by Bridget Lang
Emma resumed trying to concentrate on her chemistry homework, but she was much too aware of Mason sitting across from her on Zoey's bed. She could feel his eyes on her. "What?" she finally demanded, turning to him.
"I didn't say anything."
"Why are you staring at me? Don't you have something better to do, like..." Emma's mind raced, trying to think of an insult. "...Like count sheep or something?"
Mason raised an eyebrow. "Count sheep?" He grinned at her and Emma felt her cheeks go red. She'd never been very good at quick and witty comebacks.
"Never mind," she said, burying her nose in her book.
"Why does Zoey keep calling you Mouse?" he asked.
Emma looked back at him, not sure whether he was serious. "Why don't you ask Zoey?"
He shrugged. "I'd rather ask you."
Emma felt the red in her cheeks deepen. "Because," she said. "I'm quiet like a mouse and like to hide in my room a lot. That's what most of the girls here call me."
"Doesn't seem very nice," he said.
Emma stared at him, uncertain what was happening. Mason was displaying real human emotions. He was actually interacting with her in a way that didn't make her want to smack him. Is it possible I've been too hard on him? Zoey came back in just then and went straight to Mason, tousling his hair with her manicured fingers before dragging him back on top of her.
"Miss me?" Zoey asked.
"Always babe," Mason said. He dug his face into her Double D chest and Emma rolled her eyes. She didn't know what she'd been thinking. Mason was exactly like she'd always thought—loud and crass and dumb.
Emma scrunched her brow and turned back to her books. The bed started squeaking and Emma froze. She peeked over her shoulder. She didn't want to be in the room if they were actually having sex. She thought she might vomit if that happened. But they were still just making out. She breathed a sigh of relief and wished that she had some head phones she could just plug in. Classical music was supposed to help make your brain retain information. She wondered why she hadn't thought of that before and made a mental note to pick up some ear buds when she had a chance.
Zoey let out a loud moan and Emma threw her book down. "That's it," she said, jumping off her bed. Zoey and Mason paused in their face sucking to throw Emma a look that she interpreted to mean they both pitied her and wished she'd leave.
"Sorry," Zoey smirked, "are we being too loud?"
Emma sighed as she threw her books into her bag along with her notebooks, pens, and anything else she might possibly need for the next few hours.
"Where are you going?" Mason asked.
"The library," Emma replied. She turned with her bag strapped over her shoulder. The weight of it forced her shoulders into an uneven posture and Emma shifted her weight uncomfortably. Mason was staring at her.
"Where did you say?"
Emma couldn't believe he was really this dumb. "The library! It's the place with all the books where people go to study and get away from distractions."
Zoey laughed and nuzzled her head against Mason's neck. "Finally," she said. "We can be alone. She started to nibble on Mason's ear as Zoey grabbed her jacket.
"Why don't you come with us to the party at Phi Kappa Psi?" Mason asked suddenly. Zoe pulled away from him, her eyes bulging out of her head. Emma paused with her hand on the door. Is he talking to me?
"I'm sorry," Emma said. "Did you just ask me to go to a frat party with you?"
"Sure," Mason said, smiling. "Why not?"
Emma didn't even know how to respond to something like that. Frat parties were the furthest thing from her mind. Mason obviously didn't get it. Still... it was nice that he had asked.
"Are you crazy?" Zoey screeched at him.
Mason turned to her and said, "She's got as much right to go as anyone."
Emma stifled a laugh as Zoey tried to stop her head from exploding.
"Thanks," Emma said, "but I really do need to study. Frat parties aren't really my thing." She gave Mason a tentative smile before stepping into the hallway. As soon as the door was closed Zoey started screaming at him.
Emma felt bad for Mason. He was too stupid to realize that being nice to her would only make things harder for him with Zoey. Maybe Emma didn't have to be quite so hard on him. It probably wasn't his fault his was dumb. He was probably born that way. She headed to the library, wondering what went on at frat parties anyways, and wishing for the first time in her life that she wasn't quite so mouse-like.
