No problem. Anyway, it's about time you saw something outside of these prestigious gates."
I smiled again as excitement pulsed throughout my body, unable to believe that in two days, I'd be in London, a city I'd only dreamed of seeing since I was a child.
~~~
"Ow... ow! You guys are crushing me! Mason... get... off!" I gave him a hard push, hoping to deflect some of his weight off of my own body.
Mason cursed. "Rose. Push me into this door handle one more time and I'll sit on you."
"You're saying that like you aren't already." I grumbled, rubbing at my dead arm.
JT chuckled on my right and I narrowed my eyes before swiftly elbowing him in the side.
He let out a yelp of surprise before rubbing his injured ribs. "What the hell was that for?"
I shot him an accusing look. "Mason's not the only one crushing me. I think you've dislocated my shoulder."
I heard Mason mutter something about being dramatic but I chose to ignore him.
JT rolled his eyes. "It's not our fault that these roads are so windy." He smiled then. "They've got more curves in them than-"
"Say the Kardashians and I'll kick you." Molly interrupted from opposite JT, sending him a warning glare.
JT threw her a smug smile. "I was actually going to say your mother."
Molly growled and launched herself on top of JT. The action took us all by surprise, especially JT who had only had time to raise his hands to Molly's waist before she began to effectively strangle him.
I would have laughed at the sight of JT's horrified face and bulging eyes, though the impact of Molly's landing crushed my right leg and arm, plastering them to the seat underneath me, and so I let out a moan of pain.
I groaned, trying to disengage my severed limbs. Mason chuckled as he watched me try to get free and I shot him a flat look.
"C'mon Jake, say it again." Molly taunted from beside me, her eyes alight with amusement and something that wasn't entirely sane.
"You didn't... let me... finish!" JT choked out.
Molly pursed her lips decidedly before loosening her grip on his throat. JT sucked in a large gulp of air before looking up at Molly with innocent eyes.
As he opened his mouth however, his gaze turned mischievous.
"I was going to say your mother and your sister." He flashed her a cocky grin. "How is Soph? Still modelling? Still looking hot as hell-"
His words were cut off by Molly's hands wrapping around his throat again, and I sighed, leaning my head back against the seat.
JT could have freed both himself and my two trapped limbs. Idiot
And why was I crushed against my seat between Mason, JT- and now Molly?
Because she thought it would be fun to travel up to London all together in one taxi.
To be fair, the taxi could hold six people, as the back was made up of three seats facing another three seats- however what wasn't taken into consideration was the size of the guys in the taxi with us.
Mason, JT and Chris could easily take up two seats, and their legs could nearly reach the opposite seats without even having to stretch them out.
Thus, it was decided that Chris would sit with two girls on one row of seats because he was the bulkiest of the boys, while I unfortunately got stuck in the middle of JT and Mason.
I groaned again when I began to lose the feeling in my arm. "Molly, get off!"
With her hands still wrapped around JT's neck, she spoke without turning to face me.
"Not until this idiot apologizes."
"That's never going to happen." I exclaimed in irritation, trying to yank my leg out from under hers.
JT smirked, and I wondered if Molly's strangling was even having an effect on him.
"She's right." JT stated.
Molly's eyes narrowed, before planting herself more firmly on top of him, and inadvertently, myself.
"Then we're going to be here for a while."
I moaned and turned to Mason.
"Help me." I pleaded with a frown.
Mason glanced down at me, and a smirk pulled at his lips. "And ruin my enjoyment?"
I narrowed my eyes. "You're sadistic."
He shrugged. "Not the first time you've said that to me."
"Because it's not the first time you've acted like a complete di-"
"Not helping your case here." He interrupted, arrogantly leaning his head back against the seat and shutting his eyes.
I glared at him, before flinching at the pins and needles prickling through my limbs. While ineffectively tugging at my arm and leg, I stilled momentarily when an idea crossed my mind.
Looking up at Mason, I gave him a leveled stare. "You know, it's the least you could do after calling me a virgin in front of the entire school."
Yeah, I was guilt-tripping him. Sue me.
Mason's eyes met mine in surprise. He then frowned, before opening his mouth. "You know I-"
"Or after wetting me that day at school." I interrupted.
Mason opened his mouth in defense again but I beat him to it.
