Not a Reunion

Chapter 25

Thea

Mason is right.

Even though I wanted to keep continuing to pretend that my mom was doing well and not quite literally falling apart in front of me, I knew that I couldn't continue to ignore it. It wasn't allowed to keep pretending anymore.

I saw the look in Mason's eyes when he told me that my siblings were asking for my mom. When he held me, my little siblings noticed my mom's distance, and it ripped me apart. They noticed that my mom wasn't there for them in the past few days. That wasn't something that I liked to think about.

My siblings deserved a better life. They had lost their father at such a young age, and they weren't going to lose their mother now. That wasn't fair, nor would it happen.

I needed to push off my fears and go for it. So what if I came out of it feeling like a horrible daughter? At least I'd be a better sister. I couldn't do anything without feeling awestruck after having to talk to my mother, but at least I could offer my siblings more peace. They deserved that, and I could swallow my feelings and worry about it later.

After Mason and I break away from our run and head back to my house together, I go up to my room. I take a quick shower before pulling on an outift. Then I head to my vanity, one that Mason sleeps beside every night, and decide to do my makeup. I needed to look better than I did on a regular day.

I'm swiping the last bit of my makeup, which is the bold red lipstick I used to wear all the time during my high school years. Actually, I had started to wear it for the last two years as a way for me to feel more confident. I had bought an identical one to take to college and my new life, but it hadn't been used much. I don't feel as confident as I used to in New York, so I don't ever use it.

I'm using it now to gain that confidence I used to feel when I was younger when I heard someone walk into the room. There's a knock after the person walks in, which is quite ironic, and I turn to my side to find Mason standing there. He puts his thumb up and points to the bathroom with it and says, "Can I shower?"

"Sure," I answer, my eyes moving down to where the back of his hair was sticking to him. His hair on his forhead was curlier than usual from the sweat. I look away from his face and down to where the front of his tank is wet as well. I guess the weather outside has been insanely hot today. And with the way we were running as well,.

I look away and go to swipe the lipatcin across my bottom lip when Mason walks toward me. He moves next to where his suitcase was beside the vanity, but then looks up at me. His eyes are trained on the lipstick in my hand, and he points to it with his chin. "You're using the lipstick."

"Yeah," I answer simply.

"You haven't in a while," Mason says, and he finds that the statement he just made is one that he didn't know much about. So then he clears his throat and backtracks. "I mean, from the two months I've seen you again. Um, I think you were wearing it during my banquet, but you don't wear it as often as you did in high school."

"Yes," I answer, and then try not to sound sour when I add, "Well, I'm not as confident as I used to be in high school."

"I hardly think lipstick can determine that," Mason mutters, and I turn to him with an incredulous look. He must be great at reading the evidence off my face because he nods and then scratches at the back of his neck. "Right, not literally, but figuratively."

"Yup," I answer, and then put the lipstick down. I take a deep breath in and say, "Well, life hardly ever works out the way you want it to."

Then I think about Mason's office, where he had the list, I had made for him hung up. I think about the check Mark's put on the paper and cannot help but feel envious. I was stuck with this stupid life, and Mason had everything I ever wanted. I knew I should be happy for him, as would anyone, but then I thought about how I was mad at him.