Chapter One
Finally it was the first day of school. I am Aubrey and I'm going to be a junior;which for one means I'm almost done with my four years of torture. Although this year I have two of the greatest friends walking the halls with me. Maddison has been my friend since elementary school, hell her mom was our ninth grade teacher. Let me say she was good at embarrassing me. And Cassidy is just a goof ball that entered Harrington Academy just as freshman year was ending. Harrington Academy is a small private school for extremely intelligent kids of Callgrove, Arizona. I have the luxury of excelling at any type of musical instrument and singing. Maddi excels at Animal Behavioral Sciences. And Cassidy excels at Athletics.
As we were walking to our line in the cafeteria to get our schedules someone trips me. When I thought I was going to hit the ground I dont. Somebody helps me up. As I steady myself I see that the person who had caught me and helped me up; was my crush Mason. My heart starts racing and I start to blush. I smile at him, he smiles back and says " You ok? Cause you kinda look like you're going to faint." I nodded and said " Yes I'm ok , and thank you for helping me" " No problem, see you later Aubrey, maybe we'll have some classes together." he says as he walks away towards his friends. I hope so I thought. After four periods it was finally lunch. I get my lunch and go look for Cassidy and Maddison. As I head to their table I hear someone call out my name " Aubrey". I turn around and see Mason across the cafeteria waving for me to come over. I guess he wants me to sit with him I thought.
I look back at Cassidy and Maddison by the look on their faces; I'd say that they were ok with me sitting with him today. I smile and head to Mason's table. We ended up talking and laughing a lot his friends were funny. As we had lunch we exchanged schedules. Turns out we have the same afternoon classes. We make a plan to practice extra after the hour and a half long mandatory practice all of us trainees are required to take until we graduate. Which isn't until two periods from now. After the practice, Mason and I meet up on the track that goes around Harrington Field. We do a few laps, we barely talk but that's ok. We go back to the gym after doing laps and take turns punching the punching bag. After that we go one on one practicing the new moves we were taught during long period. We decided to quit after that and go get something to eat from the cafeteria. I ask " do you want to go and find your friends? I mean since I kinda took up your whole day so i'm sorry." " Aubrey don't apologize for spending time with me today I am actually having fun. Come on let's go for a walk" "ok" I say.
He leads me to the woods in the back of the school where there is a path that leads to a garden. I sit down on a bench that's under a oak tree. He sits down beside me. I turn to him after I watched a butterfly fly around. I see that he had come closer and was staring at me. I decided that now was the time to tell Mason how I felt about him. " Hey Mason can I tell you something?" " Of course you can Aubrey" He said. "Ok, Well Mason I have had a crush on you since 7th grade and I know you probably dont feel the same way but I like you and I don't want to…". My words were cut off when he turned my head from looking at the ground, towards him and kissed me. At first I was shocked but then I relaxed and kissed him back. In between kisses I hear him say " I like you too." We kiss for a while and hangout in the garden. We walk back to the dorms holding hands and I hug him goodnight and turn to leave to go inside my building. As I turn, I feel him grab my hand. He pulls me closer and kisses me. I go inside, take a shower then I set my alarm and go to bed, replaying what happened in the garden over and over in my head.
I wake up to the sound of my phone going off. I had a new text message from Mason. It read…
Good morning beautiful, I know it's early but will you come outside and see me? I miss you.
Of Course. I respond.
:) was his response.
I get dressed in skinny jeans and a tight, White, short sleeve v-neck that showed off my figure perfectly. I run down stairs and out the door. I see him standing under the birch tree outside my building. I run to him and he catches me in a hug. " Morning beautiful" he whispers in my ear. " Good morning Mase". " You look amazing" he said. The sun was just starting to rise so there was a little light for him to see me. I look at my phone it's 5:30. " Come on" I say. He follows me to the garden. We sit down again and start talking but we kinda stop because we couldn't stop kissing; to the point where we gave up entirely on talking. I was just getting lost in the happiness that exploded in my heart. I was pressed against the back of the bench in a half laying position, my legs over his lap. His hands slid up and down my leg. He kissed me then moved down to my bottom jaw, then my neck and back up again. In between kisses I say " Mase…" "hmm" he responds. " We kinda … need to go or... we will be late for class". " Damn" he says. We get up and walk back to the classrooms. I look at my phone it says that the time was 7:25. We basically run to our classrooms. Outside mine we say goodbye. The time went by slow for me during the first four periods. As soon as the lunch bell rang I got a text it was Mason.
