⌗ 23
third person  ✎ᝰ
one week later
_______________

The academic year comes to a near close. Mason finds herself sitting by the benches with Mara, a conversation brewing naturally between them as the sun warmed their fair skin with its beams.

It had been a while since Mason had sat down with her best friend. Phone calls and texts weren't nearly as similar as a face to face conversation. She found much comfort being in Mara's presence, especially now with everything that been going on since her return from her weekend away at the cottage.

The mere thought of it brought her mood down significantly. Riley had earned a record number of absences in the past few days, ruining her streak of perfect attendance over the school term.

Mara noticed the change almost immediately. Although her relationship with Mavis had changed for the better, the older girl had kept it under wraps. The relationship issues that stemmed from Mason's getaway had made her unquestionably down. Mara felt it would be best to not throw anything in Mason's face for the time being. In fact, she felt the need to keep in contact with Riley given that the two were barely talking. She felt quite sad seeing her best friend visibly upset over something she had no answers for. Mara could only do so much to console her.

Mara rests her head on Mason's shoulder. "Have you thought of the universities you're gonna apply for? I know that dead lines aren't for a while but they'll come knocking at your door sooner than you think." She uttered.

Mason stares at the concrete ground. "I have. I'm not so sure of them now though." She confessed. The girl had planned for a number of colleges. A majority of them were choices she had made in consideration of her relationship with Riley.

"What makes you say that?" Mara wondered.

"Riley and I planned it all out a few weeks ago. We wanted to pick a university that we were both interested in. We both know that the chances of getting into the same one were slim so we worked around it to find some that would work for us both. Some place with a reasonable distance."

Mara nodded. "So what are you gonna do?"

"I'll keep it in my preferences. Just in case."

Their relationship had become undeniably rocky. The weekend away brought a profound happiness that the two had no idea would turn into an out of sight out of mind situation. Mason dropped Riley home after their dinner that night. They ate in silence, drove in silence, and now, that silence still lingers. But now, it's even worse.

The lack of communication had Mason spiralling into a wave of anxiousness and an overbearing tendency to overthink. Had Riley given the effort to communicate, Mason wouldn't be feeling as terrible as she does. The thought of Riley slipping away had her up most nights—tossing and turning till dawn and hardly earning a full nights rest. Mason was losing herself over the pure lack of conversation. What did she do for Riley to slip past her fingertips? That was the worst part of it all. Mason couldn't think of one reason for her to.

The bell rung loudly for sixth period. It happened to be the one class that Riley and Mason were seat mates for. She wasn't sure what to tell people about Riley's sudden absence. Her excuses seemed more and more unbelievable with each day that had passed. But as long as her fellow peers believed it then Mason had no issues. She just did her best to get through it.

The lesson was by far the least interesting topic that they had learned all semester. Mason couldn't quite understand it. She would normally be scribbling down little notes or cute little doodles that made no sense to pass to Riley.

Riley would do the same in return, often writing little love letters with the ripped pieces of paper she'd tear from her notebook or little origami sculptures like flowers or hearts.

Mason would keep them all and store them away in her sage green pencil case. It was always funny having to open it after every new addition of a paper heart or flower. The pencil case in question had turned more into a physical display of Riley's feelings towards Mason—quickly taking up more room in it than the stationary itself.

The young girl sighed deeply before unzipping her pencil case to take a pen to write down her notes on the piece of text they were studying.

The sight of different coloured pieces of paper put a small smile on her face. She buried her fingers through the sea of hearts and flowers, reaching for a pen and witnessing a few of them fall out onto her desk. She picks up a folded piece of paper that fell with some of the hearts.

She unfolds it in a hurry and reads it, paying no mind to the events happening at the front of the room. She couldn't care for it. It didn't matter to her. What did however was the type of feeling that grew in her chest as she took in the neat cursive writing of the girl that wrote the note.

I'm happy that we're discussing this piece today. I stumbled across it once. I never quite understood what it meant. Or maybe it's because I never experienced it before. But it's much different now. I know I'd rather face those types of hardships with you... that crazy kind of love that would inevitably get through anything and everything as long as they try hard to do so.

Mason could easily recite that poem with hardly any thought. That kind of piece struck her. She remembered the exact moment that Riley had handed her that note. "Don't open it." The latter smiled. "I want you to read it when you feel sad or lonely, or maybe even upset. When you do, let me know." Mason happily obliged. She hadn't opened it till now. Truthfully, she forgot she even had it—buried away beneath a field of flowers and hearts. It struck her though. The note had fallen out of her pencil case on a day like today. A day where she struggled with the absence of her partner. A day where she wished things would go back to how they were. She realised in that moment that purposefully keeping away from each other would only make things worse.

She had to fix it. It didn't matter if it would take seconds, minutes or hours. She would take as long as needed if that meant that Riley would come home. That's what Mason cared about the most. She was missing the feeling of home.

I would rather swim in stormy seas with you, than sail calm waters with anyone else — J. Strelou