Part 78: (One of two) Mason's Point of View There were several more teenagers in here, all bustling about and examining the monitors of various computers. A few were rapidly pushing buttons, narrowing their eyes at different screens, or pressing earpieces to their ears and squinting. One girl in particular noticed me right away; she was way shorter than me and had dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. “Hi,” She said briskly, walking up to me. “Hi,” I said in reply. “Are you-?” “Kitty?” She finished for me. “Yeah.” “Hey.” I said awkwardly. “You’re gonna get about ten minutes, okay? That’s all we can give you.” She stated. She gave me a slightly sympathetic, almost apologetic look. “Oh. Okay. That’s fine.” I replied. She smiled, its genuineness lighting up her features. “Alright, great.” She motioned for me to follow her, and then proceeded to lead me towards where several video cameras were set up. “You can sit here,” She stated, motioning towards a plain black stool that was positioned in front of a green screen. “We’ll let you know when it’s time.” I nodded at her. “Okay, thank you.” I shot her a grateful smile. She smiled back. “You’re welcome, Mason." And with that, she turned to walk away, calling out to others who were bustling about and suggesting various things to them as she did so. I glanced around tentatively before I walked forwards and awkwardly perched myself on the stool, shifting slightly and staring straight ahead. As I waited patiently for someone to come and let me know it was time for me to do what I’d requested to do, I couldn’t help but smile. It was amazing how much difference that speech I’d given last night had made. And it was one of the few things I could say I’d done that I didn’t regret in the slightest. Jenna's Point of View I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, staring ahead of me blankly as I slid into a seat in the very last row of the classroom. People had stared, pointed, and gossiped as usual as I’d arrived at school, but this particular morning had been...different. Their whispers had held an almost...excited hush to them. It wasn’t the usual scornful mocking. But I guess that’s what happens when a guy like Mason proclaims his secret love for you at a major game. I was still trying to get over that. I hadn’t seen Mason at all within the fifteen minutes I’d been at school - he hadn’t been anywhere in the halls, and I hadn’t seen him at his locker or near his friends. But I suppose that was a good thing. I honestly had no idea what I would have done if I’d actually seen him in person after the events of last night. I focused my attention on my backpack, staring down into it and rummaging through it as I searched for my calculus book. I had just pulled it and a box of freshly sharpened Dixon Ticonderoga pencils - the best - out and set them on my desk when the bell rang loudly overhead, reverberating throughout the classroom. Almost as if on cue, Miss Oleson came marching briskly into the room. “Alright class, settle down.” She announced, clapping her hands and calling for attention. Nearly everyone in the classroom slid into desks or else turned around to face her, ceasing their conversations with others as they did so. “We have a lot to do today, but before we start, there’s a new broadcast of Franklin Sunrise.” She stated. I’d almost completely forgotten. The Franklin Sunrise was a morning news show run completely by students - Sydney had worked on it for a majority of last year, due to her interest in film, so I’d heard a lot about how it worked. It filmed and broadcasted every Monday morning for about fifteen minutes. Certain students acted as the news anchors and announced various news stories and updates for the week to the entire school - each classroom had a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall, on which the show was viewed. It was interesting sometimes, but other times it got to be slightly boring. The only nice thing was that it took up fifteen to twenty minutes of your first period every Monday, and personally, I’d rather be bored by student-run news shows than by algorithmic equations. But that’s just me. I watched as Oleson turned and began fiddling with the remote, clicking on the TV and trying to switch it to the channel that The Franklin Sunrise was broadcasted on. As I watched her, I did my best to ignore the stares of various classmates of mine; I could just feel some of them watching me, looking towards me and trying to see what I was doing, as if they were half-expecting me to pop up and start proclaiming my love for Mason back. Yeah, not gonna happen. He may have made it indescribably harder to stay mad at him after what he did, but I still hadn’t entirely forgiven him. My eyes snapped upwards to focus on the television as the familiar poppy notes of The Franklin Sunrise’s theme song began playing. The face of Seda Melrose appeared on the screen; she was one of the lead news anchors. She was beaming happily, the genuine smile lighting up her face and making her look extremely happy. “Good morning, Franklin High, and thank you for watching The Franklin Sunrise.” She announced peppily, grinning. “To start off the show today, we’d like to remind all students that as the semester is nearing an end, finals week is fast approaching. Several teachers will be available before and after school for tutoring, and there have been various reports of students who are forming study groups. Inquire to your first-period teacher for more information. The cafeteria will be serving pizza by the slice today for lunch, along with a variety of salad and soup choices.” Seda continued, her eyes flicking down briefly to a sheet in front of her. “A full list of menu items has been posted outside of the cafeteria, as it is everyday. Please check that for a more complete view of what will be served.” She gathered her papers together and shuffled them, tapping them against the side of the desk she was seated at to straighten them. “And now,” She stated, smiling widely. “Before Jeremy and Kitty introduce to you their segment on Principal Dexter, we have a guest today who has requested to announce a special message.”