Page 11 of Escape Velocity
But Mason somehow managed to make a commemorative statue at Northwood High sound interesting in the paper, so if he could make something as boring as a statue into something exciting, then he’s sure he can find a way to make football into something he loves to write about and that people love to read.
Maybe Callum would lose his first game, and he’d be able to write a teardown piece just to knock him down a peg. He deserved it after what he did to Mason back in his freshman year at Northwood High.
“Alright, I’ll uh—have the piece for you by M—Monday,” Mason stutters, immediately hightailing it out of the office, not wanting to ever have to look that girl in the eyes again until he’s proven himself worthy of being on the paper.
“How’d it go?” Jenna asks excitedly.
“I have to write a piece on the next football game. Their only opening is in Sports.”
Jenna claps her hands. “That’s so exciting. Oh my God, we have to go to the game together! It’ll be so fun!”
Mason fakes a smile and walks back out to the quad as Jenna goes off endlessly about the hot players and getting to see a real college football game for the first time, but he drowns her out.
The home opening game was on Saturday, that much he knew. He heard people talking about it as he went to and from class.
The last thing he wants to do is go out where a bunch of people are, and cheer on the one person who hurt himimmeasurably. To be reminded just how successful he is now, and how much of a wimp Mason is hiding from everyone.
But it’s just one game. It’s just one article.
That’s all, and he can move on to another sport like basketball or lacrosse probably if he gets into the paper.
He’d get a pretzel, a bag of popcorn, and a diet soda, and he’d sit down and have a grand old time watching some good old-fashioned football with Jenna.
He’d pretend he was watching an NFL football game and pretend that Callum didn’t exist.
He has to make it work. And he’ll make sure he will be there strictly for business. Not for anyone or anything else.
He has to.
4
MASON
Friday comes alongand the clock is ticking down to Saturday.
All of his physics classes he spends tapping his pencil on his notebook, annoying his desk neighbors.
He then goes on to chewing the ends of his pens, quickly realizing that he’ll have to constantly buy new pens if he keeps going how he did.
He doesn’t know how to quiet his mind unless he’s hunched over a desk with his headphones on and doing physics problems.
The worst is his Intro to Journalism class, where he’s surrounded with reminders of what he had to do on Saturday. Even in the hallways, the football player posters loom over him like a dark cloud, their eyes seemingly following him as he moved past them.
Mason downs the last drop of his extra-large coffee on his way to the library, hoping that he can somehow squeeze out a few more problem sets before he inevitably crashes.
He knows there are much better things to be doing than calculating limits. He could be mingling on the quad,going to parties, or whatever other events college has to help people meet each other, but here he is in the library with his nose in a textbook, like he used to do in high school.
He has to get his mind off of Callum, the game, and his parents somehow, and math or physics is one of the few things that can do that. Plus, he wants to see the library for himself. He’s seen pictures of it online, but it’s much more majestic than the pictures portray.
The ceilings are high, with towering mahogany bookshelves that loom over the tables and desks. Books that could be hundreds of years old line the shelves, and some day, Mason will try to read some. Maybe over winter break.
The lighting is dim, with small lamps placed on each desk emanating a warm glow on the sleek desks.
It’s quiet for the most part. Normal people would be in class or going out to meet other people, but he has problems to solve. Imaginary ones maybe, but problems, nonetheless.
He slings his backpack down and slumps into a chair at an empty table.
He takes out his textbook but gets interrupted by his phone buzzing.
