Mason (Trinity Academy 2)

That’s right, bitch. Be afraid, because I’m going to make an example of you, so no one will dare to cross me again.

Rising to my full height, I glare down at her. “You better enjoy the next five days. Life, as you know it, is about to end.”Chapter 18Kingsley“Yeah, I’m going to be honest,” I say, as I watch Mason leave, “it feels like I’ve entered the twilight zone.”

Shaking off Mason’s weird behavior, I look for Preston, and when my eyes fall on him, I say, “I haven’t seen you since the party. Where have you been hiding?”

“I’ve been helping Falcon,” he says, a proud look on his face.

“Oh, are you both Lake and Falcon’s assistant now?”

“He was never my assistant, to begin with,” Lake mumbles under his breath which has me laughing.

I glance at Falcon and see him smiling at Preston, then he explains, “Preston is helping me with the business plans for the new company.”

“Wow, good for you, Preston.”

“I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” he brushes off the compliment.

I tilt my head, and ask, “How did you know I was in the pool?”

Preston’s face sets into a scowl, as he begins to give me a play by play of the entire night’s events.

When he gets to the part where Mason gave me CPR, my hand shoots up. “Wait a second. Rewind, and say the part about Mason again.”

“He pulled you out and started giving you CPR.” Preston’s face softens. “I was exhausted just from keeping your head above the water for a minute or so, but Mason kept doing compressions until Layla had to pull him away.” He shakes his head with a perplexed look. “It’s still hard to believe Serena did that to you.”

I don’t even take in his last sentence because I’m still stuck on the fact that Mason gave me CPR. Worrying that this incident might have brought Mason’s past trauma back to the surface, I look at Lake, and ask, “Is Mason okay?”

Lake shakes his head, “What do you mean?”

“Did this incident bring back memories, like with the avalanche?”

“No.” Falcon answers. “He didn’t mention it at all.”

“That’s good,” I muse.

It also makes me realize that Mason’s change in behavior toward me is probably because I almost died.After everyone left, Layla came back wearing her pj’s. With the lights dimmed, we sit on the floor, out on the balcony and stare at the stars.

“How do you really feel?” she asks, not taking her gaze off the heavens.

I let out a burst of silent laughter. “You don’t believe me when I say I’m okay?”

She turns her head to me. “Not after what happened to me with Grayson. I know you’re not okay.”

“Yeah,” I whisper. “It’s weird. One minute I’m totally fine, and the next it feels as if I’m struggling to breathe. Literally. It’s hard to accept the fact that I was almost killed.”

“Killed,” Layla murmurs. “It sounds like such a small word. It doesn’t give the definition of what really happened.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

She reaches over to me and taking my hand, she links our fingers. “Give me your definition.”

“I only remember the panic. It’s weird,” I let out a shaky breath before I continue, “when the avalanche hit me, I didn’t feel nearly as panicked as when –” my voice breaks as the desolate feeling creeps back into my heart. “It’s hard to put into words. I felt horribly vulnerable and alone. Knowing there was no one to help me, and I couldn’t keep my head above the water. I never want to feel that kind of panic again.”

Letting go of my hand, Layla scoots closer to me and pulls me into her arms.

After a while, she whispers, “The day you sat down next to me and introduced yourself was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I love you, Kingsley.”

“Love you, too,” I whisper.We only watched one episode of Grace & Frankie on my laptop before Layla fell asleep.

Leaving the bedroom, I softly shut the door behind me, and go sit on the couch. I bring my legs up and hug them to my chest.

It feels like my world has been tainted, as if someone took black paint and splattered it all over my emotions and my beliefs.

A knock at the door pulls me out of my somber thoughts. I get up and go to open it, thinking it’s probably Falcon looking for Layla. When I open the door and see Mason, something shifts in my chest.

Mason did CPR on me until emergency services came.

He was literally my heartbeat.

The thought is overwhelming and makes tears push up my throat.

“Did I wake you?” he asks.

I shake my head and step aside so he can come in.

“Why are you sitting in the dark?” he asks.

I close the door before I answer, “Layla just fell asleep, and I came out here so I wouldn’t wake her.”