Page 47 of Escape Velocity
Mason purses his lips. Callum isn’t supposed to be part of the conversation right now. He’s talking to a tall, cute, boyish looking brunette guy who’s into him and who Mason doesn’t mind being flirted with by.
“Yeah, he plays well,” Mason says, not taking the bait.
“You write so articulately. And descriptively, too. You have an eye for detail, and you know how to take a snapshot of a specific moment and make it come to life.”
Mason laughs softly. “Thanks.”
“I might have read it… a hundred times,” Alex admits bashfully.
Mason widens his eyes. Oh, this guy has got itbadfor him.
“Committed to your position on the paper, are we? How did you even get ahold of that article?” Mason jokes. Alex laughs and takes another sip of his beer.
“I’m cc’d in the emails Fiona gets. She likes to think of me as her personal assistant when no one else is around, so she always loops me into emails.”
Mason nods and makes a mental note for that in the future.
He has to admit, he’s enjoying himself. He has his reservations about getting involved with someone on the paper, but he wouldn’t mind being asked on a date or making out in a dark corner with Alex.
“What got you into writing?” Alex asks.
Guilt pangs through his chest. Alex has no idea that he’s actually a physics major and has no interest in becoming a writer. It’s all a facade.
“My mom. She’s the editor forThe Meridian Tribune.”
Alex’s eyes bulge. “Wait—you’re April Fanning’s son?”
Mason raises his cup in the air bitterly. “The one and only.”
“She’samazingat what she does. Now I get it. I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re meant to be a writer.”
His stomach begins to churn. Yet another person telling him that he’s meant to do journalism. Another lie he’s living.
“Yeah, my mom was ecstatic when I told her I got onThe Goldberg. I’ve been wanting to be on the paper forever, since Montgomery’s my family’s Alma Mater.”
He hates how easily the lies slip out of his mouth. He has no reason to lie to Alex, but for some reason he is. For some reason he has this paranoid idea that this conversation will make his way back to his mom.
Alex smirks. “Well, you’re destined for greatness then. I should take notes from you.”
Mason plasters a smile on his face, then takes another swig of his beer to distract himself from telling yet another lie.
He looks to his right and sees Jenna now making out with the dumb jock from before. He shakes his head and lets it happen. Jenna needs to have some fun every once in a while, just like he does.
He glances into the living room. He recognizes one of the cheerleaders standing in front of Callum with her arms around his neck, standing on her toes.
Mason’s chest clenches. It’s the same mental image he’s always had of Callum ever since they stopped being friends.
He’s the popular jock who gets with all of the cheerleaders. That he’s nothing more and nothing less. And this image proves that.
He wonders if Callum knows that girl’s favorite song and if it’s on his party playlist. If he texts her as the sun rises before practice.
He’s staring now. Mason keeps watching as she gets closer and closer to his face, like she’s begging him to kiss her. And who wouldn’t want Callum to kiss them with those lips?
“Mason?” Alex says.
Mason snaps back to his conversation with Alex.
“Yeah?” Mason says, blinking his eyes quickly.