Chapter 4
Emma had never realized what a blessing sorority rush night was. The dorm was silent. For the first time since she'd arrived, Emma actually thought she could hear herself breathe. She smiled as she sat back on her bed, her books spread open around her.
She reread the biology riddle Professor Douglas had given at the end of class today. Though technically not homework, he was offering a whopping ten extra credit points to anyone who could answer it. She flipped through the pages of her bio book again. She'd already been looking for the answer to this question for a half hour. It was getting ridiculous. Even Google hadn't been able to help.
There was a knock on the door and Emma sighed. She got off her bed and opened it, expecting to see one of Zoey's friends. Mason stood there, his eyes widened when he saw her.
"Hey Emma," he said. "Sorry to bug you. Is Zoey here?"
"No," Emma said, annoyed at the intrusion. She'd finally gotten some time alone and of course Mason has to show up.
"Oh." Mason stood there, his eyes moving around in their sockets, uncertain how to proceed. "Do you know where she is?"
"No," Emma said again, her irritation growing. "Why don't you call her cell?"
"I tried." His eyes struggled to maintain their normally light and carefree attitude. He looked so distressed that Emma couldn't help but notice it.
"Er, is everything okay?" she asked. She didn't really care, but he just looked so... unhappy. It wasn't in her nature to disregard someone when they were in the midst of a crisis, even if that person was Mason.
"Sure," he said. Emma relaxed. Good, he didn't want to tell her anyways. She could send him on his way without any guilt. "Actually, yes."
Emma sighed. She should have known this wouldn't be so easy. She noticed then that his hands were twitching. His eyes continued to dart around in their sockets, like his mind was racing. "Why don't you come in?" she finally asked, giving in to her better nature and opening the door wider.
He blew out a deep breath and Emma was caught off guard when she realized he smelled like cinnamon and chocolate. It was a favorite combination of hers that reminded Emma of her grandmother. She inhaled deeply as he stepped into the room.
"I'm sorry," he said, pacing the floor now. "I thought Zoey would be here and you'd be at the library."
"It's alright," Emma said. "I tried the library. It was just as loud and crowded as the frat houses tonight. Er... so what's up?"
He stopped pacing and looked at her, his face distraught. "It's Zoey. I... I think she's cheating on me."
Emma's eyes widened. "What makes you say that?" It was hard to believe she'd cheat on someone like Mason. He was perfect for her. Sexy, gorgeous, the star of the football team. Who better to date the head cheerleader?
"She's just been acting so weird lately. I mean, she seems like she's into me when I'm with her, but then I've been hearing things from some of the other guys on the team."
Emma scoffed. Mason shot her a look with red rimmed eyes and she immediately regretted it.
"Sorry," she said. "Look, maybe she's not cheating on you. She's probably just busy with school work and, you know, cheer stuff." Even as she tried to comfort Mason though, she remembered what Zoey had said to her friend not so long ago when she'd expressed an interest in Mason: Maybe you can have him when I'm done with him. There had been something very cold and cavalier about Zoe's words that made her think Mason's instincts were probably correct.
"Why do I always do this?" he said, pounding the sid
es of his head with his fists. "Why can't I just fall for someone simple, like you?"
Emma laughed. Simple? Mason didn't even know when he was insulting a person. She turned back to her bed and opened her book. "She's at one of the sorority houses," she said. "Why don't you just leave her a note and go?"
"I'm sorry," Mason said. "I didn't mean that you were... uh, simple. You're really smart."
Emma smiled in spite of herself. "It's fine Mason."
He sat down in a chair at Zoe's desk. "Um, do you think I could borrow a sheet of paper? That was a good idea. To write her a note."
Emma groaned as she ripped a sheet of paper from her binder and handed it to him. "What are you working on?" he asked.
"Our bio homework."
"Oh. Are you doing that extra credit question?"
