Array
(
[text] =>

Chapter 39: Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Mason's feet thumped loudly against the concrete sidewalk as he walked back to his house. This morning, he'd been feeling especially down. His relationship with Mark hadn't changed at all and now it has been two days since he'd last seen him. But recently, he was feeling the absence of Jasmine's presence even more so than the lack of Mark's.

Even with how badly things have turned out for him and Mark, he always assumed that Jasmine would be there for him when he needed to talk and vent. This was far from the first time Mason was essentially heartbroken by Mark. Though it usually revolved about Mason being sad about a new girl Mark had hooked up with or dated, he was still wrecked to the point where he went to Jasmine for comfort. She'd always been there, ready to dry his tears and tell him weird jokes when he had cried for too long, just as Mason did for her.

But Mason was dealing with this one on his own. He and Jasmine still weren't talking. Mason considered turning to Clark or Aiden, while he never relied on them for this before, he knew they would try their best. But Clark seemed to be in a more complicated situation than Mason and Aiden was out of the country. So Mason had taken to spending sad days in front of the TV alone.

Today, he'd finally gotten sick of the sadness and tears. Yes, his feelings were valid and he was allowed to be as heartbroken and sad as he wanted, but at this point being sad and crying was getting exhausting. As an effort to improve his mood, Mason went to the gym this morning.

Like always, Mason forgot the importance of consistency and gave himself an incredibly intense workout that was far too much for someone who hadn't been to the gym in weeks. Now, Mason struggled to make the walk back home.

After a few more minutes of post-workout torture, Mason was finally back in his own home. Even though he should have gone immediately to the shower, it felt like so much work to clean his body at the moment. Instead, he fell into a chair at his kitchen island.

The marble felt nice and cool on Mason's heated skin and he relished in finally giving his body some proper rest. Considering how tired Mason was, one would have thought he'd lie down on the counter for a while. But only a minute after getting back home, Mason's mind drifted to what he'd been thinking of on his walk back.

He really missed Jasmine.

Not just what she did for him, which was more than he could even fathom, but he missed being around her. She was one of the funniest, most interesting people he'd ever met and for some reason, she continued to spend time with him after all of these years. And he repaid her by essentially ghosting her for two months.

It had been over a month since their fight. At first, Mason hadn't thought he'd done anything wrong. He refused to apologize for something that wasn't his fault and had been waiting for Jasmine to come to her senses. Then, Mason understood just how badly he'd treated her.

Mason vividly remembered the moment when he first realized what an idiot he was. He'd been looking at an old photo of Mason and Jasmine. The photo was taken by Jasmine's ex-boyfriend at Woodbine beach. As Mason stared at the image of him and Jasmine smiling with their skin already a bit burnt by the sun, he remembered how their relationship had never changed while she dated that guy. They still hung out all the time, visiting each other's houses and going to the mall. The only change was that sometimes instead of talking about people they found cute, Jasmine would talk about sweet things her boyfriend had done for her. Or their days at the mall would have an extra guy in the mix.

Even back then, Jasmine understood the importance of treasuring every relationship you had, old and new. But Mason hadn't done the same.

From then on, the only reason why Mason hadn't apologized was because he was too nervous. You'd think after knowing her for so long, Mason would just do it. But before he knew it, half a month had gone by and he still hadn't spoken to Jasmine.

Lifting his head from the marble island, Mason pulled out his phone. It was weird having to scroll so far to find Jasmine's name. Before she was always at the top of the list but now, it was a while before he found her. Mason visibly cringed to see how old their last exchange of messages was.

But he was going to fix this. Right now. If he could just get his fingers to move . . . They still weren't moving. Mason sighed deeply, his forehead falling back onto the counter with a thump.

"Ow." He mumbled. This was ridiculous. Jasmine is his best friend and he's just going to text her a simple message. Going quickly so he wouldn't lose his nerve, Mason typed it out.

You

Hey Jasmine

I know it's been a while but do you want to come over to my house for lunch today?

I want to talk

The message was short, simple, and awkward. Mason knew that if he let himself think about it long enough, he'd just delete it. As Mason sat there, looking at his phone, he grew uncomfortable. What if Jasmine took forever to read it or she just left him on read?

