Someone Willing to Stay

Scared For You

     "Alright class, before you start on your videos, there are three more questions you and your partner need to answer," Mr. Moore starts the period by passing some paper down the rows of students, "these questions are probably the most important, so take your time, you have the whole class period to answer to them."
      I take the paper from the person in front of me, choosing to stare at it rather than look at the person next to me.
      Apologies aren't hard for me. I tell Adam I'm sorry for practically every thing I do. The only foreign feeling about this apology, is knowing that I won't get hit for it.
      Mason hasn't said one word to me, even when he sat next to me at lunch.
      Students around us start talking to answer the questions, while I'm still holding my breath and gathering the courage to turn to the side.
      It takes a few minutes, but finally I take a deep breath and turn to face him.
      Mason is already looking at me. His face as expressionless as a board.
      "I," the words don't want to come out, "Mason- I'm sorry for everything I said. The night of the party. I didn't mean any of it."
     "I have one condition." Mason says abruptly.
    I furrow my eyebrows, "Condition for what?"
     "I won't tell your mom, on one condition." He clarifies.
     I bite my lip in frustration. I knew it was far fetched to have hope that he had forgotten all about it. I look at him and nod, telling him to continue.
     "I won't tell your mom if you tell her by midnight on the day of your party."
     My face pales, "No! She'll find out either way."
      He shrugs, "She can find out from me, or she can find out from you. I figure she'd want to hear it from you."
      I frown. If I agree to his terms now, that gives me four more days to come up with something where no one has to find out. I still have time.
     I nod with a small sigh.
    Mason looks at the questions in front of us but pauses and looks back at me, "You realize what he does to you is wrong. It's abuse." He says, lowering his voice at the end so no one can hear.
      I knew Mason could never understand.
     "Can we just answer the questions?" I sigh.
     We both look at the paper.
     "What is your partner's darkest secret?"
     I almost laugh at the irony, we were just discussing mine.
     Mason seems to understand that I have nothing else and starts to write on his paper.
     "What are you writing?" I ask him.
"You'll see."
I roll my eyes, silently hoping he isn't writing something that will help Mr. Moore figure out my secret, "What's yours?"
He pauses and sighs, "This assignment is stupid, he can't make us admit anything."
"If it makes you feel better, Mason," Mr. Moore had been behind our desks the whole time without our knowing, "you won't be turning these in, and I won't be reading them. You'll just put them in your video and you can phrase them any way you want to."
Mason nods reluctantly as Mr. Moore walks away.
"So?"
"I've only told two other people this," he tells me, making me remember when we would share our secrets when we were younger, he still has the same somber expression, "I didn't stay in Florida to get away from you."
I wince inwardly.
"I stayed in Florida because my dad has cancer. Had cancer."
I gasp, "I had no idea. Is he okay?"
     He looks at the ground, "He didn't make it. He's lying brain dead in some hospital."
Did Adam lie?
     No! Adam knows what's best.
     But Mason didn't leave because he was tired of protecting me, and he didn't stay away because he didn't want to see me.
     "I'm so sorry, Mason."
     "You were right Mel, I do leave people. I don't know how it feels to be the one left behind," he tells me quietly, "which is why I can't keep letting Adam do this to you."
"What do you mean?"
"Melanie, your brother is here in the main office to pick you up for your dentist appointment."
      I freeze.
      Mason looks at me, "Do you have-"
     "I'm sure he just forgot to tell me, it's fine. I'm fine."
     "You're not going out there!" Mason exclaims, several people turn their heads toward the outburst.
He wants Adam to punish you, he's making you take longer because he knows what Adam does to you. He has it out for you now.
No. He's scared for you.
"I get to live my life until Friday, remember?" I ask Mason with a sarcastic smile.
I pick up my books and look at him, "Then you can ruin my life as much as you want."
He opens his mouth to say something but I walk away briskly.
I give a small nod to Mr. Moore, who waves me away.
     The walk to the main office is drawn out and painfully slow. I'm terrified to go faster, to walk into his hands any more quickly than I have to. But I also know there's no point in delaying the inevitable.
When I make it to the office, I expect to see a quietly infuriated Adam. The kind of mad that he can hide really well from anyone except me, because I know all of his moods, I know everything about him.
But he's not mad. He's smiling gently, an expression that has only been directed a handful times, mostly when I was still in middle school.
"Melanie, you ready?" He asks me chirping.
I nod carefully.
He gives a flirtatious smile to the ancient office lady behind the front desk, "Goodbye Dinah, lovely talking to you."
She smiles, "What a flirt."
I follow Adam out of the building, the cold air nipping my cheeks.
"Do I have a dentist appointment?" I ask Adam as we get into the car.
He shakes his head nonchalantly, "No."
I don't say anything else, inching myself towards the car door like I normally do in order to avoid the least amount of pain.
"Things have just been really tense between us for the past couple of weeks, and I want to make it up to my little sister." He says.
Oh, now I understand. Sometimes this happens a few times a year, he has these really happy days. They're my favorite days, because it's when he forgets that he hates me.
I smile and relax, sitting back in my seat.
"Okay."

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Y'all we are nearing the end of this book and I'm honestly going to cry. This thing is an emotional roller coaster and I'm not ready for it to be over.
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