Nothing's Fine

• 29: A City in Texas •

I was able to go back to school on Tuesday. Mason dropped me off by the door and went to park, as he didn't want me to walk too far. I headed to my locker.

"Charlie?" I heard behind me. I froze, recognizing the voice.

"What do you want, Dallas?" I asked without turning to face him. The venom in my voice was apparent.

"I... uh – failed my last test, and um, I was wondering if you could explain my mistakes to–"

"Look," I started icily, spinning around to glare at him. "I don't have the energy for this. Maybe if you spent less time focusing on every egotistical and self-indulgent whim that flashes through your mind, you'd have more time for school." I turned to grab a final book out of my locker and shoved it into my bag. "And maybe if you actually opened a book, you'd know what those words meant," I added slamming my locker. I winced slightly at the noise but brushed by him anyway.

I didn't glance at his face to see his expression, but had a feeling he was angry. Quite frankly, I didn't care. As I rounded the corner, I saw Mason heading my way.

"Whoa, Hurricane Charlie," he teased, seeing my fury in all of its glory. "What's got you riled up?"

"A certain moron whose name happens to be a city in Texas," I fumed. Mason's expression shifted immediately into a serious one.

"What did he do?" he asked flatly. I took a deep breath to calm myself, not wanting a repeat of their last encounter. I shook my head.

"Nothing. He just tried to talk to me. Do you have to go to your locker?" I added, changing the subject. Mason nodded and took my hand in his. We walked down another hallway until we got to his locker.

I let go of his hand and leaned against the locker beside his. As he exchanged his books, I played with a strand of my hair – which had been left down, because my hair was heavy and sometimes gave me a headache if I left it up for too long. The problem was, it had a mind of its own and bothered me during the day when it was down. I toyed with the elastic on my wrist, wanting to tie it up.

Without looking at me, Mason touched my hand, which got me to stop fidgeting. He glanced over at me and smiled.

"Leave your hair down, it's fine," he said.

"No," I whined playfully. Mason poked my nose and stuck my tongue out at him, but I didn't tie my hair up. Mason closed his locker and zipped up his backpack, before turning to face me.

"So, are you excited to be back?" He asked sarcastically, leaning a little closer to me. My cheeks heated at the closeness.

"Oh, it's a thrill. It's been about 20 minutes and I already want to kill someone," I smirked.

"Homicidal mornings, no big deal," Mason commented with a shrug. I laughed in response.

"Just girly things," I added, referencing a meme. Mason laughed at that. "Want to go find Emery before class?" I asked, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. Mason nodded slowly looking at my lips. I smiled a little and leaned closer to him. "Well let's go then!" I pulled back giggling.

"That wasn't nice," Mason frowned, jokingly. I grinned mischievously as I took his hand.

"I never said I was nice," I responded, pulling him along. Mason laughed and walked with me.

When we got to Emery's locker, she was there with her new boyfriend, Adam Hill. I smiled. I'd seen him around the halls, but never actually spoken to him. I smiled at them as they noticed us. Emery bounced over to me excitedly.

"Good morning lovebirds!" she squealed, hugging me and beaming up at Mason. He chuckled at that. I glanced at him and saw his pink-tinted cheeks, and smiled even more.

"I could say the same to you as well," I teased in response. Emery blushed and then her eyes widened.

"I never actually introduced you two!" she exclaimed, stepping towards Adam. "Adam, this is Charlie and her–" Emery's grin widened at the word "–boyfriend Mason. Mason, Charlie, this is my boyfriend Adam."

I waved with my free hand and Mason gave him a smile, and the unofficial official boy greeting: the head nod. Adam smiled at us and returned the greeting.

"It's nice to officially meet you," I said. I gave Emery a sly look. "Em, has told me so much about you," I grinned.

"All good I hope," Adam responds with a smile. He looked a little nervous under his smile. I liked that he was a little nervous to be liked by Emery's best friend. It meant he cared.

"Maybe," I shrugged. Emery blushed and flicked my forehead. "You dope, I'm still concussed," I said. Emery's eyes widened and she kissed her hand, before patting me on the head. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Adam with a smile. "I'm totally kidding; it's an endless amount of compliments." Adam brightened as he heard this.

"Well, that's a relief!" Adam joked. I laughed in response and looked up at Mason to see he was grinning as well.

"Will we see you at lunch Adam?" I asked, knowing Emery would like that a lot. As the words left my mouth I saw her eyes light up, as if I had just bought her a new dress.

"Um, if Em would like that and if my friend, Lucas, is cool with that," Adam said, glancing at his girlfriend. She beamed up at him.

"There's room for Lucas too!" she exclaimed.

"Okay, great. Then, we'll join you," Adam said with a grin.

___

Author's Note: Yay! We finally meet Adam! Do we like him so far? What do you think Dallas is up to now? lol! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hopefully I'll have a new one soon!