All That Matters

by Sadie Rose

  Mom came by later that night and asked if I wanted to go shopping with her and Erica. I think it's nice that she always asks me to join her when she goes out even though I never say yes. I'm a little tempted to say yes, this time though. I kinda think I could do it. In the end, I shake my head no. She looks a little disappointed which makes me sad, but she kisses my head and smiles at me.

  "I'm glad you and Mason are getting along baby; I was worried about him moving here. I'm relieved was I worried for nothing" she smiled at me and left a little later.

  Later that night Anson came into my room looking nervous and agitated. I was sitting on my bed and he sat down across from me.

  "I wanna talk to you Ava ok?" I nod. he's frowning so I frown too. " I want you to be careful around Mason." I shook my head at him. "I know you trust him and that's good. I'm glad you're not scared around him. Just I want you to be careful ok? And if he does anything you don't like or that scares you, I want you to let me know ok?" I rolled my eyes and nodded. "I mean it. Promise. Draw me a picture or something if you have to ok?" I gave him a slow exaggerated nod. "Ok, ok don't be a brat" he laughed pushing my head away. I laughed too. "You wanna watch a movie?" I jumped off the bed and nodded excitedly. He grinned and we went to choose a movie.

  I finally choose a pink sundress with a short skirt and wide shoulder straps I put a pink and white polka-dotted shirt under it and pink socks with a wide band of white lace at the top. I hate shoes so I don't bother putting any on. I gather my hair into a low pony and tie a pink ribbon around it. After putting on a little makeup, I skip down to the kitchen.

  Gladys is in the kitchen when I open the door. She looks over at me and huffs out a good morning. That's about as friendly as grumpy Gladys gets. I smile over at her and go to the fridge. I'm really starving.

  "You want me to fix you something?" I pretend not to hear. Just to be a brat. She chuckles and goes back to stirring whatever she has in her pot. I gather up everything for a sandwich. Meats and cheeses, onions, pickles, lettuce tomatoes, olives. I'm just layering everything on big hunks of some of Gladys fresh-baked bread when Mason saunters into the kitchen. Is it possible he got even hotter overnight? Because Oh, my god does, he looks good this morning! He's wearing torn, black jeans and a black shirt with a band that I don't recognize on the front and black combat boots.

  "Coffee. I need coffee" he says as he walks over to the counter and pours coffee into the biggest mug he can find. Mason stands in front of me on the other side of the bar watching me make my sandwich. "Damn that looks good. Wanna make me one?" He leans over and smiles an extra sweet smile. I smile back at him. He bats his lashes exaggeratedly a couple of times "Pleaseeeee." I bust up laughing at his antics and throw an olive at his head. As I'm slicing two more pieces of bread, he grabs a plate and hands it to me. I start layering things on the bread. I hold each item up with my brow raised in question. I don't really know what he likes and what he doesn't. "Let me save you some time" he grins at me "You can put everything on it. I'm starving!" I laugh and make our sandwiches. We top our plates off with chips and sliced fruit. I carry my plate outside to the patio table and he follows me. "This place is awesome" he says as he takes a big bite. I smile at him. "No seriously, I've never seen anything like it before" he says after swallowing. " You wanna show me around after we eat? My dad said you have horses and a pool?" I nod my head yes. After we eat, I point to my feet to show him I'm not wearing shoes. "Ok I'll wait while you get your shoes on" he replies. I dash upstairs and find my sparkly pink tennis shoes, hurrying to tie the laces.

