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Chapter 34: He Said, She Said

Mason was in a very good mood. After dozens of cancelled plans, many because of him, Mason finally got a chance to hang out with Jasmine again. He didn't know how many weeks had passed without them hanging out alone, or at the very least with Clark. But, Mason was excited to see her and have fun like they always did before. They saw each other if something was happening with the whole group, but simple hang outs seemed to have become scarce.

Tonight, they weren't doing anything spectacularly special, just watching a show with Clark at her place, but these were the sort of things Mason loved doing with them. The entire morning leading up to it, Mason was especially chiper.

"You're in a very good mood." Mason's mom commented as he hummed his way around the kitchen. "Do you have a date or something tonight?"

Mason chuckled at the thought, shaking his head.

"No, nothing like that. I'm just hanging out with Clark and Jasmine today." Mason told her, his satisfied smile wide on his face.

"Really, that isn't anything terribly special." She said, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

"I haven't been able to hang out with just the two of them in a while, so it's going to be nice to catch up." Mason explained, nearly done with his elaborate breakfast. While it usually felt like excess effort to even scramble some eggs, Mason had gone through the effort to make an entire omelette today, filled with onions, mushrooms, and some leftover ham. Mason was folding the omelette in half when his mother spoke again.

"That's nice. It's good you guys put in effort to meet up." Eleanor Moore commended her son, wearing a proud smile. "I still have to call the ladies so we can get some brunch. The last I heard, Elizabeth's son got engaged so we need to get together to congratulate her."

"An engagement, wow." Mason repeated while he sat down at the table, his eyebrows coming to his hairline.

"I know! When Aiden got engaged, I was the one who got all this attention for the first few weeks following from my friends, so we need to do the same for Elizabeth." She explained. It was obvious how excited Mason's mom was about all this marriage talk. Even though she was quite progressive, these little traditional things still excited her immensely.

"Well, good luck setting that up." He told her, cutting into his food.

"Thank you honey."

—————

Hanging out with Jasmine and Clark today brought a tension that Mason wasn't used to. Where before seeing them felt natural, like coming home, today there was an unspoken barrier dividing him from the other two. They said all the same words and laughed while making the same jokes, but something was off. There was an elephant in the room, but Mason for the life of him just couldn't tell what caused it.

However, that wasn't enough to stop Mason from trying. These were some of his best friends and a little hiccup wasn't going to stop them from having a great time.

The first thing they did after getting their snacks and drinks rounded up was pick what to watch. Because of Clark's insistence, they ended up going with Love 020, a fluffy Chinese Romance show on Netflix. Since it was a show and not a movie, they didn't go into the movie room and instead got comfortable in the lounge room in the basement. Despite the fact that the couch was open and available, they simply used it as back support while they sat on the floor.

Mason had been hesitant in watching it. He'd never seen a show or movie that wasn't in English before and was worried some aspects might not translate because of cultural differences. But after he went an hour without taking his eyes off of the TV, he realized he was wrong.

As the afternoon turned into evening and they got further into the show, their attention waned. The three of them tried their best, but they weren't really paying attention to the show anymore. Love 020 was very entertaining, but with so much focus on Nai's company during one particular arc, it was easier for them to get distracted. The show became more of a background noise than anything else as the three of them talked about their lives.

Mason and Jasmine were taking a year off from school, so very little happened in their lives on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, Mason was pretty sad to find out that they had so much news for him. Clark, for example, was talking about work and some interesting things that had happened since he last spoke with Mason. Clark had a surprising amount of stories considering the fact that he worked in a bookstore. Somehow, a place that sold books all day ran into its own fair share of crazy customers and drama.

Then, like what always happened when they spoke, dating came up. All three were very excited that Clark was currently dating Liam. The guy was eye candy in all of their books and seemed like a total gentleman.

"Things have been going really well with him." Clark told them with a small but pleased smile. "It's getting a bit easier to be fully natural around him and our conversations have always been comfortable."

"That's great Clark." Mason grinned, leaning over Jasmine's legs to squeeze Clark's knee encouragingly.

But, to Mason's surprise, Clark admitted that Liam calling himself Clark's boyfriend was the two of them becoming official.

It was crazy to think that Clark's embarrassment at a family party would have been the environment Liam chose to indirectly ask him to be his boyfriend.

It made all three of them laugh their butts off. The guy certainly was confident just blurting it out in front of people who were essentially Clark's family.

