by Loren Bailey
Chase laughed. Mason was too stunned to react. He knew Andre was just joking, but he couldn’t help but wonder . . . Has she been pretending to be interested in me just to get closer to Louisa?
After all, she’d known that Louisa was his mother from the start. His memories of the first night they met at the party, hanging out at the ice cream social, the time they spent together over the past few weeks were suddenly tainted. Had she really just wanted a shot at impressing Louisa? Something deep in Mason’s gut twisted. His mind raced as he struggled to piece together what had been real and what hadn’t.
Louisa stepped away from Brianna, who turned and smiled at him. Mason attempted to return the smile, but it didn’t feel quite natural anymore. His friends seemed to notice this.
“C’mon, man,” Chase said, “let’s get out of here.”
“What?” Mason turned back to them.
“Let’s ditch this thing,” Andre said. They moved down the hall leading to the front doors, gesturing for Mason to follow.
He hesitated, uncertain of what he should do. His friends and Louisa had worked so hard on this event. Part of him pointed out that he’d worked hard on it too. But Mason thought back to Brianna buddying up to Louisa, which caused prickling spitefulness to rise up in him. None of it was real, he told himself. The guys are right—this place, these people have just been messing with me.
Andre called to him, pulling him from his thoughts. Mason nodded and followed them.
“Mason?” Brianna called out. He could hear her chasing after him. He paused by the front door and stepped away from his friends.
“What are you doing?” Brianna asked, her eyes flicking over to them.
Aware that Andre and Chase were listening, Mason shoved his hands into his pockets. “What does it matter?” he asked. “You don’t need me anymore—you got what you wanted. I’m getting out of here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My mom,” he said. “You said so yourself, you’ve always admired what she did with the foundation. You just needed an in with her.”
Brianna’s jaw dropped. “That’s not what this is has been about.”
“Whatever. It’s not like I was planning on staying for this thing anyway.”
She stepped closer to him and lowered her voice. “Mason,” she pleaded, “what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, except that I don’t want to waste my life sucking up to rich people. Unlike you, I guess.”
His friends tried to hide their snorts of laughter.
She shot a sharp glare at them before turning back to him. “I know that this whole ‘too cool to care about anything’ bit you have going on is just an act. I know you want to do more with your life.”
“You sound just like my parents,” he said, rolling his eyes. “So worried about whether or not I’ll go to college after high school.”
“It’s not about going to college—I don’t care what you want to do after high school. Get a job, explore the world, whatever. It’s just about doing something—having goals, wanting to contribute to the world.”
Mason didn’t know what to say to that. Not with his friends watching.
Brianna reached for one of his hands and held it in hers. “Please,” she said. “Don’t leave. This is important to me. I know it is to you too.”
“Oh, like you really know anything about me,” snapped Mason. Brianna yanked her hand from his and stormed back down the hall.
Mason sighed and took a step in her direction. He hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, and part of him truly wanted to stay. “Hold on, Bri—”
She whipped around, narrowing her eyes at him. “Don’t call me that.”
As she continued down the hall, his friends burst into laughter.
“Jeez, that girl is uptight,” Chase said. His friends laughed again, but Mason could only clench his jaw. He didn’t know what else to do besides follow his friends out the doors.
They stepped outside to hail a taxi. A car pulled up, and as they climbed in, Cora rushed outside. Mason rolled down the window by his seat.
“Mason!” she called breathlessly. “Where are you going? Nathan’s about to go on.”
Oh no, he thought to himself, having completely forgotten about his friend’s band. He hesitated once again. Before he could make a decision, the car was pulling away from the curb and taking them into the street. Mason mouthed an ‘I’m sorry’ to Cora, who simply watched him from the sidewalk.
12
Mason and his friends returned to the house late, having spent the rest of the night traveling around town and goofing off. It had been fun to hang out with Andre and Chase again, although Mason couldn’t shake the guilt he felt.
They crept quietly into the house. His friends sneaked up the stairs to their bedrooms in the guest wing, and Mason breathed a sigh of relief—everyone was already in bed.
And then his dad and Louisa stepped out from the study.
“In,” his dad snapped, waving a hand toward the study.
Mason slumped into a large armchair and waited for the lecture to begin.
“I cannot believe what you did tonight,” his dad started. “Why would you just leave like that?”
Before Mason could respond, Louisa jumped in.
“Brianna told me about your argument,” Louisa said. “How could you say those things to her?”
“Oh, whatever,” Mason snapped. “She was just using me anyway.”
“That’s ridiculous,” his dad said. “Brianna is a sweet girl, and she clearly cares about you. Why else would she be over here all the time? If she’d only wanted to get to know Louisa, she could’ve had her father arrange that. Do you really think she needed your help to impress your mom?”
Mason scowled, crossing his arms and slouching even further in his seat. He didn’t know how to answer that. Earlier this evening, everything his friends were saying had made perfect sense. But once he was back here, he started questioning things all over again.
