MasukThe dining table for breakfast was silent. Mother was in the kitchen, working her way around, making the best she could make, and going overboard because she hadn’t seen us in a while. She was humming and dancing as she used her wok and her favorite spoon that mostly ended up on Mason’s head than the pot. The kitchen was still the same, although painted, it still had the same old feeling and arrangements, same with the dining table that contained me, Mason, and Ava. After mum introduced her boyfriend to us, last night. Mason just walked past mum and her boyfriend like they didn’t exist and went up to his old room. The Zander's man was kind of nice, he forced a smile as Nason walked past him, leaving me to deal with the mess. Ava and I turned to each other speechless. “You must be Lila… I have heard so much about you, your mother won’t stop talking about her beautiful daughter. It’s nice to finally meet you.” His throat was dry, he could barely get his words across but I understoo
“What do you mean you’re not coming with us?” I frowned, holding Penny in my hands. My eyes stayed on Ethan, whose face was glued to the table in his hands. His attention was solely on what he was doing. Is he that busy? “I have a lot to finish, Lila… going home would only add more work. And I need to finish it in time before we begin to practice for our next game which would be around the same time your semester starts. I’m sorry.” He apologized, his face was now turned to me, and he forced a smile. I understand that he had work to do but going home without him there… it won’t be complete. He also deserves this break. It’s my fault he has so much to do. All the while he kept following me for therapy and staying with me, those were times he would have gotten this work done. Now I am going home to enjoy and he is stuck here. “Don’t even think about that.” He sneered, yanking me out of my thought. He frowned. I pouted, “thinking about what?” I feign ignorance. “Blaming yourself
Silence. The only sound I could hear was the meowing of Penny and Jin. Mason was pacing around, his fingers drove into his hair, he took a deep breath, and finally turned to me. “You’re right.” He started. “I am not the best brother and … it’s hard to see you do things on your especially when you always look to me for advice and consent. And I am worried about you… Lila. You’ve grown and I don’t know what you need because you won’t tell me. Because you’d rather talk to Ava and Ethan than you’d talk to me which by the way, I still don’t know when you and Ethan got so close but that’s not the point of this discussion.”Oh… he can’t know about Ethan and me… I’m not telling him… ever. “Do you know how… how stupid I looked and how bad I felt when Ethan called me and told me about the trouble you had with that fucking bastard! Do you know how I felt when you chose to ask Ethan for help and not me? Ethan is my friend and I’m glad that you trust him enough to ask for his help, but I am you
I thought I was getting better. I thought that I had been able to heal to a certain degree but I guess I still have a long way to go. As I stared at the bottle of water that the man handed over to me, I realized there was hidden trauma I hadn’t tried to sort out. Ethan, Mason, and Ava are people I trust with my life, people I believe would never do anything to harm me so I never bothered about being poisoned by them. But this man had no reason to poison me. We don’t even know each other. I know that… I know that the water is tightly sealed and new because there was a pack of water provided by that elderly woman who had also walked her dog. I knew the water was safe but just because he was holding it and handing it over to me, I couldn’t bring myself to take it. I could even hold it just to be polite. He took the water back, “Are you okay?” He asked, “Do I need to call an ambulance?” He asked. I turned to him and shook my head, “I’m fine… You don’t have to.” I said, my voice was b
“That’s the point! There is a difference between hearing and listening, Mason, you hear me but you don’t listen to me!” I barked, my fingers running through my hair, pacing through the space between us. “I… I don’t know what to do.” He muffled, “I’m just… I’m just worried about you.” He added, his voice dropping to a whisper. Hands clasped together, head bowed. I could hear the guilt and worry that ripped through every word he uttered. Let's go back three hours before this conversation. I sat on the stool by the counter, watching Ethan whisk egg for my breakfast. I can’t believe he is actually keeping his promise to cook for me before leaving the house. I mean, Ethan always keeps his word; I don’t know why I am still surprised. “Ah, that reminds me, Ethan, we haven't decided names for the kittens and the dog yet.” I muffled. His broad back was turned to me, but he gently tilted for me to see those arched brows and squinted eyes. “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” I grumbled,
Ethan turned to me, his eyes flickering in awe. I just kissed his cheeks. Shit… I was too excited, I didn't realize that I had kiss his cheeks but it’s his fault for being so sweet. “Friendly kiss.” I muffled. His eyes flickered, and flickered and flickered again. “Friendly kiss.” He repeated. “Payment complete.” The red-haired attendant muffled, I turned to her and her eyes were still very much on Ethan. Ugh, I should not have offered for her to get a picture with him. Ethan forced a smile and got his card from her but she didn’t budge, as he pulled, she pulled as well. What the hell? “What are you doing?” Ethan rasped, “Is there something else we need to get?” He asked. “Uhm.. yes, the vaccination, and some other things… but the… picture and autograph.” She whispered Ohhh. Shit… I almost forgot. I turned to Ethan, and he looked back at me, his glare so dark, I could hear his thoughts saying “This is all your fault cupcake.” He sighed, “I’m sorry, I don’t really do pictur
I found the brakes, and we were in the middle of the road. The cars around us kept honking, and the drivers kept yelling.“If you want to die, get off the road,”“Jump over the bridge or something, you losers.”“Hey, fuck off the middle of the highway!”They kept yelling, and it was obvious from th
I stood outside my brother’s apartment. Pacing around and fidgeting with my hands. I took a deep breath but each time I stepped closer to the door, I chickened out, my hands trembling as cold sweat traveled down my spine. My throat bobbed knowing what waits for me behind that door the moment I ope
“Lila, are you out of your mind? Moving in with a guy? With Jake no less?” Mason roared as I stood in front of him in his living room. The anger was evident in every word that rolled off his tongue, the way his fist clenched, the way his eyes held this content I had never seen before. He hated th
“Since when were you a jerk?” I sneered, glaring at him. He paused on my ice cream, eyes meeting mine, searching.He remained silent, almost like he could tell that I was disappointed in him and this had nothing to do with the kiss.Ethan was never like this. He was reserved and put together, he ne