"It kind of put me off." Clark admitted, thinking back on that afternoon. "I mean, yeah we were seeing each other, but to just put that out there without even asking me? He had no idea how these people would react to the news. He didn't actually know if I came out to everyone there. That's not even mentioning the fact that I never agreed to be his boyfriend."

Jasmine put her left hand on Clark's shoulder, trying to comfort the young man.

"Clark. Try not to overthink it. You're obviously crazy about this guy for a reason and you should focus on that." She advised him, her calming voice making the words sound even more convincing. Clark let the subject go with a nod, not bringing up his complaints again.

Learning all this new information let Mason know he'd waited far too long to meet with these two again, but the day still went well. They gushed over the cute couples in Love 020, speculated about how gay Hao Mei and KO are, and shared jokes about random topics as they came, just like usual. For long stretches of time, the tension between the three of them seemed to melt away and it was normal again. The only other time Mason felt this light was with Mark, so he knew this had been a good day.

Mason was on his second can of coke when the night went to ruins.

Unbeknownst to Mason, Jasmine had been carefully avoiding a topic the entire time they spoke. Jasmine loved barging into other people's business. She adored the drama and liked going her own two cents when the situation called for it. But, when it came to her own life, she liked to keep things private. It was very much like the others in her family where if you didn't live in their house, it would be a while before they gave you access to touchy details about their life.

Mason had known that she was 'talking to a guy'--the terminology she used to downplay when she was in the first five months of dating somebody--but hadn't even gotten his name out of Jasmine yet.

Over the last few months, Mason got used to not suggesting people to her with the knowledge that she could no longer consider it. She was a taken girl, off the market. So, once he'd heard everything he needed to know about Clark's new boyfriend, he flipped the conversation to Jasmine.

"So how is that boy you've been talking to?" He asked her curiously, absent-mindedly drinking some soda. Mason found out he'd unknowingly stepped on a landmine when Clark tensed up, his entire body freezing. Jasmine looked just as tense, her eyes burning heatedly through the carpet between her feet. Mason desperately wanted to ask 'what did I say?' but knew the question would be answered soon enough.

"We broke up."

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown on him. The news came out of nowhere and shocked him like nothing else. Mason stared at his best friend, the girl he'd known since she got her bras from Walmart, not Victoria's Secret. The girl who had sworn she would stay single so she could stay with mommy and daddy forever. For the first time in her life, she hadn't told Mason first.

He knew it was true. She wasn't crying or even tearful, still processing the news. She hadn't changed into her pajamas, waiting for Mason to get his breakup playlist ready. In fact, based off of how calm she looked telling Mason this, she'd long since stopped depending on Beyonce's Irreplaceable to get her strength back.

She was completely fine without a bit of help from Mason.

Aside from Mark, Mason was always the person to help her get over a breakup, but Mark had dealt with it on his own this time. The curt way Jasmine spoke about the situation let Mason know she still had some feelings on the issue, but Mason felt weird trying to ask her about it. He really had no context for the entire situation, and it hurt. He just felt so left out.

"When- how did this happen?" He asked, focusing all of his attention on keeping his voice steady and calm.

"I think it was three weeks ago, at this point." She told Mason factually, without a hint of sadness in her tone. "He thought we were taking things too slowly and I wasn't opening up to him. Thought I didn't trust him I guess. Can't say that he was wrong."

"Though, the way he seemed so upset over how little they did physically, I think the sex thing was far more important to him than he let on." Clark added helpfully, sending Jasmine a tight smile. But, she understood. He was defending her because the issues weren't all on her.

Of course, Mason thought darkly, Clark knew of the entire thing. As Jasmine continued to explain what happened, he piped in with details she missed or ignored when he felt it would help Mason better understand. One could tell Jasmine had also leant on him for support with the situation.

Mason had never thought of Clark as competition. He truly believed in the notion that there is plenty of love to go around and when Clark first moved to Toronto, they welcomed him in with open arms and later found out he fit in perfectly as their friend. But today was the first time he felt threatened by his friend. In the weeks Mason was gone, Clark had stayed. The roles were reversed. Jasmine and Clark the two thick as thieves and Mason the one who needed to be caught up.

Mason immediately felt guilty for the direction of his thoughts but had little power to help them. His only option was to try to appear normal. He wanted to act like nothing had changed and everything was as it was. He thought he was doing a pretty good job of it too, until he noticed the concerned looks Clark was throwing his way. Mason didn't know what his face looked like, but he had to hope that Clark hadn't figured out what he was upset about.

Mason tried to focus on the important situation at hand. Jasmine, no matter how strong and independent, had just gotten her heart broken. Mason had to support her.

