True Story [Complete]

Chapter 7

*Am I updating too fast? Bc we're already on chapter 7. Or are my chapters too short? I'm not sure.*

It's now September and the cold reaches fast here in the Bay (WHHHYY????), so I grab a cream sweater jacket. I make sure that the sleeve on my right is long enough to cover my ink. Once I'm done with my garments, I plop myself onto my vanity. I fix my hair and dab on a light pink lip tint (which I don't usually do, but I'm feeling mopey today; so why not?). While spreading it across my lips, I pause and look at my reflection for a second. I puff up my cheeks, putting my chin in my left hand and think to myself. What to do. What to do.

Someone knocks on the door, snapping me out of my frustrated trance. I look away from the mirror, "Who is it?"

"It's me," Mason says through the door.

"Come in."

Mason steps in slowly and looks down at my outfit, particularly at my tattoo. "Dad was wondering if you wanted a ride today too."

I nod and put my lip tint away. Ever since the afternoon of the first-day-of-school, I stopped walking to school and walking home (Yes, I know, I'm a wuss).

Mason watches me as I get up from the vanity, slip on a ring and grab my backpack; along the smiling sailor cat. As I head out of my bedroom door, I notice Mason's eyes. His pupils are focused on the floor and look even more down in a way.

"What's up?" I nudge him.

"Are you and Finn okay?"

My feet freeze and I stare at him for the sudden outburst. "Yeah, why?"

"It's just..." he sighs and runs his hand through his hair. Mason may be in the middle of puberty, but he's only taller than me by an inch or so. Murphy clearly has the tall genes from Dad. I look at his stressed face and was about to reassure him when he suddenly begins again. "Finn's been asking about you." He looks into my eyes as if the answers were there but I talk.

"When?" I blink.

"On Wednesday he texted me and I didn't say anything 'cuz it wasn't my business. Then he called on Friday. I told him you were fine. Then yesterday he just blasted my phone." Mason takes his phone out from his pocket. He goes to the messaging app and holds it up to me. And yup he was right, (which is rare) Finn texted him almost every hour after the time we had predictably, gotten out of church. "Dude, what's going on?" Mason puts his phone away.

I think to myself for a second (which is happening a lot more lately). "We're fine."

**

"You okay?" Raina grabs onto my wrist to keep from tapping (which I didn't notice before). I jerk my arm from her to avoid the risk of revealing my tattoo.

"Why is everyone asking me that today?" I dunk a fry in ketchup and drop it into my mouth.

"Maybe..." Julianne starts, "is 'cuz you don't look okay." She takes a fry as well.

Im so tired of everyone asking about my mood. And no, I'm not on my period. Maylissa and Melvin both already asked me when we had our classes together. Some other girls came up to me too (which is unusual in an introvert's world). I could've sworn that he was looking at me in Biology. Well I don't need his advice anymore.

"I'm fine," I say in a convincing tone. I pick up my phone and read some more of TheMotherTruckerCalledEarth's fanfic. Cali is about to face Hades to demand from him information about her past and her relations with Peter Parker and Percy (right now I feel like the villain and Cali is Finn).

Even though my eyes are glued to the screen, I can feel the girls' eyes slip away from me and join to each other's. They shrug and continue eating lunch.

Man, I miss him, is what I want to tell them. All of them.

Minutes later we run out of fries, so I offer to get some more (because I needed to really get away from their intimidating glances). Our lunch bench is located in the school garden but is right across from the cafeteria. When I get there, the line is thankfully short. I swipe my lunch card at the register and grab a nacho bowl full of the potato strings. I turn to head out the MPR, when suddenly, someone from behind swipes the bowl away from me.

"Hey!" The potato thief comes out from behind me, plopping fries into his mouth. He looks down at me, raising the bowl over his head when I try to reach for it.

"You owe me fries remember?" Finns smiles and lays a fry in my awe-opened mouth.