Hey gorgeous, wanna meet by the garden after you grab your lunch?
Sure I say. Another smiley face was my answer.
I grab my Nachos and head out towards the garden. I pass Cassidy and Maddison as I am leaving " Hey" they say at the same time. " Hi Cass, Hi Maddi". " Where you off to?" asks Cassidy. " The garden", " What for?" Maddison asks. " I just want to go to the garden" I say. " Well can we come with you?" " No. Not today I will hang with you guys after school ok?" " Ok" says Maddison. " k" says Cassidy. I smile and leave the cafeteria. I get to the place where Mason wanted to meet me. Placing my Nachos on the bench I look around and he isn't there. That's when I feel two arms wrap around me from behind. I quickly turn around and see Mason with his gorgeous brown eyes, dark brown hair, and cute smile. " Hey" I say. " Hey beautiful" he says. I take his hand and we go to our spot.
I notice that he didn't have his lunch. Which means he hasn't even gone to the cafeteria yet." Don't you need to go get your lunch" I say " No" he says. " I say " Okay, we can share mine". We eat my Nachos and talk. I was leaning up against the tree behind the bench. He was standing in front of me. I grab his hand and start walking back out of the garden. " Mase, I'm going to hang out with Cassidy and Maddison after school so I won't be doing the extra practice with you. Is that okay?". "of course it is Aubrey, they are your best friends. Connor, Jake and Jordan are having a get together later, I'm going would you come with me? And Cassidy and Maddison can come too if they want.". " I'll come Mason and I'm sure that Cass and Maddi will too." I kiss him and walk to Animal Behavioral Sciences with Mason. I stare at Mason from across the room where I sit beside Maddison. " You still like him don't you Aub". " Of course I still like him, he's funny, kind, caring and he is so hot.". " Aubrey, honey you got it bad" says Maddison. " Don't start because we all know that you like Connor as much as I like Mason.". Maddison blushes at this and looks away. I laugh " See I'm right". " So what if your right Aubrey, Connor is dating Lily he wouldn't even consider dating me." Maddison says.
I let the conversation go, because she obviously didn't want to talk anymore. I look up at the board and start to neatly copy the notes on wolves. Which I already know most of it since wolves are my favorite animal. I turn to Maddison " look I'm sorry Maddi, if it makes you feel better Mason caught me in the hall and told me that Connor, Jake and Jordan are having a get together later, he wants me to go and said to ask you and Cassidy if you wanted to come." She looks up at me " Really?" she says excitedly " Yeah" I say. " Well not to sound creepy but Mason is staring at you." She says with a joking tone. " Really" I ask, I turn and look and sure enough Mason was staring straight at me. I blush and my long blonde hair falls in my face. Flipping it over my shoulder I look up again, this time Mason's eyes widen and he quickly turned around and wrote something down. " Ok class the period is ending will one of you collect the books and put them in the back?" the teacher asks. Mason raises his hand, he gets up and starts collecting the books. When he came to our table he picked up the books, and as he walked by my bag he dropped a piece of paper. I put my notebook away.
The bell rang, Maddi and I are the first ones to get out of the classroom like usual. As we walk down the hall I could feel that he was behind me. Something brushed my back, I immediately tense and suppress a shiver. Maddi and Cassidy have English together while I'm in Science. Separating at the stairs Maddi goes left, and I go down stairs. Mason and I have this class together as well. Again something brushes my back. Getting seriously annoyed I turn towards the side of the hall and head to my locker outside the classroom. God haven't people learned of personal space. Putting in my locker combination I set down my bag. Opening my locker I look in my mirror reaching into the pen holder which I use for lip gloss I pull out my favorite color. After I put on my lip gloss I grab my Science book. As I close my locker I catch a glimpse of him standing at his locker, with Connor and Jake. I smile a little as I thought about how cute he looked today. I snap out of my thoughts as I hear a locker shut. I turn around and see Connor and Jake walking down the hall with Mason, I follow quietly.
I was the last to enter the classroom. I pass him as I walk to my seat in the back, I heard him shift slightly. I make a quick glance at him, he grabbed my arm. I stopped walking and looked at him." Hey, so what did Maddison say about tonight.?" He asks. " She's in, I will ask Cassidy after school. " I quickly reply. He had released my arm by now, I walk to my seat with my head spinning. " Ok class today we won't need our books, we are doing a lab on blood types. You will discover your blood types, for those of you who already know your blood types the alternate assignment will be a scientific essay on any kind of Ecosystem." Animal Behavior Science was an elective I chose to do besides my obvious music class. Great I thought, I don't know my blood type, I hope I don't get sick. I start getting nervous and shift restlessly in my seat.
