My Heart's Choice (On Hold)

Chapter 19

Heck!

How did Mason get inside the house?

"How did you get inside the house?" Nora voices my concerns.

Mason scoffs, ignoring the question and acknowledges Nora's presence with a disgusted glare, "Williams"

"Young," Nora imitates him.

He glances at me walking up to my desk. He flips the book inside which I stuffed my phone and picks it up.

"You might as well own a brick for a phone," he says, waving the phone over his head.

"She might as well have a brainless baboon for a fake boyfriend," Nora smirks at him.

A sudden urgency crosses his face and he turns to me suddenly, almost dropping my phone. No, scratch that. He does drop my phone. And thank God that it falls onto my desk.

"You told her?" he yells, lips curling with dissatisfaction.

Nora's smirk deepens and she turns to look at me. I feel two pairs of eyes on me and an involuntary shudder passes down my spine.

I give a small nod, making Nora grin.

"Unbelievable!" Mason scoffs, "You might as well have put this in the morning newspaper."

He flops onto my chair by my desk, running both his palms through his hair.

"Oh thank you, Young, for acknowledging my skill to keep secrets," Nora taunts.

"Shut up, Williams!" Mason mumbles, "I thought that girls shared these type of stuff with their so called best friends."

"So, what does that make me?" Nora flips her short hair, only to have it flop back again.

Mason is in the process of snooping around in my drawers when suddenly he turns to me.

"If so," Mason frowns at me, "Who's that blonde chick with the big mouth, running around you all the time?"

"That's restricted territory! Step out, Young," Nora slaps him in his head making him howl in pain.

Wow, now best friends is a restricted topic?

"Ouch!" Mason glares at Nora, who mouths a sarcastic 'sorry' at him.

"Fine!" Nora sighs, dropping onto the bed beside me, "Anyone interested to discuss my master-plan?"

"What's it, exactly?" I ask, speaking for the first time ever since Mason stepped inside my room.

"Mr. Young? What is your response?" Nora raises an eyebrow at him.

He scoffs, "I don't answer in the affirmative to a question that you asked."

"Great!" Nora claps her hands with bogus enthusiasm, "Let's take that as a yes."

Mason rolls her eyes and turns around to continue snooping around in my desk drawers. I gesture Nora to continue telling the plan.

"Well," she begins, beaming, "What if we attack Rhea with her own weapons?"

Mason spins around almost bursting out laughing, the keyword being 'almost'. I guess he does not want to be seen laughing at something that Nora said.

"Nails? I mean Rhea's weapons are nails, right? Are we gonna attack her with nails?" he asks, checking his fingernails as if he has nail polish on them.

Nora rolls her eyes at him and turns to me demanding an answer. I nod my head, agreeing.

"Care to elaborate?" Mason demands impatiently.

"Rhea dumped you for Seth," Nora turns to Mason to see the sudden surge of pain crossing his eyes, "What if Seth dumps Rhea in the same way?"

Mason does not answer. He looks like he is trying to absorb the gravity of Nora's declaration that Rhea dumped him.

"Seth dumping Rhea? How?" I ask, still trying to understand her so called master-plan.

"For me," she shrugs.

Both Mason and I turn to her, demanding further explanation.

"Well, I'm new here, right? And everyone thinks that I know nothing about Mason and Rhea or their breakup. And nobody would assume that I live with mom, here next to Dana, instead of at dad's place," Nora says.

"And your point being?" Mason demands.

"When I step inside your High school tomorrow, I am gonna befriend Rhea and Seth and completely ignore both of you. While at it I'll let Rhea know that you wish for her to beg for forgiveness in order to get back with her -"

"On all her fours," I correct her at which Mason throws me an amused lopsided grin.

Nora raises her eyebrows, "Seriously?"

I shrug nonchalantly.

"Okay then, and given that she knows about it, I make Seth fall for me. When Rhea is dumped, she'll come back to you, on all her fours," Nora clarifies.

I beam at her, pulling her in for a tight hug, "Thanks."

"Okay," Nora pulls back with a smirk, "Consider it done."

"Wait - you didn't ask for my consent!" Mason gets to his feet, his arms folded infront of him.

"Not needed! I am doing this for Dana," Nora winks at me and silently giggles at Mason's face which is turning red with each passing second.

Mason grunts.

"A-and what then?" he asks, trying not to pull all his hair off.

"And...," Nora drawls, satisfied that Mason is considering her plan, "You get Rhea and Dana can go back to her old life, just like it was."

I hear Mason scoff, intending for me to hear.

"I bet Dana loves going back to her old life," he retorts sarcastically.

Nora gives me a confused look and I try looking at everything but her. She looks like she is dying to know what it is that Mason hinted at, but decides to keep shut.

Mason smirks at both of us, apparently reading our looks.

"So that about explains your best friend limits," he looks amused.

I hear Nora huff in annoyance. She shuffles to her feet and walks up to my table in three long strides. Pulling at Mason's shirt, she pushes him out of my room.

It takes about a second for him to register what is happening, and when he does, he starts protesting, but it is too late.

"I want her for another date!" he yells.

"Not if she wants to go," Nora challenges.

"She's my girlfriend."

"Fake. Fake girlfriend," she reminds him at which he turns a deeper shade of red, perhaps with all the annoyance and anger building up inside him.

"That is none of your business. I want her immedi-"

"Bye!" Nora shuts the door blocking out his voice.

The door shakes for a few seconds with Mason's sharp knocks but eventually it dies down. Nora walks to stand infront of me, her hands on her hips.

"I don't want to know about your old self Dana, but I sure want to upgrade your current one," Nora frowns, "You can't let a looser stomp all over you like that! Or any looser for that matter."

I open my mouth to protest, but shut it when the gravity of what she said hit me.

I had always wailed that I had no option in any of the stuff going on with my life right now. But what if I did? What if I had never bothered to pick that other option?

I had always wondered how different my life would have been if Rhea had never come into my life. I would have been the good student with straight A's that every teacher loved. But again, what if I had never let her manipulate me?

I would still have been that perfect student who I wanted to be.