How to Steal Mason's Heart

FOUR

“I’ve seen that you’ve been spending some quality time with Jason lately,” Courtney commented as the lady served an apple on her plate alongside with a burger and a mouthful of fries. I was in front of her, handing my bills to the cashier who had a friendly smile on her face. I smiled back in return.

We walked over to an unoccupied table and unoccupied chairs, placing our trays as well as our bags. We sat down on the chairs, munching the food we ordered from the cafeteria. Most days they sell bland stuff but today was an exception most especially they were quite tasty for my liking.

I grabbed the apple on Courtney’s plate.

“Hey!” she scolded, stealing the apple before I could take a bite. I laughed at her murderous expression as if I killed her favourite pet hamster back in summer after sophomore year. “And you did not answer to what I said earlier,” she added, hungrily eating all the fries into her mouth, her cheeks almost exploding.

“About that,” I replied, “Jason got my phone and then he knew I liked Mason so he blackmailed me into it. He’s going to help me to get Mason like me but in return, I’m going to help him as well.”

“Which is?” Courtney asked, sipping the straw with orange juice onto her mouth, her expression void of any emotion.

“Get him the girl he likes.”

Courtney’s mouth splashed the liquid all over to my food. I sent her glare but she looked at me innocently with a rueful smile on her face.

“No lying there but Jason is the kind of guy everyone is crushing on,” Courtney said, a faint blush rising across her cheeks. That was new. The last time I checked, Courtney never mentioned me any guy she fancied.

A smirk appeared on my lips. “Do you like him?” I asked, raising my eyebrows to my forehead, poking her face with my fingers.

“No,” she strongly denied but the blush on her cheeks said otherwise. “If I did, I would have told you I liked him.”

“Fair enough.” But I continued poking her face, a teasing smile curving on my lips. She shot me a glare that meant if I didn’t stop she would splash orange juice on my face which was not cool. At all.

“Hey Alexa and Alexa’s friend,” Jason’s voice said behind my back. I jumped on my seat causing my leg to hit under the table. A wave of pain coursed through my veins I crouched on my seat, groaning as the agony was never wavering away. I could hear Courtney’s snicker very loud and clear. I just sent her a glare.

I stood up and whacked Jason in the head.

“Aw!” Jason groaned, rubbing the spot I just hit on him. “It wasn’t my fault you jumped on your seat,” he complained, sitting down across Courtney who was just staring at our exchange of conversations.

“You s**t-face you almost killed the life out of me!” I yelled in reply and pushed him away from my seat that he had sat on, causing him to fall down on the ground with a loud thud. He was moaning in discomfort just like what I did, his body lying down on the ground. Everyone was staring at us but I shot them sharp looks which made them scurry back to their own businesses.

“He’s not the kind of guy everyone is crushing on,” I told Courtney who had an odd smile on her face, “because he’s typically the weirdest guy on earth.”

“Whatever you say Alex,” she said, continually sipping her juice in peace. After a few minutes, Jason recovered from the pain he was in and limply walked towards our table and sat beside me, a look of pure sorrow clearly drawn on his features. He was frowning, a crease appearing on his forehead.

“Hey Jason,” Courtney called, a very wide smile appearing on her lips. She never did that to anyone most especially her face was always robotic, neutral and expressionless and when I first met her she had a bored look on her face but this was different. Her whole face lit up just by Jason’s mere presence.

It would not be much of an effort if I would do the other half of the deal because by the looks of it their feelings were plain mutual.

“Oh h-hey, you’re C-Courtney, right?” Jason stuttered, his cheeks blushing in response. I cooed at the two of them loudly and was about to stand up, grab my things and leave them behind and sit somewhere else, letting them have their alone time. But Jason’s hand clasped around mine forcefully, making me sit back on my chair, his mouth hovering onto my ear, his hot breath tickling my neck.

“Where. Are. You. Going?” he whispered through gritted teeth while my eyes gazed over to Courtney who was just finishing the remaining pieces of the burger. I sat still as Jason distanced himself between us, the gap large enough for the air to pass through with a friendly smile on his face.

