Forever mason, p.9

Forever Mason, page 9

 

Forever Mason
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  After pizza, I walk Katelyn home. Earlier in the night, I thought about kissing her, but now I’m not so sure. I walk her to the front door and tell her I’ll see her around. Her face falls, and as I walk away, I glance over my shoulder to see her watching me. I give her a small wave and then climb into my truck. She stays on the small porch until I pull away. I don’t know. I thought I liked her, but there’s something about today that makes me really unsure.

  Fourteen

  My boss, Willy, pats me on the back and says, “You’re doing a great job, Mason.” He smiles when he gives me this compliment, and it makes me feel good on the inside. When I first started, I wasn’t sure if I would like the job. It sounded fun: getting to wash cars all day, being out in the sun, and making sure the lot is clean. At least I’m not stuck inside like a couple of the other people I work with. Tally comes outside all the time, just to get fresh air. She says the salesmen fart in there, stinking the place up. She says they laugh after they bust ass, and it makes her sick. I can’t say I blame her because the guys on my team can let go of some nasty smelling shit, and I’ve definitely passed a few questionable odors from my ass, but for them to do it in front of a girl is uncool. My mom would whip my butt for sure if I did something like that.

  I work with a couple of other guys from school. None of them play football, so I didn’t know who they were until I started. There’s Barry Leven, who played basketball. He likes to talk a big game, but he sat on the bench his senior year. And then there’s Curtis Walsh, who was the senior class President. He’s going to business school or something like that and plans to own dealerships all across the country. Every time I see him, he tells me that there’s money in cars, and he intends to make it all. Great for him. He asks me what I plan to do with my future. Like, I’m sixteen, how am I supposed to know this? I think at this point in my life. I’d like to graduate and play football somewhere. After that, who knows.

  Today, I’m working with Barry. Curtis is here as well, but he’s chasing Willy around, bugging him about selling cars. Whenever he talks, I pretend to listen and nod along, but I do not really hear what he has to say.

  Another car pulls in, and Barry sighs. “I wish Curtis would actually work.”

  “Yeah,” I reply. Honestly, I don’t mind because Curtis talks too much, but Barry’s right. We’d get done faster if three of us worked on the same car.

  “He’s so full of himself.”

  I nod, hoping my silence tells Barry I don’t want to talk about Curtis.

  Thankfully, Tally comes outside. Both Barry and Curtis like her, and I guess in some way, I do as well. She’s pretty and likes to flirt with me, which I like. “Hey, Tally,” I say as I wring out my chamois.

  “Hey, lunch is here,” she says and motions toward the door.

  “Okay, we just gotta finish these last two cars.”

  Barry goes to the end of the road, sets out the “Car Wash Closed for Lunch” sign, and rushes back. He starts on the next car while I finish this one. As soon as I’m done, I go in, tell Tally she can let the owners know, and leave their keys with her. She’ll charge them and hand their keys back to them.

  I go to work on the other side of Barry. We work quickly, both of us starving. Well, I know I am and am assuming Barry is. By the time we finish the last two cars, we’re famished. Barry’s stomach growls as we walk into the lunchroom. Tally eyes him and then shakes her head. She’s set out food on paper plates for us, which is nice. As soon as I sit down, I stuff a potato wedge into my mouth and emit an odd sound that has Barry and Tally looking at me.

  “Hopefully, you don’t make that sound when you’re kissing your girlfriend.” Barry laughs.

  “I don’t have a girlfriend,” I tell him.

  “Really? You should come to my house tonight. My brother is throwing a party.”

  “I’m going,” Tally says. “You should come. It’ll be fun.” She sets her hand on my forearm and looks at me.

  “Who’s your brother?”

  “Step, actually. He goes to prep. His mom is all weird about public school, but he plays baseball and knows a ton of your classmates.”

  I nod and purse my lips, trying to act cool. I’m so not cool.

  “You should bring your friend,” Tally suggests.

  “Liam?”

  She nods and winks. “He’s a cutie.”

