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o crawl under my covers and hide for the rest of senior year.
Mandy appeared in the mirror next to me. Her eyes swept over my appearance and she grinned. “You know, when you’re not tripping over yourself, you look smoking hot. You should wear power suits more often.”
“Totally!” Audrey chimed in.
Blood rushed to my cheeks, making them turn a soft pink. I wasn’t trying to look hot. Not even close. After all, this was a presentation in front of a handful of my teachers. And Mason. That wasn’t my goal at all.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t wear something else?” I asked, turning to face them both. I chewed on my bottom lip, unease blossoming in my stomach.
“No!” Mandy grasped each of my shoulders in her hands. “You’re absolutely ready to nail this. Tomorrow, you’re going to walk into that room and blow that panel away with your amazing brain cells. And I’m going to be one proud best friend.”
My chest rose in a deep, calming breath. If only I had one ounce of Mandy’s fierceness. She faced every obstacle with confidence, as if she didn’t believe in failure. Nothing held her back. I needed to start thinking like that.
“You’re right, I’m going to ace this,” I said, turning toward them. “I’m going to ace this class and everything is going to get better from here on out. I swear it. I’m going to get what I want this year.”
“Does that include a certain basketball player?” Audrey strummed loudly on her guitar and wagged her eyebrows. “Because once your presentation is over, he’s fair game again.”
“But that’s not how it works—”
“The vision board is law, isn’t that right?” Mandy smirked and pointed toward my desk.
My throat tightened just thinking about Mason. I glanced up at my vision board hanging above my desk, where I’d tacked his name in big, bubble letters. My goal for him in the beginning was just to make him happy. Now, everything was so...confusing.
“The vision board is defective,” I said, crossing the room to pull it off the wall. The whole thing tore with a loud ripping noise that I felt deep in my soul. Balling the paper up, I stuffed it in my waste basket and glared at the remains. “That’s the end of the vision board.”
“But you love your vision board,” Audrey said with a pout.
I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “It did nothing but cause me trouble this year.”
“But without it, you wouldn’t have discovered what an awesome guy Mason is.” Mandy plopped herself down onto my bed. “Or do you regret that?”
I leaned against the desk, my mind whizzing through the last few weeks. My vision board might have caused me trouble, but I’d never regret getting to know Mason on such a personal level. We were opposite in so many ways. On the outside, he was kind of rough, sarcastic, and always brooding. If I hadn’t pushed through that layer, I wouldn’t have known how sweet and charming he could be. Or how much I enjoyed talking with him.
And most of all — how much I would miss him when he was gone.
“I don’t regret it,” I said, giving them a sad smile. “I could never regret meeting him. He’s a great guy.”
Audrey grimaced and buzzed her lips. “Are you sure...that you’re not in love with him?”
I scrunched up my face. What was it with people accusing me of being in love all of a sudden? “You know, Savannah pretty much asked me the same thing the other day?”
“Savannah?” Mandy’s look of disgust nearly made me burst out laughing. Her loathing for Audrey’s cousin was kind of legendary. “What does she know about any of this?”
I hid a giggle behind my hand. “She compared Mason to candy and told me that he was just extra weight.”
“Pssh.” Mandy waved off the thought. “Savannah hasn’t had a relationship last longer than a season of Riverdale. She’s the last person you want to take advice from. Personally, I think you’re head over heels for the guy, but you won’t admit it because you’re too nice.”
Her comments made me bristle. I sat up in my chair and glared at her. “I’m not too nice!”
“Really?” She clicked her tongue and stared wide-eyed at me in a challenge. “Then tell me that you hated kissing him.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line and remained silent. Of course, I didn’t hate kissing him, but that wasn’t the point.
“And now tell me that you hated those weeks you spent together in class. That all that time you spent together shopping, or cheering him on at games, or working on your welding project were complete and utter torture.”
I had half a mind to snatch the notebook from the top of my desk and chuck it at her. But I couldn’t make myself pick it up.
“And finally...” She sat up on the edge of the bed and squinted at me until her eyes were nearly pinpricks. “Tell me that if everything were different — if there were no class projects, or parental expectations, or ex-girlfriends in the way, that you would never, ever in a million years, be with Mason Finnick.”
