anxiety.

twenty-seven.

"no one can unring this bell, unsound this alarm, unbreak my heart new."

scarlett.

"how was hawaiiii?" connor mockingly questioned, exaggerating the ending vowel out to tease me extra about my relationship.

"just as incredible as you think it would be." i responded quickly with a scrunch on my nose, almost ready to stick out my tongue at him like a toddler.

"what did you guys do for all that time? you know aside from making out until you can't breathe."' he sent me a wink, hinting at the fact that he knew we had sex. i shook my head, choosing not to answer in order to save myself from connor's teasing. he began to mimic kissing faces and noises.

"oh mason, yeah!" he playfully moaned as other kids turned around in the hall to stare at the commotion happening so early in the morning. my hand found its way to forcefully hitting his arm to get him to quiet down. heat already began to rise to my face and i knew my cheeks had to be a bright shade of red hot embarrassment.

"you're so immature, connor!" i squealed wanting to disappear into thin air and then proceeded to cross my arms to exhibit my frustration.

"and that is exactly why you love me!" connor hollered, trying to pull my arms out from my chest by grabbing my elbows. i fought him off and turned away. his eyes rolled into the back of his head. "remember you do love me. i should practically be your favorite person."

it was my turn to roll my eyes and mess with him now, "yes, right behind mason in second place."

he extended his arms out while putting a big pout on his lips, "i'm hurt, but not surprised." he joked, beginning to drift away into his teammates. "catch up with you later?"

i mumbled a quick yeah and continued walking towards first period. mason was in that class with me; he sat exactly one row next to me. that class could never be bad with him in it. if we ever got bored, we'd spend the next half an hour making silly faces at each other or texting each other rude comments probably pertaining to our teacher while trying not to be caught.

i walked in through the blue door expecting to be the first person in class like usual but mason was already there in his seat. it was an odd occurrence for him to be present before me, especially when there was a full fifteen minutes until the first bell rung. tossing my backpack on the floor by my real seat and slipping off my coat, i sat in the desk in front of him instead of in my own.

he immediately gave me a warm smile and held out his hands, waiting for me to place my own tiny fingers in his ginormous ones. "good morning beautiful."

something felt off about him. i couldn't place a finger on it, maybe he was extra tired today. jet lag hit us like a truck ever since we've returned home. my hand reached out to move a dangling curl out of his perfectly structured face. his hair was silky and ran through my fingers easily, each curl bouncing back to its original shape after being brushed.

"are you okay? you seem a little off babe." i questioned full of concern while continuing to comb his hair with my hands.

mason's lips formed into a small smile that i often gave out myself. the smile that said 'i'm not okay, but i don't want to talk about.' he brought my hands up to his face and left a kiss on the back of them. "yes i'm fine love-"

"no you're not." i interjected, surprising him a little. "you're doing the same thing i do! and it always makes you mad! now it's my turn to take care of you, so quit lying and tell me what's bothering you."