Page 103 of Escape Velocity
His mom smiles, a genuine one. She’s not judging him. She’s happy that he’s passionate about writing.
She sighs. “Well, I have to say I had my reservations, but hearing you speak about it like that makes me feel better about it. I’m proud of you, Mason.”
His chest lifts at the approval. It’s all he searches and aches for. To hear those words.
But he wants to ask why she cares so much about what he writes. What if he’s successful with it? And he is. Everyone is reading it.
“You sound a lot like me, Mason,” his dad days. “I felt the same way when I started writing. Didn’t get the genre right at first, but when I did… I couldn’t stop.”
Mason nods, tightly pursing his lips, so he seems interested, but he’s not.
Mason gets up from the sofa. “I’m gonna make some coffee.”
He throws his phone on the table and walks to the fridge in a feeble attempt to get his parents to change the subject and to soothe his aching chest.
He doesn’t want to lie anymore. He wants to sing about Callum. He wants to have a monologue about the beauty of physics. He wants to tell them about how much he’s learned by putting himself out into the world of sports and how doing that got more out of him than writing ever did.
But he knows it can never happen. He’s in a self-made jail cell with the bars made of barbed wire.
His phone vibrates.
“You got a midterm grade back, Mason!”
Mason immediately slams the fridge door closed, seeing his mom leaning over his phone on the table, peering down at it like it was her business. Like she can tell he’s hiding something.
She furrows her eyebrows. “From… Physics 205?”
Mason’s heart races, but he knows the rehearsed line.
“I took a physics class as an elective, remember?”
His mom opens her mouth in realization and nods, sitting back down in the loveseat.
He rips his phone from the table to check the notification.
PHYS 205: MODERN PHYSICS AND RELATIVITY, MIDTERM 2: A+
His heart soars and he gasps. He aced it. He wants to scream and jump for joy. He wants to tell Callum. He wants to tell Jenna.
It’s all he wanted.
His parents raise their eyebrows at him like they’re confused as to why he’s so happy.
“I got an A+!” Mason says, clutching his chest.
He’s so glad. He wants to run laps around the house.
It’s more than just getting a good grade; it’s being given the validation that physics is something he should keep pursuing and keep putting his time into.
That as much as his parents could tell him that writing is his true passion, it wouldn’t matter. It’s science. It’s physics.
“Congratulations, Mason,” his mom says, her voice unsure but glad.
“Congrats, son,” his dad says, his smile more genuine, but the look of bewilderment in his eyes, wondering why Mason is so ecstatic over a grade from an elective.
“Hopefully, you get the same ones for your journalism classes,” his mom says.
The doorbell rings and both of his parents get up.
