Something To Believe In

Dawhh, thanks! 

 

You ducking ditch. 

 

Part 74: Jenna's Point of View

Mason scored 1000 points. He whispered something to Mr. Fredrick, and then Mason took the microphone. His hair looked perfect - as usual, and he was his uniform. Yes, he looked hot. I’ll give him that much. And if I were forced to rate him right now on that scale I once devised, it would probably be a 13.
But I’m not about to let something as superficial as looks distract me from the reason I was so upset with him right now.

"I need to go." I whispered as I stood up. Sydney tugged my hand, pulling me back down.

"Why?"

“Because,” I snapped irritably. “I’m not in the mood to deal with him right now. He’s freaking annoying, and I hate him. I don’t want to hear what he has to say.” She stared at me blankly for a good moment or two, but I was expecting her to listen to me.

Instead, however, she blinked and said, “It'll be over in a minute."

I shook my head and sat down, pulling my iPhone out and opening Temple Run. Regardless, however, I felt my ears stay perked up as Mason's raspy voice emitted throughout the gym. And into all of the households of Franklin, this game was being broadcasted.

“Um...” Mason's voice came. “I, uh...I have something to say. And I know that people don't normally do this but I just really wanted to...talk.” What the dell was he talking about?
And how was he able to do this?

I bet he was shiet-faced drunk. That was why he was acting so stupid.

“I uhm. I wrote a song..." Everyone gasped. Mason wrote songs. "I know. None of you know much about me, but yes. I can sing, and play the guitar. Anyways, This song has a lot of meaning to me.” He continued, speaking again. My eyes flicked upwards in time to see him run his hands through his hair. Something he did when he was nervous. “I wrote it for someone that...I really care about. In fact...she’s the first girl I’ve ever been...” He swallowed, evidently feeling a bit nervous. “...in love with.”

There were gasps and murmurs of interest and slight disbelief from the crowd in the gym. Get me out of here. Now. Luckily, no one could see me. Sydney and I were in the back corner of the very top of the bleachers.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aiden stiffen and Becca cock her head to the side in curiosity. They know about Mason and I. They knew the truth. Personally, I felt my stomach drop and my eyebrows crease together in shock.

In love? What the dell was he talking about? He had to be drunk. There was really no other explanation for it. I couldn’t help but feel a strong wave of disappointment and hurt pass over me, though, as I thought about it.

I would have never known that someone like Mason could even be capable of being in love. But, as I’d learned these past few weeks...
People can surprise you.

“Yeah,” Mason continued. “Yeah, I know. It’s kinda crazy.” He gave a small chuckle. “But, uh...she’s probably one of the most amazing girls I’ve ever met, and...she means everything to me. The thing that sucks, though...” He said. “is that...I haven’t really been showing her that. Recently, I kind of...well, I ducked up.”

Sydeny let out an audible gasp, staring at the middle of the court in alarm.

“I made some really big mistakes recently, and...because of them...I don’t think this girl that I’m crazy about understands exactly how much she means to me.” Mason stated.

I was staring at my phone, but my eyes weren’t moving. My body was frozen, tense, stiff, as I sat there and listened intently to his voice. I was trying not to - in fact, I was fighting with all my might to tune him out.

But for some crazy, insane, unnervingly irritating reason, I couldn’t do it. I just kept listening.

“Recently, I stood back and let this girl be humiliated by someone who I honestly don’t care about. I pretend like I do, but I don’t. She’s mean, and ruthless, and cruel, and quite frankly, she’s a dlut." The crowd instantly made noises in response, many of them clearly taken aback.

Aiden was staring at Mason with his jaw dropped open a few inches, and Becca looked downright shocked.

“She tries to tell me she cares about me for me, but...” Mason let out a fake laugh, clearly gaining confidence. “Everyone who knows her knows that there’s only one thing about me she gives a duck about.”

I felt my eyebrows shoot up uncontrollably. Wow. Obviously, he was talking about Aubree, in fact, he was basically stating all of the things I’d always thought he’d felt about her.

But I couldn’t tell if he realized he was saying all of this in front of our entire school, let alone Aubree herself.

“I regret ever being involved with her, because it hasn’t meant anything to me, and it hasn’t done anything for me. And it’s partly her fault that I’ve pretty much lost the girl I wrote this song about.” Mason cleared his throat.

“But uh...anyway,” He said, as if continuing a thought from before. “This girl that I actually do care about - the one the song’s about...well, right now she hates me. But honestly...I don’t blame her at all. I was an idiot. And an {insert bad word here}. And...I was just...” He shook his head, staring downwards in shame and anger. “Horrible. I got too caught up with caring what everyone else thought, and worrying about keeping all of them happy, that I neglected to think about what would make her happy or what would make myself happy. I let all of these things happen that made her miserable. But, the funny thing is...it made me miserable, too. For the past three weeks, my life has sucked. It’s been terrible.” He said simply. “And it’s because I was such an idiot." My head shot up then and I stared at the court in shock, letting my lips part and feeling my eyes widen as a strange pinch hit them from behind.

