Page 82 of Escape Velocity
Not entirely. Just wait for me outside of the library, assuming you’re still there.
Mason
I’m actually in the newsroom, but I’ll head to the library.
Callum
Okay, see you soon, get ready for a “Callum exclusive”
Mason snorts and puts his phone away, gathers his things, and heads to the library.
He can’t stop thinking about what Alex said. What does it mean to use his writing for himself?
His writing goes through countless rounds of editing and with a fine-toothed comb with the help of Fiona. There’s no way writing the way he wants to would fly with her, even if it is good. Especially not with his parents reading all his articles either.
Imagine how horrific it would be if he told them his secrets in an article. A snark-filled kiss-off detailing all of the things he was hiding from them.
He wouldn’t lie to himself and say he hasn’t had fantasies about doing such things.
He imagines himself sitting them down in their living room, saying he’s made his best written work yet, handing them each an issue ofThe Goldberg, and watching both of their eyes widen in utter horror and shock as they read his profession of his adoration for Callum while also sayingthey are tyrannical prestige-obsessed parents who care more about attention than the quality of their son’s writing.
He knows it’s harsh, but sometimes he thinks about giving them a taste of their medicine. To have his writing just be “good” and not have to serve a higher purpose. He knows at the end of the day, physics is his home and passion, but writing can find a place in his life, as long as it’s fun and something he doesn’t have to constantly prove himself with. Hell, he’d probably always write about Callum if he has the chance.
He enters the library’s foyer and sits on the bench, letting the heaters lull him into a sense of comfort and ease after it feels like he’d been tense the entire day.
The doors to the library open not long after, and he’s whisked out of his fantasy to be thrown into another one, with Callum’s towering frame making its way into the foyer.
Mason immediately gets up, his heart racing like he’s going to have an anxiety attack and hugs Callum. It’s their typical greeting now. It lasts longer than normal hugs do, because Callum never seems to want to let go.
When their chests touch, Mason feels safe and all of the humming crowd of people in his head telling him what to hide and what to do dulls and it’s just the two of them.
Callum’s the only one who can do that.
“How are you?” Callum asks, his voice muffled by Mason’s coat.
“I’m exhausted. I’ve been studying all week and doing equations in my head, and I can’t stop picturing doing the chain rule for trigonometric functions.”
“I truly have no idea what that means.”
“I know you don’t. You’re too pretty to knowstuff like that.”
Callum snorts and parts from Mason, taking Mason’s face in his cold hands. Mason doesn’t care that his hands hurt simply from the cold, the warmth Callum brings with him like he’s a heater is calming enough.
Callum quirks an eyebrow at Mason.
“What?” Mason asks after chuckling.
“You don’t see how pretty you are do you?”
Mason’s cheek flush, and he looks down. “Callum.”
“I’m serious, Mase. People can be prettyandbe good at science. You’re the prime example.”
Mason looks up at Callum who smiles at him like he means it. Mason can’t help but think Callum’s just trying to be nice. He’s the quarterback of the football team and is a good one at that.
It’s hard for him to accept that someone so seemingly otherworldly and out of his league could think that way about him. He doesn’t think too much about how attractive he is or isn’t, but hearing those words from Callum, he can’t help but be forced to think about it.
Girls were all over Callum in high school, and they surely still are now. But Callum’s still here, telling Mason that he’s pretty when a whole other world was out there waiting for him and its adoration.