It suddenly seemed like a really bad idea to stay there, waiting for her response.

"You know what? I'm actually really hungry. I should go get some food." Mason said aloud as he rushed away from his phone and into the kitchen. Running to the kitchen for some cereal would distract him and by the time he got back, maybe Jasmine would have responded.

When Mason came back to his original seat, breakfast in hand, he looked anxiously to see if Jasmine had responded. In his mind, he was expecting to see the worst. Preparing to find that Jasmine had ghosted, Mason was shocked to see a response from a minute earlier.

Jasmine

That's fine

I'll be over after 1

That was it. Two sentences and she would be there in three hours.

Mason was the one who suggested lunch but now, it felt like too short of a notice. He had no time to relax or think about what he was going to say because he would spend the entire time cooking. Mason shot up out of his chair and looked around the room anxiously as he tried to think of what he should do first. Mason took two steps in about every direction, telling himself why it made no sense to do something like fluff the pillows or wipe the blinds each time the idea popped into his head and he went to complete it. Finally, he recognized that it would make sense to handle the necessities first, like finishing his breakfast and finally getting his stinky ass in the shower.

So, like a scolded child, Mason sat down to finish his now soggy cereal.

—————

When Mason first sent his message, asking Jasmine to come over for lunch, he'd done it for two reasons. 1) Things between him and Mark were very weird and if it was possible to avoid the other man, he would do so. 2) He thought that before he expressed his love towards Jasmine with words, he would do so with food, getting her relaxed and receptive to his apology.

But with how awkward this meal was going, Mason's plan seemed to have truly and utterly failed. Jasmine ended up getting to his house at 1:45 which was a blessing to Mason because he'd been running late on his meal thanks to his shower and he needed time for the meat to cool.

Now it was 2:30 and every word that had been exchanged by her and Mason was tense and awkward. Mason had prepared something he learned online: Korean fried chicken with wedges and a homemade sweet and spicy sauce. Jasmine's eyes lit up at the sight of it and the dish had brought the first smile to her face since she got there. But in spite of the delicious meal, the conversation was stale.

Mason and Jasmine went back and forth, asking each other questions, but a natural conversation never started.

"So how is college prep coming along?" Jasmine would ask, struggling to meet Mason's eyes.

"It's good. I've already signed up for my classes." Mason would reply.

"That's good." Jasmine would say.

"Yeah." Mason would reply.

And that was it. It was like the two of them just forgot how to make normal conversation because nothing seemed to stick. Instead of a conversation, it was simply an exchange of facts and updates about each other's lives. And all throughout, Mason's chest remained tight with discomfort. He really hated that this was happening with his best friend.

Mason wracked his mind for the umpteenth time, trying to find something to talk about.

"Um, so how is the chicken?" Mason asked, referring to the food he'd made. At the mention of what they'd been eating for lunch, Jasmine's eyes light up, her expression growing warm.

"The chicken is amazing, Mason." She told him, looking down at her plate with a bright smile. "It's crispy and soft and seasoned all the way through. And don't get me started on this sauce."

Mason grinned looking at his plate which he'd cleared of it's sauce.

"Yeah, the sauce is really good." He agreed. "I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out because I had to put in a ton of gochujang."

"What's that?" Jasmine asked, her head tilting at the sound of the foreign word.

"Oh, it's this spicy chili paste used in a bunch of Korean cooking. Because of it, I was worried the sauce was going to be too spicy." Mason explained.

"Oh yeah." Jasmine smiled bashfully, raising her hand to cover her face. "My nose has been watering a bit since I started eating this but I was trying to keep it lowkey."

Mason burst out laughing, finding their entire situation to be hilarious.

"Me too!" He laughed, finally allowing himself to sniffle. "But I didn't want it to be obvious because it would have been dead silence then me sniffling like I've been doing coke."

"Oh my gosh, why did I make the exact same comparison in my head?" Jasmine exclaimed, laughing along as well.

The two laughed for a while after that. Each time one of them sniffled or wiped their nose, it would start another laughing fit. As Mason looked at Jasmine, her dark brown hair falling in messy waves past her shoulders and her large nose red from irritation and spice, his smile fell. Jasmine was still trying to sober up from her laugh when Mason spoke.

