So It's gonna be forever
Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over
If the high was worth the pain
Got a long list of ex-lovers
They will tell you I'm insane
'Cause you know I love the players
And you love the game
-Blank Space, Taylor Swift
15| Evelyn
Evelyn thought it would not be that hard to find a specific room in a mansion-like house. She didn't know that the house had an opening in the middle of a garden and there were two different houses on two sides. This house was huge and so was the garden. It even had a swimming pool.
"So, umm," She said and halted on her steps as she ended up in front of the garden again. The building that they were currently in, had at least twenty rooms and she had tried to check every single one of them that could possibly be Mason's room. It was startling when she ended up in a storeroom and a broomstick fell on her head.
Mason, the jerk was enjoying it very much and hadn't said a word. He was silently following her everywhere she was going. Would giving a hint hurt that much?
She blew air through her nose and started walking towards the other building. Mason was humming under his breath. Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. Reaching the building she made her way upstairs without wasting any time. Getting to the first floor, she walked and opened the second room's door, just out of intuition.
Mason said something under his breath.
The room was painted white, there was a bed in the middle and a study table, a closet and when Evelyn turned she gasped. There was a built-in bookshelf attached to the right wall of the room. It had taken the whole wall and there were at least 500 and maybe more books. She closed the door instantly.
"I don't know whose room that is but definitely not yours." She said and turned. Mason looked like he wasn't impressed.
"I thought you know me enough." He shook his head in disappointment and opened the door and stepped inside.
Evelyn couldn't quite believe it. "Oh, c'mon. Welcome to my kingdom."
"You never told me, you sleep in a library," Evelyn said as she stepped inside. Then she looked at her right side and felt pulled towards the bookshelf. It was working like a magnet. She wasted no time to walk towards it to take a close look.
"Why, would that make you sleep with me?" Mason replied from behind and Evelyn picked up a book from the shelf and threw it at him. He ducked right in time and the book landed on the bed.
"One minute in my room and she is already throwing my book," Mason said to the air and he was hit by a book this time.
"Because I am awesome and you are a jerk." Evelyn reasoned as she took a look at heaven in front of her.
The shelf that she was facing held nonfiction books, so she walked and moved to the other part and she spotted the fictions.
The Lord of the rings, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Kane Chronicles, Hunger Games, The Giver, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Maze Runner, and lots were neatly arranged. Then she spotted the classics, Charles Dickens, Tom Sawyer, Dan Brown, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Shakespeare. He had everything, from Issac Asimov to John Green, Jules Verne to Jeff Kinney. Letting out a breath she looked up and saw the piles of comics.
Blast him.
Evelyn felt jealous of him more than anything. A few seconds later she spotted Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries and she narrowed her eyes.
"That's Mallory's section if you were wondering," Mason's voice pulled her out of the thoughts she was having.
"Are you sure you didn't read those?" Evelyn raised a brow.
"Why would I read girly books?" Mason said with a flat tone.
"I don't believe you," Evelyn looked back at the shelf. There were only three books of the series on the shelf and the others were missing. There were also The Selection and Mortal Instruments in the same section.
"Since when do you believe me?" Mason replied. Evelyn looked back and Mason was lending out clothes. He had vanished and returned in the meantime Evelyn was busy checking out books. She hadn't even realized. "I didn't wanna disturb you but you have to change. Here are Mallory's clothes."
Evelyn took the jeans and t-shirt from his hand. Looking at them, Evelyn did a measure. Mason spoke for her.
"Those are not gonna fit." He said. Evelyn could feel the perks of being five feet eight.
He opened his closet and brought out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and nudged them towards Evelyn.
"Never." Evelyn shook her head.
"These are new, I swear," Mason said.
"These are your clothes." She said, "I am never gonna-" She was halfway through when her nose prickled and she let out a sneeze.
Mason was looking at her with an amused look.
"Argh!" She groaned and took the clothes and Mason showed her the ensuite. Then he left.
Evelyn stripped out of her clothes and took a quick shower. Wiping again, she slipped into the clothes. The sweatshirt was over-sized and so were the pants. So she had to fold up the sleeves and the pant at the bottom. She got out of the washroom. As she wiped her hair vigorously, she looked at the books with greed.
Just you wait, Stewart. I am gonna steal all your books.
