Please Understand

Chapter 31: Rose Colored Glasses

Amelia

"So the first thing you wanted to show me is a wall covered in gum?" Mason snickered as he examined the colorful, sticky mess. The gum I gave him popped in his mouth like an assault rifle, and the smacking sound made me regret bringing him here.

I blew a bubble, remembering why I hate gum. "Come on, this is impressive. It's a wall full of saliva sacks. And now a big blue wad of your spit is going to be on a famous landmark," I explained in my best dramatic voice as I gestured to the mess.

He squished the gum between his fingers, reminding me of the child he used to be. With the long, shaggy hair, he really did resemble his former self. "Wow! Well, thank you so very much for bringing me to this grand attraction," he replied with a big smile as he smashed the gum onto an empty spot.

I mimicked his movement, and stuck mine right next to his, so they were almost touching. What is even the point of this? "Yeah, I actually haven't done this yet," I muttered as I stepped back and examined all of the bright colors. I wish I had thought of buying different gum, so ours weren't simply two blue wads.

"I'm glad I could be your first," Mason stated with a smirk plastered on his idiotically perfect face. His green eyes mischievously sparkled and stayed locked on me as he waited for my reaction.

I don't think I've ever held his attention for this long, but all I could do was gently push him away as my cheeks burned. "You might actually be the worst."

The smile widened, and I can't remember a time where something I said made him beam at me. Maybe he's only proud of himself for embarrassing me. "I want to take a few pictures. Mom is freaking out about me being here, so I need to let her know I'm not dead," he rambled as he pulled out his phone.

Immediately, I took it from him, and rolled my eyes. "How did you even convince your mom to let you come?" I asked as I stepped away from him. "She's kind of overprotective."

He smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets as I snapped a few pictures of him. Does he have to look like a model in every single freaking picture? "Yeah, I'm supposed to be checking out the college. She really didn't want me to come because of your investigation," he explained as he took his phone back, and scrolled through the pictures.

Is he really blaming me right now? His mom has always been crazy. This isn't my fault! I crossed my arms over my chest, and tried to force myself to smile. "Sorry," I grumbled, feeling my good mood begin to fade away. Why can't we pretend that nothing bad has ever happened to me? Why can't he be part of my new, amazing life instead of the old that I struggled to forget?

"I know you don't want anyone to find out where you are, but can I take a picture with you?" he gingerly asked, giving me a shy smile. "This is a momentous occasion. You put your first piece of chewed gum on a wall."

The smiled spread across my face, even though I wanted to scowl at him. "Fine, but we are taking it on my phone, and once I'm eighteen I'll send it to you," I offered.

He rolled his eyes, but put the black phone back into his pocket. "Deal," he muttered as I stood next to him and posed the phone above us. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around my waist, and pulled me close. My finger slipped, and I took an unflattering picture of my surprise. A shock surged through me, but I regained my composure as I smiled into the camera for a decent picture. "One more," he whispered, allowing his breath to tickle my neck.

Involuntarily, I gulped, but smiled again for another picture. Part of me wanted to wiggle away from this grey area between best friends and complete strangers. Another part of me wanted to stay here with this cheesy smile on my face. Taking me by surprise for the millionth time today, he kissed my cheek, and my eyes widened for the last photo. "Okay! No more!" I giggled as I finally pushed him away. Giggling? Amelia, knock it off! I cleared my throat, and smiled at him. 

My eyes were covered with rose colored glasses, and I couldn't stop staring at the blonde haired boy. Everything he was doing seemed so perfect. He came here to check on me, proving that he did care about me. All of the bad things that happened to me seemed to vanish when he smiled. I wondered if he would be able to erase the past and help me create my new future. Somehow, this seemed like a fairy tale, but I didn't want it to be. I didn't want to get my hopes up, and be let down by him once again. Finally, I'm independent and nothing is going to change that. I can't let myself invest in him because he's never going to change. He isn't going to go through with all of this. There's no way he'll actually move here to be with me. 

But here he was beaming at me, like he was proud of himself for making me uncomfortable and for stirring up all of these old feelings. "Okay, so what else do you do for fun?" he asked, and I found myself wishing he would talk about the real reason he's here.

I linked my arm through his, the way we used to walk down the halls in elementary school, and took him down the alley with a big smile on my face. "Well, mostly work, school, and a little sleep, but I think I can find something fun for us to do," I answered as I looked up at him.

"So you moved here to do exactly what you would do at home?" he asked, and I know he didn't mean to be as rude as he sounded.

I patted his arm, trying not to let anger take control of me. We need to talk about this even though I would rather ignore the past. "Mason, I left because I couldn't handle the negative energy in that town. Everywhere I turned, something bad was happening. Counseling wasn't helping," I rambled as I struggled to find the correct words. My diary should've explained all of this in better detail. "I'm finally happy here."

There was a small silence as we walked and a slight breeze brushed past us. "I'm glad you're happy," he finally muttered with a small sigh. There was no way he meant these words, but they gave me a small amount of comfort. Maybe I did the right thing, even though I hurt him, but that was never my intention.

"Alright, so let's grab something to eat. I didn't even think about you being hungry after your flight," I stated as I dragged him towards Pike Place with the big red, neon sign looming ahead of us.

He let out a small chuckle, and I caught him looking down at me. "Yeah, you didn't even let me get a cupcake at your job. You seemed too angry, so I didn't even mention being hungry," he joked with a big smile when he made eye contact.

I looked away as my cheeks turned bright red again. "Hey, I'm sorry, but you completely caught me off guard," I muttered as I tried not to let myself get embarrassed for  my crazy overreaction.

He shrugged his shoulders, like he didn't know what else to say. "By the way, I really like your new style," he commented.

The look of surprise might as well have been tattooed on my face. I looked down at my bright pink combat boots, remembering the way I always wore sweatpants and my old black tennis shoes to school everyday. I never would've been brave enough to wear this, especially not around my peers who hated me. They would've made fun of me for the new look, and for finally expressing who I want to be. "Thank you. Anyways, I know this really great place where you can get fish and chips, or there's a Greek place here too. It's weird because it's in the middle of a fish market, but it's still good," I rambled because I was growing tired of talking about myself.

Mason knows everything now, and I can't wrap my head around him. How does he feel about my situation?

He came here to see me, to make sure I'm alive.

He kissed me on the cheek, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

There's an ongoing investigation. What are they going to do when they never find me? Am I going to get into trouble if they find out I'm alive?

Is Mason going to be able to keep my secret?