m a s o n*
"Mason, honey! Cam's here!" My mom calls from the foot of the stairs that lead to my room. I spring off my bed and run down the stairs to greet my best friend.
"Hey," I say as he walks in the front door.
"Hey," he replies.
"Let's go upstairs, Mom we're going upstairs!"
"Okay, sweetie!" Mom calls as we go up the stairs. Before we can make it up the second set of stairs, which leads to my bedroom, my little sister Aven comes bounding out of her and my other sister, Mallory's 'shared' room. It's not exactly shared, Mallory has the big part of the room and my parents cut a doorway into the room that was supposed to be Mallory's closet and put up a curtain in the doorway. They could've just left it where there was a door in and out of the bedroom, but then Aven would have no access to a bathroom as all the bedrooms have ensuites, and the only other bathroom is downstairs.
"Hey Cameron!" she says before she barrels down the stairs.
"Hey Aven," Cameron calls after her as we both turn around and watch her run down the stairs, miss a step, roll, and get right back up.
I look at Cameron and we both shrug.
We go outside on my balcony and sit in the hammock, then decide we're gonna go downstairs and get in the pool. I lend Cameron a pair of swimming trunks and wait for him to put them on after I've put mine on and we head downstairs.
"Mom, we're gonna get in the pool!" I say on the way out of the house.
"Okay, sweetie!" She says.
"Try not to drown!!" Dad calls after us. Mallory looks up as he says that and bursts out laughing. I turn to Cameron and roll my eyes.
After a few minutes, Mallory and Aven come out and layout by the pool. Five minutes later, however, Aven gets tired of that and jumps in the pool. Mom and Dad come out around thirty minutes later; Mom sits down on the outdoor sofa and Dad starts up the grill.
"Oh look, Scott, they took your advice! They didn't drown!" Mom jokes and I pretend to drown. Cameron turns around and looks at me, slapping my shoulder and laughing. Mallory looks at us, for the thousandth time since we've been out here. She jumps in the pool, following Aven's lead. Mallory is two years younger than me at 15, and Aven is six years younger than me, at 11.
Aven and Mallory's shared 'room' worked out better than them actually sharing a bedroom, because they both wanted two different things for the wallpaper/decoration. Mallory wanted a floral theme, and Aven wanted an Alice in Wonderland theme. Aven has always loved Alice in Wonderland, hence the reason why she wanted the theme. This way, both of them get what they want for their decor/theme. But they both agreed on their bathroom: pink. How I ended up with the biggest room at the top of the house is beyond me, honestly. I guess because our parents knew I'd end up sharing a room with one of my sisters. But then again, I am the oldest, so...
Cameron and I have been best friends since we were in third grade. We became best friends over a bunch of worms on the playground. We both decided they were lonely and scared, and that they needed a home and a family, so we built them a popsicle-stick house and agreed to 'co-parent' them. They died two days later, but we still had that experience we bonded over. Cameron is two months older than me, he was born in March, and I was born in May. I just turned seventeen a few months ago, right before summer. Now, we're in our last summer before our senior year. No, neither of us have any idea where we're going to college or what we're going to do, but that's okay. We still have a year, and even after that, we don't have to decide right after we graduate, or right before. It's better to take some time than to make a rash decision and chose something that you're going to end up hating and dread getting up every morning to do.
"Food's ready!" Dad calls.
We all jump out of the pool...well, not all of us. Aven tries, but she faceplants on the grass.
"I'm fine!" She declares as she springs up, spitting grass out of her mouth. My poor, poor, clumsy little sister. We all start laughing after she says she's okay.
After we eat, the girls get back in the pool and Mom and Dad sit on the outdoor sofa, but I notice Cameron's a little down after we've eaten and settled down. It's the time of the day, where the sun is still out, but it's getting cooler in the evening.
"Hey, we'll be right back. I forgot to tell Cameron something earlier," I say, making up an excuse to sneak back upstairs to my bedroom. I pull Cameron behind me and we go up the stairs to my bedroom.
"Sit," I say once we get into my room. He sits on my bed (don't worry, our swimming trunks are dry). "What's up? You seem a little down...you okay?"
"Yeah, I just...Callie..." he says. Callie is Cameron's girlfriend; they've been together for a year.
"What about her?"
"She's so controlling. Like, she's giving me crap about being here and not with her. She's blown up my phone,"
He hands me his phone and I scroll through the texts.
Cal🤩- you should be with me right now
Cal🤩- not him
Cal🤩- Cam?
Cal🤩- CAM????
Cal🤩- quit ignoring me!
Cal🤩- I know you're reading these
Cal🤩- text me back or I'm breaking up with you