Louisa pressed her fingers between her eyebrows. “I came back from starting the show to find Brianna furious. Not to mention that Cora was upset that you had just run off without telling anyone where you were going. And she was the one who had to tell Nathan that you’d left before he’d even gone on.”
Mason felt his stomach twist.
“I just don’t see how you could be so irresponsible,” Louisa continued. “Do you really care that little about the people who care about you? Or the things you do in your life?”
Something in Mason snapped. He knew he’d messed up tonight. But he’d had enough of his parents lecturing him on right and wrong. Not when he was in this entire situation because of them.
He stood up, clenching his fists. “You know what—you can’t say anything to me about this. You haven’t been in my life for the past seventeen years. What makes you think you can suddenly just swoop in and tell me what to do?”
Louisa was stunned into silence, but his dad wasn’t. “Mason,” he began very slowly, his voice in a deep tone of warning, “you cannot just—”
“You’re no better either,” Mason said over him. He waved an angry hand at the two of them. “You both did this. You two have made all the decisions in my life—it’s not like I’ve had any say. Didn’t you think about how this might affect me?”
This time they were both silent, the anger in their faces transitioning into guilt. His dad took a step forward. “Mason—”
“No!” he cut him off again. “You’ve lived with me all this time. You watched me grow up, knowing someday this would happen. It didn’t once occur to you to tell me about her sooner than my seventeenth birthday?”
His dad rubbed at his face. “I wanted to tell you—I just didn’t know how.”
“There’s nothing you can say to excuse what you guys did. How could you think I would want to go eighteen years without seeing my mother, without knowing anything about her? How was this,” he waved his hands around wildly, “the best possible sce
nario you were able to come up with?”
It was as if all the tension in the air had been released. All the anger and confusion that had been building up in Mason since he’d first learned about his mother was finally coming out.
Quietly, his dad said, “I’m not trying to make excuses, Mason. Now’s not the time for excuses . . . from any of us.”
Mason sank back down into the chair, deflated. He couldn’t blame his parents’ mistakes for his own actions. When he thought back to how he’d let Chase and Andre guide his choices tonight, all his ideas about not being a follower felt pretty hollow.
“I know I screwed up tonight,” he said then. “I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have let my friends talk me into thinking I wasn’t happy here. And I know I disappointed you. I disappointed Nathan. I got into a stupid fight with Brianna.”
He looked up at them and felt his throat tighten. “But I’ve been so confused lately. I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore.”
Finally Louisa spoke again, tears gathering in her eyes. “Mason, sweetheart, I wish I could tell you something to make it better. We made a mistake—you’re right. It was a stupid decision. We were young and scared and had no idea what to do. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry we made such a poor decision and I’m sorry it took us seventeen years to figure that out.”
Mason nodded, not sure he could say anything else just yet.
“I’m sorry too,” his dad said, wiping at his wet eyes. “I should have thought about what this might do to you. I thought I was looking out for you, but I screwed up.”
Mason let out a long sigh. He understood that his parents had never meant to hurt him. There was no way to redo the past seventeen years—he knew that. But maybe this was what they all needed. They had to let everything out in order to get a clean start. It was something at least.
For the first time since he’d arrived in Evonia, Mason began to feel settled.
“Look,” Louisa said quietly, “I know I haven’t been there for you. But I hope I can make it up to you—for the rest of your life. I want to actually be your mother. You can come here whenever you’d like, or I’ll come see you in the States. Whatever you want.”
Mason nodded, taking in a shaky breath. “I’d like that.”
His dad stepped forward. “We’re here for you—both of us.” Louisa clasped his dad’s hand, and Mason watched as they shared a soft smile.
“That’s all I want,” Mason said. He met Louisa’s eyes. “I just want my mom in my life.”
She burst into tears again. He stepped closer and Louisa wrapped her arms around his shoulders. It was the first time she’d really hugged him, but it was amazing how right it felt.
Mason closed his eyes and leaned into her. Their family situation was unusual—and maybe it would always be unusual. But at least the three of them were now in this together.
“I love you, sweetheart,” she said quietly, squeezing her arms.
He squeezed back. “Love you too . . . Mom.”
13
The first thing Mason did when he woke up the next morning was send his friends home. They would always be his friends, but Mason could see now that they didn’t fit with this new version of himself. And he liked this version of himself. Maybe down the road he’d be able to mend things with them again, but for now he wanted to focus on repairing things here.
He’d made up with his parents, but he knew there was still a lot he needed to do. He couldn’t leave without fixing things with his new friends. And Brianna. He didn’t know what they were exactly, but he knew she was more than just a friend to him.
He started with Nathan, who lived within walking distance. Mason wandered into the yard behind Nathan’s house until he heard the soft strumming of an acoustic guitar. He found Nathan and Cora sitting together in a gazebo. They both turned at the sound of his footsteps, and Nathan stopped strumming.
“Hey,” Mason said quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets. Nathan gave a quick nod in response, while Cora said nothing. But they didn’t turn him away. Mason took that as a go ahead to come into the gazebo with them.
