Broken Promises

2 | blake

I try my best to force a smile and swallow the bitter frown that threatens to show on my surface, though I know the smile will prevail. Call it a talent of mine, being able to fake happy in the direst of times.

"Oh, come on, Blake," my ex-boyfriend, Mason, drawls in his light southern tone, offering me a dazzling grin. Once upon time, that smile might have made me a little weak in the knees, turned me to putty in his hands. Now, the gesture merely makes it more difficult for me to keep smiling.

"Is it so wrong of me to say I miss you?" he persists. Mason has never been very good at taking a hint.

"It's okay to miss me," I say, trying to be polite. I've never been one to snap or yell at someone when I'm annoyed, and unfortunately that remains true even when I'm regarding Mason Chase.

What did I see in this guy again?

I study Mason from his golden brown hair, hazel eyes, melt-worthy smirk, and his lean frame. That's exactly what you saw in him, a voice seems to whisper in my head. Too bad looks can be deceiving. And too bad Mason's face is the only good thing about him.

"Do you miss me?" Mason questions, studying me intently with those hazel eyes of his.

"Um . . ." I trail off, pursing my lips. The truth is that I don't miss Mason, not even in the slightest. I've been much happier on my own, become a better person without having him around to bring me down. However, I have this thing where I am incapable of hurting another human being's feelings, which makes it difficult to answer Mason's question.

Thankfully, I'm saved from having to say another word by the appearance of my best friend, Jess. I notice her approaching out of the corner of my eye, heading this way with purpose and fire dancing in her warm brown eyes. The thing about Jess is that she is everything I am not. Where I can be a little shy and try to carefully form my thoughts into words, Jess is loud-mouthed and tends to blurt the first thing to come to her mind. I don't particularly enjoy insulting people, firm in my belief that honey attracts more bees. Jess finds bees annoying and doesn't mind swatting a few to stop them from bothering her.

In seconds, Jess is by my side. She sets her hands on her hips as she glares at Mason, snapping, "What do you want, Chase?"

Mason raises his eyebrows at Jess's attitude, amusement dancing in his eyes as he appraises her. Considering Mason and I dated for the better half of high school, he knows Jess almost as well as I do.

"Just talking to Blake," he answers casually. "Why? Is it a crime?"

"Yes," Jess doesn't hesitate to bark, her demeanor clearly expressing she wants Mason to go away. "It is."

"I guess you're just gonna have to arrest me then, Sheriff," Mason replies coyly, gaze trailing Jess's legs. A twinge of pain flashes through my chest as I notice. Mason's blatant flirting with my friend and unsubtle way of checking her out in front of me is exactly why I had to end things with him. He never seemed to understand that having a girlfriend means other girls are off limits.

"You're disgusting, Mason," Jess mumbles in return, holding his stare with an angry intensity.

"Come on, Jess. I was only kidding."

"I'm sure," Jess retorts. She glances down at me with an expression of regret. I return her look with a bright smile, as if trying to say: He doesn't bother me. Only, it's not true. It does hurt that Mason puts on this charade as if he wants me back, only to flirt with my friends in my presence.

"Fine." Jess loops her arm through mine, pulling me up and dragging me along with her. "If you won't go, we will."

My feet begin to work on their own as we wander off, and—in a moment of stupidity—I glance over my shoulder and cry, "Bye, Mason!" I can't help it. My mother hammered manners into my brain.

Jess stops walking abruptly upon reaching the school steps, rubbing her temples as if she's suddenly contracted a headache. "Blake. You have got to stop being so nice to that boy. He was an ass to you."

"I know," I mumble.

"The better you treat him, the more he's going to walk all over you and take advantage of the good person you are. I'm only saying this to help you. Treat him like the dirt he is, or else you will be the dirt that gets walked on."

I nod as if I understand. Jess shoots me a warning glance, though a smile breaks through her serious expression. She soon departs from me, heading for class. I linger by the school steps for a moment, glancing up at the sky, lost in thought.

I know Jess is right about the way I treat Mason. However, I also know that the next time Mason Chase heads my way with that stupid smirk of his, I will smile and be polite in return.

I don't know any other way.

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a/n: i am tired.