Lemonade (WLGYL #2)

Chapter 9-Past

 I stared up at the brown building in front of me, my hands gripping my steering wheel. I took a deep breath. It was my first time ever visiting my boyfriend at college, and it also happened to be Halloween weekend. Mason had been invited to a party at his roommate's fraternity. He told me that we didn't have to go—that we could avoid dressing up and stay in instead—but what fun would that be? I didn't want to not only be the high school girlfriend, but an uncool high school girlfriend at that. No, as soon as he'd told me about the party, I knew we had to go.

I shook my head. Breathe, I reminded myself. This was Mason. I had nothing to worry about. Stretching out my fingers, I put the car in park and turned off the engine. Because I was only visiting for the weekend, I packed lightly, just a duffel bag in the front seat and a garment bag for my costume, so that it wouldn't wrinkle. Mason had told me that I was on costume duty, which, in the moment, immediately stressed me out. What did girls wear to college parties? Lingerie? All I had to base my perceptions on were movies and TV shows, and I knew I couldn't count on those to be accurate. Mason had already been to a few college parties himself, but he told me "he hadn't noticed what other girls were wearing." Boys.

Pinterest became my saving grace. I spent two hours perusing Halloween costume lists after school one day, when I found the perfect couples costume: Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Superman was my dad's favorite movie; he made me watch it for the first time when I was twelve, and all three Masterson siblings watched it with me. And Superman had always been Mason's favorite superhero, too. It was the perfect costume.

I sent Mason a quick text saying that I was waiting outside before grabbing my bags and locking my car doors. Taking another deep breath, I looked around the street I was on. Mason's dorm was completely surrounded by other dorm buildings, a mini town of sorts. UW-Madison itself already felt like a big city, so it was nice that Mason had a secluded place to call his own. Well, his and Nathan Rodgers's, his roommate.

From what I had heard, Nathan was a nice enough guy, and he and Mason got along well after they both found out they'd played basketball in high school. After that, they practically became best friends. Nathan was in a frat, too, and we'd be going there tonight. When I'd asked Mason if he wanted to join a frat, while we were on FaceTime, he just shrugged. He said he wanted to get to know the school first and figure out a good balance before joining anything, but I could tell he got jealous of how busy Nathan's social life was.

"Not to be too forward, but I've never seen a girl on campus like you before."

I turned around to see Mason walking out of the front door of his dorm. Cheesy. I rolled my eyes. "What, because I'm seventeen?" I teased as Mason's arms came comfortably around me. He smelled like home.

"No. Because you're wearing that." Mason grinned when he released me, pointing to my ensemble of jeans and burgundy sweater.

I scrunched my nose. "What's wrong with my outfit?"

Mason shrugged. "Girls here are usually a lot more casual around campus." He grabbed my bags from my hands and started heading back to the doors.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched his receding figure. "I thought you didn't notice what the girls here wore," I called out.

Mason stopped and shot me a meek smile over his shoulder. "I don't?" I knew Mason would never look at a girl like that, wouldn't even think about it, but it was fun making him sweat. So when I didn't respond, he said, "Not like that."

"Mhm."

"I love you?"

It was my turn to grin. I hugged him around the waist. "I love you too, loser. Now take me to your room."