"Hey, you can borrow anytime you want to," Evelyn turned back and Mason was standing there with his hands stuffed in his pockets of sweatpants, his hair tousled. He was wearing a dark blue tee meant he had changed in the meantime too. His eyes look bluer than before.
Their eyes met for a second. But Mason quickly looked away running a hand through his hair.
"So I guess, it's time we have some snacks." He said turning his back towards her and walking out. Evelyn followed. "Sure."
Her stomach rumbled in agreement and Evelyn remembered having no breakfast and having only fries at school.
As they made way to the dining hall, Evelyn said, "Thanks for letting me stay by the way."
"I thought thank yous don't exist among friends." He said looking back at her and smiling slightly.
They sat down. Jasmine served the meal. When Mason said snacks, she actually thought about snacks. She didn't think of a bowl of spaghetti dripping in homemade marinara sauce, with a hint of olive oil and cheese. Her mouth watered at the sight and unlike any time, Evelyn actually ate. The stomach was not in knots thankfully.
"You are actually eating today, whoa!" Evelyn glanced at him. There was food at the corner of his lips.
"I am not a robot. I am a human being. I need to eat to live," Evelyn said mocking him and stuffed more food inside her mouth.
"I thought you live by air," Mason replied and Evelyn rolled her eyes. He laughed a little.
Both of them turned quiet as they had nothing else to talk about.
"Mason!" They heard a squeal and as Mason heard his name, he stuffed his mouth with noodles quickly. Evelyn didn't realize what was wrong. Seconds later, she understood when a startled Jack stood a foot away from her.
"Evelyn and Mason in the dining. E-A-T-I-N-G!" Jack said and Evelyn rolled her eyes.
"What brought you here?" Jack said as he plopped down on a chair next to Evelyn.
"ghhk kjks." Evelyn said with a mouthful and Mason nodded.
"Honestly guys, I don't know what ghhk is but wait-" He said and narrowed his eyes looking at Evelyn. "Why are you wearing Mason's clothes?"
Evelyn became self-conscious and looked down at the clothes and put some more food in her mouth. "Did you guys already...Oh My GOD!"Jack's voice trailed off.
Mason choked on his food in reply and Evelyn coughed completely forgetting she had food inside her mouth. Jack patted on her back. In the meantime, Jasmine came to Mason's rescue and gave him a glass of water that he drained in a second.
Slamming the glass on the table, Mason stood up. "You!"
Jack let out a girly scream and ran and Mason tried to follow him. He bumped on a chair and then cursed. Shaking his head he followed Jack. Evelyn saw it all while cooling herself.
Jack and his foul assumptions.
Evelyn shook her head and pushed the plate of food away and tried to find out where the boys had disappeared. Jack was cornered in a room and Mason standing a few feet away from him while rolling up his sleeves.
"Hold him there. I am gonna be the first one hitting." She said as she stepped inside.
"Guys, guys," Jack said throwing his hands in the air, "I was just kidding. Why so serious?"
Evelyn narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "The way you two are glaring at me, I feel really bad for your chil-"Jack covered his mouth. Mason made a sound at the back of his throat.
"WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO SAY?" He growled.
"Nothing, nothing. Absolutely nothing." Jack squealed and ducked covering his face with his hands.
Evelyn really wanted to hit him if he actually wanted to say 'children'.
"So umm, guys," Jack said peeking through his fingers. "I actually bought a game."
"Oh, you did, did you?" Mason took a step forward and Jack took one step back.
"You know I was expecting to play it with you but as Evelyn is here, we can all play." He suggested.
Mason stroked his chin. Looking back at Evelyn he asked, "What do you think?"
There was something about the way Mason looked at her got Evelyn thinking something was brewing inside his head. Evelyn narrowed her eyes. Mason nodded shaking his head as little as possible.
Oh, time for sweet sweet revenge. She grinned.
"Oh sure. I would love to play Jack." She said sweetly batting her eyelashes and Jack stood up straight dropping his hands. Seeing the coast clear, he came out of the corner and grinned at them.
"Let's play guys."
• • •
"Damn you, Mason! Damn! Fudge! What the hell!" Jack kept screaming at the top of his lungs as he played. His car was bumped by Mason's again and this time Jack's lifeline was over. His car crashed and he lost the game.
"Damn you!" He said again. Mason leaned his back on the sofa and looked back at Evelyn. He raised his palm and Evelyn gave back a high-five.
