Page 26 of Please Hate Me

“As you know, we—“ I gestured to Lucian, Cameron, and myself, “are polyamorous. And you—” I pointed to Mason, “are also polyamorous…. I think.”

She nodded as she picked open the spring roll, pulling out tiny pieces of carrot and eating each one individually.

“And I would like to propose a merger of our relationships.” I laced my fingers for dramatic effect.

Sebastian arched an eyebrow, shooting an alarmed glance at Lucian. “A…merger?”

Not the best choice of words—I sounded like one of the stuffy old dudes from my business meetings. But it was too late to take anything back, so I figured I might as well buckle down. “A merger. You like Mason, we like Mason—“

“Speak for yourself.” Lucian scoffed.

I took a deep breath and prepared to continue. “And, since Sebby is going to be away for work most of the time—“

“Wait—you travel for work?” Mason looked at Sebastian.

He placed a hand on his neck, sheepishly looking down at his plate. “I uh… yeah. On top of my current investigation, I’m now in a position where I need to be in a different state for about half the week.”

“Oh.”That one word fell from Mason’s lips with such sadness that I could feel my heart breaking for her.

“Mason has always gotten kind of... gloomy when she’s alone.” That was putting it lightly. Leaving Mason alone for too long was a recipe for a suicide attempt. I would never say that out loud, of course, but... unfortunately, it was true.

Mason had always been tough on herself. She was a model student in high school. She skipped several grades when she and her mom moved to the United States because she was just that far ahead of everyone else academically. She played in the marching band and volunteered as a tutor. But Mason never allowed herself to celebrate any of her accomplishments. She expected herself to be the best and punished herself for any less.

Lucian and I were able to ground her sometimes, though. We helped her put a little less pressure on herself.

Until Lucian got caught with pot in his locker at school. His father was running for office at the time, and if Lucian’s drug use had attracted unwanted media attention, he probably would’ve been disowned. I wanted to help him, but my grades weren’t good enough to get into college with something like that on my record. Mason’s situation was different. Her mother was too drunk to care if she got suspended, and with her stellar record, we figured she’d get off with a tap on the wrist. So, she “confessed“ to stashing the drugs in his locker.

And they expelled her.

We were shocked. Lucian was furious. Several of his friends from the football team had to physically hold him back from marching down to the office and fist fighting the principal. But things went from bad to worse after school ended that day.

Lucian and I took Mason home to make sure she was okay, though she was remarkably calm considering the situation. We walked her to the door. Lucian tried to be a gentleman and openit for her, but the key got stuck in the lock. Then, we noticed the note:

Mason,

Got a call. They said you’re expelled. I knew you’d never amount to anything.

Your delinquent ass is gonna have to find a new place to sleep.

— Holly

I was horrified. How could her mother do something like this?

Lucian nearly broke down the door, shouting at Holly to come outside and explain herself. But Mason placed a hand on his arm and gently pulled him away.

“Guys, it’s okay,”she assured us with a smile.“I have a plan.”

Unfortunately, her “plan” involved swallowing her entire bottle of antidepressants and jumping off a bridge. From that moment on, Mason wasn’t allowed to be alone. If Lucian and I were both busy, she’d hang out with my moms or Lucian’s sister, Leona.

Nearly a decade had passed since then, but I still worried about her being left alone. Especially now, with so much turmoil in her life.

“So, I would like to suggest that Mason join us.” My voice raised in pitch as everyone turned to stare at me.

Mason choked, and Sebastian rushed to her side, patting her on the back.

“What the fuck? Uh, no.” Lucian said, staring me down. I expected resistance from him, but mostly because he refused to admit he still liked Mason.

He continued, “She’s a terrible, vindictive, flighty bitch, but I can ignore that.”

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