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 sides 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 th
e 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."
The panic that had gripped her began to diffuse now as she realized she wasn't going to die. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks.
"Oh hey, it's alright," Mason said, putting an arm around her and drawing her to him. "You're just fine now."
She allowed herself an uncharacteristic moment to lean against the wall of muscle that was Mason's chest and just let herself be held by a man. He smelled so good. Finally, she pulled away from him and gave an embarrassed smile.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"For what?" Mason asked, confused. "For crying on you like that. I'm sure Zoey wouldn't like it very much."
His expression changed. "Zoey and I broke up, so I don't really think she'd care a whole lot about what I did or who I did it with."
"Oh," Emma said. "I'm sorry."
Mason smiled. "Do you always apologize so much?"
"Um, no. I don't think so. I just...Thank you for saving my life." She blushed and Mason handed her her bottle of water. She took a giant gulp and started coughing.
"Easy there, I don't want to have to save you twice in one night. That's asking a lot of anyone."
Emma giggled. Her face flushed. "Um, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Not that I'm complaining."
"I came to help."
"With the experiment?" she asked, surprised. "Did Professor Douglas say he'd change your grade after all?"
"No," Mason said. "I'm getting an F. But I'm the one who messed it up, it's only right that I help you fix it."
"Oh... uh, that's very... considerate." After the way Mason had acted in class, she was shocked to hear him talk like this.
"Yeah, well. I'm sorry I was such a jerk today." His cheeks grew pink. "It's just my dad, you know? He doesn't want me putting too much pressure on myself about school. He wants me to focus on football."
"So that means you have to act like a crazy person in biology?" she asked. She wasn't mad, she genuinely wanted to understand. How could someone so smart act so dumb?
"If I don't try, the professors let me get by more easily. They just figure I'm a dumb jock and it can't be helped. Then I can focus on football without having to focus on grades. See?"
"Yeah," Emma said. "I guess. Your dad actually wants you to do that?" Mason nodded. "Jeez, my parents would kill me if I came home with less than an A. I got an A minus once in gym class and they flipped out."
Mason laughed. "My dad really doesn't like it at all that I even have to take tests. He thinks I should be excused from finals. I bombed a final once—got a straight up F—and he didn't care. But I fumbled the football once during a game, and he grounded me for a month."
Emma laughed, but she felt bad for him. "My parents didn't want me to move to the dorms. They were worried it would affect my grades. If I drop below a 4.0, I have to move back home."
"God that's harsh," Mason said.
"Yeah, it is sometimes." She looked at Mason, something slowly taking shape in her mind. "I guess, in a way, we kind of have the same problem."
Mason cocked his head to one side. His sandy hair swept across his face and Emma resisted the urge to run her fingers through it. She blushed when she realized what she was thinking.
"I guess we do," he said. "Who woulda thought?"
They sat in silent wonder for a minute, each processing this new information. Finally, Emma spoke: "I'm sorry about Zoey. She's a bitch anyway, but it still sucks to get dumped."
"Actually, I dumped her."
"You did? I’m sorry, I just assumed..."
Mason grinned at her. "You're doing it again." When she didn't get his meaning he said, "Apologizing."
"Oh," Emma laughed. "Yeah… I am." She didn't know what was wrong with her. She suddenly felt all jittery. She laughed again and heard her voice take on a high pitched nervous sound she barely recognized as belonging to her. "Why did you break up with her then? If you don't mind my asking."
Mason shrugged. "I was right. She was cheating on me. With most of the football team."
"Oh, I'm—"
Mason scrunched his brow in an over-exaggerated look of disapproval. "Don't say it," he said, the corners of his lips turning up.
"I was going to say that I'm happy for you that you've removed yourself from such a bad situation."
"Yeah," Mason said. "She actually wanted to stay together an
yways, can you believe that? I told her to go jump off a bridge."
Emma raised her eyebrows, her face lighting up. "Do you think she really will? Maybe I'll finally be able to get a decent night's sleep."
Mason stared at her a second, his mouth hanging open, then burst into a generous round of laughter. Emma joined him, and they sat together in the lab, a strange feeling of camaraderie between them that they would never have imagined at the start of the day.
Chapter 7
Mason leaned over Emma's shoulder, looking at the worm under a microscope. She breathed his scent in and felt her arms tingle. Her hands shook.
"You okay?" he asked, noting her hands.
"Mmhmm," she nodded. She was afraid if she spoke her voice would betray her.
"You know, you look real pretty with your hair down like that," he said.
Emma's cheeks lit up like a fireworks show. "Oh," she stammered. "Um, thanks." She turned her head so he couldn't see her smile.
"I guess we're about done here," he said.
"Yeah, guess so. Thanks for helping me."
"No problem. I owed it to you."
"Well, I think saving my life more than makes up for being a jerk in biology." She smiled, hoping he couldn't sense how nervous she'd grown around him.
"You really do look very pretty tonight," he said. "Not that you're not normally pretty, you are, I just mean..." Then he laughed and Emma realized that he was nervous too. She took a step closer to him. They were the only two people in the lab, probably in the whole building. It was ten o' clock and no one was going to set a foot into lab so late at night. No one besides her and Mason, that was.
"Mason, I um..."
He stepped closer to her and put his arm around her waist. Her breath caught in her chest. He leaned towards her, and before she knew what was happening his lips were pressing against hers.
She drank him in. His scent filled her nostrils as she tasted the honey that was his mouth. She opened her own mouth wider, allowing him full access. Her heart jumped as his hand slid over her back, pulling her tighter to him. She had kissed boys before—well, one boy, but she wasn't sure the awkward lip smacking of two twelve year olds counted in this situation.
Bears of Burden: THORN Page 73
