The Memories of Us

Chapter 8

"Ewww, the audacity!"

"You think they did it? Last night?!"

"Um, hell, I didn't know but from this angle, he's still on top of her".

"I can't believe it; I was only a couple feet from them, sleeping next door."

"Nasty, little shits."

I groaned, my head pounding. The room was thankfully still dark, but I could make out figures standing in the glowing doorway. Something heavy rested on my waist and something hard pressed against my back. My eyes shot open. No, please, I'm begging; not Mason's morning wood. His bodyweight was suffocating; his arm pinned me down. Slowly, I peeled him off of me, driven by my selfish desire to simply breathe. Mason lay on his side, still sleeping, his face calm. In that moment, my heart swelled; he looked eighteen again, with a dusting of gruff on his chiseled jaw. Ever so slightly, his pink lips parted as steady breaths escaped, looking so kissable. There was no worry in his expression, his eyebrows weren't furrowed with stress; he looked untouched by the world's troubles. 

"Pst".

"Rory", my head shot up at the whisper.

Groggily, I sat up, searching for the source of noise. Emily and Ivy stood with amused looks in the middle of the doorway, their cellphone's flashlights on. I moaned and  flopped back onto the mattress, the light irritating my sensitive eyes. As they continued to laugh at us, Mason began to stir awake beside me. 

"Good morning, rise and shine"!

 Without a warning, the lights turned on, leaving me completely blinded. From the sounds of Mason grunting beside me,  it was clear he, too, didn't enjoy the harsh light.

Ivy strutted in and sat on the corner of my bed. I couldn't understand how she could be so enthusiastic, especially this early in the morning. She rested her chin in her hands, "so, y'all have a good night or what?" Her eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the nearest pillow, throwing it at her head. Haha, bullseye.

"Gosh, what time is it anyway?" The sound of Mace's raspy morning voice made me feel some kind of way and subconsciously I squeezed my legs. Jesus Mace.

"One, in the afternoon, we thought it was time to raise the beasts." Emily giggled as she leaned on the door frame.

Mason stretched, pulling his arms above his head. It was the first time I had noticed he had spent the night shirtless. My heart beat faster as I tried not to stare at his rippling abs. Ivy caught me and smirked. I  flipped her off not so subtly. "Well, we better get up and do something, hey?" Mason said with a yawn.

"Hey, this was my birthday!" Emily said as she unpinned a photo from the corkboard above my desk. It was her eighteenth birthday and spring break. We all drove over to Kitchings, the next town over, which has a giant lake where we would go swimming. I remember we had asked a stranger to take a picture of us. I was piggybacking on Eli's back; his glasses had water droplets on them, and his smile was full of braces. My grin matched his, my hair was in a messy bun and my arms were in the air sporting peace signs. Close to us was Mason, carrying Ivy bridal- style. Her face had a look of horror on it. Mace would soon throw her into the water. Ivy was wearing a lime green bikini that only she could ever pull off. It was clear that Mason's biceps and abs had gained definition. Thanks to this morning's discovery, they were rock hard — like ahem, something else. Next to them, Em sat on a purple beach towel, sticking her tongue out. She wore a cone-shaped birthday hat. Her long blonde hair fell to her waist, and she was in a pink and yellow bikini.