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(A/N: Song to the side)

Chapter 10: Insta Magic

Chewing into the sweet meaty sausages, Mason frowned as he eyed his phone. It wasn't even eight in the morning and he was up, eating and getting ready for the day.

Against the smart side of his brain that enjoyed sleep, Mason had the brilliant thought last night to get up really early in the morning so he could be awake for most of the day. However, he would be spending more of the day relaxing. He was going to be very relaxed if he slept the entire day.

But, the benefit of being up so early was having his mother make him breakfast. Her specialty was breakfast and Mason was not ashamed to bat his unusually long eyelashes and open his big eyes even wider to get the best that she could make.

With the large plate in front of Mason now, he liked to think that he was successful. His father was up as well, plate smaller than his, and was eating at a decent pace, unlike Mason, because he had knowledge that the clock was ticking.

He actually had somewhere to be so early in the morning, like his wife, and couldn't spend the precious time staring off into the distance while slowly chewing on a sausage. One could guess who was doing exactly as is being described. Mr. Moore did have time, however, to speak to his son and get an update on his new nursing program. So his question went as such,

"So, Mason, how has the program been so far?" He asked softly, taking a moment to wipe his mouth clean of the slight grease. "You've gone to two lessons, correct?"

Mason nodded, sitting up straight in his seat as he tried to bring his mind to the conversation and away from whatever daze he was in.

"Yeah. The classes have been really great so far. Mrs. Adams is even more amazing than you would think and I feel like I'm learning a lot." Mason quickly explained, a bright albeit tired smile coming on to his face. "It is also extra fun because Mark's my partner during activities."

While his father had been interested before, hearing that Mark was Mason's partner had him perking up, his brows raising up to his hairline. Mason wanted to laugh at the several folds of skin it created but became suspicious of the expression.

Mason's mother, who had quietly been checking emails all morning, joined in the conversation.

"Mark is your partner, huh? I didn't even know that he was attending the program too." Mrs. Moore commented, grinning as she ate her eggs. Mason frowned at her odd tone but shrugged.

"I guess I forgot to tell you. But, yeah, he is. The partners were organized randomly and at first, I was paired up with this guy named Tobias. Then Mark came up, that was the first time I saw him there and the moment I found out he was going, and he explained that we got switched and we were now partners." Mason quickly explained, not wanting his parents to think that he had asked Mark or anything. "They haven't been changed since."

"Huh." His father hummed, looking at his wife with a smirk. "How convenient."

When his parents began to exchange creepy looks, Mason got fed up.

"Okay, what is this about? Can you just come out and say it?" Mason blurted, cheeks puffing out from his frustration. His mom just shrugged.

"I just think that it's either a very convenient story, or Mark was pulling some strings in the background." His mother admitted, not seeming ashamed of her thoughts in the slightest.

Mason wanted to respond, but he was distracted by the thought of Mark working to get him as a partner, and the blush spread on his cheeks. Mason began to quickly stutter out a response when his mother started to grin righteously.

"I really don't think that he did, mom." Mason sighed out tiredly, looking down as an attempt to hide his blush. "But even if he did, it doesn't mean anything. I'm his only friend there, why wouldn't he want us to be paired up."

"Oh come on, Mason. We both know how much you like that boy and we think that he would be a very nice boy for you." His father finally said, looking back at his wife who was nodding in approval. "It's a much better idea than looking for random girls and boys with your friends at those clubs-"

"Dad!" Mason yelled out. Desperate to stop his father from finishing his sentence. His father simply shrugged, his action and expression very similar to the one that his mother used minutes earlier.

"I'm not lying. It is true. Isn't it honey?" Mason's mother was once again nodding in agreement to the words falling out of Mason's father's mouth. "Mason likes to look for girlfriends and boyfriends while he is out club-"

Mason didn't try to cut him off this time. He simply stood and made as if he were going to run up to his room with his breakfast in tow. His parents laughed heartily, but his father no longer talked about one of the many ways Mason looked for new people to date. It was only when the opportunity arose, Mason told himself. It wasn't the worst way.

"Fine, fine. I'll stop bringing it up." His father vowed, one heart on his chest and the other raised to show three fingers pointed up. He never did convince Mason and his older brother Aiden to join, no matter how much he raved about the program. "Scouts honour. What are you going to do today, then?"

Mason shrugged, taking a bit of some of the omelette that his mother cooked. A smile came onto his face from the taste before he answered his father's question.

"Not much. I think I'm going to spend most of the day making a post for my second Instagram account." Mason told him, speaking around the food that he began to swallow. "I'm feeling kind of artsy right now so I think it would be a good time to make another one."