  When I get back, he's sitting in the same spot scrolling through his phone. He smiles as I walk up

  "Ready? let's go." I show him around through the gardens and to the pool. "Wow!" this is amazing! Do you like to swim?" No. "Really? With a pool like this? Nope, we are gonna have to change that. We gotta go swimming one day" I laugh and shake my head at him. He continues teasing me insisting he's gonna get me in the pool like it or not. At the stables, he asks if I ride horses and again, I shake my head. I used to ride but I don't anymore, of course, I don't tell him that. We wander around outside; I take him down to the duck pond and we sit under a tree watching ducks ad swans swim around. I look over at him and he has a serious look on his face. I wonder what he's thinking about. After a minute he turns and looks at me. "I kinda have an idea," he says. I quirk an eyebrow in question. "I'm not sure I wanna say. I don't wanna piss you off" I roll my eyes and motion to go ahead. He takes a deep breath and lets it out. Still, he doesn't say. Finally, he says "If you don't want to its cool ok?" I nod and motion to continue. "I don't know if you can’t talk or if you just don't like to" he starts looking at me questioningly. "I don't answer, just stare back at him. "But I really wanna talk to you. More than just yes or no stuff." Still I don't respond. " I was thinking maybe we could talk through text. you know what I mean? I slowly shake my head no. "Can I show you?" he asks. I nod hesitantly. "Ok remember we don't have to." he pulls his phone from his pocket and pushes some buttons a screen flashes up. "I'll ask you something or say something or whatever and you can type out your answer here. He types out

  I really want to get to know you better.

  "What do you think?" I take the phone from his hand and type out

  Ok

  "Really? That's great!! whew I was worried you were gonna just throw my phone at my head" he laughs. Mason scoots around so we are side to side and he can see his phone screen. "Now I don't know what to say" he grins. "You don't go to school, do you? Are you homeschooled or something?"

  Yes. Sort of. I have teachers come here twice a week. I pretty much refuse to write or talk to them though so it's mostly just them giving me videos to watch or books to read. My spelling may be pretty bad.

  "Do you like that? Is it boring? I was kinda hoping you at least went to the same school as I was gonna go to."

  It's ok. I'm really behind in school I just started back a little bit ago. I don't like school and honestly only do a very little bit. Do you like school?

  "No, not really but I get good grades. This is my last year I'll be glad to be done. Tell me what kind of stuff you like to do"

  I like to draw, read and watch TV. I spend most of my time in my room. I'm most comfortable there. I play Xbox some but not really a lot. I'm sorry I'm so slow at this. What do you like to do?

  He grins "You will get faster trust me. I already told you I like to read. Drawing is cool. Do you think you could show me some of your artwork sometime? I don't draw I have no talent there. I like to listen to music and ride my bike. Back home I hung out with friends a lot. I like the Xbox too. We should play sometime. Are you any good?"

  I haven't ridden a bike since I was a little girl. I'm ok on the Xbox. Ya, I guess if you want to see I'll show you some stuff. It's no big deal. I just do it for fun. Do you miss your friends?

  "I say bike, but I mean my motorcycle. Have you ever ridden one before? Nah, I don't really miss my friends. I still text them and I've only been gone a few days"

  No, I've never ridden.

  "You wanna? I'll give you a ride sometime." he laughs. I shake my head and laugh.

  No way.

  "Isn't this so much better? Do you communicate with your family or teachers like this?"

  No.

  "Do you write or know sign language? How do you normally communicate?" I hesitate so long he finally says "Hey you don't have to answer anything you don't want to ok?

  It's not that. I just don't want to say anything that makes you think I'm a freak.

  "I'd never think that about you Ava. You're the coolest girl I've met. I'm being serious. I really like you. You're a lot of fun. I don't know I guess I'm just curious about you I wanna know what you think about, how you feel. It's weird because usually I don't really care what a girl thinks or whatever. But I don't know, I'm really fascinated by you" For some reason it's easier talking to Mason. Less scary.

  I guess I haven't really wanted to communicate with anyone beyond
a basic yes or no thing. Maybe it's just easier that way? I think I'm afraid of what questions they will ask. Honestly, it took me a long time before I even wanted to communicate on that level.

  "But you're ok with this right? Because we can stop if you want to."

  No. I really like this. There is so much I wanna know about you. I'm pretty curious about you too.

  I blush as I write out my reply. My heart is racing. This feels big. It feels important.

  But can you do me a favor?

  "Sure anything" he says quickly. I smile at him.

  Could you not tell anyone? If you do, then they may expect me to do this with them and I really don't want to and I'm not sure they would understand.

