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Chapter 17: Acting 101

Mason should be getting paid for this. He was a professional actor, lying a bit each time he spoke to anyone about anything dealing with Mark. “Everything’s fine!” he would say “the two of us are getting along great, we’re closer than ever, actually.”

Of course, this doesn’t seem that bad when taken out of context. But considering the fact that Mark and Mason had not had a straight conversation in nearly two weeks, it was clearly false.

Yes, two weeks.

A human being’s stubbornness could be quite impressive, and Mark and Mason were demonstrating that fact terrifically. About three times a week Mason found himself wanting to scream “Just talk to me!” “Tell me how you feel!” he wished to say. Of course, that would mean putting himself out there, and that was—as you may have already guessed—a big “no-no” for Mason.

Because Mason had some sort of backbone, he did try to initiate a couple of conversations. But those terrible excuses for ‘exchanges of words’ did not count as conversations. Hence where the whole hadn’t talked for two weeks thing came about. Communication between the pair had never been more strained. 

But, to be quite honest, it did happen. If they were forced to speak during a lesson, words were given. Hanging out with all of their friends, phrases were shared. And, after those tense seconds where nothing important was ever said, the questioning looks Mason expected to receive never came. 

Mason ended up oddly disappointed to find out that none of their friends noticed the tension between the two of them and continued on like usual. Jasmine spoke just as loud, Gabe remained just as flirty, and Clark still got that distant sad look that he wore when thinking about his past.

Mason was getting away with it. He was keeping his Mark drama a secret. Whether this was a good thing or not, he would find out eventually. 

But Mason did implement a couple of things to ensure that no one noticed. The best that he could come up with was emphasizing how single and Bi he was.

Mason put in extra effort to point out the looks of any girl or guy around them, as long as it wasn’t Mark. Things like “she has really nice legs”, “his eyes are amazing”, or even “if I could tap that.” It was out of character for Mason, but he’s been known to gawk before so he assumed it was believable. 

It was extremely awkward, however, when Mark was around. Calling some guy hot when the guy you just kissed a couple of days ago is two steps down isn’t fun.

But, he persisted, even when Jasmine would shoot looks from him to Mark as if to say “hey, he’s the guy you like!” and Mason would just shake his head in response. He had to make it clear to everyone that he knew: until they became a thing or Mark made a move, he would be single and ready to mingle.

Of course, the last thing that Mason wanted to think about during all of this was flirting with someone else, but they didn’t know that.

See, smart.

Mason remembers one particular conversation after that day’s lesson where Mason brought up that idea again. He, Mark, Gabe, Tobi, and Aubrey had been talking and Tobias had mentioned how good Mason and Mark looked together.

He had been going on about their good looks and how their features and skin tones contrasted really nicely and bla bla bla, and Mason was close to panicking. Mark had started to furrow his thick brows and stare at Mason intently and Mason had no idea what he would say. And, why had Tobias been saying that in the first place? Had he noticed anything? 

None of it was looking very good so Mason looked around, saw Gabe nearby, and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I don’t know. If I had to date a guy, I think Gabe is more my type.” He said casually, giving Gabe a bit of a smile. Gabe had seemed momentarily surprised before a cocky grin appeared on his face and he leaned into Mason.

“Oh yeah?” He asked, his face moving in. Mason smiled tensely.

“Yup.” He had turned away then, looking back at Tobias with a carefree smile. “But I have been noticing a lot of girls. Maybe I’ll date one next.”

Mason had noticed the glare on Mark’s face but ignored it. Who could figure out what Mark got upset about anymore? Him? Gabe? Mason’s love-life?

The conversation moved on and away from Mason and Mark. And, there had been cases more awkward than that. One of them happened as Mason was hanging around the Tylers’ place for the thousandth time.

It was just Jasmine, Mason, and Clark there that day, no Mark insight. They’d been watching a movie and Mason had the idea to comment on Dave Franco’s smile. They were watching Now You See Me 2 in the screening room, but he feared it could get awkward again.

Instead, while staring up at the black painted ceiling, Mason listened vaguely to what she and Clark were saying. He heard something about coolness and magic and looked up, realizing that the movie had just finished. Mason’s mind had been so caught up that he hadn’t been paying much attention. But, he had watched it before and drew from those memories to add to the conversations.

“Now You See Me 3 is going to be so good!” Jasmine beamed, her hands balled into fists as an excited squeal left her lips. Mason relaxed somewhat, realizing he could still contribute to this conversation.

“I know right? I can’t wait for it to come out.” He agreed excitedly, smiling and nodding as he spoke. Did that sound natural? He wondered, thinking back on his words. Jasmine and Clark had continued talking without Mason, so he assumed his comment was fine. 

Clark and Jasmine mentioned wanting to get some snacks to take upstairs, so Mason first thought and action was to go for the drinks. He could easily nurse the five half-filled bottles all by himself and made sure there would be enough to quench his never-ending thirst. Honestly, it seemed like his heart and stomach were at basically the same place. Constantly thirsty, just for different things. 