The teacher came around and pricked our fingers. The instant she pricked mine and the blood started oozing out I felt nauseous. I rush out of the room and run for the girls bathroom. Thank god I made it to the toilet, I throw up, and I felt like crap afterward. After five minutes I make sure that I didn't throw up any more. I walk over to the sink and rinse my mouth, I wash my face too. I exit the bathroom and see Mason standing outside it pacing. I start freaking out on the inside, Oh my god did he hear that? Did he follow me out of the classroom? I thought. He notices me and immediately starts walking towards me. I dodge him and run to my locker, I do not need my breath smelling awful when I'm around him. I open my locker and grab two pieces of mint gum. I put the two pieces of gum in my mouth, a hand grabs my shoulder gently and turns me around. " Are you ok?" he asks concern lacing his voice. I couldn't meet his gaze, so I simply nod. He shifts us so I was against the lockers and he was in front of me. Pressing his body against me, he leans in. I place my hands on his chest and turn my head so when he kisses me he kisses my cheek. "What's wrong" he asks confused. " Nothing it's just, I just threw up and you want to kiss me?" " Well your chewing gum and I know you threw up, I asked the teacher as your friend to come check on you, and she told me to bring our bags." he said pointing to the backpack on his shoulder and my bag on the floor at our feet. I hadn't even noticed he was carrying the bags. Before I could respond he said " I have to ask you something. We have kissed a few times, held hands and hugged but I never officially asked you. Aubrey will you go out with me?" I was completely out of words so as a response I kissed him. He didn't hesitate to kiss me back, the bell rang and we sprang apart. Handing me my bag he closes my locker. I whisper " see you later" I give him a quick hug and head towards music. That's the one class we don't have together in the afternoon.
Finally long period came around, half of class we studied technique and speed. The other half we were paired off, Connor was with me, Mason was with Jake. " Don't hold back" he said, I didn't. Within 20 minutes he was pinned on the floor. I had perfected the moves we were taught yesterday. I looked over at Mason and Jake. Jake was in the same situation. Looking at Mason, caused me to loosen my grip on Connor. He flipped over, pinning me to the ground. He laughs and says " your not suppose to distract yourself Aubrey". He starts getting up and puts his hand out. I deny his help he stands up and looks down at me. As I get up I do a sweeping kick under his foot. He falls backward. I grab his arm before he hit the floor. " Now who's the distracted one." I tease, I pull him upwards and head to the locker room. I change back into my regular clothes. I exit the gym, I get a text from Cassidy Hey meet me and maddi in your room we can hang there I quickly reply. On my way. The response was a smiley face. I head towards the dorms and see Mason running laps. I decided to surprise attack him, I charge at him, he hadn't noticed me till I was right In front of him. He opened his arms expecting a hug, I used that to my advantage. I jumped at him, he fell backwards. He looked up surprised. " Hi " I say not caring that I fell on top of him. " Hey, why did you do that" he asks " practice, but I got to go, Cassidy and Maddi are waiting for me in my room." I say. I give him a quick kiss and get up, pulling him up with me. " Well then you better hurry, or I might steal you." he said flirtingly. " Oh really I guess you're gonna have to catch me then" I didn't wait for him to respond, I took off running towards the dorms. I could hear him running behind me. When he was close enough he wrapped his arms around my waist, stopping me from moving. We burst out laughing and he whispers in my ear " I guess I caught you what's my reward". I turn in his arms and lean in like I was going to kiss him, he closes his eyes. I kiss his cheek and pull out of his arms. He opens his eyes and looked confused, I smile and walk inside. I get up to my room and open the door, the minute I open it Cassidy and Maddison say in unison " Explain, we want all the details." I nod and sit down on my bed. They join me, " Ok so you know yesterday when Mason had asked me to sit with him, well we made plans during lunch to practice together after long period, after that He took me to the Garden. We talked for awhile and I told him how I felt about him." I paused to take a breath. " Go on" Maddi said excitedly. " well I had been looking down when I told him, he turned my face toward him and kissed me! And said that he liked me too. So today at lunch we met in the Garden again he didn't get his lunch so we shared mine. We talked and kissed a little and today he asked me out." " Well What did you say" Cassidy asked over excited. " Well I didn't say any words" they stared at me like I had two heads. " I kissed him instead." I finished. Their jaws dropped and they let out an excited squeal. " Ok anyway" I say cutting them off "we are going to the party right All of us?" I ask
" Definitely" they say at the same time. " Good, let's get ready it starts at 8." I get off the bed and open my closet.
