Chapter 6

Mason

 

        I was sitting on a park bench in the quad hoping that Faith would walk by.  It had been days since our last very awkward encounter and I had been trying to catch her in the quad every day since.  Gregory, one of the grounds keeper guys, spotted me.  He came over and stood by the bench next to me.  We had talked on occasion.  Gregory was a gray-haired guy that had been working at Highwater College for as long as I knew.  Guess he thought I looked a little stressed.

        “Hey, Mason!  What’s up my boy?” he greeted, shaking my hand.  “Heard you made backup quarterback.  Nice!”

        “Yeah, it’s pretty good.  Thanks,” I said.

        “What’s wrong?  You look like you lost your best friend,” he noted, his brown eyes crinkled in worry.

        “Ah, it’s this girl,” I stammered. I shrugged and absentmindedly rubbed the back of my neck.

        “It always is,” smiled Gregory.

        Gregory sat down and put his rake aside.

        “Tell me your troubles, son,” he said, getting his lunch out of a brown paper bag.

        “There’s this girl I met, named Faith,” I explained.  “She’s kind of religious.”

        “Makes sense.  Guess she has the right name!  Heh-heh, go on.”

        “My brother and I got introduced to her through another player’s girlfriend.  I think she likes me, but Logan was going to ask her out.  I didn’t know what to do,” I said shyly.

        “You should ask her out,” suggested Gregory.  “Early bird gets the worm, my man.”

        “Yeah, well, I didn’t.  So we were in the quad walking and we spotted Faith a few days ago.  Then Logan yells and suddenly tells us to hide and I thought it was a campus shooter or something, so I moved her into the alley and shielded her with my body,” I explained.

        Gregory laughed.  He laughed so hard he almost dropped his tuna sandwich.

        “I’m sorry, Mason.  If anyone else was telling that story, I wouldn’t believe them,” he explained.  “But you, you’re a good kid.  Trying to save her and all.  She probably sees that.”

        “Still, I want to apologize to her,” I said.  “Logan and I ended up fighting and then she ran off upset.”

        “Well, your brother’s a bit of a hothead, but he loves you.  I talked to him the other day.  He was going on and on about you being the backup quarterback.  Don’t let a woman come between you two, okay?” he advised.

        “I guess not,” I said looking down at the ground.

        “You guess not?” said Gregory shocked.  “Listen, women come and go, but family is forever.  You work that shit out with your brother.  It’s important, ya hear?”

        “Okay-okay,” I relented, putting my hands up in surrender.  “How do I work it out with him?”

        “Well, that’s up to you two.  Maybe you go to this girl.  See who she likes,” suggested Gregory.

        “Yeah, but we’re identical twins,” I countered.

        Gregory laughed again, slapping his knee.

        “You two might be technically twins, but you ain’t identical.  You’re you own person and so is he.  I’m sure she can see that,” said Gregory.

        “You ever fight with someone over a girl?” I asked.

        “Aw, yeah, when I was a young man,” remembered Gregory, his eyes suddenly distant.  “But when you get a little older you start to realize what’s important in this world.  Young men, they just want to sex up these girls, right?  Sex-sex-sex!  And that’s fine, I get that.  But there’s more to life than that.  You’ll find out.  You’ll see.”

        I spotted Faith across the quad.  Her chocolate brown hair was being blown by the wind.  Her skirt swishing above her perfect legs.  God, she was gorgeous.

        “That the girl?” asked Gregory staring.

        “Yeah, that’s her,” I admitted.

        “Mmm-mmm, she is fine,” he noted.  “I can see why you and your brother fought over that.  I’d punch my brother over her.”

        “But you just said---“

        “I’m just kidding…mostly,” said Gregory.  “Now what you waiting for?  Go on now, talk to that girl.”

        I stood up, brushed off my jeans and straightened out my hoodie.  I walked over towards Faith.  She didn’t see me until I was practically standing in front of her.  Once she spotted me, she tried to change directions and ignore me.

        “Faith!  Wait, please,” I begged, putting my hand out to her.  “I’m so sorry for the other day.”