She glared at him from the corner of her eye. "Yes, but don't even think of asking me for the answer. I've already spent a half hour trying to figure it out. I'm not sharing it with someone who hasn't even tried to do it."
"I wasn't asking," Mason said, irritated, turning to his paper. "Why do you get so upset about stuff all the time? It seems like you're not very happy."
Emma started. Mason's words stung her without meaning to. She was happy. Wasn't she? "I'm... I just don't like being disturbed when I'm trying to work. My grades are important to me. If I don't keep them up I can't stay at Stanford."
Mason turned back to her, curious. "You're on a scholarship?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Me too," he said. "Only what I need to keep up with is football. It's not easy. I bet it's not easy for you either. There's a lot of pressure."
"Well," Emma said, softening a bit. "Yeah. There is."
They looked at each other a moment, their eyes locked. It was the first time Emma realized they might actually have something in common. Finally, she shook her head, clearing it. "I really need to finish this," she said.
"Yeah, of course," Mason said, turning back around and continuing with his letter. Emma was deep into hating Professor Douglas for his stupid biology riddle when something struck the side of her head. She looked at her bed and saw a paper airplane flittering to her mattress.
"Mason!" she yelled. Even without Zoey here she just couldn't get any peace. "Get out!"
"Sorry," he said, grinning.
"Just go!" Emma said, and threw a pillow at him. He scurried from the room, and Emma let out a loud scream. He was so irritating!
She picked the airplane up and tossed it into her wastebasket. Its nose hit the bottom and Emma noticed some writing on the inside of the right wing. She picked it back out of the waste basket and unfolded it, curious what Mason had been writing to Zoey before deciding to play darts with her head.
Emma's jaw dropped open. Written on the paper was not a letter to Zoe, but the answer to the riddle she had spent the last forty minutes working on.
Chapter 5
Zoey spent the entire night at the sorority she was pledging. Emma couldn't have asked for anything better. But instead of sleeping like a baby, she tossed and turned all night. She couldn't get Mason out of her head. How had he known the answer to that question she had struggled so hard with? Surely someone else in class must have given it to him. He couldn't have figured it out by himself... could he?
In biology the next day, Emma waited anxiously for Mason to appear. She didn't know why she was so bothered by him. So what if he'd gotten an answer to something she had struggled with? Good for him. Right? But it burned her up. There was nothing right about it. Either Mason was brilliant and was faking the whole dumb football player thing, or he really was as stupid as he appeared and was cheating. Either way, she had to know.
He got to class late, which was not atypical for him. Professor Douglas sighed as Mason stumbled across the room to his desk. His eyes were bleary. He looked like he'd barely slept.
When their professor was finally finished with his lecture, he released everyone to their experiments. "Remember, these experiments are due at the end of class today." Emma opened her lab notebook. Mason followed along. She watched him set up his things, trying to figure him out.
"How did you know?" she finally blurted.
Mason looked up at her from his book. "Know what?" he asked. He genuinely looked like he had no idea what she was talking about, which only infuriated Emma more.
"The answer to the riddle," she said. "Last night."
"Oh," he smiled. He actually had sort of a charming smile. She felt her pulse quicken ever so slightly and willed it to go back to normal. He shrugged. "I just knew."
Emma's mouth gaped. "What does that mean? Did you Google it?"
"No."
"So someone told you then. Someone in class?" Her eyes scanned the room, wondering who could be feeding him answers. Surely not his football buddies.
"No," he said, sounding irritated now. "I just... stuff like that just comes easy to me."
Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you telling me that... that you actually understand all this stuff?" She held their lab book up, incredulous. Mason nodded. She felt herself start to stammer. "B-but, if that's true, then, I mean, why the act? Everyone thinks you're..."
"An idiot?" The corners of his lips turned up but it didn't look to her like he was smiling. The smile never reached his eyes.
"Well... yeah." Emma said.
"That smart guy stuff just isn't me," he said.
