Page 28 of Escape Velocity
9
MASON
The soundof an email coming in jolts Mason out of his quantum physics homework, forcing him to rip his eyes off of his workbook to look at the subject line of the email.
He pauses his music and clicks on the email, seeing it’s from Fiona.
He hovers over the subject line, where it says what everyone’s next assignment is, and as his eyes scan the email, he has to go back and read it again.
Mason Fanning: Player Profile on Callum Brown
He shakes his head. He probably looks ridiculous to everyone else in the library.
Yesterday feels like a fever dream. He’s not going to do it. He refuses to do this.
The nightmare continues as he keeps reading.
Deadline is before the next home game, which is September 30th.
Mason looks up at the ceiling of the library, looking for an answer to his wishes that he could disappear into nothingness.
The one thing he does for someone else ends up being all about Callum Brown.
His coverup is biting him in the ass. And rightfully so. He’s lying to his parents, and to cover it up, he’s doingThe Goldberg. Only something as ironic as this would happen to him.
His study session is decidedly over as he slams his laptop closed, picks up his things, and begins speedwalking to the journalism building.
He’s going to ask Fiona to give him something else. He doesn’t care how scary she is or how her eyes burn holes in his face. Or how she acts like he’s the gum on the bottom of her shoe. He’s going to stand up for himself and do something else for the sports beat.
He gets some stares as he speeds past everyone. He knows he looks like he’s on a mission, and the speed at which he’s traveling is likely only drawing more attention to him, but he doesn’t care.
He speeds intoThe Goldbergoffice and walks straight to Fiona’s desk.
She notices him and raises her eyebrows. “Oh good, you got the email?—”
“I amnotdoing it,” Mason says as he slams his index finger on her desk. It’s angrier than he intends it to be.
He’s angrier at himself than Fiona, but he still hates how she speaks to him like she expects him to do everything she wants.
She glances between his index finger on her desk and his eyes. She closes them and inhales as she intertwines her fingers together.
She plasters a fake smile on her face. “You know how much of a privilege it is to be onThe Goldberg, right?”
Mason nods. “Yeah.”
She narrows her eyes. “I don’t think you know,Fanning.”
She says his last name with a certain knowing. Like she knows that his parents are both prolific writers. But how could she?
“I tried out for the paper for a reason. I got in for a reason. I feel like I can do more than player profiles on the ‘star quarterback’ of the football team, no? So why don’t I do something other than sports? Like helping Alex with his secret clubs beat?”
She laughs again and shakes her head. “I told you, we only had one spot left, and it was for sports. You were the one who applied late. You were the one who tried to submit a piece to get in.Youwere the one who offered to do the player profile. If you really don’t want to do sports, then you’ll have to just leave.”
“But—”
“No ‘buts.’” I’m actually going to give you an ultimatum, Fanning.”
Mason tries to keep himself from rolling his eyes at her using his last name to address him.