        “It’s fine, it’s fine,” she muttered, still not looking me in the eyes.

        “No, it’s not fine,” I insisted.  “I meant no disrespect to you. Honestly.”

        She stopped and shyly looked up in my direction.

        “Why did you…rub up against me like that?” she asked, her cheeks reddening slightly.  “I’m not saying it was unpleasant, it’s just--- I hardly know you.”

        “When Logan yelled at us to hide, I immediately thought the worst.  I thought there was a campus shooter or something,” I said.  “Honestly, I meant no disrespect to you or your family.”

        Faith looked at me.  She seemed to size me up in those moments and decided I was telling the truth.  She relaxed and looked willing to talk to me again.

        “I suppose I could see that,” she said blushing.  “In this day and age, things like that do happen.”

        “I know you’re a traditional girl and religious,” I said.  “That’s probably not acceptable in your world.”

        “Well, you did think it was an emergency,” she smiled, her light brown eyes bright.  “It’s nice you were trying to protect me and all.  Although I’m still not sure why your brother got so angry.”

        “Oh, he’s a good guy, deep down.  Sometimes he gets a little crazy with gambling though,” I explained.  “I don’t really think he has a problem.  He’s just a bit of a hothead.”

        We started walking through the quad.  I felt relaxed around Faith.  She didn’t put on airs or have an unspoken agenda.  When you talked to her, you got the real her.  You didn’t get some version of her that was trying to impress you or dismiss you.  It was hard to find people like that in this world.  I wanted to express that to her, but I couldn’t find the words.

        “Faith,” I asked.  “You ever feel like most people are putting on a show?”

        “How do you mean?” she asked.

        “You know, that people are mostly phonies,” I said.  “That you never see the real them?  It kind of makes me sad sometimes.”

        “Do you think I’m doing that?” she asked worried.

        “Oh, no-no-no,” I laughed.  “You’re not doing it, so I can talk to you.  At least, I think you’re not doing it.  You’re not, right?”

        “I don’t think so,” she said.  “I just try and be honest with people.”

        “That’s good,” I said.  “I like that about you.  I like to think that’s how I was raised, but…”

        “But what?” she asked.

        “My folks were never around, so who really raised me?” I shrugged.

        “Surely they had someone to watch you,” Faith suggested.

        “Marta, our nanny,” I said.  “Yeah, I guess Marta told me to be honest.  In a way, she raised us.  Hmm, didn’t think of it that way.”

        “Well, she seemed to raise someone that was very nice,” said Faith.

        I turned away and blushed.  Faith was so sweet.  I never had a conversation with a girl like this.  We were connecting as people--- Like really connecting.  I don’t know how to describe it.

        Then, suddenly, her eyes went wide with fear. She looked at me desperately and jumped into my arms.

        “Quick!  You have to kiss me!” she begged, reaching up and putting her hands in my hair. She pulled me down towards her.

        “What?  What’s going on?” I asked.

        “My horrible ex-boyfriend, Kyle, is walking this way and I don’t want him to see me alone.  He’s a jerk and I don’t want to talk to him,” she explained, her lips trembling.

        “Okay,” I agreed.

        Quite frankly, who wouldn’t agree to kiss Faith?  She pressed her lips against mine and we started kissing.  At first it was just lips, but I could tell she was melting in my arms.  I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her into me.  Her full breasts were pressed onto my chest, and I could feel her breathing speed up.  Our kiss got more passionate.

        For a moment, we weren’t on the quad.  We could’ve been anywhere.  It was like I was swept up in the moment.  There was only me and Faith in the world and the rest of the campus just fell away.

        Then I felt her tapping on my chest and I could hear some of the people on the quad whistling at us.  I guess we had started a scene.  I loosened my grip and she pulled away, a little breathless.

        “Whoa, thanks,” she said.

        She looked after her ex, but he didn’t look back.  She started to blush again.

        “That was very sweet,” she said.  “Sorry to spring that on you.”

        “Believe me, the pleasure was mine,” I said, still a little lightheaded.  “If you want, we can run ahead of him and kiss again near his classroom.”

