I lay awake in my bed and stared up at the ceiling whilst over hearing the outside noise of my family getting ready for the day ahead, I heard multiple times from my Uncle Andy that he would come and wake me up for the school day ahead as it was getting late by the minutes that ticked passed. My Aunt Liv bailed me out numerous times this morning and I couldn't thank her enough for that. She had told my uncle that I had come down with a cold last night and needed to take a day or two off school with rest to recover from it

Whilst waiting in my room I did not leave my small confine space till I saw my aunt and uncle leave the house. Once I was sure they had gone to the store for the day and weren't coming back to pick something up I left my bedroom, I saw Hannah at the dining table eating her breakfast whilst going through her phone, whilst walking past Hannah I flicked a few of her long hair back over her face

'Idiot' she huffed annoyingly

I just chuckled to myself as I entered the kitchen to fix myself up with some cereal for the day, coming back to the dining room table moments later I sat down at the head of the table as she was still engrossed in her phone

'You got a busy day ahead?' Hannah asked as she put her phone down on the table

'Not really I've got all my classwork emailed to me last night'

'Did you really think you would have an easy two days off school'

'Well it's given me something to do when I've had enough of Netflix for the day' I replied. 'Maybe we could all do something together tonight, the four of us if Clay and Jessica are not busy'

'I'm sure they would like that' she stated. 'Did you have anything in mind for tonight?'

'Not yet but I have the whole day ahead of me to think of something right'

Hannah nodded her head whilst getting up from the table and taking her cup and bowl with her to the kitchen, I left her alone to get ready for the school day as Clay would be arriving soon to the house to walk with his girlfriend to school.

As per usual every school morning Clay was always on time when he rang the front door bell, I let Clay into the house as he waited for Hannah to reappear out of her bedroom with her school bag. Whilst waiting together for Hannah I asked Clay if he was free tonight and if we wanted to do something together which he agreed, Hannah came from her room and linked her arm through her boyfriend's

'Bye Mason, try to have a good day' she chirped. 'Love you'

'Love you too'

I watched the young couple leave the house as they made their way to Liberty High School, shutting the door behind them I cleaned up the dining room table and placed the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, with the house in nice and tidy order I decided to make a start on all the school work I was emailed last night

After firing up my laptop and going through my emails to find the first piece of school work I was sent, I just sat at my desk with my math trigonometry on the screen and my brian was already frazzled, it was too early to be doing this math work and I knew I couldn't be bothered to start another piece of assignment for another class

Moving away from my desk I layed back down on my bed and thought about the time I got suspended from my old school in Nevada for a fight with my ex-best friend Jacob Johnstone. That fist fight was one of the bloodiest that I fought in and it still shakes me badly whenever I reminisce about it, the huge fallout from that day completely destroyed my life the way that I last knew it.

'Why do I fuck everything up back then' I groaned loudly

I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands to see that they were covered in blood from my best friend, I tried to wipe the blood away but it made it worse as the blood started to spread up across my arms

'Did you really think you could escape your past Mason' Jacob exclaimed

Looking over to the other side of my bedroom I saw the figure of my former best friend in the world, he looked totally fine and not like the pile of shit that I left him in after letting out my burning rage during one of my darkest days

'What the hell are you doing here Jacob'

'You think moving to this crap little town and you could forget who you are, you're a monster yourself buddy' he laughed maniacally. 'You had beaten me to a pulp and almost left me for dead remember, you're nobody savour'

'I aint trying to be'

'Yet you're so damn welling to change for your loved one, you used to play that card all the time back home on your mom'

'Don't you dare speak of my mother ever'

'Touch a nerve did I momma boy' he smirked. 'You were always soft when it came to your mom. This little crusade your on in Crestmont won't ever clear your guilty conscious what you did in Nevada'

'I know it won't fix anything at all but I can try to be better for myself here in Crestmont, a clean slate is what everyone deserves in their lives'

'Keep saying whatever makes you feel better hero we both know it won't last long before you strike out in anger again'

'I promised'

'You're promises are as good as dog shit Mason. You made loads of them back home and you didn't even keep one, have your fun here before you ruin your life again I'll be waiting for you to do so'

'I won't even give you the satisfaction of ever ruining my own life'

'You may not ever buddy but you're very good at ruining everyone else's and making it a misery for them, you're just to blind to notice it sometimes'

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?'

'Use those two brain cells that are left in your head and figure it out or do I need to spell it out for you'

Jacob just laughed again whilst walking down the middle of my room before disappearing in front of my very eyes, snapping my gaze down to my arms the blood that was on them had also gone. It must have been my mind playing tricks on me as I hadn't spoken to Jacob in months before I decided to move down here and live with my aunt's family.

