Untitled Document

Untitled Part Two - Mason

The last day of school is for kids that want a perfect attendance record, kids that aren't hungover from last night's party, and kids that don't want their parents to know they're hungover from a party last night. 

Me, I'm not hungover, which is the reason I walk the halls alone today. Sure, I could have stayed home, but I'm not doing anything better as an excuse to not be here.

Each of the three reasons why students are at school today is why when I turn the corner to the school's main hallway I spy with my little eye, Rachel pressing her forehead up against a window with a pair of tinted sunglasses over her eyes. Anita hovers beside her on her phone, seemingly not hungover, which messes with all my carefully crafted deceit I spent hours mulling over. And then there's Ella, there because she wants that perfect attendance on her record, a haux if you ask me. Does anyone even care enough to check that you've been at school everyday of the year and not missed a single period?

I turn quickly on my heel to scurry back around the corner before any of them can notice me and I almost take out another student with me as I check over my shoulder to make sure none of them saw. The collision with the innocent student works out in my favour as she takes any attention off of me and directs it towards herself as she stumbles into a wall to avoid me. I resist the urge to apologize to her and instead head to my locker before class begins, the phantom haunting of a shoulder bruise soon to be lingers and keeps me company as I walk the halls. I become progressively more guilty by the minute and I promise myself that come lunch break I'll have seen her again and will have apologized.

The warning bell goes and the day officially begins.

By the end of the first period I forget all about the girl I ran into.

By the beginning of lunch break Anita is back on my mind and the excuses I tell myself aren't working. Of course of all days, today had to be the day none of my friends show up and of course, merely to rub salt in the wound, I see Anita everywhere. Passing class time in the washroom, loitering by the benches at break, her artwork in the library, and her name appearing on my phone's home screen with a message checking to make sure my number hasn't changed. I don't plan on replying to that one until I figure out why Anita is trying to speak with me again. The lesbian bit was the strangest part, unless she forgot I knew before everyone else.

It's official, Anita has ruined my day. I'm not able to think of anything else, I just keep dwelling on our short interaction last night. Nothing is happening today anyway; the teachers aren't teaching, third period is coming to a close, and I'm plotting my escape. I could just ditch and go to a coffee shop or something for the next seventy-five minutes until the buses come, or I could call my sister to come pick me up. She's home now from university, and I don't ask her for rides often but she asks a lot of questions.

For a moment I think I hear Anita laughing in the hallway before I remember her teacher took her class on a walk during this period, which I only know because my own teacher declined the offer to go with them. I'm not stalking her or anything but thinking I've heard her laugh is enough to convince me I need to go home.

I look around the classroom to see if the teacher is back yet and pick up my phone to message Callie. I type and retype my sentence, after too much back and forth with myself I settle on: hey, what are you doing right now?

Callie: nothin, y?

Mason: can you come pick me up please?

Callie: yeah ofc, everything alright?

Mason: yeah, just bored

Callie: understandable, kk, omw.

Ten minutes later I'm sitting in the passenger seat biting my tongue as I wait in agony for Callie to ask me why I really wanted to come home, because I know she knows I'm lying. She's doing that thing where she looks at me quickly and then looks away again so that way I don't notice. She's not very subtle. Instead all she asks is, "do you want ice cream? It's hot outside today."

I'm caught off guard by her question, completely unprepared for something food related. "Yeah, sure why not."

"Fantastic." Callie smoothly puts on her sunglasses, rolls down the windows, and blasts the music. I laugh and follow suit putting on my own sunglasses, singing the lyrics to the song, my voice lost in the wind. This time I almost don't notice it as Callie looks over at me, my mood change evident. I close my eyes and enjoy the moment, knowing my peace of mind won't last forever, or even very long.