"Or how about that time when you called me a bitch? Or publically announced in the airport that I was a nymphomaniac? Or on the plane when I was drenched by an airhost that you provoked. Oh, and what about the creep that I was forced to sit next to because you-"
A small breath of air left my lips when out of nowhere, my entire body was pulled to the left by a pair of strong hands, and suddenly I was seated on top of Mason's lap, my limbs free, and my legs dangling over his knees.
For a second I was unable to react, my mind a little slow as I came to terms with the proximity of our bodies. I had never been this close to Mason, and it felt... weird.
He looked me in the eyes and I had to blink hard at the strong golden colour of his irises. The sun from the window lit up his features, and I knew then that I couldn't deny anymore that Mason was really good looking.
Briefly, I wondered if I ran my fingertips across the smooth indention of his cheek bone, would the skin be as soft as it looked?
I swallowed at the thought before quickly opening my mouth and forcing out any words that would lessen the awkwardness I was feeling.
"I didn't mean for you to entirely remove me from my seat, you know."
God, my voice sounded like I hadn't had any water in three days.
Mason shrugged under me, and I suddenly became aware of his one hand which was around my waist, while the other rested lightly on my jean clad thigh.
I felt a blush rise upon my cheeks and I quickly turned my head downwards. What the hell was wrong with me?
"Well, it shut you up didn't it?" Mason replied lowly.
I narrowed my eyes and opened my mouth- but was cut off by Chris's smug voice from across us.
"And here I thought Em and I were the only couple in this car."
His comment made everybody freeze, including Molly and JT, and I felt my entire body grow hot as Chris glanced amusedly between the four of us.
I glanced down at Mason, and was surprised to see him looking a little uncomfortable too. Mason Tanner. Uncomfortable. First time for everything.
His eyes met mine, and as I saw them start to take in my blushing cheeks, I quickly slid my body off his and back onto my seat. Molly was quick to follow, hopping off JT like he was fire, and throwing Chris an irritated look.
Silence filled the car. Mason sat still beside me, his body warm against my arm and thigh. JT hadn't said a word, but coughed awkwardly. Molly was staring out of the window, hiding behind a curtain of hair.
After a couple more minutes of overwhelming silence, Chris muttered to Emily, "Was it something I said?"
~~~
"We're going where?" I questioned, walking into the kitchen.
I had just finished setting my belongings in my room and then went to meet the others who were all gathered around the kitchen island, passing around a bag of chips.
The house we were staying in was seriously nice. It belonged to JT's aunt, who used the spacious apartment whenever she came into London for business. She had given him a spare set of keys, and said he was free to use it whenever, as long as he left it in the same shape he found it.
I would kill to own the apartment. It was based in central London, with large bay windows overlooking the busy city streets. There were three bedrooms, one containing a double bed, while the two others held single beds in them.
We eventually decided that Chris and Emily would take the double-bedded room, while Molly and I would take the two single rooms. Both JT and Mason were happy to take the two couches in the living room.
"Luminate." JT responded.
I raised an eyebrow. "And that is...?"
"It's a club." Molly answered, swinging around on the island chair. "It's a ten-minute walk away from here."
I took a seat next to Mason, who had both his forearms pressed against the counter.
"We're going to a club?" I asked casually.
Molly nodded. "Might as well. It's too late to do any real sight-seeing, and there is no way in hell that I'm sitting here all night."
JT rolled his eyes. "Plus, you're suffering from major alcohol withdrawals."
She made a face at him from across the table. "Says you. And I think it's time we show these two some real fun, they've been trapped in school for almost three weeks."
"Well, I'm keen." Emily interjected, grabbing a handful of chips, and Chris was quick to comply too.
JT shot Mason a smug look. "You sure you're going to be able to handle it? We're pretty hard-core."
Mason rolled his eyes. "What? You think American's don't party either?"
"Your drinking age is twenty-one." JT stated.
I shrugged. "And yours is eighteen. None of us are technically legal but it's not like that stops anyone anyway."
At home, parties were thrown nearly every weekend, and there was always a large amount of alcohol involved. I wasn't a stranger to parties. I had attended a few, and obviously gotten drunk, but I wouldn't call myself a party animal. Mason on the other hand...
JT shot me a look, his eyes glinting. "Speaking from experience Rose? You know, I can actually see it now."
I frowned as his gaze skimmed over my features.
"See what?"
"Your wild tendencies." He answered with a smirk, and I just rolled my eyes.
I heard Mason's quiet chuckle next to me, and for a second I wondered why he was laughing? Was it unbelievable to him that I was what JT had implied? Wild? Spontaneous?
