Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two
I smash my lips against his, taking him by surprise. Although, Mason being surprised seemed unlikely in my mind as I knew this is what he has wanted for so long. Why would he be surprised? He wanted this.

I curl my hand round the back of his neck, pulling him closer to me. I feel his lips respond to my own, however, he’s more delicate than I remember. Our lips entwine with one another so naturally. It felt as if we were meant to do this.

His hand clasp around my waist and I gasp against his lips at the coldness of his palms. I feel his lips smirk against mine, but I lean in for more, letting out an irritated groan. I had never shown this desperation for him and I still don’t understand why I’m allowing this to even happen. Mason has got into my head. That is for sure. I move my hands up into those thick brown locks of his, fisting them within my palms, creating pain towards him. I’m not sure why I’m doing this or why I even want to make him feel any type of pain, but I can tell he is enjoying it. The friction between us continues to build and my heart is hammering along to the rhythm of our very own made, passionate…. atmosphere. We are moulding with one another, one second by the next and suddenly, it feels so hot in this room.
Mason pulls away, looking into my eyes and for the first time in a while I don’t feel nervous about it. I look up at the mess I have made of his thick brown hair.

“Alana…” He says breathlessly. “I want you.”
“I want you too…” I say in almost a whisper. I can’t believe I’m even saying this. Do I even know what I want? Is this even fair on him? I need to tell him the truth at some point. He will hate me if I don’t. He will think I have played him.

“Are you alright?” He asks, slipping his hand along my thigh as we both sit facing each other on the bed. I give him a simple smile. Something I’m quite a natural at doing. “Yeah.”
“You sure about that?” He smirks, looking me up and down.
“Y-yes. It’s just…. I um…”
He rolls his eyes at me, exhaling. “You are the worse liar, you know?”
I smirk, shaking my head. “Shut up, you fool.”
“Oh, so I’m a fool now am I!?” He lets out a thick laugh, leaning closer towards me once again, his eyes boring into mine. “Mason.” I let out, fear kicking in once again. “There’s things we need to talk about before we get too into this.”
“Things…? What things?”
“Well you know Mum and Dad?” I begin, fiddling my thumbs. Mason’s eyes wander my face for a few seconds before responding. His brown hair falls over his right eye a little before raking it back with his fingers once again. “Yes?”
“Well the thing is-”

“Hello? Alana?” A voice calls from outside cutting my off. George.
Mason’s head snaps round, his eyes fixated on the door, he looks back over to me with a slight glimmer of worry in his eyes. I have no idea what Mason is insinuating to himself at this point in time, but I stop myself from trying to clue up a explanation. Instead of racing for explanation and excuses for Mason, I stand up from the bed and move towards the door slowly. I look through the spyhole, checking it is definitely George, not quite believing my own ears. I cannot come to understand why George would be knocking at this hour, especially with Mason in the room with me, this could all go terribly wrong.
“Just a minute George!”

“George!? Who the fuck’s George!?” Mason exclaims from behind me and I whip round, putting my finger to my lips for him to shush. Mason stays sat on the bed, glaring at me and the door. It seems he is not sure what to strike first, myself or the wooden door behind me. I roll my eyes, turning back towards the door and slowly opening it with the chain still attached. George stands there, his blonde hair wet like a mop.
“H-hey.” I stutter slightly, attempting to greet him in a normal fashion.
“Hi Alana, I’m sorry to bother you but I need to borrow a Science Textbook. Do you have one at all?” His lips curve up slightly at the corners as he tries to disguise his awkwardness and I smile in return.
“Yes, I have, come in and I’ll just fetch it.” I say, opening the door wider for him to come in.

As George steps in, Mason shoots up from the bed, his hands fisted at his side. I can almost smell the tension rising within the room. George on the other hand is naïve and confused between the three of us, unbeknown to him what is going on.
“T-this is my older brother, Mason.” I gesture my hand briefly towards Mason as I walk across the room to fetch my textbook from my study desk. I remember the slight messy state I have left my workspace in and silently curse myself for seeming so messy to George. I could tell George was quite the organised type, but Mason would no doubt feel utterly careless.

“Hi there, Mason. I’ve heard a lot about you! I’m George. Nice to meet you.” George says softly, holding his hand out to Mason and I squint my eyes shut in embarrassment as Mason folds his arms in response, clearly glaring with striking anger. Mason must begin to think he somewhat owns me, and I begin to worry if I am actually allowed to have friends.
“Mason don’t be rude. He’s just a friend.”
“No, it’s ok honestly. I get it. New face, new boundaries.” George jokes, tucking his hand in his jean pockets and I watch as his wet hair drips slightly onto his white shirt.

“Why is your hair all wet?” I ask, handing my textbook to him.
“Oh, that,” George smiles, gently taking my textbook from my hand. “One of the boys in this block thought it would be amusing to test one of their pranks out on me. Bucket of water on top of door. I happened to be the one to walk through it.”
I roll my eyes, crossing my arms in frustration. “Honestly! How bloody childish!”
“Nah, it’s ok. I know them. They are known as the local pranksters and clowns of the uni.”
Mason scoffs in response as I part my lips, “Looks like me and them would get on.”
“Mason!” I exclaim, darting my eyes at him. “George, I’m so sorry about him. He’s a bit of a anti-social insect.” I fire back, trying to cast Mason down as the idiot he truly is at times.

George smiles but holds back a laugh, knowing he has to be polite in case Mason punches his face in. Seems as though George is getting to know Mason pretty quickly; he must be a good judge of character. Mason however, darts is look of striking anger towards me, clearly frustrated with my name calling.
“Look thank you for lending me this, I’ll make sure I get it back to you by tomorrow night.” George says, clutching the textbook to his damp white t-shirt and I nearly cringe, thinking about the pages getting wet from his shirt. “Err, yeah sure! That’s fine. Don’t get the book wet though! Hehe…” I joke lightly, pointing towards his shirt. George flinches slightly, holding the textbook a little further away from his damp shirt. “S-sorry there, Alana. I’ll take good care of it.” He smiles, turning towards the door and heading out. I shut the door behind him softly and grind my teeth together, feeling Mason’s presence lingering behind me. I know all too well that meeting George like that most certainly requires some explaining.
“So, who is that George? Huh?” Mason prompts.
I turn back round to face him, leaning my back against the door. “Mason please don’t start performing another one of your tactics. He’s just a uni friend.”
“Just a uni friend? And when were you going to mention him to me?”
“Since when do I ever have to mention every single person I make friends with!?”

Mason exhales, dropping his arms to his side. “Since you left home and go miles away to study! You’re practically mingling with strangers who travel from miles away to go to these kinds of places!”

“Mason, all the people at my bloody Primary and Secondary School were also strangers to me once upon a time! That’s what ‘making friends’ is all about. You know, it creates relationships in life?” I say in a patronising tone, lifting my weight from the door and walking toward my wardrobe.
“Alana, these are a completely different class of people you are dealing with here. You know nothing about this George. The people at School were local, lived in our neighbourhoods, they are family acquaintances!”
I roll my eyes, pulling a tartan patterned outfit out and hooking it on the back of my door, ready for tomorrow.
“Please Mason, lighten up would you. George is perfectly harmless.”
“Ha! Come crying back to me when you realise otherwise…” Mason scoffs, falling back on the bed and I sigh, turning out the lights. We hadn’t exactly discussed quite yet if Mason had been planning on staying and I quickly remind myself that I still need to tell Mason about our supposed parents.