Page 42 of Escape Velocity
His dad’s displeasure is immediately obvious, but he doesn’t say anything. Callum has to take advantage of the fact that people are around and watching to let himself bite back.
“I’ll see you at home next weekend.”
His dad stomps away, and Callum watches him.
He doesn’t want to go home next weekend. He doesn’t want to be in that house with his father and commemorating the anniversary of his mom’s death with his stepmom trying to comfort him and fill her shoes.
He’d rather be at Montgomery, pretending like he never lost his mom and that she was cheering for him in the stands. Usually, he gets away with it.
He looks up to the bleachers and pretends she’s a random woman, with her wavy black hair and tortoiseshell glasses cheering him on from the complete opposite end of the bleachers, and he wholly believes she’s there.
But now, it’s someone else. Mason’s there, and he’s a bittersweet reminder of his mother.
Today, he saw them sitting next to each other, imagining her with her arm wrapped around Mason’s shoulder, holding him like she used to.
He used to make fun of their glasses, calling them “eight eyes” whenever he referred to them as a duo as a kid. He thought it was funny, instead of calling both of them “four eyes,” he just decided to combine the two and make eight.
He wonders if Mason remembers that nickname.
He picks up his helmet and makes his way back to the locker room, biting his lip as tears start forming in his eyes.
He blinks them away, refusing to let his teammates see him cry, especially after they just won a game.
As he passes the big “Montgomery” banner into the locker room, he’s reminded of how tired he is.
He’s tired of everyone trying to tell him how to act, what to say, who to talk to, who not to talk to.
He just wants to be Callum, without anyone else’s input.
He wants to be this successful quarterback who can also be vulnerable and be a real-life person.
Someone who makes mistakes. Someone who lost his mom. Someone who regrets ever listening to other people dictate his life in the first place. It’s all he does now.
He knows his future is at Montgomery, but for some reason, the past keeps wanting to pull him back to who he was.
To show him what he’s missing and never should have left behind.
Maybe he should let it.
13
MASON
Unknown
Frat party tonight. 466 Byron Road.
8 p.m.
Kegs galore. Clothing optional.
Just kidding :)
Mason almost dropshis phone into his cereal bowl as he reads the text he receives at the crack of dawn the next morning.
He already knows it’s Callum, but he can’t believe he didn’t even start off with so much of a “hello,” or “good morning” like a normal person.
Mason
