Page 76 of Escape Velocity
Mason nods as he looks at Jenna’s sympathetic gaze.
“I’m just—hiding all the time and I got into this headspace… like saying whatever is happening with and Callum out loud would be blasphemy.”
Jenna rubs his shoulder. Mason clenches his fists as the gravity of his words hits him and how much he realizes he’s been hiding. His life is guarding secrets.
That he’s a physics major instead of a journalism major. That he doesn’t want to be a writer but is headliningThe Goldberg. That Callum is just someone who he used to know in school who he just kissed. That he’s okay with pushing himself to be the best at everything when he isn’t.
It’s all coming to a head. He could pretend that getting to see Callum is enough, but he has to stop putting his head in the sand and be on guard for any more threats from Joel or his parent’s snooping more than they should.
“Next,” the cashier’s voice startles Mason as he gets out of his head and orders his coffee. He pays for Jenna’s too as an apology and they go and stand in the corner as they wait.
“I just don’t know how to get out of all of it. I’m just stuck now, I think.”
Jenna smiles knowingly at him. “You’re Mason Fanning and you’re a physics and math genius. You know how to solve any problem.”
Mason snorts. “I’m not sure about this one.”
A throat clears behind him, and he spins around, expecting to see Callum but his mood sours as he’s met with Joel’s steely blue eyes.
“So you’re really doing the sports thing, huh?”
Mason clears his throat. “Uh—yeah. You know this. Is it supposed to be a surprise to you?”
“Hmm,” Joel says, but Mason knows he wants to say more.
“Is that a problem?” Jenna asks, taking a step forward next to Mason, her eyebrows downturned in annoyance.
Joel scoffs. “Not at all. I’ve just been thinking… that since Mason hates sports that there must be some kind of reason to stay on it.”
Mason bites his lip. Joel’s pressing on a nerve and he knows it. He’s noticed Mason’s tension about Callum last weekend and he’s putting two and two together. But there’s no way he knows about him and Callum. He can’t.
Mason crosses his arms. “Sports is a highly coveted section of the paper.”
“I thought maybe you’d maybe want to report on anything physics related, you know? That seems more like your thing since it’s your major. I’m sure your mom would love to read all about it at Thanksgiving,” Joel says, shrugging and brushes past Mason like he dropped a grenade behind him.
Mason’s throat tightens as he follows Joel’s frame and the chatter of the cafe’s patrons, and the squeal of the steam wand disappears and muffles out as a loud ringing rips through his ears.
It’s a thinly veiled threat from Joel. And he can use it at any time. And he likely plans on using it at Thanksgiving.
Jenna darts over and grabs their drinks. Apparently, he doesn’t even hear his own name as Jenna grabs his shoulder and helps him out of the cafe into the pattering of rain outside.
Water droplets pelt his face and the wind bites at his skin.
Jenna ushers him to a nearby overhang.
“Mason. Look at me,” Jenna says, grabbing his shoulder.
“He—He wants to tell them. He’sgoingto tell them. I—They’re going tohateme. They’re going to make me do journalism for the rest of my life. Or they might even pull me out of school. Or—or make me pay for it myself. And I’ll never be able to see Callum again and—and?—”
Jenna grabs both of his shoulders and forces him to face her and look into her eyes. “Mason. Stop.”
Mason’s blurry vision meets Jenna’s eyes, and he finally calms a little. He’s panicking. He knows that. But he doesn’t know how he can get himself out of this one. He knows his parents are going to find about his degree. It isn’t a matter of if, it’s a matter of when, and he’s planning on that happening at his graduation, not three months into his degree.
“Joel can’t hurt you. He’s this random guy your cousin brought home and always hated you in high school. If he tells them about your physics degree, who are they more willing to believe? Him or you, who has—in fact been taking journalism classes and is actually onThe Goldberg?”
Jenna always goes straight to logic. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn’t. His parents are already getting suspicious of him, and he knows any little droplet of information could make them snoop. And snoop they would.
They were born to do it.