"Jasmine, I'm sorry."

Jasmine's smile grew small in response. Her eyes dropped back down to her plate and her expression grew uncomfortable.

"It's okay." She said..

"It really isn't." Mason insisted. He knew she was just saying that to get past the tenseness and even if she was being honest, he wasn't going to let this slide "Jasmine, I am so sorry."

Mason paused for a moment, to try to figure out what to say. Then, at the last minute, he decided to just go for it. The best apology would come from the heart.

"You know, at first I didn't think I had done anything wrong. I thought it was normal for us to not talk or hang out as often because that happens when someone has a serious love life. And, to me, no one has been more serious to me than Mark so I thought it made perfect sense. But the truth is that I did purposely ignore you. I would schedule things with you then cancel or not reach out to you when I had time because I was lazy. I assumed that you'd always be there and so I didn't put in any effort. But that was really, really shitty of me. We aren't as close as we are by accident. You've always done your best to spend time with me and I sincerely appreciated that more than you could ever know. Jasmine, you're my best friend, I love you, and I promise I won't be an idiot ever again okay. So, can we go back to normal? Not the 'I just started sleeping with Mark thing' but actual normal?"

Jasmine's face, which had remained serious and attentive the entire time, suddenly broke into the expression she made when she pretended she was about to cry.

"Aw." She drawled out obnoxiously, running across the table to pull Mason into a hug. "Of course we can go back to normal, Mason. That was so sweet."

"Stop making fun of me, Jasmine. I was being serious." Mason complained, pouting as Jasmine peppered kisses in his hair and forehead like a fifty-year-old auntie.

"I know, I know." She sighed, still smiling softly. "Seriously, thank you."

"It's the least I could do." Mason replied. He was glad Jasmine knew he'd learned his lesson, but he still felt guilty about what he'd done. It felt weird to hear her thank him for doing the bare minimum. In his mind, he had a lot to make up for.

"You know, it's okay if you're not always free. If Mark keeps hogging your time, I'll just fight him. I always beat him because he does know how to leverage his strength."

Mason laughed, shaking his head at the mere suggestion.

"Don't worry about that, Jasmine. I have a lot more free time these days." He told her with a grin, smiling as if the news didn't make him cry daily.

"What does that mean?" She asked, now standing in front of him with her brows furrowed in concern. "Mason, did you guys break up?"

"We weren't dating in the first place." He corrected with a clipped tone. "We- I kind of asked for more space. It really felt like we were dating and I was kind of getting swept away by the fantasy."

Jasmine nodded in understanding. She hadn't ever been in Mason's specific situation but she understood how the ambiguity could get confusing.

"Now, we barely even talk. So don't worry, I have plenty of free time."

Jasmine bit at her lip with uncertainty. She wanted to say it, but wasn't sure if it was her place. But, she reminded herself, when did she ever shy away from saying what needed to be said.

"Is this really a good idea?" She asked him, a single brow raised questioningly. "You and Mark have always treated each other differently than everyone else."

Mason found that hard to believe. He knew that he had always pinned after Mark like a lost puppy but he knew that Mark was kind and flirty with anyone he liked. Mason wasn't special. But hearing Jasmine, his sister, giving her opinion might give him hope. Mason had already experienced many times before how badly hope could hurt him when it came to Mark so he shut this conversation down as fast as he could.

"Well I can't change it now." He stated simply, shrugging his shoulders. In spite of his best efforts to show otherwise, he knew that Jasmine knew that he did in fact care. "Anyway, enough about that. It's been so long, we need to catch up."

Jasmine did not look convinced at all. She wanted to talk more about this, he knew. Luckily, though, she backed off.

"Alright." She sighed, going to sit in her chair across from Mason. She didn't like that Mason was just giving up on this but the good food he made helped lift her spirits. "Well, I've struck gold again as a matchmaker recently. My one friend, Miranda--you know Miranda right? She . . . "

——————————————————————

Yay! Reunited and it feels so good!

While some of you guys probably don't care about Jasmine that much I am personally ecstatic to have her back. Writing about Mason and Mark just isn't the same without her support.

The timing is funny though. One Tyler leaves, another re-enters.

Anyway,

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

[text_hash] => f17416e9
)