The Consequences of Hell Week (Blue Ridge)

Chapter 21: Parking Lot War Zone

I swear a school day never crawled by so painfully slowly. After Turner finally told me why Mason didn't want me dating him the rest of the day was basically a complete waste of time. My relationship was over, my cousin who also happened to be my best friend wasn't talking to me, my... my Kristen was a mess because of me, and Jayden would obviously take his boys' sides over mine.

Why did I ever let my relationship control the balance of all my friendships too?

When the final bell rang I couldn't get out of that claustrophobic building fast enough. Once you get used to spending time with a group of people so much, going back to only small talk with just school friends was much harder than it was before I knew any better.

I pushed the door open and the wind froze any exposed skin on my body. I was wrestling with my hair in an attempt to keep it out of my eyes when I saw him sitting on my snowmobile.

"Hey Mas," I managed to tie my hair back into a messy bun, reminding myself yet again that it was getting way too long and I needed a haircut.

"Hey. I heard about what happened earlier. I'm sorry Sienna," even more of a surprise than the fact that he was talking to me was that he was pulling me into a hug.

"What do you mean you're sorry? I thought you wanted us to break up," I reminded him cautiously as I leaned back.

"I didn't want you to break up, I wanted you to stop lying to me," Mason took a step away from me, a look of hurt in his eyes.

"I had to lie to you so you wouldn't freak out before I could figure out what I wanted. And look at that I was right, you freaked out before you would even let me explain," I argued.

"Wow an I told you so, really? I'm the one who should be saying I told you so, I was right about Turner wasn't I?" Mason threw back at me.

"How dare you throw that in my face only hours after I found out? If you think he's such an awful guy for me then why the heck are you friends with him you hypocrite?" I raised my hands in question.

"Don't make me the bad guy here. I was trying to protect you," Mason insisted.

"And I was trying to protect all of us from the mess you'd cause by being judgmental, and like I said, I was right."

"Don't go turning this around on me. If you hadn't started hooking up with my best friend behind my back, then Kristen and I would still be together, and we would all still be friends," Mason snapped. I felt the whip of his words smack me with a resounding crack.

"So that's the piece of fiction you're going to hold onto and convince yourself is true? Turner wasn't some hookup. I really like him Mason, more than I want to admit given the circumstances. He understood how complicated my life is sometimes, he didn't find my competitiveness annoying, and he respected the fact that I needed to keep him a secret from a lot of important people in my life, not because he wasn't equally as important, but because he was so important to me I didn't want to lose him. If it was just a hookup I wouldn't be analyzing every damn time I ever confided in him, terrified that I revealed too much or made myself too vulnerable," I had a snowball in my hand, arm cocked back ready to throw it at him, but that last thought had my arm falling and the snow sifting between my fingers before settling gently on the ground.

"That's exactly what I didn't want to happen. I didn't want him to hurt you, but the way I handled everything kind of made that inevitable. Turner's like the brother I never had, and I love him, but I just don't trust him with you," Mason pulled me into a hug despite my resistance and rested his chin on my head.