  "Ya, no problem. I won't tell anyone. I promise. Can I ask you a nosy question? Remember you don't have to answer." I nod ok. "I'm guessing you can talk right?" I nod. "Do you think maybe one day you will talk to me?" I type out one word.

  Maybe

  Chapter 14

  Mason

  I can't believe I got Ava to talk to me! I got the idea last night as I was texting one of my buddies back home, but I wasn't sure if I should even bring it up to her. I'm fucking glad I did. She's amazing. She's funny and smart, I meant what I said to her. I'm really into this chick. Like I've never really been into a girl like this before. Usually, I'm more of a fuck e’m and leave e’m kind of guy. Not that I've never had a girlfriend before of course, I have. That's kind of what you do right? I've just never really cared about any of them. Ok, I guess that kinda makes me a dick or whatever. I wasn't mean to them or anything and let's just be honest it's not like they were in love with me either. All they wanted me for was a hot fuck, a ride on my bike and the bragging rights of saying they were dating Janie Lars' son.

  I'm sitting on my bed waiting for Ava. After we left the duck pond I asked if she had an iPad or anything and offered to download a texting app on it for her. When we walked by the pool Erica and the twins were splashing around in the water. I haven't spoken to Erica yet, but the brats were in my room as soon as I opened my eyes this morning. They hung around poking into my shit and pestering me with questions until I ran them off. They aren't that bad, I guess. Not that I'd ever admit that shit out loud.

  Ava comes skipping into my room. I mean like really that girl never just walks she always seems to be skipping or hopping I don't know, it's hard to describe but she has like this happy walk. She plops on the bed in front of me and hands me a pink glittery iPad with a big unicorn sticker on the back. I laugh as I take it from her. She's so fucking cute. As I download the App, she looks around my room. After a few minutes she holds her hand out for my phone and I smile as I hand it over.

  We should unpack your room.

  She holds it up for me to see. "Sure, we can do that. Is it just cuz you're nosy about my shit?" I laugh.

  Yep pretty much.

  She grins as she holds the phone up for me to see. I don't give a fuck if it makes her happy that's all I care about. So, after I load the app and show her how to use it, we start unpacking my boxes. I set up the Xbox first so I can put some music on while we work, and we spend the next couple of hours unpacking everything and putting it away. I don't think I've ever had so much fun just hanging out with a girl before. I know I'm in trouble with this girl, but I'm too far gone to care. Just as we are finishing Erica appears at my door. Her eyes flick between me and Ava and I notice that Ava seems different with Erica in the room. Stiffer, more self-conscious. She's putting the last of my books on one of the built-in shelves.

  "Hey, I heard music in here and thought I'd see if you needed some help unpacking or something. I didn't know Ava was with you. Do you want me to leave?" Me and Erica haven't ever been super close, but I mean we would usually hang out when I'd visit. And we are friends on Facebook. We occasionally chat or text. I notice that Ava doesn't really seem comfortable with her in here. I don't wanna be an asshole though, so I say.

  "Sure, c’mon on in we are pretty much done but you can hang out if you want." Erica comes in and I tell her me and Ava was just about to play Xbox and ask if she wants to play. We pick a game and spend the next hour laughing and playing. Ava was totally lying she is pretty fucking good. Erica isn't horrible either. Some girls can't play for shit, but they play better than some of the guys back home.

  After an hour or so, Ava puts the control down and gets up she waves bye and picks up her iPad to leave. "You leaving?" I ask because you know I'm a dumbass and it's not obvious that she's leaving. She nods and smiles at me and then over at Erica. she doesn't seem upset or anything so maybe she has something she needs to do. I wish I could ask her, but I can't without giving away our secret, so I just say bye and watch her walk out. Almost as soon as she walks out the door, I slide my phone out of my pocket and text her

  Me: Hey, you ok? Why did you leave?

  Ava: Ya I'm good. I had lots of fun. I just need to do some stuff before dinner.

  Me: Oh ok. I had fun too. See you at dinner.

  Ava: ok.

  I slide my phone back into my pocket and look up to see Erica watching me curiously but since I know she can't see the screen I don't really care.