“I came to say I’m sorry. I was confused with a lot of stuff that’s been going on. My friends were saying all these things and I got into a fight with Bri and . . . well, I guess that’s no excuse for ditching—”
“No, it’s not,” Cora said.
Mason sighed. “Yeah. I was a huge jerk and I know it and I’m sorry.” He turned to Nathan. “I left before you got to play, and that sucks. But I’ll make it up to you however I can.”
Nathan was quiet for a moment. He glanced at Cora, then he turned back to Mason, giving him a wide grin. “Okay. I forgive you.”
Mason let out a laugh of relief. “Jeez, I thought you were gonna, like, shun me or something.”
“I thought about it, but I figured it would be easier to know I can crash at your place if I ever want to come see a concert in the States,” Nathan teased.
“Absolutely,” Mason said.
“And you’ll have to come back and see us perform some other time.”
“Totally.” Mason nodded enthusiastically. “I’d love to. I’ll be right in the front row, screaming so loud it’s embarrassing.”
They laughed again, and this time Cora joined in. “Okay,” she said. “I guess I can forgive you too then.” Mason grinned.
“So,” Nathan continued, “you making your rounds with apologies?”
Mason groaned. “My mom and dad really tore into me last night. But it ended up being good—I think we all needed to let it out. We talked about a lot.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re back to your normal self again,” Cora teased. “Because we like you. So now you need to go make things better with Brianna so we can all go back to being friends.”
Nathan nodded in agreement. “Yeah, have you talked to her yet?”
“Not yet,” Mason said, not bothering to hide the dread in his voice. “I figured if you guys forgave me you might give me some advice on what to say to her. She won’t answer any of my calls or texts.”
“Well,” Cora said mischievously, “I happen to know where she is.”
***
It turned out Brianna had a favorite park where she liked to go when she was upset. Mason figured last night certainly met the criteria. Cora had texted him directions to where Brianna usually sat, and he spotted her sitting on a bench with her arms wrapped around her bent legs and her chin resting on her knee.
“Hey,” he called softly as he walked over to her.
She lifted her head in surprise. “Hi.”
“Can I sit?” He nodded at the bench, and she slid over so he could join her.
They turned to each other and started speaking at the same time. Mason blinked at her in confusion, not expecting her to try to say something first. Brianna smiled sheepishly. “You were a jerk last night—if that’s what you’re here to say, I’m not going to stop you.”
Mason barked out a laugh in surprise. This was not how he’d expected the conversation to begin.
“But,” she said, staring out ahead of them, “I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said last night. About me.”
“Look, Brianna, that wasn’t—”
“I think you were a little right,” she continued over him. “I knew you were Louisa’s son when we first met, and I was interested in meeting her. So, maybe I did want to be friends with you because of that. But just at first.”
She turned to him. “And then we worked at the ice cream social together, and I had so much fun with you. I felt like I could completely be myself around you. I thought you felt the same about me . . .”
“I did,” Mason said, reaching for her hands. “Honestly, I did. Being here has made me see things differently. Getting to know my mom, getting to know you . . . it makes me want to do better, to get more out of my life. And then my friends came into town, and that just made everything confusing. They’re good guys, but they’re also a bunch of idiots. They tried to tell me I w
asn’t being myself anymore. But really, I like the kind of person I became while I’ve been here. I was a jerk last night, and I’m really sorry for it.”
“It was like you were a completely different person,” she admitted. “So if that’s the real you, then you’d better tell me now.”
“It’s not,” he insisted. “I don’t want it to be.”
“So, everything else . . . the way you were these past few weeks with me . . .”
“I’m not exactly used to being this guy,” Mason admitted. “I’ve never been much of a . . . ‘tryer.’ But I like the way I am here.”
“So do I,” she said softly. They grinned at each other, and then Mason leaned toward her. He kissed her gently, bringing an arm around her shoulders as she moved closer.
When they pulled away, he kept his arm around her. “Who knows, maybe I’ll come out here for college.”
She shrugged. “Or maybe I’ll go out to the States.”
“Either way, Brianna.”
She leaned her head toward him. “I thought it was Bri?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“Bri,” he said, leaning in for another kiss.
14
During his last two days in Evonia, Mason split his time between his parents and his new friends.
He, Brianna, Nathan, and Cora had scheduled video chats to keep in touch every few weeks. Brianna and Cora were already making plans for the three of them to come visit Mason that winter. And Nathan had given him strict instructions to send email updates on the state of American rock music.
Though his dad wouldn’t let him get an international phone plan, Mason and Brianna could still talk online whenever they wanted. He knew that this might not work out between them—long distance was hard enough when two people were in the same country. But they agreed to stay in touch and see what happened.
Things with Louisa, at least, were a little more certain. They would video chat weekly and had plans to swap holiday visits between Evonia and the US. They were also discussing doing some counseling sessions online to help all three of them.