How to Steal Mason's Heart

EIGHT

I had been wanting to throw an arrow to each and every one of my group mate’s chest—except for Blake. Luckily, Blake was in the same class with me and he also was the most useful group mate. History was his forte specifically he would always ace the test and get an A even on the hardest exam that was made by Dr Williams.

I sighed on my chair, blowing away the wisps of my curly hair. Daniella, with her green eyes on her iPhone 6, was typing hysterically like a madwoman, biting her red painted lip. She handed her phone to us and showed her research, which was pretty impressive.

“That’s a juicy information you got there,” Blake commented, typing down on his phone the link where Daniella had searched. “What have you got there, Alexa?” Blake asked, turning his black eyes towards me. His accent was starting to rub off on me. It was contagious because he was like rapping for the whole time.

I bit my lip, giving him a timid smile. My paper was blank, my name only scrawled. I erased them hastily and covered it before Blake could even take a good look on it. He laughed loudly, the other groups turning their heads to us. I sank on my seat, wishing the ground could eat me alive.

“It’s okay Alexa, you can surf at home if you don’t have internet,” Daniella reassured, feeling the weight lifting up on my shoulders. She was really nice for a popular girl granted I only watched movies where the protagonist always got bullied by the antagonist—the popular queen bees.

“I’ll try making the power point if you want,” I offered, but Andrew, the guy sitting beside me interrupted before I could even finish.

“The last time you made the report, all of the words were spelt wrongly,” he complained, dousing himself in Dr Williams’ World History book that he borrowed. Andrew was the teacher’s favourite so we had an upper hand when it came to resources and materials.

“Don’t be too harsh, bruh,” Blake chastised, “At least she was doing something for our group.”

Andrew slammed the book on his arm chair, sending a glare at each and every one of us. I cowered in my seat not because of fear but because of the shame seeping on my bones, for being a useless group mate when it came to presentations. “Look, I am trying to find good information here and all you tell me is being useless. Tell that to Alexa. She’s the dumbest person here in this room,” he said, grabbing the book and flipping the pages hastily.

My blood boiled at what he said, causing me to clench my fists. Tears were almost spilling on my eyes, the bridge of my nose stinging. I stood up, gathering all the air surrounding me. “I know I have damn flaws but no matter how intelligent you are with your rotting attitude, you will never go anywhere. Probably, you’re still going to be stuck here in high school because of your shitty personality,” I yelled as the bell rang. The students scrambled outside of the room.

Andrew gave me a dismissive look, packing his things and leaving me without a word. Blake stood beside me, placing his hands on my shoulders, squeezing them lightly.

“He’s an asshole, Sanchez,” Daniella angrily spoke. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.”

She stood up and left.

“You can go Blake,” I told him as I looked at him. “I am not a kid.”

He was not budging but I glared at him. He forcefully grabbed his things and left the room, leaving me alone as the tears fell endlessly on my face, trudging my steps to the exit, slamming the door shut.

I walked towards the school’s private area, their greenhouse, sitting there as I breathe in the oxygen the plants were giving off. The air was fresh for a wintry day, the leaves swaying to a rhythm they only knew.

I walked to the top of the greenhouse, the view of green grasses soothing my chest and my eyes. History was always a mood breaker, changing my happy mood into a bad one. It would sometimes end me up in tears.

“Alexa?” Mason’s voice rang through my hearing. I turned around, leaving a gasp out of my lips. My breathing constricted, my palms sweating at his presence. He stood beside me quietly, his blue eyes gazing around the school.

“W-What are y-you doing here?” I stuttered, my breathing coming out ragged. I never expected him to be here, most especially he never went to these kinds of places. He was wearing a maroon-coloured shirt, accentuating his biceps.

“Blake sent a group message about your bad day,” Mason answered, smiling at me, the dimples appearing on his features. “So I came out to check up on my friend.”

My cheeks grew on fire. “Everyone knew about the whole fiasco?” I queried with wide eyes, his smile widening even more if possible. He chuckled, averting his gaze to the school building—the History building—where the students were busy chitchatting, their loud chatters echoing outside to the greenhouse.

“Yes,” he answered shortly. “Whatever your group mate told you, all I can say is he’s an asshole for letting a girl cry.”

My heart melted at his statement, his blue eyes gazing at me. I looked back at his electric blue of eyes, my heart palpitating a mile per second, faster than the speed of light. His arms wrapped around my body, encasing me in a hug, his arms prominent on my frame.

He smelled of Axe deodorant, making me inhale deeply. It felt like forever as our bodies were put together but it lasted for only five seconds as he parted away, a soothing smile with that irresistible dimple on his mouth.

“I hope you have a good one, Alexa,” he said, as he started walking away from me, his lean back facing my vision.

“Where are you going?”

“To my next class, I am running late for ten minutes,” he replied.

My cheeks were still on fire, my hands had run cold. I touched my cheeks which were scorching hot as I reprimanded my heart to stop beating loudly most especially he was gone. My trance was broken by an ear-piercing scream.

“Alexa!” Jason shouted, running, his breath short-lived. He was on his knees gasping for the last remnants of air. “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly, his blue eyes searching for my face. I smiled giddily at him. He tilted his head sideways, his eyes filled with curiosity.

“Mason was here?” he asked.

I jumped up and down, giggling at him. His brother was such a sweetheart. Jason chuckled at my idiotic moves, patting my head once I was done screaming like a fan girl. We stood behind the railings, a silence coming short between us.

“Since Chemistry laboratory class has been suspended,” Jason said, breaking the muteness, “let’s go eat at my favourite diner!”

“Are you kidding?” Sending him a glare, I shook my head vehemently. “It will only make me fat.”

“You’re not fat, Alex. And look, I will pay for the bill!” he promised, raising his hand in the air making an x mark on his chest.

I gave him a serious look for a moment. He did not c***k up, instead he grabbed my hand without permission, his feet running. I almost stumbled on the ground with the pace he was on.

“What the hell?” I cursed loudly at him but he winked, sending me a grin. “You could have waited for my answer.”

“But you already said no, no matter how many times I tried to convince you,” he said in breaths as we reached the school gate, catching our breaths after the adrenaline rush caused by the abrupt run.

“But not like this!” I yelled at him in between breaths, flicking him in the forehead but he hugged me without my consent, my eyes widening at his actions.

The way he wrapped his arms was drastically different from Mason. Mason was comforting and gushy while Jason’s arms—I couldn’t point out what and how I felt as he embraced me.

He broke the contact while my mouth parted to the ground, leaving me speechless.

“I know you’re still not fine,” he said, “even if Mason comforted you. So being your friend, I will still give you a hug and the rest of our friends will. You are not defined by what anyone else say Alexa. And talking back to that jackass is really brave.”

There was a glint in his eyes. His blue eyes seemed bluer than the bluest shade, his mouth curving up with the dimple—like that of Mason’s—visible beside his lip.

“Just buy me food at your favourite diner you mentioned,” I complained, my stomach grumbling. I did not even realize I was hungry.

Jason just laughed loudly after he heard it.