I guess I hadn't really thought about my actions back in Nevada when I had got suspended from high school for a week. All I cared about was going back to school so I could give Jacob another taste of my own medicine, I may have missed what kind of suffering I was giving my own family when they had been called in about my fight, all I ever wanted to do was make my mother proud of me but yet I continued to hurt her more. All that pumped up negative energy inside of me must have blocked out any rational thoughts at all during the time….

Feeling depressed about the situation and not wanting to mule over the thoughts of school suspensions anymore I decided to leave the house and let out any bad ill I had in me at a punch bag down at City Gym, this time of day I could work out in peace and really let out my anger without looking like a mad man had just escaped.

Upon entering the gymnasium the building was quiet and I couldn't see Caleb anywhere, he must have been out on work matters as he was always in when he knew one of his guys had made plans to workout here so he could help support them. I found a quiet space in the gym and walked over to the punch bag to let it all out

Two things occupied my mind this morning and it was driving me mad, I hadn't thought about them in a long while as it just drove me bad that I did today. Bringing up my fist I struck out in anger whilst the bag swayed back violently, I didn't wait for the punch bag to loose its momentum as I carried on hitting it

'I'm sorry Mr Baker but we have no choice but to suspend Mason for a week, you were destined for a bright future but you've thrown all that away now' My principle sighed deeply

That day was one of the worst of my life and not just because of the fight I started, it was the cruel words from my father that would stay with me forever; his words were like a dagger to the heart when all I wanted to do was just please him

'What the hell did you think you were doing Mason? I always expected your mother and Teddy to always disappoint me but not you, My whole family is one big disappointment and really are just scum' he roared, spitting in my face

I couldn't believe I'd been spatted on from my father and just took it, there was so much I wanted to scream and shout back at him but I just stayed silent. The rage I have for father compared to nothing in the entire universe, I despised the man with every fibre in my body and prison wasn't enough for him to make me happy; I wanted the man dead

My muscles tighten in my arms when I thought about my father whilst hitting the bag, the chain holding up the bag was rocking on the clasp and was on the verge of falling off, I kept the rhythm of my arms in sync with each punch harder than the last

'Why would you humiliate Teddy like the way you did, he looked up to you like a brother we both treated you as one' I yelled at Jacob

'Your brother made everyone think I'm something that I'm not, it's not my fault he's different Mason. You're not so innocent yourself you'd like to humiliate me as well at any given moment'

I hated to think of any time from back before my life came crashing down in Nevada, the memories of my best friend faded over the months but the anger still remained when I thought about our clashes. I wasn't going to stop punching the bag still I knocked it down of the chain

'Why would you try to get back at me Jacob we're brothers'

'Your no brother of mine Mason I despise everything about you and watching your life fall apart is the best thing I could ever wish for'

I had supported my former brother when he went through a lot of hardship back home and was his rock for the last few years before he went on his crusade to humiliate me and my family.

The bag was clinging on for dear life onto the chain from the pounding it was receiving, giving it one final blow the bag finally unclasped from the chain and hit the floor with a large bang, shocking fellow gym goers around me from the noise it made hitting the mat flooring

Panting heavily out of breath and coming back around to my senses around me I didn't notice Caleb was watching me lose my shit on the bag. Taking a couple of steps in front of me I picked up the chains and reattached the punch bag to its hook as it swung back to it's natural resting place

'That was nothing like I've ever seen before in my life' Caleb proclaimed

'Well I live to surprise people'

'You wanna talk about what's on your mind?'

'I don't want to take up your time if you're busy Caleb'

'Not at all Mason I haven't got anything going on at the minute, lets go to my apartment around the back'

Following Caleb out of the gym area we went through a joining door that lead to his living quarters at the back of the building, he ushered for me to take a seat on the couch whilst he went into the open kitchen to grab a drink, Caleb returned minutes later with two cups in his hands

'I'm not thirsty Caleb'

'After all the energy you used on the bag you need to replace all the electrolytes you've lost so drink up'

Taking the cup from Caleb I took an uneasy sip of the drink not sure of what to expect, to my delight it was the familiar taste of coconut water that I drank after my workout here at the gym to get my energy levels up again. Caleb took a seat next to me on the couch as he drank his juice drink

'So what's on your mind Mason?' he asked

'I don't know what you mean Caleb, nothing is on my mind'

'No one punches a punch bag like you did without having something on your mind, you can open up to me anytime you know that don't you'