"What! You guys plotted against me!" Jack yelled.
"Duh." Mason stood up. "Hey, I am gonna see if we have something to eat."
He disappeared out of the room. Evelyn stretched her limbs. It was not really comfortable to sit with two huge guys on one sofa. Moments later, she felt Jack scooting closer.
"So, Evelyn," Jack said smiling. Evelyn narrowed her eyes.
"I saw you were really good at this." He said and pointed towards the game. Evelyn had played with the computer before Jack and Mason started, to make Jack believe she could actually play. He set her up in beginners and she won without batting an eye.
"Better than you actually." She flipped her hair.
"So you think you are gonna win?" He asked.
"Hmm," Evelyn thought for a second. For a guy, Jack was really bad at this, and Mason on the other hand as expected, Mr.Perfect.
"Yep, easily." She waved on the air.
"Don't you think you should save your best for the last? I mean, you saw that Mason is really competitive in this and he loves to win. But I got a feeling, he will let you win easily. So I was saying, if you let me win this one, we will all have a fair chance to final."
Evelyn raised her eyebrow. Oh, so that's what you thinking.
"Why don't we play and find out?" She said and looked away.
"Pretty pleeeease, Evelyn?" He gave her the best puppy eyes.
Evelyn smiled back. "What am I gonna get in return?"
"I will give you free chocolate." Jack thought for a moment and said.
"Do you have one now?" She asked knowing all too well that Jack always had food with him in his pockets.
His face grimaced for a second. Sighing, he stuffed his hand inside a pocket and brought out a Kitkat. Evelyn snatched it right away. "It's the last one I had." He said looking at it.
"Oh," She said and tore the packet away and had a bite, "Don't worry, I will let you win easily."
"Yes and after that," Jack rubbed his hand together and Evelyn saw an evil glint in his eyes.
You don't know me yet, Jackie Chan. She smiled and finished her chocolate.
Mason returned after a short while with a big bowl filled with chips and by that time Evelyn was sure his house was a food haven.
The game started, it was Evelyn vs Jack. Evelyn was sitting in the middle of the couch with Mason on her one side and Jack on the other.
Jack looked at her for the last time and winked. Evelyn returned it with a smile.
Fifteen seconds into the game, Evelyn had already bumped Jack's car three times.
"What is this?!" Jack screamed as he tried to control his car. Evelyn was driving on happily. The thing with the game was when her car was turning right, she was turning right herself and when the car was turning left she was tilting left.
She bumped into Mason quite a few times. Once, she even jabbed her elbow in his stomach.
"Umm, be careful," Mason whispered to her ear and he was damn close. A shiver went down her body and she lost control for a while, cost her a lifeline.
"What are you doing?" She asked under her breath.
"What? Me? I am on your side." Mason replied again whispering behind her.
"Doesn't seem so." She said and sucked in a breath and Jack's car was nearly beside her when she tilted left and jabbed Jack this time.
"What the-" He lost control. "This isn't fair!"Jack complained.
"Who says what." Mason said from the side, "Fair game and you had never sat in one sentence ever."
Evelyn smiled. Just one lap left and she will win easily. The next time Jack was close to her car, she stomped on his foot.
"You are cheating!" He screamed.
"Says Jack." She said and she hit the finish line. The screen showed she was the winner. Turning around she threw her hands around, "Yes!"
She looked at Mason who was smiling at her, "Yes, you won."
She grinned back and put her hands for a five, he returned right away.
"Now will you do me a favor and get off my lap?" Mason asked then and Evelyn looked at her position. She was sitting on his left leg. She quickly jumped down on the sofa.
As Evelyn looked away she felt her cheeks getting hotter. She glanced at Jack who was helping himself with the chips.
Eyeing them he said, "I am just gonna pretend, I didn't see anything." He said quietly and stuffed more chips. Evelyn's blush deepened.
Oh to hell with these cheeks.
"No, you didn't. Because nothing happened," Mason said and grabbed the controller.
Evelyn looked back at him. "So Evelyn," He said.
"I see you are such a good player. This is gonna be an interesting match." Mason said smirking.
She flipped her hair. " Game on, Stewart."
"Cause you know I love the players and you love the game." Sang Jack with a mouthful.
And the game began.
****
Edited.