Suddenly, I remembered being in the library with Mason, a month ago, and his words filtered through my head.
"You're not the most exciting person out there."
Surprisingly, the memory of his words stung, and it took me another second before I managed out a quiet laugh.
"Shut up JT." Molly then interjected. Glancing up at her, I saw that Molly's gaze was fixed on me. In the next moment however, she had broken eye contact and stood up.
"Okay it's settled. How about we leave in an hour?"
Everybody nodded in agreement and then Molly was at my side and dragging me out of my seat.
"What are we doing?" I asked in confusion.
She rolled her eyes. "Going to get ready, of course."
"Emily!" she called, glancing over her shoulder. "Come on. We've only got an hour to get Rose looking sexy as f-"
"Molly." I interrupted, throwing her a glare. Unintentionally my eyes snapped to Mason. He smirked from his seat, and I turned around feeling embarrassed.
"Oh relax." Molly said airily. "I'm not going to be putting you in a nude bodysuit."
"Though no one's objecting to that either." Mason quipped from across the room.
With a flushed face, I grabbed Molly's arm and marched the both of us out of the room. As I slammed the door behind us however, Mason's smirk and comment stayed in my mind, and for some reason, I felt flustered.
~~~
"It's really short Molly." I muttered warily, gauging my reflection in the mirror.
I attempted at pulling the fabric down but failed miserably as it refused to budge any lower than my mid-thigh.
"Well I didn't buy the dress for church." Molly responded.
I sighed and stared hard at my body, trying to appear confident. Right then, I didn't have enough to leave the room. Molly had lent me a dress to wear that evening, claiming that although mine were all 'nice', they weren't suited for the club we were going to.
Luminate was apparently a big deal in London, notoriously known for its events. The club was modern and elite, and the only reason we were going was because Chris and Molly's cousin had a shared ownership of it, allowing them free entrance. This also assisted in getting us past the bouncers, seeing as we were all underage.
The dress Molly had leant me was stunning, I would admit that. It was black, with a high, straight neckline. The dress was long sleeved, wrapping my arms in the soft black fabric until it reached my wrists. The back of the dress however was non-existent. It scooped low, exposing my entire back, and I swallowed uncomfortably at the thought of showing so much skin.
And, God, the shoes. After a lot of persuasion, Molly and Emily had forced me into a pair of ankle-breaking sparkly black heels, which were rounded at the toe.
They were beautiful, but five minutes in them already had my feet aching. Not to mention my lack of grace while attempting to walk in them.
I sighed again and Molly stood up, yanking me away from the mirror to face her, making me stumble into the process.
"Would you relax?" She exclaimed, her blue eyes turning upwards in annoyance.
"You look hot. So chill."
"She's right." Emily interjected, sliding a shimmery dress up her body. "You really do look hot."
"So why are you stressing out?" Molly questioned.
I gestured down to my body.
"Because I'm showing more skin than a prostitute." I exclaimed, very aware of the air caressing my bare back. "I don't think I'm confident enough to wear this."
Molly gave me a smile. "Then be confident. What's stopping you? Be confident knowing that you look good, and you know you look good because we've told you so. Who the hell cares what anyone else thinks."
I gave her a dry look. "I'm not really getting a choice, am I?"
Molly grinned. "Nope."
I rolled my eyes before heading over to grab my purse. "Okay fine." I grumbled. "But if I get mistaken for a hooker, it's on you."
Emily laughed and grabbed her own purse before exiting the room as it was time for us to meet the guys in the kitchen.
Molly rolled her eyes, and waited for me to leave the room before flicking off the lights.
"That's my dress you're calling hooker potential right now." She stated dryly.
I threw her a sideways grin. "Yeah well-"
My comment was cut short by JT's impatient voice. "Well finally. Always an honour to be fitted into your girls' schedules."
In an instant I felt my skin grow hot when all eyes landed on us.
I averted my own gaze downwards and resisted bending over to tug the hem of my dress down.
Molly was the opposite though. She confidently walked into the kitchen with a roll of her eyes, and I gratefully fell in step behind her, using her as a shield from the boys' gazes.
"Relax dad, we're here now."
JT shot her a glare before his eyes landed on me. They quickly took in my attire, and a smirk pulled up onto his features.
"Looking hot Rose."
My entire body flushed with embarrassment.
I squirmed as I tried to get out a coherent sentence, however when I finally did open my mouth, I was cut off by Mason who chose that moment to enter the room.