'Yeah I know Caleb but I don't want to trouble you with my problems, I've troubled enough people with them'

'Clearly something is going with you if you managed to get suspended for two days from school'

'You heard about that' I asked, raising a brow

'I'm pretty sure the whole town knows about it. It's pretty rare for jocks to be fighting amongst themselves if there isn't an oblivious reasons for like it like over a girl'

'Did Tony tell you the whole story of what happened'

'It was actually Clay that told me and Tony, he wanted someplace to cool off after what happened and taking Jessica home' he informed me. 'Clay was pissed off that day and wanted to let off some steam'

'I don't blame him for wanting too and that's what I should have done as well but like always I use my fists instead of my words' I admitted. 'Do you think I did the right thing Caleb?'

'I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear to make you feel better but I do think you did the right thing buddy, those boys needed to be a taught a lesson and you sure did that'

'That doesn't make me feel any better'

'You are the one kid that is willing to stand up for all the girls and try to make Liberty a safe place for everyone, you should be proud of that'

'I haven't made it safe yet though have I. With every passing day something else goes wrong there and I don't know what to do about it'

'We can only try to fix what we are in control of Mason, doing nothing doesn't solve any problems'

I took Caleb's words and burned them into my mind for whenever I feel most helpless next, I vowed to myself to make the school a much safer place than it is right now for everyone's well being. If it meant taking down the jocks one day in a fight or a battle in the courtroom then so be it, no one should be made to feel so scared and helpless in this world

Looking up from my now empty cup I decided to let some of the weight from my shoulder go, Caleb was a trusted friend and I knew he would keep my secrets if I told him too. He's been more of a mentor to me than Coach Patrick has been, gaining his attention I let most of it out to him…..

Half an hour later I finally told someone of what happened at my old school and the days after, I hadn't gone into detail to Aunt Liv to spare her of anymore heartbreak. It felt good to finally get that off my shoulder and give some understanding to Caleb to why I smashed the hell out of the punch bag

'Have you ever spoken to him since you moved away'

'I don't think there's any point in keeping that friendship going now. He had hurt me in so many ways that I feel nothing but hatred for him'

'I still can't believe that Jacob continued to still torment you even after you put him into a hospital ward for days'

'Sometimes I think I didn't go far enough on Jacob and I always have this thought in my mind, could I have really killed him there and then'

'Well are you going to be honest with yourself and answer that question?' Caleb asked, raising a brow

'I don't think I really could have Caleb, I think I would have just kept on beating him to the point where he would have to eat out of straw for the rest of his life'

'You really are one conflicted kid Mason' he sighed sympathetically. 'You being honest with yourself is a start if you are really willing to change'

'I really do Caleb but no one is willing to believe that I can'

'I'm willing to believe you Mason. So look in that mirror over there and tell me what you see'

Caleb and I got up from the couch and walked through the open living room to a mirror that hung on the opposite wall, I stood in front of it with Caleb besides me and I really looked into my own eyes, seeing what was under this facade of a mask I wore daily since leaving Nevada

'So tell me Mason'

'I see...an angry and confused kid trying to figure out what to do with his life

'Go on' Caleb encouraged

'I see nothing has changed with me when I was living in Nevada and now in California. I keep on making the same mistakes and I should know better than this by now'

'Well it's a start Mason' he replied. 'Buy you want to know what I see of you in the mirror'

'Tell me Caleb' I asked, raising a brow

'I see a young man still carrying his past trauma with him, he's afraid of opening up and letting out his secrets. The fear of theses new revelations being out in the open and your close friends and family opinion of you suddenly changing'

'You've hit the nail on the head Caleb'

'Then change the way you see yourself in the mirror'

'How' I questioned

'Show them that you're not the young man that you think you are. If your friends can see your nothing like you say you are then your friends will believe that too' Caleb stated. 'When was the last time you last hanged out with your friends together'

'It's been that long I can't remember what we did when we last hung out together'

'Then show them tonight you're nothing that you fear to be Mason. Go and have some fun with your friends'

I nodded my head and thought back about a programme I watched with Clay and Hannah one evening, they had talked about it with Jessica the following day and we were keen to go up into the mountains and watched them with our very eyes. Caleb and I continued to talk and bond with each other for another hour as we talked about my plans for tonight and where a perfect spot would be to go tonight…

After spending most of the day down the gym I thanked Caleb for his time and for being so understanding with me, he was just being a caring friend and couldn't thank Clay and Tony enough for introducing me to him. I left City Gym and made my way to Baker Drugstore to see how my aunt and uncle were doing at the store