Yet, looking at her now, she didn't need support anymore. She was long past the point of grieving, and had done it all without even telling Mason it had happened. Mason's selfish thoughts then took precedent.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He found himself asking. His accusatory tone was obviously indignant. Jasmine's glare hardened after she looked up to find Mason staring at her as if she had been in the wrong. Her hands curled into fists.

"How could I?" She asked him in return, the words being spat out of her mouth like acid. "This is the first time in two months that the three of us have sat down alone together for longer than two minutes. Did you want me to text you about the painful heartbreak? Would that have worked for you?"

Mason's heart was thumping rapidly in his chest from the accusations. It was hard to be confronted by anyone, let alone his best friend. However, in feeling exposed and vulnerable, Mason only worked to protect himself more.

"You could have tried harder to talk to me if it was that important." He argued firmly.

"I did try. You just kept canceling on me again and again. At some point you get the message that someone doesn't want to see you anymore."

Mason's eyes widened, his chest puffing up in indignation.

"That's not true! You're my best friend, Jasmine. Of course I want to see you."

"So that's just how you show it? By always having something else you have to do?" Jasmine shot back. The little calm she was using to keep herself from just screaming at him was dwindling fast. She stood up to leave. "You know what, Mason? I'm sick of your bullshit. Seriously."

Even as Mason saw her start to leave, he couldn't let this argument end. She still had this crooked idea that Mason had been ignoring her on purpose. She could curse him out all she wanted but she was wrong and she needed to know that.

"I was busy Jasmine!" He yelled after her, standing up himself.

"Doing what?" She responded, whipping back around to face him. "Fucking Mark?"

Mason's entire body froze in shock. That was the last thing he expected to hear today. Taken aback, his voice lost most of its strength and his next words came out barely above a whisper.

"You know about us?"

Jasmine rolled her eyes as if Mason's fixation on this fact was unnecessary.

"Of course I do. Who do you think told Mark to drag you off so I could talk to Clark the other day? You guys aren't very subtle." She told him simply. It was annoying that they could really doubt her intelligence like this, thinking she wouldn't find out that her twin was sleeping with her best friend. "But, you know what? It doesn't matter. You had no reason to blow me off as much as you did. Clark and I were both dating people but we still made time to hang out with each other because that's what you do if you're a good friend. The fact that you couldn't be bothered to see us unless there were more than five people going is so shady, Mason."

"So no, I didn't tell you that I broke up with my boyfriend because frankly, I didn't think you'd care."

Mason couldn't come up with a rebuttal. Between hearing how disappointed Jasmine was in him and finding out that his secret hadn't been so secret after all, it was hard to fight. Jasmine saw this, and let her shoulders drop. There was no point getting so angry anymore if he had given up.

"Don't worry about cleaning your things," She told him, heading out of the room. "I'll handle it after you leave."

Nothing was said for a while after Jasmine left. The show was still playing and, in a way, made the atmosphere more tense between them. Clark, who had been listening to the entire argument without adding anything himself, was trying to figure out where to go from here.

"Are you mad at me?" Mason asked him quietly. He was pointedly looking at the ground to avoid Clark's eyes.

"Not really. It's been a while but I knew you'd eventually see us again. I just assumed you had a good reason for it." He explained to Mason honestly. His kind, nonjudgmental voice was a gift to Mason, which Mason welcomed wholeheartedly. "Mason, Jasmine was really hurt, you know. You kind of showed her that she isn't as important to you as you are to her."

"But that's not true." Mason insisted fiercely. Finally looking Clark in the eye again. "I just got a bit caught up. That's normal. It's normal to be dating someone and having to divide your time between them and your friends."

"But you were giving all your time to him, Mason."

Suddenly, Clark didn't sound so non judgemental anymore. Mason closed up, his crossed arms reflecting his emotions. He felt attacked.

"Whatever." Mason mumbled, turning away from his friend.

Clark deflated. Even though he already knew that this was the likely outcome, it was still disappointing to find out that Mason couldn't be reasoned with. He said his next words through a heavy sigh.

"Just . . . think about it. Okay?" He pleaded finally. Mason stayed silent, but Clark wasn't going to push him for anything more. "Bye Mason."

Mason took that as his cue to leave.

"Bye Clark." He muttered, quickly heading for the door.

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I hope you guys enjoyed some non-romantic drama this week.

I've been trying to challenge myself to not focus exclusively on the relationship to make a more well-rounded experience, so for those of you who have read some of my other stuff, tell me what you think.

Anywhore,

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

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