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The air went out of my lungs. Mason went to cancer camp? That was seriously dark.
I knew that Polly had lost her dad to cancer in middle school. My parents had sent Beth and me to their house with a casserole after the funeral. I’d never seen anyone as sad as Polly and her two little sisters that day, huddling on the couch, their toys abandoned on the ground.
The fact that Mason had lost someone close to him with cancer too was starting to make sense. His whole brooding thing was a product of loss. Was it his dad? I couldn’t imagine going through that.
“That’s really crazy,” I said in a hushed voice. I wanted to know more, but it didn’t seem right to ask. Not here, in the middle of a doorway. “And then after all of that, you moved to the same school as her?”
“That was just coincidence.” He looked at me with narrowed eyes, as if I were accusing him of being a stalker. “My mom got a job here at the hospital and that’s how it worked out.”
Audrey had written a song about two people ending up together like that. She called it fate. Mason and Polly had met at camp, fallen in love, and somehow ended up at the same school together. The cheerleader and the point guard. Who could argue with that?
For some reason, the discovery didn’t sit well with me. My stomach tightened and a sudden, nauseating taste filled my mouth.
“But you guys broke up? What happened?”
I couldn’t believe I’d gone there. Just after the guy practically told me he’d lost someone from cancer. It was stupid. It was mean. But for some reason, I couldn’t stop myself.
Mason stuffed his hands in his pockets and his shoulders drooped. Looking up at the ceiling, he clicked his tongue and exhaled loudly.
“If I answer this question, will you finally let me go home and stuff myself with Domino’s pizza?”
I bit back a smile. He was trying to sound annoyed, but I could hear the humor in his voice.
“Promise.”
His gaze met mine again and I held my breath. “I guess I’ve been so focused on my basketball game lately that Polly felt like I didn’t spend enough time with her. But to be honest, I just didn’t fit in with her crowd. She wanted me to dress flashy. To be someone I wasn’t. And we fell apart. It wasn’t a big deal. Sometimes, in real life, the cheerleader and the jock don’t work out.”
There it was. Somewhere between the cancer in his family and the breakup with Polly, I was sure Mason had picked up this growling, brooding attitude. Who could blame him? At that moment in time, all I could think of was wrapping him up in a hug and making him feel better.
I didn’t — duh. That would’ve been weird. And obviously, I couldn’t trust my emotions. It was a well-known fact that I had a soft spot for the injured. Mandy and Audrey were constantly accusing me of feeling too much empathy.
That had to be the reason Mason affected me so much. I’d picked up on his tragic past from a mile away. My heart had recognized his need before I even knew the whole story.
“Thanks for telling me all that,” I said, rubbing my hands up and down my arms as a blustery cold blast shot through the sliding glass doors of the hospital.
The right side of his mouth twitched in a smile. “I answered your questions. Am I allowed to leave now?”
“Definitely.”
“Thanks.” He rubbed a hand over his head and then pinned me with a thoughtful frown. “See you in class?”
“Yeah.”
“Better have your project picked by then.”
“I will.” I ran my tongue over my lips, my mouth suddenly feeling parched.
Truth was, I didn’t know what I was going to do for my Research Methods project. It would come to me soon though, I could feel it. Probably in the middle of a dream. That was when I got my best ideas.
“Go donate some blood while you’re here,” Mason said, walking backwards out the door. His lips twitched in a smile. “And tell me how it goes on Monday.”
I shook my head and laughed. “No way. If I faint, I’m not telling anyone.”
“Boring!” he shouted back, almost to the curb. “I expect a full report.”
My smile wouldn’t leave my face as I watched Mason turn and head toward the parking lot. He was a good sport about all of my questions. I’d unearthed a lot today. It was definitely progress.
But the one area I had yet to progress in was Research Methods. Our project ideas were due on Monday and I had nothing. Without it, I’d never get into that art camp and my last chance to do something I loved would be lost forever.