Upon entering the store they had finished serving a customer and were quite surprised what I was doing here when I should be tucked up in bed, walking up to the counter I jumped up and sat on the flat surface top

'What are you doing Mason? I thought you had a cold' Uncle Andy asked curiously

'I'm feeling a little better now to be honest'

'Well enough to go back to school tomorrow' he stated, raising a brow

I locked eyes with my Aunt Liv and pleaded with her to bail me out of this scenario with my Uncle Andy, if he thought I was well enough Uncle Andy would send me back to school tomorrow and where would I hide then for the day. Aunt Liv dropped her price label gun down on a shelf and walked up to my side, placing the back of her hand against my forehead

'You still feel a bit hot maybe you should stay at home for another day just to be on the safe side'

'If you think that's best'

Making sure the coast was clear with Uncle Andy who had his back turned towards us as he was busy making a prescription order ready. I winked at my Aunt Liv, she smiled happily and kissed the top of my forehead before going back to label up some products with the gun she left on a shelf. Seeing the time on the clock I wondered if Hannah had finished yet for the day and had come by the store yet

'Has Hannah come by the store yet' I asked my Aunt Liv

'She already has babe, Hannah left five minutes before you arrived and gone to Monet's with Clay'

'I had something planned tonight for us and I was just going to ask her here but I'll drop her a text' I informed her, reaching into my pocket to pull out my phone. 'Aunt Liv do you mind if I borrow the Jeep for tonight?'

'Not at all sweetheart. Where are you planning on going tonight?'

'Up the mountains tonight for a couple of hours, we'll be back before midnight I promise'

I told my aunt and uncle what we would be doing in the mountains tonight and they were quite surprised at what I had suggested, I don't blame them for thinking we might be getting drunk or trying drugs out in the wilderness; they only wanted to make sure we were being safe out there late at night…..

Nightfall had hit the town of Crestmont and the sky was turning darker as the temperature had dripped in the cold november night, I had packed all the essentials into the back of the Jeep so we wouldn't be cold up there, I had grouped text Clay, Hannah and Jessica to meet me outside of the house at seven thirty sharp.

They were all curious to what I had planned up my sleeve on a school night, With much persuading Clay and Jessica managed to get away from their families and were able to make it on the road trip. Small conversation broke out in the car journey about how the school day went without me and numerous questions about where we were going

Keeping tight lipped during the thirty minute journey ride up into the mountains, the views from the ride up spoke for themselves when the stars shined through clearly. Hannah, Clay and Jessica were literally star struck as I put the Jeep in park in a nice flat area on the mountain. Stepping out of the vehicle the four of us wondered the open space whilst keeping our gaze in the night sky

'We've always talked about going stargazing together so I thought lets do it tonight' I informed them

I opened up the boot of the Jeep and pulled out some foldable chairs and placed them near the back of the car so we could look at the stars together. Clay and Hannah sat down in the back of the car whilst Jessica and I occupied the chairs, I pulled out a flask and pour the four of us a cup of hot chocolate each

'Tonight wouldn't be complete with a cup of hot chocolate' I stated

The three of them all smiled and agreed whilst picking up a mug each before sitting down in the seats, we watched the stars bright up the night sky and passed a handheld telescope around between us to get a better look of the natural wonders in the world

'Clay you're the nearest thing we have to a astronomy teacher, fancy tell us what we can see right now and what constellation they are' I proclaimed

'Yeah go on Clay' Jessica encouraged, taking the telescope away from her eye

'Ok but stop me if I'm boring you to death after a while, I could talk about the stars all night long'

Clay put his mug down inside the car and cleared out his throat before speaking loudly enough for us to hear, he pointed to the night sky and showed us some constellations with their mythology behind them, we were amazed by his knowledge of astronomy and could listen to him all night long talking about the stars….

After an hour of learning from Clay he was only taking loud enough for Hannah to hear as she leaned her head on his shoulder, turning towards Jessica she turned her head and smiled softly at me

'Thanks for organising this Slick I had fun tonight' she beamed

'We did too' Hannah interjected, kissing Clay's cheek

'Let's not wait for one of us to be suspended from school to do this again' I chuckled softly. 'What are you doing tomorrow Jess?'

'I've got school tomorrow unlike some people'

'Well keep tomorrow clear Jess I've got more plans for us'

'Anything I should be excited about'

'Just you wait and see for tomorrow'

Jessica smirked and bit her bottom lip as she tried to figure what I could be planning for tomorrow, if she had fun tonight watching the stars I would try to make tomorrow even more fun for us…..