Page 96 of Escape Velocity
“That I’m not destined for physics. That me and Callum are just delaying the inevitable. Our parents are going to find out either way, and when they do…”
Mason winces, thinking about the entire town of Northwood blowing up in two different sections. One explosion at the Fanning household, and the other at the Brown’s.
Jenna sighs. “Mason, just—give it some time, okay? You’re clearly on the way to getting drunk and you can’t think straight.”
Mason shakes his head. “No. I’m the most lucid I’ve been for a while, actually, this isn’t supposed to?—”
He freezes as he hears a familiar chuckle coming from the patio door.
He turns to see Callum coming outside with a girl.
He’s frozen to the spot, watching them interact and talk.
“Yeah, I’m trying for the big leagues… I want to go pro for sure,” Callum says, smiling at the girl dressed in a revealing witch costume.
“Mason…” Jenna says.
He shakes his head. “Don’t.”
Callum tells a joke, and the girl laughs, brushing her hand on Callum’s arm.
Mason’s stomach sours as he watches it all unfold.Callum doesn’t pull away. He’s letting it happen. Is this what happens at all the frat parties Mason hasn’t gone to? Does Callum just talk up girls like this?
Callum makes another joke, and the girl puts her hand on his chest.
Callum laughs too and as he looks to the side, his eyes land on Mason.
Mason’s lip quivers and his eyes turn misty as he watches Callum take a step back from the girl.
Mason shakes his head and turns away, walking right for the front yard so he doesn’t have to watch this anymore.
Mason spins around before he walks off. “You have a way to get home?” he asks Jenna.
Jenna nods, her eyes flitting to Callum. “Don’t worry, Mason. I’m fine.”
Mason purses his lips, turns back around, and keeps walking in the direction he was going in.
“Mason?” he hears Callum say, his voice panicked.
Jenna doesn’t follow; she watches Callum run after Mason.
“Just let me go,” Mason says, refusing to look back at Callum.
Callum’s fast, so he manages to intercept Mason and stand in front of him.
“Mason, that wasn’t what it looked like, my—my dad tried to set her up with me?—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Mason mutters, shaking his head and trying to cover his eyes.
“Mason,” Callum says, his tone commanding and pleading.
Mason closes his eyes and hangs his head.
“I was just being nice to her. My dad’s trying to set herup with me through Joel, he’s always trying to me up with someone, and—God, Ihatehim.”
Mason puts his hands on his hips and nods, finally opening his eyes to face Callum’s pleading gaze.
“Every party’s like this, I was trying to hide it from you because I didn’t think you should see that, a-and things are still new a-and I didn’t want to risk telling, you and I?—”
