Lexi
The friends we have as children shape us. Some of them we keep forever, some of them we lose along the way... but all of them leave something behind... or in his case, take something as they leave.
Mason Jennings held my heart in his hands at...
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The early November frost makes the grass crunch under my feet yet Mason doesn't flinch even though I'm sure he heard me approach. I stop about a foot behind him, not knowing how he feels about me right now and therefore refraining from any physical touch.
"Mason?" I call out calmly.
He just continues to look out over the lake, his legs bent up and his elbows resting on his knees. He looks more relaxed than I thought he'd be, almost too relaxed.
I make the bold move to step forward and sit beside him, ignoring the cold ground as I cross my legs as if I were in Kindergarten again. If he wants to sit in silence that's ok with me. Whatever he chooses, I want him to know he's not alone.
So we sit. We sit for a long time with nothing but the sound of the wind to break our silence.
"You took it away." Mason says finally, his voice quiet and rough as though he'd been crying.
"Took what away?" I reply, allowing him to lead the conversation and looking at him while he continues staring at the scenery.
"When we were down here as kids, I flinched when you tried to touch me. You told me you wouldn't do anything that made me uncomfortable." He paused before continuing, "I wasn't uncomfortable. I told you as much. I told you... I told you that your touch was the only thing that was comfortable to me. I made you promise not to take it away." Mason turned his head to face me, the pain of a broken man in his teary eyes, "You broke your promise." His voice was unnervingly quiet, "You took it away."
It feels hard to breathe now that he's looking at me, laying all his cards bare for me to see. He sounds so wounded and though I don't feel any anger from him, his statement feels like an accusation. A crime for which I'm regrettably guilty.
"It would have been selfish of me not to." I finally respond, my voice just as weak as his.
Mason looks back out across the lake and our silence resumes while I find the courage to reveal my hand of cards too. Neither of us have a winning set but I feel as though mine have been ripped apart while Mason's are simply bent at the corners. I have nothing left to offer him but the truth which I just have to hope he won't use as a royal flush against me.
"Did you know I almost drowned in this lake once?"
Mason stiffens slightly as I speak but doesn't turn to me or interrupt.
"It was before you moved here and I was only 2. It was one of the few times my father was in town and he was supposed to be watching me while Mom made dinner. He seemed happy at first to have time with me, even took my picture as I sat down here. But then he got a call from the guy who made bets for him and judging by his reaction I think he'd lost a lot of money. He yelled down the phone and the noise made me cry, which only made him angrier, so he walked away from me. I fell in the water and the only reason I'm still here is because some guys from Wrendale High were cycling across the field and saw it happen. They jumped in, pulled me out and took me to my Mom."