His father nodded his head while his mother lit up. She always loved Mason's little hobby. It wasn't much but as a lover of anything artistic, it made her happy to see her son finding a creative way of expressing himself.

His father simply liked him doing something with his mind that involved him thinking at all. Mason knew that his father secretly feared that he and Aiden would grow to do nothing but watch videos all day and not engage their minds. Mason was simply lucky that his father thought that this counted as something remotely productive.

Mason loved design and the way that colours and patterns could come together to create beautiful things. His second Instagram page was like an "aesthetic" account where he chose a colour palette for the month and posted collages, edits, anything that looked cool and fit the palette. He would usually end up creating a collage filled with photos that he found or took.

And, as a fun bonus, Mason liked to find cool songs to play on top of the stuff that he posted. That lets him explore dozens of different genres and styles that he never would have thought to, as well as discover cool artists that aren't household names.

It could take him hours to days to create and finish a post, but the process was always fun and very satisfying. It was probably the moments where his father found him propped up in front of his laptop, clicking and working away for hours on end while he edited and stared, that convinced him that this was good for his son to do.

His mother regularly suggested that he found a career where he could use these skills, but Mason was satisfied to keep it as a hobby. The three talked over breakfast for a few minutes more before Mason's parents had to leave to get ready for the workday ahead. Nearly an hour later when the two left the house, Mason waved them off, not sticking around 30 seconds longer before he headed up to his room to work.

—————

Mason leaned back with a sigh, staring at the two images in front of him. He was now met with a fork in the road, a dilemma that he doubted he had the mental energy to solve. He quickly reached for his phone, opening it to message the one person he knew he could always go-to for these matters.

You

Daniel!!!

Mason waited in front of his phone with bated breath, eyes moving all over the screen as if Daniel's reply could come from any nook or corner. Mason had to wait for nearly FIVE MINUTES but Daniel eventually replied, although he did do it sassily.

Danny Boy 😉😉

What u want!!!

Not so fun being on the receiving end huh?

Mason rolled his eyes but did his best to keep that attitude out of his response.

You

I need advice!

I'm making another post and I'm having trouble deciding which version I want to use.

Daniel was far more excited this time around and replied almost instantly.

Danny Boy 😉😉

You mean for M&M's corner?

I always thought that you should have used that name for a show that you and Mark created together.

That doesn't really matter

Let me see the photos!

Mason smiled while he quickly sent the two versions to Daniel. Daniel seemed to love this type of stuff nearly as much as Mason did, and was always willing to share his opinion and help since he was an avid follower of the page.

He and nearly 500,000 others lived and died and lived again every time Mason posted, to the point where Mason had to wonder if he was that good or were people that simple. Not to mention dealing with how odd the internet had become.

The comments that people had put under these things were so odd that Mason felt the need to wash his eyeballs after reading the comments nearly every time.

As Mason worked on the images for the next half hour, he continued to consult Daniel on details he had trouble deciding on himself. Mason sighed when he found himself texting Daniel for the fourth time.

You

Okay

I swear this is the last time I'm messaging you

Danny Boy 😉😉

Wut is it?

You

Should I cover the whole image with an orange hue to make it look more uniform or leave it as is?

I feel like leaving it keeps the integrity of the images more but I really like how it looks with the orange on top as well.

Mason quickly sent over the two images, nibbling on his nails as he waited.

Danny Boy 😉😉

I like it with the orange better.

I feel like the vibe is better and will work well with the song that you picked.

That was all Mason needed to hear. He spent another twenty minutes finalizing the two photos that he would post, using the same song on both which was "Tell Me" by PJ.

The feeling of satisfaction rolling over Mason was heavy as he uploaded the images onto the account. A small smile appeared on his face when, in seconds, he started to see the notifications for likes on the photos.

Mason took a couple of minutes to read some of the first comments that came up. Such as, "This is so satisfying", "I love your posts!", and the ever classic "I love the way that you edit these photos. It is just so sexy and it really turns me on @M&Mscorner I wish you could fix me like that."

Mason almost wanted to reply to that last one with "In the words of the so talented PJ, I'm good." He refrained though because he learned from experience that one of two things could happen in response to his reply. The person would either die from embarrassment or flirt even harder knowing that Mason noticed their comment. It was simply better to ignore it and move on- oh hello~

Mason's attention was caught when he noticed that Mark had just liked his photo. And he commented on it. Mason eagerly read the message, biting his lips as he carefully looked over the words.

"'This is dope.'" Mason whispered, repeating the words as if they were sent from the almighty themselves. His blissful happiness was short-lived when a thought suddenly dawned on him. "Oh my god, I forgot that he looks at these!"

Mason was panicking because the next photo was edited completely around a picture he took of Mark while Mark had been wearing a muted orange coat. The photo was taken with Mark's back turned, looking off to the side.