"But... but why not? That doesn't make any sense. If you understand—"
"It's just not who I am," he snapped. "Just drop it, okay?"
Emma silenced herself, but she felt her cheeks burning. She flipped her book back open and tried to concentrate on the lab at hand. She pulled out two beakers from the cabinet and filled one with the solution Professor Douglas had set out for them. A jar of dried Earth worms sat on the table with them, and she prepared to drop one into the solution. Mason started fidgeting, then grabbed the empty beaker sitting on their table and tossed it into the air.
"Mason!" she cried. "Don't do that! You'll break it!"
"Tanner! Go long!" he cried. Tanner looked up from the back corner of the room and stretched his hands into the air as Mason threw it towards him. Professor Douglas looked up just in time to see the beaker smash into a thousand pieces as Tanner missed it.
"Mr. Haley!" Professor Douglas shouted. Mason turned and his arm caught the beaker full of solution, knocking it over. It soaked into Emma's lab paper and turned her pink shirt a bright yellow.
Emma felt tears of fury creep into her eyes. Mason was an idiot. This had been her favorite shirt, and it was ruined. Even worse, there wasn't enough time left in class to clean up his mess and restart the experiment. Her hands shook as she quickly grabbed some paper towels and began wiping off their table.
"Mr. Haley, Ms. Davis. Come here please." Emma felt her face grow pale as she approached their professor's desk. The eyes of their classmates lingered on her and Mason as they stood at the front of the room.
"Mr. Haley," Professor Douglas said. "Your behavior is inexcusable. This is a science class, not a football field. You will be receiving an F for this assignment." Emma thought she saw Mason flinch. "I will not, however, punish Ms. Davis for your screwball antics. You," he looked at Emma, "may repeat the experiment tonight, for full credit."
"Thank you Professor," she said. He smiled sympathetically at her.
"What if I help?" Mason asked.
Professor Douglas's smile fell off his face. "You've had your chance, Mr. Haley. Perhaps a failing grade will serve to remind you to take the next experiment more seriously.
Mason nodded. "Yes Sir." He returned to his seat and helped Emma finish cleaning their table just as class ended.
"Emma!" he called after her as she exited the room. But she didn't wait to hear what he said. If she never saw Mason again it would be too soon.
Chapter 6
Emma sat on the lab table, her feet swinging under her as she ate her sandwich. She'd never liked
those crowded dining halls. Even though dinner should be ending by now, she'd much prefer to just sit here in the lab and eat her food before really digging into the experiment that Mason had so thoroughly ruined earlier today.
She took another bite of her sandwich and reached for her water bottle, knocking it off the table. She tried to catch it before it hit the ground and fell off the table instead, smacking her face against the floor. She sat up with a jerk, her eyes bulging from her head. Her hands instinctively went to her throat. She opened her mouth and tried to breathe, but all that happened was that her face turned red and panic seized her. She stood up, her heart racing, her knees weak, pushing on her rib cage with her hands as the sandwich she'd been eating stuck in her throat.
She gasped for breath, feeling her head grow light. What do you do what do you do? Lectures from high school health class flashed back to her and she turned her body towards the lab table, wedging the edge of it against her ribs as pushed herself against it. Nothing happened. Oh God, I'm gonna die in biology lab. No one will even find me until tomorrow!
Just as blackness was starting to overtake her a pair of strong hands tightened themselves around her, gripping her abdomen and pulling themselves against her. Within seconds the bit of uneaten sandwich that had nearly been her undoing was flying across the room. Emma gulped at the air, tasting the sweetness of it as it filled her lungs.
"It's okay," Mason said. "You're alright. Just listen to my voice, alright? Emma look at me."
Emma turned her eyes to Mason. He swam in front of her, but slowly the dim edges of his face came into focus.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked.
"Two," Emma said.
Mason looked at his hand and smiled. "Three, but close enough. Here," he said, leading her to a chair and helping her into it. "Just sit for a bit."