When Its Least Expected (19 page)

He tried calling her back, for over an hour straight the previous night. He needed
to

grovel, to tell her how sorry he was for being a grade-A asshole. The crap he said,
damn. It was downright hateful, and he sure as shit felt like a dog. Hell, who knew
if she’d even accept his sorry ass apology anyways. If he was her, then he’d tell
himself to take a flying leap into the burning fire pits of hell.

At the time, it was as if he was in a jealous fog and could only think about the sting
of his pride, not the results of his words. He never thought he’d be refused by the
only girl who’d ever gotten to him. His biggest fear out of everything? That’ he’d
somehow screwed up their

friendship, something that had become pretty damn important to him.

The bell rang fifty minutes later, and he jumped from his seat. His eyes narrowed

hatefully as he headed towards the hall. She hadn’t come. He slapped a nearby locker.
Shit! She hadn’t freaking come! The girl who he’d come to know as the perpetual perfect
attendance girl, had skipped freaking school.

Grrr! He had to see her. He had to talk to her to see if she was okay.

He had to find her best friend. She’d know what to do.

Walking at a pace that was beyond fast, Mason spotted Abigail leaning casually against
a

row of lockers talking amongst a few girls outside her classroom. He studied her as
he

approached. Her long, thick blonde hair, her petite frame, curves he’d usually have
his hands all over covered her body, but no girl would ever compare to the one who
had already screwed up his heart.

“Where is she?” he said as he grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the wide eyed

group of girls. Yeah, he was being a dick, but he needed to talk to her. He had to
make sure Harley wasn’t sick or hurt or worse… “Have you talked to Harley today?”

Her eyes turned hateful. “Um,
yeah
, I did,” she crossed her arms over her chest. She held her chin up high in that snooty
to-do attitude sort of way. She still wasn’t answering.

“Okay, well, did she, um, say anything? I mean, about me? Because’ I kind of said
some

crap, and now she’d not here today–”

“Don’t talk. Just shut up, and listen. You seriously have no idea what you’ve done.
Hell,

I bet you set her back by at least seventy-percent now.” He pulled his chin into his
chest, feeling every bit as guilty as she made him out to be.

“Look, I know I was a jerk, but I was hurt. I mean, I told her how I felt about her,
and she denied me and –“.

“Oh you poor, poor baby. You want mama to kiss your boo-boo? Hug you till your heart

doesn’t hurt anymore? You want a baba too?” Yeah, okay, he deserved that. “You’re
one selfish bastard, you know that? How
dare
you call Harley a whore and treat her like dirt just because your
pride
got hurt.” He nodded, taking his verbal punishment. He deserved it.

Her voice softened and slowed. A resolved looked passed over her face as he stared
back

up at her. “Listen … do you remember when we talked in study hall that time about
finding out about some things in Harley’s past?”

“Um, yeah, I remember. It was about David and his accident, right? She told me about

it,” Mason responded carefully, shifting under her glare. He had to tread lightly.
This girl obviously wasn’t in his corner; he couldn’t forget that. He needed to know
what was going on.

“Well … Harley’s had other
issues
in the past before David and the accident. It’s not something I want to delve into
because it’s not my story to tell, but I will tell you this. Bringing up that guy
in the picture wasn’t your smartest move. You opened up a raw sore, one that had only
just recently started to heal.”

Shit, was it honestly that bad? “What happened? Did he break her heart, move away?”

Mason hated cryptic answers; he needed real ones, something solid to go on otherwise
he

wouldn’t be able to fix it. It was who he was, among other things.

“Like I said,” she sighed exasperatedly. “It’s not my story to tell. Just be careful
with her heart,” she paused and swallowed, her chin quivered. “It’s not whole. The
remainder of it will most likely shatter if you hurt her anymore.” With her last threatening
warning and pointed glare, Abigail walked away leaving Mason in a slack jawed state
of wonderment.

What the hell was going on?

* * *

Mason had tried to call her every single night since Monday, even coming over once
or twice she thought, but she wasn’t ready to face him, not yet. Not when his hateful
words still haunted her and stung her wounds.

