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Chapter 16: Have I Got a Story For You!

“Oh, Gosh!” She gasped loudly, her hand falling to her chest. “That was so brave of you, honey!”

Mason tried to keep the smile on his face as his mother pulled him to her chest and showered his face with tiny kisses.

“I am so glad we sent you to that class! Who knows what would have happened to that poor old lady.” She said with a deep frown, shaking her head sadly. Not wanting the mood to be so serious after everything he went through earlier in the day, Mason laughed.

“Mom, she was probably, like, five years older than you.” Mrs. Moore scowled at her son’s comment, smacking him against the arm gently as he cackled.

“I was being serious!” She complained, a slight whine filtering into her voice. Mason’s smile faltered, and he bit his bottom lip.

“I know mom. It was just a lot and I would rather be positive about it than remember what could have gone wrong.” Mason admitted quietly, arms wrapped around himself. “Can I at least have that, please?”

She nodded, hugging her son again and placing a kiss on his cheek. Mason hugged her back, the clean sleeves of his shirt very welcomed compared to what had been smeared on his other sleeves. The second he arrived home, before he even said hello to his mom, he rushed upstairs to his room where he brushed his teeth, showered, and changed into the coziest clothes he had. 

While in the showed, Mason had the brief thought that he was trying to wash away the fact that the entire thing ever happened, and calmed in his scrubbing. He hated everything about those ten minutes, except for having possibly saved that woman’s life. 

When he came downstairs, his mom had prepared a fancy meal, inspired by her FoodNetwork binge, and sat him down at the dining table. That was where they sat down, and it was the place where Mason had recapped the whole event to his mom.

From how happy he was about what Mason did, he knew that she would wholeheartedly support the nursing program in the future, which was nice. But seeing her reaction to everything made Mason wonder how his friends would react. How Mark would react. Maybe he wouldn’t even react at all. Mark can’t listen to a story if he was avoiding Mason.

The moment Mason had finished his food, his mom was trying to usher him up to his room for bed. She probably knew just as well as Mason that he would just use his phone until midnight, but it was a nice enough gesture.

Mason wondered what she would do with her evening since his dad was away for a short business trip. As he walked up the stairs, he heard her phone ring and the sound of his dad’s cheery voice coming through.

The first thing his mom told her husband after he caught her up on everything he had been doing while he was away was “Moore, you won’t believe it! Mason saved an old lady’s life!”

Mason, deciding to let his mother take the reins on the story —even though she would probably make up fifty facts about what happened— kept walking up to his room. He could just correct all of the wrongly restated facts in the morning.

———————

Mason’s knee bobbed up and down up and down as he quietly panicked. He had held so much faith for himself and his ability to act normal around Mark. He has had a crush on the man for years and has seemingly been able to keep it hidden. 

Mason thought that he would be able to use those skills and act as if nothing happened until Mark finally exploded and broke off their friendship. What good would wishing for another kiss do if he was just trying to maintain a friendship? But, he couldn’t do it. His emotions were running wild all over his face, and he knew that the wobbling knee wasn’t helping matters.

Mason had felt Mark’s eyes on him several times in the last few minutes and that only seemed to worsen his nerves. What was he thinking? About how cute Mason was? About how upset he was with Mason? About how to gentle let Mason down? 

Mason’s leg slowed and the reality dawned on him. Mark may finally reject him. It had been what he had been avoiding for years—Mark’s outright rejection—and now he would have to face it head-on.

Mason wished he could go back, he wished he could change what he had done, but he also wished he could regret. But Mason couldn’t do any of those things, he had enjoyed Mark’s kisses far too much to really regret that he experienced them. At least he got to kiss him before Mark cut him off for good.

Mrs. Lorraine called the beginning of class and Mason was pulled out of his sad thoughts to listen to what she had to say. After speaking for a couple of minutes, she asked if anyone had used something they had been taught since the beginning of the program.

Mason had even forgotten that she did this since he either zoned out or lumped it in with the rest of the class. But now, after she asked, he found himself raising his hand.

She called on an older woman first who shared how she was able to confidently check her daughter’s vitals when she had been faint. There was a bit of applause, then she asked Mason to share.

To Mason, it was a bit weird to see out of his peripheral the way Mark’s body language changed throughout his story. He had gone from slouching back casually, seemingly without a care in the world, to leaning forward with wide eyes and a concerned look.

Mason wasn’t sure what he was concerned about, it had already happened and he quickly mentioned that the woman was fine, so it better not be concern for him. He did have his pride. 

Mrs. Lorraine had been quite pleased when Mason finished his tale, grinning widely as everyone clapped around him.

“Well, I am very glad that the lesson had come into good use so soon. It seems my warning had been valid.” Lorraine’s excited expression surprised Mason, he hadn’t expected to see her so happy, although he really should have. She asked if there was anything that he hadn’t been expecting when doing CPR. Mason didn’t even hesitate.

“Oh, it was exhausting!” He complained, rubbing at his arm where it was still sore. “The movies make it seem way cuter and a lot shorter. Worst ten minutes of my life. And the puke thing was horrendous, I wish I had bought that mouth thing to have helped with that.”

Lorraine laughed, finding Mason’s disgust especially funny, and then finally started the lesson. Mark’s eyes on Mason’s cheek began to burn and Mason couldn’t stop himself from turning to look.

Mark met his eyes head-on, though there was an unreadable look in his eyes. Mason was suddenly upset. Mark had kissed him, and now he was just staring at him without saying a thing. Mason smirked.

“I get why this whole story upsets you so much.” He started quietly, the low rasp in his voice affecting Mark more than he realized. “You wouldn’t be able to kiss me anymore, would you?”

Seeing his eyes widen in surprise, Mason could finally understand what was going on in Mark’s head. But, Mason simply scowled at the man before he went to face the front again. He could sit on those words while Mason got back to learning.

Mason would probably go back to feeling guilty and worried in a couple of minutes, but right now he felt righteous and justified, so he would hold on to this feeling for as long as he could.

—————————

Wow, another update already?!

Is Geira finally getting her shit together?

Who knows, because I don’t.

This Chapter feels kind of dry to me so I’m probably going to work on the next one quickly to make me feel better.

Which may mean another quick update!

Wow, what a miracle

Anyhow, 

Thoughts?

Is there anything specific that I can even ask about at this point? I mean this Mark thing has been happening for a bit.

When do you think this stand-still of silence will end?

Oooh, guesses people!

Anywhore,

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

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