Page 77 of Escape Velocity
“But if he tells them, they might even check my acceptance letter anyway, even if they don’t believe him. They’re like that. Nothing gets under their noses. It’s something I’ve perfected but rarely get away with. It’s only working now because I’m away at school,” Mason says, pacing with his hands on his hips.
He has no brain space for this. It’s midterms week, and he can barely understand what’s happening with Callum. He can’t handle something else on top of all of it.
Jenna looks at him gravely. “I think you should tell Callum about him, Mason.”
Mason’s eyes widen. “What? Why? What’s that going to do?”
“He—He can tell Joel to back off.”
“That’ll just give him more ammo. He might already be suspicious as it is! If Callum himself tells Joel to stop, he might be even more galvanized to do something!”
Jenna shakes her head. “You gotta stop using journalism vocabulary with me, Mase.”
Mason snorts and closes his eyes.
“I—I can try. Maybe Callum can make it casual or something.”
“Or maybe Callum has something to threaten Joel with to stay silent. Joel’s problematic on his own, so who knows what he’s said and done behind closed doors,” Jenna says, rolling her eyes.
“Fair.”
Mason sighs and stops pacing, his heart finally decelerating to a dull hum. He inhales deeply, letting the cool autumn wind fill his lungs and ground him to the concrete under his feet.
“I—I think I’ll tell Cal. He—he’ll know what to do. I just… really don’t want to make him even more stressed than he probably already is. He’s under a lot of pressure too.”
Jenna nods but clucks her tongue. “You are too, Mase. Too much.”
Mason’s throat clenches and he nods. He wills himselfnot to cry. Just hearing someone say he’s going through a lot is enough to make him cry.
He wishes all he had to worry about were his exams, but he’s made this mess for himself now, and he has to find his way out of it.
If there’s a way he could lie his way through the end of the semester and end up with Callum, perfect grades, his degree fully funded, and his spot on the paper, then everything will be fine.
But as Jenna links arms with him and they walk to the library, he has a sinking feeling he might lose all of it by the end of the semester, and the worst thing he’s scared of losing isn’t his grades, his tuition money, his parents’ acceptance, or Callum.
He’s most afraid of losing himself.
23
MASON
Montgomery isn’t onlya brick and ivy university in the middle of a quiet college town; it’s also near a lake.
Creaky tree branches with leaves that barely cling to their branches hang over the lake, as red, orange, and brown leaves float along the surface and make ripples as the sun sets behind the horizon of pines.
Mason made the wrong decision to only wear a sweater since he was only planning on passing through each building and through the Moore Annex to get to the library, but Callum ended up forcing Mason out of his endless studying to go to the lake with him.
It’s the only place they can meet during the day where no one ogles at them.
As they sit down, Mason shivers and brushes his hands over his arms and pulls his sleeves over his hands in a feeble effort to stay warm.
Callum notices and places a warm hand on his shoulder. “Hey, do you want my jacket? I really don’t need it.”
Mason shakes his head as his teeth begin to chatter. He doesn’t want to impose on Callum. He should have beensmart enough to bring a jacket anyway when he left his dorm.
“Mase. Come on,” Callum says, eyeing him knowingly.
Mason glances at his maroon jacket and finally nods, holding his hand out and clenching and unclenching his fist like he’s saying “gimme” to Callum.