Her mom had been doting on her since the moment David found her on the floor of their

shared bathroom. It was embarrassing to say the least, but she couldn’t shake it.
Three days of this was nothing compared to what she went through before...

David was ready to go kick some serious Mason ass after he found her that night,

automatically assuming that the “
surfer dick
” had been the problem, but for some weird reason, Harley denied that he was the cause
of her breakdown. Truthfully, it’d been a long time coming, and Mason’s cruelty just
brought her to the breaking point. All she knew was that she had to get herself together
… and soon … otherwise her mom would be calling the psych ward.

“Honey, are you up yet? It’s after ten...” Harley dove under the blankets as her mom
sat

next to her on the bed. Harley cringed as her mom pulled the covers back, immediately
feeling the guilt because of how awful her mom looked. Her eyes were swollen, tired,
and pained.

Whenever Harley got like this, it was as if her mom was suffering with her. “I was
thinking we could go shoe shopping today since we haven’t found a pair of heels to
go with your dress for Saturday yet.”

Shoe shopping. Right. For a dance she had no intention of attending anymore.

“Don’t cry, sweetie. Please?” Harley’s mom pleaded, tenderly wiping away at her

traitorous tears. Harley didn’t even know she’d been crying. Guess she was too numb
to even feel the wetness against her own cheek. “Can we talk about it yet, honey?”
her mother pleaded, her own eyes welled with tears. Harley’s throat clogged with a
lump. “I mean, you haven’t said more than fifteen words since Monday night. It’s not
healthy, honey, and I’m worried about you.

Should I call the doctor again?” Harley wiped away at her onslaught of tears, shaking
her head with a furious no. The last thing she needed was another shrink telling her
stuff she already knew. “Well then, let’s get you out of this bed and dressed. I’ll
make blueberry pancakes, and after that, we can spend the whole day together. How
does that sound?”

Terrible…

Harley nodded not feeling the least bit like doing anything, but if it got her mom
to smile and get off her back, then she’d do it. It was time to crawl out of her hole,
at least for a little while.

She threw on her favorite Huskers hoodie and a pair of her favorite skinny jeans and

sweater boots. She pulled her hair back into a pony tail avoiding the mirror as she
did just as a knock sounded on her door.

“Hey, Har, can I come in?” David’s timid voice made her cringe, and she flexed

her fingers at her side for fear they’d punch a wall.

Dammit, she was totally being a selfish bitch. Harley hated upsetting her brother,
and

when she was down, David was there with her. He already had enough to deal with as
it was.

“Come in!” she called out to him, throwing on her big girl panties and her fakest
smile.

She headed towards their bathroom to avoid his eyes just as he wheeled into the room.
“What’s up?” Harley called from over her shoulder, her mouth now so full of toothpaste
that he’d most likely not be able to tell she’d been crying for three days straight.
If her voice didn’t give it away, then her saggy, bloodshot eyes certainly would.

He didn’t respond as he sat outside the bathroom’s entrance. She looked over at him,

watching as he uncomfortably pulled at the neck of his grey collared polo.

Finally, after a few more uncomfortable minutes of silence, he cleared his throat,

“Harley, um, there’s someone here to see you.”

She tilted her head to the side, staring down at her brother’s tension filled eyes.
Who in

the hell would be visiting her during this time of the day? Everyone she knew and
loved was either in this house, at work, or at school.

She sighed, wondering if this was just a ploy to get her out of the room. There was
no

point; she’d silently already agreed to go with her mom anyways.

Her shoulders slumped as she followed her brother’s chair. It didn’t matter who it
was;

nobody could help ease her mood, except for maybe herself. She was working on that...

Her feet were filled with dread as she moved down the hall. Her heart pounded loudly
in

her ears as she entered the living room, and her chest clenched like a vice as she
lifted her eyes from the floor. She blinked at least a hundred times, gasping as the
site of a dozen pink roses appeared, pink roses that covered a face, but didn’t conceal
an identity. She knew that build, that head of hair anywhere. Mason…

He tucked the roses against his stomach. Complete insecurity burned deep in his eyes.

