PUPPY LOVE¹

{9}

"no. no," mason refused.

tay smirked as she continued.

"no!"

liam laughed, and so did tay.

"you swear you weren't cheating?" mason checked.

"yes!" tay insisted. 

"i swear to god." liam chuckled.

"fine. one more game."

"deal." tay nodded.

liam sighed, putting down the controller. "i have to get back to studying."

"oh, come on!" tay tried.

"nope. i gotta study." liam grabbed his textbook. "and so do you, so." he gave her a look.

tay sighed. "fine." she dragged out the I. she put down her controller and grabbed her backpack, taking out the things she needed.

"uh, you need any help with anything?" mason stuttered.

"what, you wanna help us study?"

"instead of playing video games?"

"i'm your guys' best friend. i can help you study."

liam smiled. "no, go home, dude."

"we got this, mase." tay nodded.

they paused when they saw mason's expression.

"uh..." he tried to think of what to say. "you-you mind if i..." he scoffed at himself. "i mean is-is it cool if..."

"what, you wanna stay over?" liam asked.

tay chuckled. 

"yeah, is that alright?" he questioned.

"i mean, yeah, if you tell me why."

mason chuckled nervously. "what do you mean why?"

"are you ok?" tay asked.

"yeah." he scoffed again. "maybe i just wanna hang out."

they shared a look.

liam nodded. "what about corey?"

mason looked at the floor as he shook his head. "nah, he's at a library study group."

liam sighed. "we haven't had a sleepover since we were ten."

tay slowly smiled. "well... we can have another tonight. right?" she looked at mason. "are you sure you're ok?"

liam shut his textbook and put it down. "what's going on?"

mason hesitated. "you remember that body that we found? you know, the one without a face?"

"kind of hard to forget." tay tried to make him feel better with that.

he sighed. "yeah. it is... i can't get it out of my head." he closed his eyes for a moment.

tay paused. she forgot that not everyone had seen tons of bodies their entire lives. she couldn't get it out of her head either, but it was a normal thing for her.

liam nodded. "yeah, me too."

tay looked between them. "me three."

"no. dude, i'm..." mason took a deep breath. "i mean, i-i literally... can't get it out of my head. you know what after images are?"

"definitely." tay nodded.

liam furrowed his eyebrows. "uh, you mean, like, when you look at a light bulb and when you look away you still kind of see it?"