Dusk Until Dawn

Chapter 10 - ispenthoursworkingonthisbraceletpleasetakeit

The weather got more frigid as days went by. Days turned into weeks. People started wearing their winter coats to school, and the various fall leaves started to vanish.

The one thing that hasn't changed during this switch was my intense battle between me and my feelings.

My mind has been running a marathon between these two thoughts:

I like Mason.

There's no way I like Mason.

Why can't my mind make up its mind??

When I got to school today, I didn't see anyone sitting in the "perfect" seat. But the weird thing was that Mason was already in my class.

He's reading a book while sitting in the seat behind me. It's the one I usually sat in if he hadn't already taken the "perfect" seat.

Oh my God, Mason, you're making this 10 times harder than it should be.

Give me a reason to be mean to you.

I moved forward. "Why are you sitting there?"

His eyes met mine. "What do you mean? I thought you wanted to sit there." 

I sighed exasperatedly. "But... why?"

"Why is there a very nice sunrise today?" He pursed his lips. "I don't know, Maia. Why don't you go up to the sun and ask it?"

Yes. There it is.

"Finally- "

"Oh, Miss Hart!" Miss Ellison shouted from the doorway. "Why aren't you sitting? Mason came early to save that seat for you."

I widened my eyes. He did??

I turned my head to face Mason. He laughed nervously.

I slapped his arm. "What's up with you?"

He reacted to my slap. "What's up with you?"

Calm down, Maia.

I cleared my throat. "You're right. I'll sit here; thanks for saving it."

I hesitantly sat down as he furrowed his eyebrows. I flicked my hair so that hopefully Mason's face was hit by it.

I wanted to know if he had some sort of reaction to it, but I didn't want to turn around.

I need to act cool. Just act as if he's a pest. Like usual.

-

It was free period. Thank God.

Time to sort my thoughts while doing chemistry homework!

I was on my way to the library until I bumped into Mr. Herbert.

"Oh, hey Maia!" He greeted me with a toothy smile. "How's it hanging?"

He radiated positivity. They hired the perfect vice principal.

"You know, I'm actually feeling okay today."

"I'm happy to hear that. You'll have the best day today," he noted. "You can come to me whenever you need to. My door's always open!"

I gave him a warm smile. "Thank you so much."

He high fived me and walked away. "See ya later, Maia!"

He could quite honestly be one of my favorite people ever.

I entered the library and found a quiet area to sit at. I usually eat a light snack during my free period, so I took out a granola bar to snack on.

Mr. Herbert assured me that today was going to be a productive one. I'm confident in that.

But thoughts crossed my mind as I was eating.