Mason’s cheeks heated when he realized what his heart was thirsty for at that moment. Jasmine shot him a curious look, noticing how he was trailing behind her and Clark, so Mason was quick to paste a smile on his lips and job to fall in line with the pair. Jasmine was a very nosy yet intuitive person. If Mason wasn’t constantly keeping track of how he was acting, Jasmine could stumble upon the truth in a couple of minutes. 

When the three got to Jasmine’s room, Mason found one of the many single sofas around her room and slipped into the chair. He noticed Jasmine lie on her bed and Clark flop onto the floor to lie on his back. Then, like typical teenagers of this day and age, they all began using their phones.

Mason had been reading a nameless online book when he heard Jasmine squeal. While it wasn’t a rare occurrence, it did tell him that Jasmine could be telling them something very good or very bad—depending on how you see it. 

“I’m sending you this video.” Jasmine stated, grinning excitedly to herself. Of course, there was no question about it and Mason decided to just go and look at it quickly. If he waited too long to look at it, Jasmine might start nagging him later. 

His eyebrows rose when he saw it had gone into their “hot mans” group chat. It was a group with just Mason, Jasmine, and Clark. Because the three of them were all into guys and would be chill with each other’s creepy thoughts about guys. But at the moment, Mason saw this as an opportunity. He was trying to solidify how much he wasn’t into Mark. Ogling over these guys—even more than usual—would definitely help with that. 

Mason opened up the video, a bit surprised when he found Joe Jonas and a blond model. He peeked up discreetly at the others in the room with him before talking.

“Joe Jonas?” He asked aloud, playing up his earlier surprise. “I didn’t know he modelled— woah!”

A full shot of the female model’s chest came up in the video and Mason thought she would be an easy thing to comment on. He steeled himself for the possible embarrassment. 

“What is it?” Clark asked then, rolling himself over a couple of times to get closer to Mason. Mason’s cheeks began to heat simply at the thought of what he was about to say, but he pushed those thoughts away. 

“This girl got tits!” He said loudly, eyes plastered on the model’s chest. He could practically feel the judgement of his friends next to him. Mason knew he was Bi and has known that for several years, but Clark and Jasmine didn’t necessarily respect it. 

Honestly, they didn’t like to acknowledge any attraction he had for people other than Mark. They both saw how much Mason cared about him and they pushed him to just try things with Mark. 

When Joe came back onto the screen, looking fine as ever, it wasn’t hard for Mason to play up how good he looked.

“Oh damn, oh damn, oh damn, oh damn . . . “ He muttered, watching Joe pose for a real one. Mason did such a good job that Clark, who hadn’t watched it yet, became extremely curious. 

“What is it now?” Clark asked, feigning annoyance to hide how intrigued he was. Clark sat up alertly and Mason considered teasing him about it. Jasmine wasn’t commenting so he assumed she wouldn’t stop him, but he decided against it and just told him.

“Joe is fucking hot in this. You should watch it.” Clark’s eyes flickered to Mason’s phone then back up to his face. And, of course, Clark became especially curious when the guy was mentioned. Mason wanted to chuckle.

“Fine.” Clark blurted, quickly reaching for his phone and opening up the video. When Mason noticed how focused on the video Clark was, he decided to stop watching and switch to a game on his phone. 

Jasmine, never afraid of a cheesy segue, decided to use her video to bring up what she wanted to tell Clark.

“Speaking of hot guys,” She began, earning an eye roll from Mason. She quickly sent him a sharp glare before turning back to talk to Clark. “My friend has a friend who is single.”

Mason perked up in his seat. A single friend? This would be perfect. What better way to prove that he was totally over Mark than to date someone else? Mason decided that he would agree to meet with their friend, whether a guy or girl, but Jasmine began to speak to Clark.

“She has been trying to set him up but hasn’t had any luck.” She told him, giving him more detail than he probably needed. “So, she asked me if I knew anyone and I thought of you.”

Clark immediately started to complain and Mason was a bit annoyed as well. Jasmine went on, trying to gas up this mystery guy, but Clark kept pushing against it. Mason finally got too bothered.

“Why didn’t you mention him to me?” He asked, pouting softly as he looked over at Jasmine. Jasmine narrowed her eyes slightly and stared Mason straight in the eye.

“You know why.”

Mason bristled. Jasmine and Clark continued to talk while Mason stared down at the blanket in front of him. Was he doing all of this for nothing? He had been talking and flirting and doing anything he could to seem completely over Mark yet Jasmine still thought that he was 100% into her brother. Mason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He would have to think of a new approach.

Mason pulled out his phone to distract himself as he vaguely heard Clark say “I’ll meet him.”

———————————————

Hey Everyone!

First of all, I hope that all of you are doing well during this time. I wish all of you health and wellness.

This Chapter was almost finished a long time ago so I finally stopped being a bum and finished it. I hope it’s alright. The next one is halfway done so hopefully I can have it done tomorrow or the day afterwards. 

Anywho, get excited for the next chapter, it’s about to be juicy. 

I got to run, the family is watching Bourne Identity!

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

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