Page 88 of Escape Velocity
Mr. Brown scoffs. “Mason Fanning. Of course you’re here.”
Everyone within the vicinity is looking at them now. They’re giving Mr. Brown confused looks, but Mason gets some as well.
Mason averts his gaze and goes back to focusing on the game, but he can’t stop thinking about everyone’s eyes onhim and the sheer look of rage and condescension in Mr. Brown’s eyes.
“If you’re going to write about my son again, make sure to say how much of a shit player he is if it means he’ll play any better,” Mr. Brown whispers into his ear, making his blood run cold.
He knows that Mason writes about him. He knows how much he gushes about Callum. He’s catching on. He has to know.
The players on the field blur together and the taste of his drink sours in his mouth and tastes metallic, like he’s drinking liquid mercury.
His hands tremble as he tries to write something, anything in his notebook, but he pictures Mr. Brown looking over his shoulder, laughing at whatever Mason has to write, surely going to read the next issue and tear it to bits, trying to read between the lines and give himself another reason to hit Callum.
“I think I’m going to puke,” Mason says, putting his hand on his stomach as he starts breathing quickly. He’s getting warmer, even though it’s freezing. His three layers feel like a corset on him and like it’s going to asphyxiate him.
“Mase. Just breathe. Don’t give him the satisfaction,” Jenna says, grabbing his arm and trying to breathe deeply with him.
“I—I can’t?—”
He pictures everyone furrowing their eyebrows at him and grimacing. He pictures his parents’ disappointed looks. He pictures the football team laughing at him. He pictures Fiona and Alex’s embarrassed expression.
He sees it all. It’s his future. Everyone’s going to know and everyone’s going to hate him.
He breathes in, closing his eyes and trying to picture him and Callum running away somewhere else. To another country, living in a cabin in the woods, sitting by a crackling fireplace with hot chocolate and a boatload of marshmallows. It’s autumn all the time and the sun doesn’t burn his skin.
Jenna lives next door. And no one else ever hears from them again.
He starts calming down, but he’s more surprised that that’s his happy place. His ideal fantasy. A world where no one knows him and where he can exist without prying eyes or critical opinions. All he wants is to exist without perception or criticism.
He opens his eyes and notices that the third quarter is over, and the teams are both tied.
“That’s it, Mason. Just breathe,” Jenna whispers, glancing briefly behind her.
He knows he’s being dramatic. It’s just a football game, and no one cares this much about Mason, but he can’t help it.
Jenna’s right, there’s something sinister about this specific game tonight, but he isn’t entirely sure that he isn’t a part of it.
“If they lose… I’m going down to the field and talk some sense into him,” Mr. Brown says.
Tammy sighs behind him, and he looks back to see her shaking her head like she’s a helpless bystander in the matter, like she can’t stop him.
He hasn’t officially met her. She made her way into Callum’s life after they stopped talking in high school, but she doesn’t seem like the friendliest woman. She’s a strong contrast to Callum’s birth mother, who could make theharshest and darkest of moments in life seem like transient storms.
He wants to say something to her, but he holds himself back. As far as everyone knows, he’s here on business, and Jenna’s outburst is only going to catapult him into more scrutiny if he does anything.
He begins writing about Callum’s dad in his notebook, writing details about his sinister presence, his neanderthal-like personality and his offensive manner of speaking. Maybe he could use it in the future.
Talk about how hard Callum’s dad is. That would get everyone’s attention. But it would only make him come down harder and harder on Callum, and maybe Mr. Brown really would start doing the same to Mason if given the chance.
Mason can be the prophet of change if he wants to be. So many people are going to read his pieces, but he’s always thinking about what could go wrong if he says something. He’s here to be professional, and doing anything else will only make his parents upset, get multiple targets on his back, and galvanize people who already are out to get him.
The fourth quarter starts and Mason watches helplessly as Mr. Brown jumps and yells and makes a fool out of himself on the sidelines.
Callum never looks at him once, but he keeps looking up at the stands, likely trying to see where Mason’s sitting, hoping for some kind of salvation and reprieve from his dad, knowing that someone in the stands truly knows what was going on.
He hasn’t told Jenna exactly what happened between Callum and his dad, but the way she’s getting so worked up, she can tell something is up with Callum’s dad.
The teams are still tied in the last minute of the game, and Mr. Brown is inconsolable.