  “He’s away at camp,” I tell her, and her face falls. “Sorry,” I mumble. Clearly, she has a thing for Liam like the other girls at school. Barry goes back to eating. I’m curious about the party. I haven’t been to one yet, but I’d like to go. I always thought my first party would be with Liam, but I guess if he’s not here and I’m invited, why should I have to stay home. I shouldn’t.

  “Where and what time?” I ask Barry.

  Barry gives me his address and says most people won’t show up until after nine or ten and not to worry about bringing any booze because there will be plenty. Booze. I hadn’t even thought of that, but then again, what kind of party do I think I’m going to? One with the knitting club?

  No, this is a party party. One where people will drink, say stupid shit, and do equally stupid things. And oddly, I’m all for it. I need to get out and live a little. It’s summer, and I feel like the only thing I do is sit at home and go to work. Liam left, so why should I sit around feeling sorry for myself? I shouldn’t.

  It hits me that tonight, I’m going to lie to my parents. There is no way I can tell them I’m going to party. They’ll take my keys away and lock me in my room, or God forbid have another sex talk, but this time add in drinking and how irresponsible it’s going to be.

  All night, I’ve paced. I don’t know how to curb the energy building inside. I finally figured out the lie and told my parents I was taking Katelyn to the movies. It was the only thing I could think of that they would agree with and not question. My parents gave me a curfew of midnight, which I think is awesome. It gives me a couple of hours to check out the party, play it cool, and then drive home. I have even practiced my line for the night when someone tries to hand me a beer, “Sorry, driving tonight.” I’ve seen it on a bunch of after-school specials, and it always seems to work. The only problem with the lie is I had to leave my house and find something to do.

  I drive around Beaumont and decide to head to the cliffs, the place where everyone brings their girlfriends to make out. I hope to come here someday, with someone I’m dating. But the thought of kissing someone scares the crap out of me. How do you know when to lean forward? When to pucker your lips? And do I really want their tongue in my mouth? I shudder at the thought of swapping spit. The guys on the team say kissing can get pretty hot and lead to other things, but I don’t know. Being a teenager sort of sucks right now, and I wish Liam were here, so I had someone to talk to about all this stuff. I suppose I could talk to Barry, but I don’t know him well enough, and I don’t want him saying shit to others.

  It turns out that Barry lives near the cliffs, which makes finding his house easy. I pull along the curb to the first spot I come to and make my way toward the front door. Again, I feel a bit of anxiety creeping in, wondering whether I knock on the door, ring the doorbell, or just walk right in. There really needs to be a teenager’s guide on how to be a teenager. Maybe I’ll write one when I’m older or something. Thankfully, others are approaching the door, and it’s easy to mix in with them. The only problem is, now that I’m inside, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.

  There are very few people in the living room, and most of the noise seems to be coming from the basement. I figure it’s through the kitchen and meander my way there. The stairwell is tight, with people coming up and going down. The closer I get to the bottom of the steps, the louder it gets.

  “Mason!” My name is said loudly in my ear, and a pair of arms wrap around my neck. I try to look but can only see a head of blonde hair. “Tally?”

  “Duh. Who else would it be?” she kisses my cheek and hands me a red cup. “Drink. Have fun. Let loose.” Tally leaves and disappears into the fray of people, leaving her half-empty cup in my hand.

  Lovely.

  I do what I think is normal and take a sip. Only I don’t actually drink the beer. It smells, and I’m not a fan. I walk around, bobbing my head to the music, and try to act like I belong. I don’t. I don’t know these people, and they don’t know me.

  “Mason Powell?”

  I glance over my shoulder and find four guys from the team. “Hey, guys.” We shake hands, but it’s not like the way you’d shake an adult’s hand. Instead, we clasp hands and sort of thump our shoulders into each other’s chests. It’s very manly and a cool thing to do.

  “What the hell are you doing here, Powell?” One of the guys asks.

  I shrug. “Just hanging.”

  “Yeah, right on,” another says.

  “Where’s that fucker, Westbury?” from behind the crowd, Brian Williams emerges. He lifts a bottle of beer to his lips and takes a long drink, and never takes his eyes off me. I look over his shoulder for his girlfriend but then remember Katelyn saying they’re not together.