He cleared his throat and said, “I just want to introduce you—Alexa and Courtney—to my friends. They’re just over there.” He pointed his index finger towards the g**g he aforementioned. They were laughing at some random jokes with ear-splitting sounds echoing from their throats.

“That would be great!” I exclaimed all too brightly, my voice raising an octave higher than my normal voice. My heart was pounding loudly on my chest, my eyes scanning over to the chance that Mason might be there, sitting and laughing with them as well.

“Are you alright Alex?” Courtney asked as she stood up, grabbing her bag. I did as well as we walked towards the group of friends Jason just pointed at.

A loud clearing of throat made us stop us from our tracks. We turned our heads towards a mortified Jason, a forced smile on his lips, his eyes signalling for help. “Mind if you help me?” he asked timidly and immediately Courtney helped him onto his feet.

“My bad, the blow was too ruthless for your liking.” I wasn’t sorry for what I just did to him because probably my leg was bruising now for what he did. I couldn’t walk properly due to the surprise stunt he did back on our lunch table.

“Shut up Sanchez,” Jason yelled at me but he was smiling as his blue eyes gazed over Courtney whose expression was serious and with a tinge of worry as she would look over to him. Whenever she would do that, Jason would immediately look straight with his cheeks always on fire. He was such a loser.

After eons of walking towards their—Jason and his friends’—lunch table, the three of us had finally arrived. Five heads—including Mason’s—turned toward us with surprised looks on their face.

“Jason, what happened to you man?” the black man beside Mason asked, laughing at his dispense. Jason just sent him a glare but he didn’t seem fazed maybe because his glares were just empty threats.

Jason, with the aid of Courtney, sat down beside Mason. Courtney sat down beside Jason. I sat across Mason’s chair in which I was sandwiched between two girls. The left one was a redhead and the right one beside me was a blonde.

“So who are your new friends here, Jason?” Mason asked, his voice sounding so deep… and sexy. His voice sent goose bumps onto my skin and shivers on my spine as my back arched straight. His blue eyes was gazed on me but I stared at him, levelling my gaze towards him.

“So the one beside me is Courtney,” Jason started who still had that stupid smile on his face. I wanted to punch him right now because he looked like a love-struck boy just by staring at my best friend. His electric blue eyes averted and looked towards me. His lips curled up into a small smile, his index finger pointing towards me.

“And that is Alexa,” he said. “Alexa, Courtney, this is Mason, my older brother.”

Courtney made a gurgling sound. “Everyone knows him,” she said in a bored tone while Jason just blushed, a shy smile painting on his lips as he peered over Courtney.

“Right,” he said nervously while Mason just produced a rich laugh from his mouth, “and that is Blake, the one sitting beside Mason.”

“Hey bruh!” he waved his hand to me and Courtney. “Nice to meet you guys!”

“And that is Salve, the redhead beside you Alexa.” Salve waved at us, her green eyes sparkling friendly. “And the blonde one is Cherry.” She was inspecting her British flag-painted nails, a frown on her lips. She looked at us and gave us curt nods.

“And the one sitting beside Salve is Ryan,” Jason said. Ryan had jet black hair and bangs that fell on his eyes. He was quiet for the whole time with a mysterious aura surrounding him.

“Welcome to Mason’s circle of friends,” Jason announced with finality, a smile flitting on his face. Mason just pushed his head with a smirk on his face. Everyone laughed except for Courtney.

“You’re so funny Jason,” I giggled.

“No, he’s just stupid,” Blake joked while another round of laughter echoed. Jason was laughing as well, his face looking brighter and younger, the crinkles visible on his eyes. His face lit up like a Christmas tree. Courtney just stared at him as if he was a piece of art while my heart melted at the sight. But I didn’t grab my phone, or else everyone would see the wallpaper. I couldn’t risk Mason knowing my special feelings for him.