She couldn’t stop herself from inhaling the fragrance of the room. Pink roses were
her

favorite, and damn him for guessing right. For the first time in three days, she managed
a smile, but Mason, on the other hand, paled as if he’d just seen a ghost.

She bit her lip, and their eyes held. Silence, other than maybe the dishwasher, enveloped

them.

Out of the corner of her eye, Harley noticed her mom was moving about, but the tiniest
of

grins was on her lips. Harley rolled her eyes and inched closer to Mason. His entire
body went rigid the closer she got to him, but his eyes never left her face. Then
David wheeled in, breaking the silence and the intensity of the moment.

Harley sighed. Her one moment of weakness was apparently over.

David wheeled up next to her. A small growl erupted from his throat. Harley turned
to

glare down at his glowering face.

“David, go,” Harley sighed. Her brother’s heated glare practically burned holes through

Mason’s face before he finally turned to join their mom in the kitchen.

Harley shook her head. Annoyance bloomed in her chest from his protective brother

routine. She turned on her toes to walk towards Mason, fists clenched, throat dry,
and her entire body stiffened at her newest discovery. Somehow, Mason had managed
to beat her to the punch.

She gasped. He was so close, toe to toe, with his face just inches from hers. She
sucked in a lungful of air, waiting for the right words to come out.

Once again, he took the lead.

“Hi...” Mason whispered generically, Harley smiled back at him with a generic wave
and

smile of her own.

The natural banter they normally shared was struggling to reappear as they stood there

staring awkwardly at each other. The electricity was ever present though, and Harley
had to force herself to stand still just so she wouldn’t be tempted to touch him.
To run her hands over his muscular arms. To hug him. To bury her face into his chest.

“Are those for me?” she asked cautiously, pointing to his armful of pink goodies.
He

nodded as a look so sorrowful filled his beautiful eyes, and it almost hurt to look
at him.

She reached out to take the flowers from his arms, shivering slightly as their fingertips

brushed. Harley fought like hell to keep her body in check, her eyes from closing,
and her

breathing even.

It almost worked.

“Is there some where we can go and, um, talk for a minute?” His shyness was endearing

as he motioned towards the porch out front. Harley nodded, placing the flowers on
a nearby

table.

She led him out towards the front porch where we they headed to her favorite wooden

swing. As they sat down, Mason slyly placed an arm around her shoulder and onto the
swing.

Mentally, she gasped at the move. It was a gesture that was probably meant to comfort
but only made her nerves sky rocket instead. Her body though automatically drifted
closer to his without regard to what her head was telling her. As needy and pathetic
as it sounded, Mason’s nearness was exactly what she craved.

“Harley, all week I have been beating myself up over what I said to you Monday night.
I

don’t think I have ever hated myself as much as I do now. These last few days I’ve
been living in my own personal hell.” Harley glanced down at her fidgeting hands.
He wasn’t the only one

living in hell.

“I skipped school the rest of the day because I couldn’t go another second without

making this right.” The boy could smooth talk his way into anyone’s heart; probably
their pants too. He must have had a lot of practice. “I was pissed that you blew me
off so easily and even jealous because I don’t like the thought of any other guy with
you,” he said as he looked away.

Harley moved out of his hold.

“Mason, just stop. There’s something I need to tell—“

“No. Please, Harley, let me finish.” He grabbed a hold of her right hand, gripping
it

tightly with both of his. He seemed desperate, and his eyes widened. “The only way
I could

handle those weird ass feelings of jealously was by hurting you in the worst possible
way I could think of. Do you understand?” Harley nodded, and her eyes dropped to her
lap. She understood alright, but it didn’t make it right either. “I’m an evil and
selfish guy, Harley, and I totally understand if you don’t want to even be my friend
anymore.” He quieted for a moment, and that was all of the motivation Harley needed
to tell Mason the truth about the boy in the picture.