        She laughed.  She had an easy laugh.  It was light and airy.  I liked people that laughed easily.

        “I should probably get to class,” she said.

        “I’ll walk you,” I offered.

        “Okay,” she smiled.

        I held out my hand and took her book bag for her, slinging it casually over my shoulder.

        “You know, Kyle is throwing a frat party on Friday,” I told her.  “We could go and pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend.  You know, really rub his nose in it.”

        She stopped suddenly, looked up at me and grinned.

        “Oh! I think I’d like that,” she said.  “You know, because Kyle deserves it.  Because he’s a jerk.”

        “Of course,” I agreed with a smile.  “That’s the whole reason I’m doing it.”

        “Right-right,” she agreed.  “And no other reason.”

        “What could possibly be the other reason?” I laughed.

        “It’s nice to see you smile, Mason,” she said.  “You should do it more often.”

        “Well, I just made out with the prettiest girl on campus,” I said.  “I have a lot to smile about today.”

        She blushed again.  Man, where was all this confidence coming from?  Suddenly, I felt, well, confident.  I wasn’t second guessing myself or assuming the worst.  Could this really be what a good woman does to a man?  Makes him better and stronger?  Maybe this was all that was missing in my life.

        “Just understand,” said Faith, with a sudden frown.  “I have been hurt before.  Kyle really hurt me.  He would say sweet things just to…kiss me and stuff.  You wouldn’t do that, right?”

        “No!  Of course not!” I assured her.  “What would Marta say?”

        “I knew it,” said Faith.  “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

        “My brother is also that way,” I said.  “I don’t want to give you the wrong impression of him either.”

        “No-no, of course not.”  She looked away from me and down at the grass.

        “We both dealt with our absent parents in our own ways, I guess.  What’s your family like?” I asked.

        “Oh, my mother’s always up in my business,” she said, laughing nervously.  “I have three younger sisters and two younger brothers.”

        “Wow, six kids,” I said impressed.  “That’s quite a group.  How does your family afford it?”

        “Uh, well, uh,” she stammered.

        “Oh, I’m so sorry, am I prying?” I asked.  “I didn’t mean to get so personal.”

        “No, that’s a natural question,” Faith said.  “I guess we just get by.  You know, big Catholic family with everyone sleeping on top of each other.  When my siblings were little, the girls would all sleep in the same bed.”

        “Jeez, I don’t think I slept in the same bed with Logan since we were babies,” I joked.  “Still, it must be cozy.”

        “Well, this is my computer class.  Thanks for walking me,” she smiled.

        “I’ll see you for Kyle’s frat party then,” I reminded her.

        “Here give me your phone,” she requested.

        She took the phone and typed in her phone number.

        “Now you have my number.  I don’t give just any guy my number, only the special ones.”

        “Thanks,” I said, smiling.

        She kissed me again briefly and rushed into class.  I walked away feeling ten feet tall.  Who could I tell?  I guess I could tell Logan, but I’m not sure how he’d take it.  Maybe I could go back and tell Gregory, assuming he didn’t already see us making out in the quad.

        Of course, I should probably get to class too.  No, I have to play it cool.  Can’t be too excited, even though I’m about to burst!  This would be a perfect scenario.  I’d go on a date with Faith and our first date would be pretending that we’re already in a relationship.  At the very least that means I get to constantly make out with her.

        Maybe I shouldn’t tell Logan.  It would probably just upset him.

        As I got to the doorway of my classroom, the phone rang.  It was coach Randal.

        “Hey coach, what’s up?” I asked.

        “Mason, we just made some new plays and we need to go over them with you and the regular quarterback, Teagan,” he explained.

        “Sure, when?”

        “Friday night around seven.”

        “Friday?  This Friday?”

        “Why?  That a problem.”

        “Well, I had some plans…”

        “Cancel them.  This is football, Mason.  Backup quarterback comes with lots of perks, but also responsibility.  Now are you coming Friday or not.”

        “Yes, sir,” I said sadly.