  I swallow the frog in my throat. “He’s at FSU,” I say. “Learning from Coach Bowden.”

  All seriousness drains from Brian’s face, and the bottle slowly moves away from his mouth. Yep, that’s right, asshole. Liam is learning from the best.

  “Bullshit. There’s no way that puny ass kid got an invite to FSU.”

  I nod. “Yeah, he did.” I let that sink in for a minute and then tell the guys I’ll see them later. I don’t want to spend time with people who are going to bash on my friend.

  I finally find Barry, who introduces me to his stepbrother, Nick Ashford. Nick and I talk for a bit. He asks about Beaumont High and tells me he wants to go there in hopes of getting a scholarship to play baseball.

  “Our baseball team is good,” I tell him.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen them play. I think I can be a factor in helping them win, though.”

  “That would make the coach very happy.”

  “I don’t know. I gotta talk to my mom. She’s against public school. She says the lack of education will rot my brain. She’s probably right. I saw Barry’s homework one day, and it’s already stuff I’ve done.”

  “You must be smart.”

  He nods. “I can remember everything. I’m going to be a doctor.”

  “Cool. I’m probably going to wash cars for the rest of my life,” I say, laughing.

  Tally comes up to us and takes our hands. “Come on, children. We’re going to play spin the bottle.”

  “Spin the what?” Nick asks.

  “The bottle, virgin boy.”

  I pale, wondering if she’s talking about Nick or me. Tally puts us in a circle and explains the rules. If you spin, you must kiss whoever the bottle points to. If you don’t kiss within ten seconds, it’s an automatic French kiss, and if you don’t do that, Tally is going to give you a wedgie. None of this sounds fun, but whatever. I fear that if I stand up now, she’ll tackle me to the ground.

  Yippee.

  Tally spins first, and as luck would have it, it lands on me. Crap! She crawls toward me, with a wicked look in her eyes, and for the first time since I’ve met her, I’m scared. She beckons me with her finger. I start to move toward her, but she shakes her head and continues to crawl. When she’s in front of me, someone starts counting. I close my eyes, pucker my lips, and move forward, but nothing—no lips meeting mine. No anything.

  When the person counting gets to zero, I open my eyes and wonder what the hell is going on. Tally smiles, sits back on her knees, and places both hands on my cheeks. Mom!

  “Close your eyes, Mason.”

  I do as she says because, honestly, I’m afraid of her. Her lips press to mine, and I think this isn’t so bad, but then I feel it—the wetness of her tongue. It pushes into my mouth and touches mine, and . . . holy shit. I have an instant erection, and my mind is going wild. It’s like my body parts are talking to each other, trying to figure out what they should do. My hands want to grab her ass, her tits, her hair—they want to be everywhere. And my—he still needs a name—wants to come out and be like, “Here I am!”

  Tally continues to kiss me.

  Lips moving against lips.

  Tongues against tongues.

  And then, she pulls away. She wipes at her bottom lip and then winks. “There, now you can think of that the next time you jack off,” she whispers in my ear.

  When Tally is back in her spot, Nick elbows me. “She’s hot. Are you guys dating?”

  I shake my head. “No, we work together.”

  “Hopefully, you don’t have a girlfriend because I think that kiss would be considered cheating.”

  “No, I don’t have one. You?”

  He shakes his head. “Nah, not yet. There’s a cutie at the ice cream parlor I’ve had my eye on for a while. I’m going to ask her out.”

  “Good luck, man!” We high-five because it’s the cool thing to do.

  By the end of the night, I’ve kissed four girls, made out with another, and some soon-to-be senior stuck her hand down my pants to see what I was packing—her words, not mine. When I get home, my mom is waiting for me. I find her in her chair, reading her book.

  “Did you have a nice time?”

  I nod because I’m afraid I will tell her how nice of a time I had. “I’m tired. See you in the morning.”

  “Good night, Mason. I love you.”

  “Love you, too,” I mumble as I climb the stairs. It dawns on me when I get to my room that Katelyn could’ve easily called here, looking for me. If she did, my mom knows I lied.