Cassidy, Maddison and I are all the same size so we share clothes a lot. So we are going to be wearing my clothes. I went to my bathroom and took a shower. After that Cassidy got in, while Cassidy was in the shower I pulled out my jean skirt, tight black short sleeve crop top and black wedges. Maddison asked me to choose her outfit for her. She was going to wear, My blue lace skirt and white short sleeve frilly shirt that said Diva across the back and my white sneakers. My hair was in a towel. I went into the bathroom while Cassidy was in the shower and brushed my hair. I straightened my usual wavy hair. After I was done, I put on eyeliner and mascara. Cassidy decided to wear shorts and my purple lace tank top,with my wedged converses. Maddi took a shower and soon we were all ready to go. The get together was being held in the garden it was basically a cook out. We head out to the garden as we walk I shoot Mason a quick text
Hey, you at the garden yet?
Yes
Ok
What you wearing?
It's a surprise. ;)
:(
trust me I look so hot you're gonna drool
I bet you do look hot, you always do ;)
I rolled my eyes and put my phone in my pocket. I put the note he put in my bag in my back pocket. I decided to finally read it. Aubrey, you are so gorgeous, caring, and funny. when you flipped your hair I almost fainted. You looked totally hot when you did. ;) - M
I started blushing madly, Cassidy and Maddison took the note out of my hand and read it. Their eyes widened and said " Awww Aubrey" and started giggling. I blushed more and looked down. We came to the garden and heard music playing. As we walk in, everyones eyes turn towards us except his. Mason hadn't noticed me yet, which was a plus. I decided to play a trick on him. I took out my phone and texted Maddi
I'm going to mess with Mase. I need you to distract him for me
Kk ooooh mischief I love it
lol
Maddison heads over to Mason setting the plan into motion. I quickly walk behind the huge oak tree. I watch as she starts leading him towards the tree. I step farther behind the tree, I could hear their conversation and see Mason's face he looked disappointed.
" I'm sorry mason but she said she had homework to do, and that she wishes she could have come." Maddi said. " I understand maybe I should go help her." he said, " no, she wouldn't want you to leave your friends just to help her with homework." Maddison said, they were right under me. While Mason's attention was on Maddi. I walk backwards away from them." Are you sure that she would want me to do that" Mason asks. " positive" Maddison said. I walk over to the music stand and grab my guitar and a mic. The dj immediately stopped playing the music.
Every head except Mason's turned towards the direction of the dj. Cassidy turned off the lights, everybody gasped. I started to play the guitar, I was going to perform think of you from Chris Young and Cassadee Pope. " I walk in on friday night, same old bar, same burnt out light, same people and all the same faces so why in the hell does it feel like a different place." Masons head snapped towards the sound. Recognizing my voice immediately. " meet my friends for a girls night out, seems there ain't much talk about, same drinks that we're all raising, but all the toast just dont feel the same, we used to be the life of the party, we used to be the ones that they wished they were, but now its like they dont know how to act, maybe there like me and they want us back." " It's like there's always an empty space, those memories that nobody can erase, how bright we burned,now it hurts but it's true, when they think of me they think of you." Masons excels in art, he also had an amazing voice. Everything had gotten quiet, then his voice rang out " they keep asking how I am, but they're really asking where you've been" We heard gasps as our voices mixed perfectly together. "I can read between all of the lines, It ain't just us missing all of the time" Cassidy turned on the lights. " We were the life of the party, we used to be the ones that they wished they were, but now its like they dont know how to act, maybe there like me and they want us back." I started moving towards him. "Its like theres always an empty space, those memories that nobody can erase, how bright we burned,well now it hurts but it's true, when they think of me they think of you." " Ain't it funny how a flame like that." he sang while I sang " Oh,oh,oh they think of you". " it can burn when it's in the past, we used to be the life of the party" he sang. " we used to be the ones that they wished they were" I sang " Now its like they dont know how to act" and we joined together again " maybe they're like me and they want us back, it's like there's always an empty space, those memories that nobody can erase. How bright we burned well now it hurts but it's true, when they think of me they think you." I sang " Oh,oh,oh they think of you". He sang " when they think of me" I sang " baby, baby, baby" he sang " oh,oh,oh" I sang " Oh" We joined together again " when they think of me they think of you" I stopped playing.