  "So, are you and Ava like friends?" she asks.

  "Ya, I guess so. She's cool." I answer.

  "Cool. She seems nice. I mean I don't like really know her, but she seems ok." I don’t answer her, and she changes the subject. "School starts next week. I'm super bummed in a way but I'll kinda be glad for it to start. It's been so fucking boring here." I grin at her.

  "Wow that's bad. When you're so bored, you're looking forward to school."

  "Ya well, I am literally that bored" she replies. "Have you talked much to Anson?" she asks.

  "No not really. Have you?" I glance at her from the corner of my eye, remembering how they acted at dinner. "We kinda got off to a bad start" she answers.

  "Why? What happened?" I ask

  "Just a stupid misunderstanding. Did you really steal your principal's car?" she laughs.

  "Ya. It was stupid." I tell her about the prank and the fight.

  "It seemed like a good idea at the time." I laugh. "Of course, we were both pretty messed up at the time so maybe we weren't really in the best frame of mind to be making that kind of decision." We laugh as I tell her about the race and the wreck that followed. I know it was stupid, but those guys are dicks, and no one was hurt. Mom even bought him a new car and it was way better than the piece of shit he was driving. The way I see it he should be thanking me. Erica's a chill chick and hanging out with her is cool. We shoot the shit until time for dinner.

  After dinner, Anson goes out again and Erica and Ava come back up to my room. The girls bring up some popcorn, chips, soda, and candy while I load up a movie. We all sit on my bed with our backs against the headboard. Ava and Erica seem more comfortable around each other which makes me inexplicably happy. I don't know why I care but I do. I try not to think too hard about why it even matters to me.

  Chapter 15

  Ava

  School starts for Anson, Erica, and Mason on Monday. So, this is their last weekend of freedom. I'm really gonna miss them when they go to school. Even Erica. The twins have another week before they have to go back. I guess the younger grades start later than the high school.

  I can't believe how much things have changed since Mason got here. He's been here nearly three weeks, and everything is like completely different. Ever since that day at the pond I've felt different. I can't explain how or why but I just do. Erica, mason and I have hung out some every day and Anson even joins us sometimes. We usually hang out in Mason's room, but we have hung out in Erica's room a couple of times. When I'm not with Mason I'm usually texting him. In fact, that's what I'm doing now.

  Mason: C’mon why not? It'll be fun. I swear you will love it.

  Me: No way Mason! What if I fall off?

  Mason: WTF? You think I'm gonna let you fall off? You hurt me, Ava.

  I laugh as I read his text. He's b
een trying to convince me for the past two days to go for a ride on his bike.

  Me: Ya right. I'm sure.

  Me: Where would we go?

  Mason: Wherever. Just down the road.

  Me. Maybe?

  Mason: Yes! Maybe means you're gonna do it.

  Me: I didn't say yes!

  Mason: Ya but you're going to. C’mon let's go.

  Me: NOW!!????

  Mason: Why not? C'mon gets your shoes on. Meet me in my room.

  Can I really do this? I'm really scared but Oh, my God! The idea of it excites me so much! I really, really want to.

  Me: I can't go far. Like seriously, right down the road ok?

  Mason: Absolutely! Right down the road, I promise.

  Me: And don't stop anywhere.

  Mason: Nope, no stops.

  Me: blah. OK! Let's do it!

  Mason: YESSSS!!! I knew I could get you to say yes! Now come on!

  Ava: On my way.

  I toss the iPad down and jump off my bed. I race to my closet, throw on my shoes and hurry out the door. I get to Mason's room as he is walking out. He's grinning broadly.

  "You are going to fucking love riding once you try it! I swear. You're gonna be bugging me every day to take you for a ride"

  I just laugh and shake my head at him. We walk down to the garage. I can't even remember the last time I was in the garage. I mean why would I ever come in here. The garage is huge, we have seven cars in here. I know one is Mom's, one is Anson's and one is my dad's car and Andrew has two. I'm not even sure who the others belong to. Mason's bike is furthest from the door. We walk over to it and he starts giving me instructions.