Mason had luckily covered Mark's eyes and blurred the photo a bit, but it was clearly his long term crush. Mason winced when he saw the notification that Mark had also liked the second photo.

He felt like curling into a very small ball so he wouldn't have any trouble throwing himself in the trash where he belonged, but he decided against it when he remembered that he had another account. He could simply log into his personal Instagram and, for like a day, pretend as if he never even created a second account.

Mason logged into his other account and began to head downstairs. He hadn't eaten in quite a while, a fact his mother would kill him for if she found out, and planned on quickly making himself something.

He had just opened the fridge when he noticed that he was sent a DM. Mason closed his fridge and started muttering to the omnipotent power that blessed him with Mark's comment prior.

"Please not from another creep, please not from another creep . . . " Mason muttered as he went to open it up.

Mason was about to raise his hand above his eyes to shield himself from accidentally seeing another dick pic, but didn't even need to begin when he saw that the message was from Mark.

Mason was happy until he opened it to find that Mark had sent him the post from his other account. A post that was basically Mason makes a cute edit of Mark's picture. Below it, Mark said,

Look, some weirdo turned me into an aesthetic post. Have I made it as a celebrity or what? 😂😂😂

Mason felt partly mortified but tried to think past that emotion in his response.

Har har har, so funny Mark.

You actually think with like 800 followers that you're a celebrity?

Mason knew without needing a response that the comment got to Mark.

1k alright! It's not 800.

People follow for the dancing, man.

Mason just sent laughing emojis in response and by how long it took Mark to respond, Mark likely realized how dumb his message was.

Okay, so I'm not a celeb

Thought so

Don't need to rub it in

Oh, but I can rub it in all night baby

Mason froze when he noticed how thirsty and gross his message sounded and went to quickly get rid of it when Mark responded.

Hard and rough?

Mason, way too excited and kind of turned on and replied without a second thought.

Oh yeah

I don't do soft.

Good, because I'm going to return it tenfold.

Just you wait for tonight babe 😉

Mason was at a loss. Sure he and Mark joked around and it got slightly flirty from time to time, but they had never talked about sex, never mind alluded to it. Mason was starting to feel uncomfortable in the worst place possible and quickly decided that continuing on the path that he and Mark were happily skipping down was not a good idea.

Mason sent a few laughing emojis back, hoping that Mark would think that he took everything as a light joke. When Mark sent the same in return followed by "we're so weird', Mason knew that he had made the right call. The last thing that he needed was for Mark to be shocked because Mason went and confessed, thinking Mark was serious.

The two messaged each other for a while afterwards, and Mason had a smile on his face when they said their goodbyes. He then was forced to deal with his still grumbling stomach but had no regrets about messaging Mark before he ate. It was completely worth it.

Mark, on the other hand, had been texting Mason while sitting next to his date for the night. The girl was beautiful as so many of them are, but Mark felt little for her in terms of emotion. In all honesty, he usually felt this much connection with all the girls he dated in the past.

But, the lack of connection between him and this girl was heightened by the fact that he had been texting one of his best friends as they had lunch. Mark nearly felt bad for focusing more on Mason's dumb jokes than her life story, but he couldn't help it.

It was almost impossible for Mark not to put his full attention on Mason at all times, and this occasion was no different.

Mason had made a cute post with a photo of Mark in the center, how was Mark supposed to ignore that and not talk to him? Sure, it was a bit problematic that Mark was adjusting his pants once they stopped messaging each other, but it was no big deal, right?

Mark tried not to ponder over it too much and went back to finishing his date. It would likely go nowhere, but the least he could do was finish it.

"What were you saying about that teddy bear you had?" Mark asked kindly, slipping his phone back into his pocket and smiling fakely at the girl in front of him.

"Dolphin." She corrected quickly, a blank look on her face.

"Dolphin, of course. Her name was Katy, was it? What were you saying about Katy?"

———————————————

Second Chapter today! Well, I finished writing after 12 but it's the same day to me so . . . 

Does putting out two chapters, both over 2800 words in length make up for my wasteness?

Probably not, but I hope it helps. See the double update as an apology, okay?

Alright, I'll say it.

I'm SORRY!!!

Moving on . . .

What do you think of Mason and Mark?

Did we like my baby boy Daniel's appearance?

I loved it, probably because I love him and will try to pop him into books whenever I can.

And,

Do we support Mason's parents yet?

You guys should be able to guess my answer.

BTW, I changed the song that he chose because I felt like, so please don't worry too much. But listen to the song because it is actually dope.

Anywhy,

Vote, Comment, Share, Follow, anything else you can do with this book and I will see you next Chapter. Bye!!!👋🏾👋🏾👋🏾

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