Part 77: Mason's Point of View I don’t know what made me do it. I don’t know what in dell made me get up in front of everyone on live television at the ducking Franklin High 2012 Senior Night and proclaim my love for Jenna Bennett and how I ducked up so badly. But now that I had, I felt extremely liberated. Sure, I’d gotten my donkey nearly whooped from Mr. Fredrick for swearing so much, admiting to partying and sleeping around, and being in love with a girl that just got her world torn down. But quite honestly, I didn’t give a duck. All that mattered was that I had finally come clean. Practically every little thing that had been killing me inside and nearly making my life unbearably miserable had now been released, spoken aloud and uplifted from my shoulders. I’d never felt better. Well, almost. I still felt an unbelievably gnawing sense of guilt as to what I’d done to Jenna, and the fact that she hated me and I had no idea if she’d even seen any of that was enough to make me go crazy all over again. I just wanted her to understand. I wanted her to see how truly sorry I was, and to believe me. But I’d done all that I could do now, and if announcing what I’d done and apologizing over to everyone in our entire state- therefore admitting to my mistakes and the fact that I was in love with her - wasn’t enough, then nothing would be. It was as simple as that. I could sense people around me tensing up as they noticed me sauntering into school. Many of them nudged their friends and muttered something. Several others called out greetings to me or waved, gestures I responded to. Don’t ask me why, but for some reason, I felt slightly happy. Happier than I’d been for the last three weeks, anyway. I pulled my sunglasses off of my eyes as I pushed open the glass door to school, folding them up and stuffing them into my pocket as I did so. I walked determinately towards the A/V room, letting my hands swing at my sides and ignoring the stares as I did so. I don’t know what was making me do it - this thing I was about to do. I don’t know why I suddenly had this random surge of fearlessness and courage - why I suddenly didn’t care what anyone else thought. I wasn’t even fazed as I realized that everyone around me was probably gossiping about the fact that I’d admitted I was in love with Jenna Bennett last night - the same girl I’d denied having any feelings for whatsoever in front of all of them when Aubree had confronted me. I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t really care, either. I just needed to do this. For myself. I walked into the A/V room, sliding my backpack off of my shoulders as I did so and letting it drop to the ground. A girl with long brown hair was standing in the middle of the room, her head bent down as she paged through some papers in front of her. Upon hearing my backpack hit the floor and my footsteps approach her, however, she looked up, a slightly questioning expression on her face. Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second as she saw who I was, before they quickly cleared, only to be replaced by a neutral, practically unreadable expression. “Can I help you?” She asked, the faintest trace of uncertainty and curiosity marring her words. I nodded my head. “Yeah, um...are you Seda?” “Mhm...” She replied, sounding slightly confused. “I’m Mason.” I stated, smiling at her and holding out my hand. Whoa...since when did I do that? She seemed to be thinking along the exact same lines, for she eyed my hand nervously before reaching out and grasping it, shaking it for a brief second. “Hi,” She said awkwardly. “Did you get my e-mail last night?” I asked curiously. She nodded slowly. “Yes, I did.” I smiled broadly. “Sweet. So...” I trailed off, looking at her curiously. She stared at me for a good few moments or so before seeming to come to her senses. She quickly blinked, muttering “Oh. Right. Um...yeah, you can definitely do that. What you asked in the e-mail, I mean.” She clarified, stuttering and giving an awkward giggle. It was kind of cute how nervous she was. I shot her an irresistible grin. “Sweet, thanks.” Seda nodded. “Yeah, just, um...go in the other room and ask for Kitty. She’ll help you get all set up and everything.” She pointed a finger towards an adjacent room on the right-hand side. “Thank you.” I replied. And with that, I turned and walked in the direction of the room she’d pointed me to.