By now we were right in front of each other, eyes locked. The people around us cheered, but we were lost in our own little world. " you came" he said " I was already here, I made a plan for maddi to distract you while Cassidy and I did what we needed so you wouldn't see me until after I started singing." I say apologetically. " well you were right about something though" he said " oh really and what's that." " you do look really hot." he said with a smirk. I blush I put the guitar behind my back. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kiss him not caring about the people around us. His hands instantly found my waist and pulled me closer to him. The night continued, we hung out and danced. Maddi, Cassidy and I hung out with Connor, Jake and Mason most of the time. Maddi and Connor got closer and she even found out Lily had broken up with him during the summer. The night went by so fast, at Harrington the dorms are separate and the curfew is 12 a.m. Boys and girls can hang out until 11:30. Lily was one of the populars and ruled the school. She was cruel and hateful unless she liked you. My group of friends weren't on her 'like' list.
All of a sudden I heard her voice. " Hey Aubrey, I heard you ran out of class and threw up. Are you pregnant?" when I didn't answer she continued her attack. Mason was getting pissed. " Wow you're awfully quiet, that must be true, you're pregnant and Mason's your baby daddy." she stepped forward, and I pulled him back. I've had enough, " No Lily I am NOT pregnant, Mason is my boyfriend and I was sick because we were doing blood types in science and I faint at the sight of blood. You really need to stop being a scrutinizing bitch and maybe try getting your facts straight. Oh and maybe you would have more friends and people would actually like you if you tried being nice instead of a slutty asshole who breaks guys hearts when she gets bored." I said with a smile 1 for me 0 for Lily. Her jaw dropped and everybody applauded me. " You can NOT speak to me like that" She said threateningly. " News flash: you talk to Everyone like that and if you've forgotten my Aunt runs this school. Your days here could end immediately if I say anything about it. So you better back off and remember who you're talking to." I said in a voice I barely recognized. She stepped back wide eyed and ran out of the garden. I let go of Mason and ran towards my secret spot nobody knew about. " Aubrey" I heard him call my name. " No let her go, she wants to be alone" I heard Cassidy say before they were out of earshot.
A few feet from the dorms I heard crying, I turned the corner, Lily was sitting on the ground crying. " Lily?" I say " go away" she says in a voice barely audible. " No, look i'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those mean things to you." " no Aubrey you had every right. What I did was wrong, I shouldn't be so mean to everyone it's just the only thing I know how to do" "well you're here because you excel in Drama right?" she nods. " well maybe you should focus on more positive things. Try being nice to people and they will be nice to you back. I have something I want to show you" I say reaching my hand down to her. She takes my hand and we start walking. I lead her to the grove, that's been my spot since I was little. It had a lake and trees and a hammock. I heard her gasp, " wow, its so beautiful." she says. " yeah it is, I come here when I want to think, or relax, and just let the stress go." " does it work?" she asks. I nod " this grove has been here for as long as my family can remember, my mom came here when she was pregnant with me at the age 17. She died a couple months ago, her favorite flower was the moonlily. I point to a white marble stone and a moonlily plant near the end of a willow tree without looking at it and say " that's where she's buried". She didn't say anything so I continued.
" I was with my mom 3 months ago. She and I were very close, we were driving home from getting ice cream the night of my birthday. A car swerved from the other lane and hit her side of the car. Our car flipped four times. I remember crawling out of the car, bleeding. I walked over to her side of the car, she had blood coming out of her head. I tried to get the door open, when I looked up at her she had her eyes open. The ambulance came and the paramedics got her out, she held on for a few hours. But I held her close and wouldn't let her go. The damage to her head was too much. The next morning she died in my arms and I broke my promise to her." I say as a tear fell down my cheek. " what was your promise" lily asked. " I promised her that I would never be mean to anyone and that I would judge with my heart and not my eyes. I saw you as a cruel bitch when really you are just misunderstood." I couldn't hold it back anymore I fall on my knees and cry. Lily kneeled down beside me and pulled me into her arms. We sat like that for hours, I cried and she said soothing things in my ear. That day, the girl who I couldn't stand, became my safe place. When I finally stop crying, we walk back to the dorms. She didn't want to leave me alone so she slept in my room with me. That night was a memory I will never forget.
Chapter Two