He walked in from the opposite door, his head tilted slightly down as he tugged on a sleek black jacket.
His blond hair was tussled and looked still slightly wet as though he'd just gotten out of the shower.
I took in his dark jeans, and long black sleeved shirt that hugged his stomach and chest under his jacket and swallowed uncomfortably.
"Hey, are the girls finished yet? Because-"
He stopped speaking when he saw that we were indeed all there.
"Well finally-"
Mason's sentence abruptly stopped for a second time when his eyes landed on me. His hand fell from his jacket, and I felt heat creep into my face as his intense gaze swept me over. Swept, more like raked.
His bright eyes slowly travelled down my body, taking in my curves, my hips, my thighs, right down to my sparkling heels, and then slowly climbing up my body again, skimming over my torso, my chest, before landing on my eyes again.
I was frozen, unable to move or speak, weak under the intensity of Mason's gaze.
What was he thinking? Did he think I looked nice? Was he approving of how I looked? Or did he-
Abruptly, Mason's eyes dropped from my own and something inside of me deflated. I sagged slightly, wounded at the quick disinterest that soon replaced his features.
"So we ready to head?" he questioned, looking in JT's direction.
I turned away from Mason, hoping to hide the hurt that I suddenly felt inside. Why was I feeling hurt anyway?
JT was quiet for a second, and I glanced up at him. He was looking at Mason weirdly, but before I had a second to question his features, he broke out into a grin and then nodded.
"Yes, let's go!"
We exited the apartment, and started making our way down the hallway towards the lift which would take us down to ground level.
I walked a little behind the others with my hands clasped around my purse, and my eyes focused on my heeled feet.
Why did I feel so... dejected? I didn't care about what Mason thought of me, nor did I care for his reaction.
I probably looked like a child dressing in adult clothes to Mason. I was nothing compared to the girls he had been with- all confident and tall with the faces of woman, some who probably were woman.
Suddenly I felt stupid. Stupid and childish and little. And exposed. I ground my teeth, tugging at the fabric on my thigh.
I desperately wanted to go back and change into something else. Anything else. I lifted my head, about to call Molly, when I saw Mason coming towards me, falling into step next to me.
I shut my mouth and then re-averted my gaze back down to my shoes.
"Is there a reason why you're walking so slowly?" Mason asked teasingly.
I felt a little wave of ease at his casual manner.
"The shoes." I replied, gesturing down at them with my chin. "Not in the mood to break my ankle."
That was a lie. But a good and passable one.
Mason chuckled. "Well maybe it's better if I stay close then."
I glanced up at him and found him smirking at me, his eyes holding mine.
I smiled slowly, liking the way that when he smirked, his eyes lit up with this mischievous glint. It reminded me of the picture I had seen of him as a boy, in the hallway that day at his house. It added to the carefree essence of Mason-
I stumbled forward suddenly, forgetting to watch my feet, and nearly would have face-planted into the carpet if Mason hadn't caught me.
We stopped walking and I threw him a sheepish, breathless smile.
"Thanks." I murmured, fleetingly glancing up at him.
I was then suddenly super aware of Mason's warm hands and how one was wrapped tightly around my upper arm while the other was planted firmly on my lower back. My bare lower back.
The heat of Mason's palm against my sensitive skin tightened something in my stomach, and I slowly dragged my gaze up to his face. His eyes lazily moved from the spot where his hand lay on my back, and came to a slow stop when reaching my eyes.
We stayed still, and I felt my chest rising slightly as I waited for him to say something.
His amber iris's searched around my face, looking for what, I don't know. All I could focus on was his palm burning a hole through my skin, and when he moved it, not away, but by drawing his fingers in so that they skated across my skin like little licks of fire before his hand ended up in a fist- it took everything in me not to move my body closer to his.
I swallowed, watching as Mason unhurriedly took his time to open his mouth and say, "No back?"
I was too wrapped up in something I couldn't explain to blush.
"It's Molly's dress." I uttered out.
Mason's eye flickered from my eyes, to my lips, to the place where his hand rested against my skin. Finally, his eyes landed on my face again. I watched him swallow, watched the way his throat moved and his jaw muscle flexed.
"It's a nice dress." He said in a low, complacent voice and then he gestured for us to carry on walking.
His hands abruptly left me, and I quickly hurried to follow him, my mind a mess of thoughts, and my heart fluttering underneath the skin-tight fabric.
~~~
Gem xxx