  Crap.

  Fifteen

  I don’t know what happened tonight, but wow. Just wow! I wish Liam were here so I could tell him, or maybe he would’ve snuck out and gone with me to experience the magic of a real teenage party. Either way, I need someone to talk to about tonight. I’m sure Tally will have plenty to say when I see her at work in the morning, and I bet Barry will pat me on the back and welcome me into the fold. I’m not sure what the “fold” is exactly, but I hear my dad talk about it often, so I figure it must be some type of secret group or society.

  As I lay in bed, I stare at my ceiling and think about how my life shifted tonight. Earlier, I was a boy who had never been kissed and definitely never fondled, and now I’m a guy . . . guy comes after boy, right? . . . who has made out with a couple of girls and got a little hand action. When that girl put her hand down my pants and touched me . . . “Wow,” I say to my ceiling.

  Up until last summer, I had glow-in-the-dark stars and moons on my ceiling. I don’t remember exactly when my mom and I put them up, but it was sometime in elementary school when we started learning about the solar system. Mom and I mapped out where everything would go and used my overhead light as the sun. The first couple of months after we put them up, I’d leave my light on all day so the stars and planets would shine bright at night. I used to love looking up and imagining what it would be like to go to space. For a while, I wanted to be an astronaut, but math isn’t my strongest subject, and you have to be some sort of wizard when it comes to that stuff.

  Last summer, I took them down because I thought they were childish. I thought that when I finally brought a girl into my bedroom, she wouldn’t want to see something like that. But now, I miss them because the plain white ceiling looks boring and dull. I’m not tired, but I should try to fall asleep. The energy moving through my body right now is making me antsy, like I need to get out and run or do something to curb what I’m feeling. Now, I think I get it when the after-school special talks about drug use and why people have difficulty kicking the habit. I don’t ever want to stop feeling this way.

  But how can I keep it going?

  As soon as I close my eyes, Katelyn’s face pops into my mind. An overwhelming sense of guilt washes over me. Then, my eyes open, and once again, I’m staring at my ceiling while simultaneously making things up in my mind. I think Katelyn likes me, but it’s hard to say. I like her. I think she’s pretty. Does she want me to kiss her? What if I do, and she pushes me away? I think that would be embarrassing for both of us.

  “Ugh,” I slam my hand down on my bed and groan. Life is frustrating. I thought the teen years were supposed to be fun, carefree, and without worry. And yet, worrying is all I do, and it seems to be about things I have no control over, like how Katelyn feels. Or if Liam is having a good time. I’m sure he is, and he’s probably forgotten all about me.

  “Ugh,” I slam my hand down again, but now it’s because I’m mad at myself for thinking the worst of Liam. He would never forget me. We may not be related, but we’re brothers. He’s my very best friend and will be for the rest of my life—even when he’s super famous and breaking all the NFL quarterback records.

  I give up on sleep and reach toward the lamp on my nightstand. I turn the light on, pull open the drawer, and take my tattered copy of The Outsiders out. My dad gave me his copy and said the kids he went to school with are just like the ones in the book. You have the popular teens, the rich ones, and then the kids that live across the tracks. It’s funny how life imitates art. Liam and I are the Socials. The kids everyone wants to hang around with, and there are Greasers at my school. Their parents are what people call blue-collar—working at the lumber yard or at the mill—which I think would be fun. I like to work with my hands. My dad works at the bank. He’s some executive or whatever, but my mom doesn’t have to work because of his job. Same at Liam’s. His douchebag father is a professor, and from what Liam says, students try to buy their way into his class. Probably sleep with Sterling too.

  I’ve read The Outsiders many times. I should’ve told Katelyn this is my favorite book when we talked about summer reading, but I didn’t. I wish I had, though, and I think this is a good excuse to call her tomorrow and ask if she’s read it. If she hasn’t, maybe I can take her to the library to check out a copy. I know she can’t ride in my truck, but perhaps I can ask her mom nicely and explain that we’re going to the library to look at books.

 

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