Love At Second Sight

Chapter Twelve: Kids On Christmas

       I was almost out of breath once I ran back into the apartment. I was clutching onto a small brown paper bag which had my missions most important content in it.

  No one was in the living room besides Mason, who had been waiting there patiently for me to return from my departure. The rest of the group was outside in the tree house having some morning coffee.

  Mason stood up once he saw me. “You were gone for thirty-five minutes! Why were you gone so long?”

  I flopped down on the couch and he sat back down next to me. I opened up the bag I had brought in, revealing a plant with shiny green leaves. A mistletoe.

  I took a minute to catch my breath, and then I started to speak, “I got this for you and Jessie.”

  He took the plant from my hand and examined it. “A mistletoe? You want us to kiss?”

  I ran a hand through my damp hair. “Look M&M, it’ll work out great. Trust me.” I gave him a smile. It came out looking exhausted.

  He fingered its green leaves. “Yet it took you over half an hour just to get this?”

  I snatched the plant away from him and I got a piece of string from one of the kitchen drawers. “I wanted to get the perfect one!” I told him as I made my way towards the front entrance of our own apartment and I used the string to hang the mistletoe over the door.

  “So when are we gonna do this?” He wondered, looking slightly uncomfortable.

  “After you explain some stuff to me.” I plopped back down on the couch and crossed my legs. “So M&M, when did this ‘Jessie Obsession’ happen?!”

  He furrowed his eyebrows. “It’s not an obsession,” He pointed out. “But it was just recently. Around the time we moved into the apartment.”

  My jaw dropped. “You call that recently? It’s been at least five months!” I counted on my fingers to make sure. “Yes, five months,” I confirmed.

  He dug his nails into his arms, clearly not wanting to talk about his feelings with me. “Fine, it’s been awhile, happy?”

  I poked his nose. Mason cringed as if I hurt him. “Look Mason, you can tell me anything!”

 He sighed and then he closed his eyes. He leaned his head on the couch and then his eyes fluttered open. He was looking straight at me, his bright blue eyes shining. “Why do you wanna know?”

  I poked him once again. “Because you’re my best buddy!”

  He grinned his childish grin and then he started to speak. “Well, the day that we moved in, Jessie came to the van to get a box from the truck when she tripped. I caught her and then I looked into her eyes…” He went on and on about how he knew from that moment on that they were meant to be with each other. My smile kept getting bigger and bigger with every word he said. Jessie and Mason were probably the cutest couple that there could be.

  I squeezed his arm. “Now, it’s show time!”

  His eyes grew wide. “Wa-Wa-what?!”

  I rubbed the top of his head, messing his blond hair. “You’re gonna kiss her!” Before he could protest, I ran outside on the balcony and called out to Jessie, “Jess! Can you come here for a sec?!”

  She shot me a thumbs up and started to get out of the tree house. Before I closed the balcony’s doors I couldn’t help but notice Jonah staring intently at me.