I couldn’t stop staring at Mason, lost in shock, apprehension, and slight nerves as the spotlight followed Mason as he paced around the court, speaking into the microphone and gazing out into the bleachers. Obviously, I knew who he was talking about.

 

Part 75: Jenna's Point of View

That much had been clear from the moment he opened his mouth and first began speaking. But I couldn’t quite seem to comprehend it, or to process it. I just had to be in the midst of an insane dream. There was no way I could accept that this was reality, because there was no way Mason Parker was on live TV right now at one of the biggest games of the year proclaiming that he was in love with me.

“Yeah,” Mason stated, letting out a small laugh and letting a genuine smile flicker across his lips for the first time since he’d appeared on the court. “I’m in love with her. I’ve never had feelings for a girl the way I have feelings for her before, and...I dunno. It’s amazing.”

He ducked his head down, staring at the court as he continued to pace around it. “But the problem is,” He stated, looking back up at the bleachers again. “She practically hates me right now, because of what I did. I made some...huge mistakes, and...I’ve tried apologizing, but...she just doesn’t trust me anymore. She doesn’t want to listen to me, or talk to me, or believe that I’ve changed. I have changed. Not gonna lie to you all, before meeting this amazing girl I’m talking about...” He shook his head, licking his lips slowly as he stared downwards at the floor. “I wasn’t that good of a guy. I lied, I cheated, I slept around, I partied. I still party, as you guys saw on facebook."

A ripple of laughter sounded throughout the gym while dead silence lingered in our corner. There had been pictures of Mason all over facebook of him getting insanely drunk and having his tongue jammed down some dhore's throat.

Sydney and I were positively staring at the court, transfixed, none of us seeming to find the ability to speak.

“But the only reason I ever partied - and, really, the only reason I partied two Friday nights ago - was because I was upset or hurt and trying to get attention. And I was so angry about the way I ducked up and let this girl go that I went out and got trashed. And that’s what you all saw me doing on facebook." He shrugged. “It’s the way I’m used to dealing with things.”

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “But the point is...” He began suddenly. “Ever since getting to know this girl, and having all of these...feelings towards her...” He shook his head. “I have changed. I am different. She doesn’t want to believe it now, but it’s true. And it’s all because of her.” He smiled. “She was there for me when no one else was, and...unlike anyone else...she actually listened to me. Before I knew her, I could be in the middle of a crowded room, but feel completely alone. But she changed that.”

I felt a single tear slide down my face, falling slowly until it splashed off of my chin and landed on my wrist. But I didn’t bother to wipe it away. I just let it sit there, its salty essence sinking into my skin as I continued to stare breathlessly and unblinkingly at Mason, in the middle of the gym.

“And that’s one of the reasons I’ve fallen so hard for her.” He continued. “I know she hates me right now and doesn’t want anything to do with me, and...I don’t blame her. At all. In all honesty, I hate myself right now, too. Instead of speaking the truth and admitting my true feelings, I let the one girl who’s ever truly cared about me be humiliated in front of everyone. And that’s a mistake I’ll never forgive myself for.”

There was silence during which everyone - everyone in the bleachers, on the court, the whole state of Washington, -sat there, captivated, intrigued, amazed, stunned. I barely knew what to think or what was even going on. This was insane.

And there was no possible way it could be reality. “So even though I’ve already tried to apologize and talk to her about this mistake I’ve made...” Mason continued suddenly. “She’s not speaking to me right now. And because of that, my life is an honest-to-God living dell.” He shook his head. “I don’t even know if she’s still here right now. I hope she is, but even if she isn’t, that’s okay. I just need to do this for myself, so I can hope to feel even just a little bit better about all of this shit that I’ve done and the way I’ve ducked up so badly. So I’d really like to take this time to thank you all for listening, and apologize for my rant. I’m sure you all probably think I’m some crazy, lovestruck teenager now, but...I just really had to do this.” He stated firmly."And...now...before we finish the game...I want to say, once more, how truly, truly sorry I am.” He was staring straight into the audience. The expression on his face was positively heartbreaking, showcasing genuine sincerity and the utmost remorse. “I ducked up really badly, and it’s because of me that we’re both so miserable right now. I’m sorry for not being stronger, I’m sorry for letting Aubree and everyone humiliate you like that. I’m sorry for denying our relationship, and denying having feelings for you. I’m sorry for breaking the trust we had and pretending to be something I’m not. I’m just...” He sighed, finally breaking his gaze away from the audience to stare downwards, shutting his eyes for a moment.

Then, finally, he looked back up, a solemn expression on his face. “I’m sorry for hurting you. I’m sorry for breaking your heart.” He said sincerely. “I care too much about what other people think and keeping everyone else happy, and because of that, I’m an idiot. But I really am in love with you, and if there was anything I could do...anything at all...to take back what I did, and ensure you didn’t get hurt...believe me, I would in a heartbeat. I don't know if you’ll forgive me, and I won’t blame you if you don’t. But right now...I guess you're all I have to believe in."