The Colors In Her Voice

☆Chapter 15☆

School was making my head spin which was why, all I wanted was to close my eyes and sleep it off. The homework for each subject kept on piling up along with the song practice with my "band" that I have not yet started. To top it all off, I now also have a job that I would have to go to right after I exit the school gates. Which would be right now. For the first time in my life, I felt busy although everything was pending and chaotically incomplete.

Stuffing all my books in the locker, I shut it and made my way to the exit.

"Hey! Rach!" I turned around to see Mason jogging toward me. He stopped right when he reached me and brushed his hair back that was falling in his eyes. My whole face brightened up to another level just looking at him.

"Hey, Mason," I said, smiling at him. I didn't see him much today. He was not there during lunch either and I had to suffer Dylan's snarky remarks alone. The only class Mason and I share is calculus but we couldn't exchange more than a few words. I could tell that he'd wanted to say something to me but our calculus teacher, Mr. James doesn't take these things lightly.

His eyes darted around the hallways, as if searching for someone. My eyebrows furrowed and I looked behind me, expecting someone to stand there. "Bethany's not here." He sighed in relief and turned to me. "I mean, you guys are always together. So it's quite eerie to not see her here." He laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "Although I am glad to not see her."

'Is he so nervous that he can't see her? Does he like her?' I wondered and almost frowned at my thoughts. I felt an unexpected pang of jealousy but I pushed it to the back of my mind. 'No jealousy!' I scolded myself.

"Actually, she had to leave early. Said something about a family emergency, I guess. She didn't tell me much," I explained to him, tapping my hands on my skateboard. Bethany looked utterly terrified for some reason. I had never seen her so scared, her expressions said it all. Her eyes were tearing up for some unknown reason. I wanted to ask her but she didn't have the time to answer any of my questions.

"Huh. Strange." Mason looked deep in thought.

"What is it?" I asked him, worried. I hoped to God that it wasn't something huge. Beth might have done a lot of awful things to me in the past but now it wasn't the same any longer. In fact, quite on the contrary, she's volunteering to help me with the surprise for my mom.

"Nothing... it's just... it's nothing." He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well, anyway, I wanted to discuss a few things about our performance for your plan. So you're free?"

"Actually, I am supposed to go to your aunt's cafe. I have a job now, remember?" I told him, nodding my head awkwardly.

His eyes widened in realization and he grunted in disappointment. The only way I could tell that it was 'disappointment' was because of his frowning lips.

'Wait, rewind that. Is he really disappointed? 'Cause he can't spend some time with me?' I asked to myself and smiled at my stupid hopeless hopes. But I slapped the illogical side of my mind and reminded myself that it was all business. Mason was excited to play drums, that was all.

"Okay, no problemo. See you later then?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually, I wanted to show you my song. So that you could come up with some music ideas? I mean, you're more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am," I suggested, crossing my legs at ankles and waiting for his response. "That is only if you want to, of course," I added.

He nodded his head slowly and considered my suggestion. "That can do. I would love to see your lyrics. How about we go to the auditorium? That place has a few musical instruments as well. Even though we're not going to use them, it might bring and create some vibes." He explained.