Getting Over You

"get your hands off of her"

"What the fuck!?" Tyler yelled, yanking Mason off of me. 

"Dude, what the hell is your problem?" Mason asked, moving out of Tyler's grip to stand next to me. 

"You are my problem," Tyler said. "You had your hands on Alana."

"I had a lot more than just my hands on her," Mason said with a chuckle and I rolled my eyes. He was making jokes at the wrong time. 

Tyler grabbed Mason by the collar and pulled him close. "What did you just say to me!?" Tyler roared. 

"Dude, she's not your property. She's a girl and you can't treat her like that," Mason said. 

I reached over and put my hand on Tyler's wrist to try to plead with him. But, he reacted differently than I expected. He twisted my hand and gripped it tight, causing me to cry out in pain. 

"If you don't let go of her, I'm going to kick your ass," Mason threatened, stepping close to Tyler. 

Tyler wouldn't let go of my wrist and his grip continued to tighten. He looked over at Mason and smirked. Mason stayed true to his word by swinging, nailing Tyler in the stomach.  

While Tyler doubled over in pain, Mason grabbed my hand and pulled me away. I looked up and noticed Dean staring from a distance, looking upset but I was too preoccupied to care. I needed to get out of there. 

We walked quickly around the house until we got to the front of the house, standing on the grass by the car. Mason stopped and started to pace, putting his hands on his head and looking stressed out. I put my hands onto my knees, trying to catch my breath. 

We stayed like that for a few minutes, the silence growing as each second passed. Mason finally stopped pacing and took a deep breath before speaking. 

"Alana," Mason said before pausing. "I'm sorry about everything."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Last night, the drama with Tyler today, kissing you, all of it," Mason said. 

"Why are you sorry about kissing me?" I asked. I was kind of offended, did he regret it? Was it bad?

"Because I shouldn't have," Mason said. "I like you, but as a friend. I don't have any feelings for you and I don't want to lead you on. I respect our friendship."

"Oh," I said. 

"I just don't want to get in the way of things," Mason said, coming close to me. "But I care about you a lot and I love having you as a friend."

At first, I thought it was really sweet of him until I realized something. "Get in the way of what?" I asked.

"Nothing," Mason said, but we both knew it wasn't nothing.

*** 

The rest of the weekend passed quickly and soon, it was Monday. My friends and I were all sitting around our usual lunch table when Dean brought up my least favorite topic. 

"So, how did your dates with Emma go?" Elle asked. 

"They went well," Dean said as he ate his food. "She's really nice and we have similar interests in common."

I ate my food in silence as they spoke, not wanting to engage in a conversation that I wished didn't exist.

"Is she a keeper?" Elle asked, taking a bite of his food. 

"I don't know yet, I'm not trying to rush anything. I have another date with Emma tonight," Dean said and my heart sank. 

I rolled my eyes secretly but when I looked up, I noticed Elle looking at me. Her eyes lit up but she quickly covered it up and started talking about something else. But I knew when the period was over, she was definitely going to give me an ear-full about it. 

When the bell rang, I quickly got up and threw my food out, exiting the cafeteria before all of my friends. For the rest of the day, I was successful at avoiding Elle so we wouldn't be able to talk about what happened at lunch. However, when the bell rang after ninth period, I realized that Elle was my ride home since Dean had a date, and I mentally face-palmed. 

I walked down the hall to my locker and put my things away before walking to the main entrance. When I exited the building, I walked over to Elle's car slowly and when she noticed, she rolled her eyes. She got in the car and waited for me to walk over and get in before driving off. 

At first, the ride was quiet since the music was blasting loudly. Elle waited until we got to my house and walked up to my room to start the interrogation. 

"So," Elle said as she sat on my bed. "What was that all about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said as I sat down on my bed, leaning against the headboard. 

"Don't play dumb, Lana. We both know that you'd be lying," Elle pointed out and I groaned. 

"Fine," I said. "I didn't want to hear him talk about Emma anymore. It's all he talks about and it's getting old."

Elle started to smile widely and I swear I was this close to jumping out of my window to avoid her verbal reaction. 

"Have you ever thought about why you don't like when he talks about her?" Elle asked me and I paused, thinking about it. 

"Yeah, because Emma's just a person. She's really nothing special," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, Dean seems to think she's special," Elle teased and I scrunched my face up in disgust. "Oh my god! You're jealous!"

"I am not!" I exclaimed. "I'm just worried for him. He shouldn't be jumping into a relationship so quickly."

"Mhm," Elle said. "Spare me, sister. You're totally jealous that he's too focused on Emma to hangout with you."

"Listen, I was in the picture before she was. Doesn't that mean anything?" I said. 

"Lana," Elle said, reaching out to touch my shoulder. "You're jealous that he's found another girl."

"So what if I am? It doesn't change anything. He's still going to be obsessed with her," I said, crossing my arms. 

"Oh Lana, of course it changes things. You like him!" She exclaimed and I lost it.

"I do not like Dean," I said sternly, looking down at the comforter to avoid Elle's stare. 

"Look me in the eye and tell me that," Elle said, challenging me. 

"I... I can't," I admitted.

"Lana, it's okay to admit that you like him--"

"No it's not," I said quickly. "He's with Emma. There's no way he likes me back and if I tell him, then I'd ruin our friendship."

"Lana, you never know until you try. This year's all about growth and it's time you got out of your shell and told him how you feel," Elle said. 

"I haven't even come to terms with it yet," I admitted. "Maybe I'll tell him, one day when Emma's not in the picture."

Elle nodded. "You never know what's going to happen," she said with a small smile, she was definitely hiding something.