the other side of us | ✓

1.12 | the irony of choking on a lifesaver

Mason's first day of work at the coffee shop was a bright and sunny Monday morning. He wore pants and a sweater—the weather was supposed to get warmer later on in the afternoon, but he doubted that would really happen. He contemplated grabbing breakfast before deciding that he would just get something on campus after class. Mason looked at himself in the mirror and tugged at the collared shirt he'd layered beneath his sweater. He was nervous, which was surprising given his previous line of work. He wanted them—the customers and the employees—to like him.

He had told his mother about his new job the night before over dinner, and she hadn't believed him at first.

"You've got a second job? A legal one?" she'd asked in disbelief. Mason was almost offended. "Do they know that you've been arrested?"

"They were there when I got arrested. Charlotte hired me."

His mother had turned even more skeptical then, and Mason didn't blame her. The whole thing sounded ridiculous.

"I knew I liked that girl."

"Mum."

She had smiled then, a real one. "Better get a good night's sleep then. Don't want to get fired on your first day."

He gave himself one final once-over in the mirror before taking a deep breath, grabbing his keys and hopping in the car.

Mason's drive to campus was the same as usual. The old man in the green car was still cutting him off like he usually did, and the fifteen-minute ride was over before he knew it. Mason could only hope that the rest of his school day went by just as quickly.

It seemed that most of the school was over Mason's arrest, though some of his classmates still threw him pointed glares as they yanked their bookbags out of his reach.

Amelia was the worst of all. Everywhere he went, she was there. Staring.

Sometimes her friends were with her, but usually she was alone, a rarity since she'd started dating Edison.

Actually, come to think of it, Mason hadn't really seen Amelia alone in the entire time that he'd known her.

It was always Amelia and Nora—Jaqueline hadn't come along until their sophomore year. The three of them were always together, even now.

Mason hadn't fallen in with their crowd until the end of their freshman year of college. He'd met them at a party, something that his mother had encouraged back then. She forced him out of the house, and Mason had been uncomfortable all evening. He'd been walking towards the kitchen when he saw them for the first time.

Nora and her boyfriend Tyler had been leaning against the wall, with Edison across from them. And Amelia stood in the middle, a red cup in her hand, her head thrown back in laughter.

There was nothing that Mason regretted more than going to that party, except the fact that he'd walked over when Amelia beckoned him.

"You're that British kid, right? Mark?"

"Mason," he'd corrected, taking a sip from his cup.

"Told you it wasn't Mark," Nora muttered.

"Right, I'll remember that."

Mason felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, but he didn't want to appear rude.

"When did you transfer? It was recent, right?" Tyler asked, leaning towards Mason intimidatingly.

"No, actually. Middle of November. Been a few months."

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I knew that."