In 15 Seconds

the stars look beautiful tonight

"Hey, most of the stars can be seen now." James pointed out from the balcony attached to his room. I looked up from where I was explaining a problem to Mason, and so did he.

"Woah, the night sky looks stunning." Mason exclaimed in awe. I couldn't agree more. There weren't many clouds which cleared up the view and made way for the stars. I was too captivated by the sky that I didn't notice Mason putting away his notebooks until I heard the dull thump of his bag hitting the floor.

"I think I understand the rest of the problems, I'll answer them later. The stars can't watch themselves." He explained, and I nodded in confirmation. We both then made our way to the balcony, with me sitting beside James, and Mason sitting beside me. James glanced at me for a second before holding out his telescope to me.

"Wanna try?" He asked, smiling widely. I took the telescope from him, muttering a 'thanks' underneath my breath. The view was even better up close. The corners of my lips turn slightly upwards at each galaxy I could find. I leaned back from the telescope and noticed Mason casually staring at me from the corner of my eye. I look at him and startle again at our unexpectedly close proximity. I feel the heat rising up to my neck when he continued gazing at me with half lidded eyes, whilst getting more confused the longer he stares.

I suddenly remember the telescope I was still holding in my hands and clumsily held it out to him, attempting to imitate James from earlier.

"Uh, did you want a turn?" I nervously asked. My questioning voice seemed to snap him out of his daze, and an embarrassed red quickly took over his face.

"Yeah, sorry." He replied, grinning in an attempt to cover up his flustered state. I smile weakly at him, still a bit surprised at his unexpected staring. I look back at the sky above me, trying to ignore the amused smirk on James' face, signifying he witnessed the whole thing.

A few moments of an almost silence pass, with the only sound being the soft rustling of nearby trees and the metallic clicks of James' telescope as Mason adjusts the lens. In those few moments I was able to cool the blush from earlier and decided to get back at James for this whole thing.

"I wish Charlotte was here too." I mused, as James choked on his own spit and spluttered. I immediately felt a grin growing on my face. Mason placed the telescope a few inches below his face so he could look at me.

"Oh? You mean Charlotte, as in the girl James has been pining over for the past few years?" Mason asked curiously. The grin that was only growing slowly just a few seconds ago burst into a wide smirk.

"Yup!" I happily chirped. "She's my best friend, actually." I added. An understanding look appeared on Mason's face as he hummed in response. Apparently, we were both choosing to ignore the choking sounds James was making similar to that of a dying animal.

"You guys are the worst." James grunted a while after he recovered from his fit. I responded by grinning cheekily at him.

"Well, why didn't you invite her?" I asked him. A sort of sad, defeated look crossed on his face as he pouted like the baby he is.

"I didn't have a chance, remember? You said she ran off in the morning." He said, still looking kind of defeated.

"Why didn't you text her?" Mason piped up. James grumbled something unintelligible. "Sorry, what was that?" Mason asked.

"I don't have her number..." James said still softly but loud enough for both of us to hear. This earned an incredulous look from both me and Mason. Of course, this wasn't much of a surprise to me, but I still felt the need to question.

"You've been pining for so long and you don't even have her number?" I regretted the words as soon as they came out. James sharply turned to look at me.

"Oh, yeah? Look who's talking." He bited back. I inwardly slapped myself for my hypocrisy, while giving James a stern look to not go too far. James stared back.

This staring contest lasted for quite a while until Mason chuckled. We both turned to look at him.

"You two seem close." He pointed out, a palm on his cheek and a smile on his face, gazing at the both of us with a charmed expression. Me and James glanced back at each other for a moment, before impudently turning away with a huff, James adding on with a quick cross of the arms.

Mason's boisterous laugh triggered by the comical act resounded throughout the quiet night, James cracking under his saucy act and joined in not even after a few seconds of the sound reaching our ears. I eventually broke into soft giggles that combined with the boys' joyful howls.

When we calmed down a bit, I noticed how Mason's gaze seemed to stay on me for a longer time than one would usually call normal. The quickened pace of my heartbeat told me exactly what I thought about that.

____
a/n:
so much. dialogue in this chapter.
i hope this doesn't suck too much,, legit just did this in 3 hours

also,
check this dude out. he's got a great story, 11/10 would recommend
TheChubbyBookworm
the best part is,,, it's gay! would ya look at that?
pretty sure my nonexistent readers could take a break from all the straightness in this story,,

alice is bi, BI the way. (haha get it,,)
i've tried to make it known but it never came up cos she's piNing for a dude but aaa
charlotte is probably pan
idk

i'll figure it out in time for the character information chapter thingy
which i should really be working on

'til next time