A Kiss for Maya

Mason Said To Scream.

I look up and find a tall, well built figure standing in front of me. He's got a smirk on his tattooed face and his hands are crossed over his chest, flexing his unusually large biceps.

I gulp nervously, slowly attempting to put my phone back in my pocket. His eyes dart down to my hands and he shakes his head.

"No," I look up at him and narrow my eyes, "call your boyfriend."

Mason said to scream. Mason said to scream.

I look down at my phone and unlock it. The horrific realisation that I do not have Mason's contacts sinks in and my palms become clammy. My hands begin to tremble as I randomly search my phone.

"I...uh...I uhm..." I stutter, looking nervously between the large man in front of me and the diner.

Scream.

Before I can act on that and cause commotion, the door bursts open and Mason and Max walk out. The large man turns around to identify the source of the noise. I sigh with relief and take the opportunity to get away from him.

I run across the small parking lot to the entrance of the diner and Mason immediately pulls me to his side.

"I said stay in the car." He mutters through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry."

He turns around to face the large man without replying.

"What's going on here?" The words come from an unfamiliar voice behind us and we all turn around.

Blocking the door are Justin and some girl in a short, black satin dress that clings to her slim curves. Even with the lour on her face expressing her exasperation, she is clearly beautiful.

"Ask Chase." Mason replies with his jaw still tightened.

The girl rolls her eyes and walks towards us. Chase, who has been standing near Mason's car, begins to make his way to join us as well.

A red car enters the parking lot and our attention is focused on it for about a second.

"Let's go somewhere else." The girl says and begins to walk around the diner.

My eyes fall to her black stilettos. I would fall and break something in those but she walks confidently and perfectly in them. That only goes to complete her rather gorgeous look.

Is she also involved in this business? Oh my, is she the so called princess?

Everyone else follows and Mason grabs my hand. Instead this time he doesn't lead me to our destination by holding on to my wrist. He interlocks his fingers with mine and I gasp, looking down at our hands and then up at him.

He doesn't seem at all fazed by this and doesn't bother to entertain my shock. All he does is begin to walk behind Chase and I do the same.

Why is he holding my hand? He doesn't need to pretend that we're dating does he? Didn't Justin say they thought we broke up?

My train of unanswered questions is broken when we reach the back of the diner. Everyone stops is the space and I understand why we're here. There's no one else here and the wall of the neighbouring store means no one will be able to see us.

"What's all this hassle about?" The girl shouts. She's clearly very irritated.

"I just saw the girl," Chase says with a smirk and a shrug of his broad shoulders, "thought maybe I could do what Ace failed to."

"I should've known." Mason glares at Chase, who only changes his smirk into a smug smile.

"Oh." The girl's attention turns to me and her frown smoothes as her face changes to a neutral expression.

She looks at me, as if intently studying me and I look down. I begin to feel nervous again under her scrutiny. Everything about her intimidates me; her looks, her power and even her overflowing well of confidence.

"This is her?" Boredom and a hint of surprise drip from her statement.

I shoot my head up and find her looking at Mason with a raised brow. She turns to me and for a second my chest tightens.

"I'm Mary." She offers me a fake red lipped smile and lifts her chin.

Her name is Mary?

The daughter of the apparent devil incarnate is Mary? Well, her parents are something else.

Before I can reply to her introduction, she turns to Mason once more.

"She doesn't look like your type." She eyes me up and down with a light frown formed on her face.

"Not pretty enough, clearly a goody two shoes and definitely..." she takes the chance for a dramatic pause, "can't give you the fun that I did."

I turn to Mason in shock and he makes sure to avoid my gaze. I feel upset and even more inferior to this girl than I did before. I cross my arms and look down.

"I used to fuck your man, sweetie." Mary says and I jerk my head up and gasp.

I mean I had inferred that such an event had obviously occurred but hearing her say it. Using that language, that tone. I just want to get out of here.

"That's enough, Mary!" Mason's jaw twitches.

He walks over to me and puts his arms on my shoulders and I look up at him. This all feels too much. I should be at home,studying or reading a book. Heck I should be watching TV. I can feel the tears threatening to escape burn my eyes and he turns to Mary and everyone else.

"We're out of here." He grabs my wrist but before we can leave, she calls him.

He turns to look at her and so do I. She notices my teary eyes and a smug smile appears on her face. As her eyes move from my reddening eyes to Mason's angry face, the smile grows.

"M, just remember that we know everything about her."

Mason's jaw tightens and he releases my wrist only for a second before retrieving my hand and interlocking our fingers again. This time it doesn't even shock me, it actually makes me feel better. I look away from everyone, feeling anxious and just needing to get out of here.

Mason turns around again and I follow him around the diner and towards the car. I can hear footsteps behind us, which I infer to belong to Max and Justin but I don't bother to confirm that.

We get to the car and Max and Justin silently get into the car.

"Banks, I'm so sorry." Mason says as soon as Max and Justin close their doors.

"It's okay." My voice betrays me with a quiver.

Of course it's not okay. He gets me into deep, dangerous trouble, puts my life in danger and then brings me here for his real girlfriend to make me feel horrible.

"I'm sorry about what Mary said. She can be-"

"It's okay," I interject, "it's not like I'm your real girlfriend. I get it, she is."

He looks at me for a second, as if searching for something in my eyes. The truth? He must know I'm lying, it's clear there's no way anything is okay.

"I'm sorry. I've brought all this craziness to your life in just one day." He frustratingly runs his hand through his hair.

My eyes move to it and I notice how silky and curly it is.

He opens the door for me and I get in the backseat. After he enters the car, he brings the engine to life and we begun driving away in silence.

Is Mary the kind of girl Mason goes for? I guess considering his bad boy persona she is.

Her vulgar statement replays in my mind and I rest my forehead on the glass of the window and groan. I feel the weight of a hand placed on my shoulder and turn to find Justin with an encouraging smile. I smile back even though nothing at this minute makes me want to smile.