Bite Me

      Mason was in a great mood when I woke up.

     As happy as I was for him, I couldn't share his glee. It was morning, I was grumpy, and his jumpy exuberance was wearing on me. As a matter of fact, the only thing that could put me in a good mood would be Mason shutting up, but that clearly wouldn't happen. I hadn't so much as sat up in bed yet and he was already talking my ears off. He didn't even have the decency to be hungover like any normal human would.

His excitement would have been cute if I didn't want to saw his lips off with a nail filer.

He was going on about some post-states celebration that the football team was having at the hotel's pool in a few hours. I, of course, wasn't listening, until he suggested that I come along. At that I laughed, said "no way", and lay back down in bed.

Mason didn't shut up after that, but I didn't try to make him. Last night, not only had he won states for his team, but he'd come out—with an overwhelmingly positive response—and several college scouts had pulled him aside to speak with him as the commotion died away. He had every right to be happy, as annoying as it was.

Annoyed by happiness? That had to be the most Kieran Callisto thing I'd ever thought. Really stuck true to my persona.

Mason was off to his pool party an hour later, and I still hadn't moved from bed. I eventually figured I may as well do something with my day. I rolled out of my hotel bed, somewhat sadly—it was illegally comfortable—and whipped on the first items that my hands made contact with when I reached into my suitcase. Ripped black jeans and a plain gray t-shirt. Nothing extravagant, but it wasn't as if I had someone to please.

     Of course, that didn't stop me from devoting ten minutes to styling my hair, but that was standard procedure.

    Fifteen minutes later, I slipped out of our shared hotel room and ventured to Marcella's. Maria would no doubt be at the pool party, so I figured I could have some alone time with the person who needed it most.

     As I'd expected, Marcella was alone when she opened her door. She smiled when she saw me. "I was just going to text you," she told me.

     The next thirty minutes were pretty relaxed. Things still weren't completely smooth between Marcella and I, and as disappointed as that made me feel, I knew I really shouldn't expect our interactions to return to normal for a while.

    It wasn't as if the air was tense or conversation was awkward. We got along just fine, and conversation flowed easily. Something was just off, but I'd have to respect that, since it was my fault anyways.

     Our thirty minutes of peace, however, was ended by a knock on the door and Blake's voice echoing through the wood. "Cella, you in here?"

I raised an eyebrow at Marcella, silently asking when she and Blake had become friends, but her shrug told me that she was as clueless as I was. Nevertheless, she stood from the bed and opened the door for him.

Turns out, he didn't come alone. Mason stood next to him, his eyes instantly finding mine across the room, and several football players and cheerleaders flanked them, all soaking wet and wearing bikinis or swim trunks.

Blake noticed me as well. "Aye, you were right, Mase! Kieran's here too!"

I wasn't exactly delighted to hear that they wanted me as well.