Story_Heartbeat

Mason has been with every girl, her mom and her older sister. Even worse, he�s lethally charming. I can�t think of one girl I know who doesn�t find him at least remotely attractive. He has been with girls from eight different states. It�s all extremely impressive being that he goes to a private, prestigious, all boys� school. I attributed it to his pent-up tension from being around guys all day.
Olivia has had the biggest crush on Mason since the fourth grade. She�s the type of girl who�s not used to being sexual, and hides her awkwardness by acting like she�s in love with him, even though, I know she desires something greater than him. Just some meaningless lust that began before she even knew what hormones were. She�s so fun to tease about it.
�Don�t tell Mason I like him okay?� Olivia. The definition of perfection, painfully shy, and my best friend.
�Oh, I�ll do something to you. When I think of something. I�m pure evil.� My responses were never as snappy as hers. All I had was Satan on my side.
�You and your pastel blue. You�re so terrifying.� Olivia mocked.
�And my pen matches my shirt. Did you notice I switched to blue?�
�Pink does match blue, they�re all pastels.� Since I was little I had problems with matching colors that didn�t completely match. In the fifth grade I got in a fight with my art teacher on how complimentary colors clash.
�They suck.�
�Jesus. You�re so all the time negative.� Olivia had the uncanny ability to be right on the nose with my moods. I had the uncanny ability to deny it, passionately.
�What does God have to do with it?� Meanwhile, I don�t even believe in God.
�Stop avoiding the topic. Why are you so brutually bumming all the time?� The eighties vocabulary spewing from her mouth was almost too much to take. Sadly, she thought she sounded cool.
�Well, my Dad was a junkie and my mom was an alcoholic. And right now my sister hates me. The world is a vampire.�
�You really like to air your dirty laundry.� Olivia, that stupid bitch. I confide in her and this is what I get. Trust no one.
�You just asked me why I�m depressed.�
Fool.
�I guess I just didn�t expect you to turn into this verbal volcano of after-school specials.�
DAMN her and her snappy lines.
�You�re not helping any. You asked me. You conveniently seem to forget that.� For once she was stumped. I was proud.
�I knew a girl like you, of course, she killed herself. Is that what you intend?� Olivia said.
�Why must you always make things so over-dramatic? You�ve done it since the eleventh grade, in that writing class we took. Always on people�s cases.� We used to spend the entire class period arguing about nonsense. She was as stubborn as me, if not more so because of her superior air.
�You brought yourself into this. No one wants to listen to you. I�m so done here.� Olivia had no problem tearing me apart and leaving me for the wolves.
�No you�re not done. Because I�m done.�
�Just shut people out. Like that girl did, and you�ll end up like her. I hope you do.�
Hardly! I reach out to her and she throws it back in my face, some friend. But I couldn�t bring myself to tell her all of that. Of course, she won.
�Wow. I suck. Come pick up my corpse later.�
When in doubt, go for the drama. Olivia was so outmoded and tried so hard to sound cool, I felt bad for her. That�s why I let her win. She liked to compare herself to me because I was everything she wished she could be. I was younger, but I lived what she wished she had, and more importantly, I could have Mason. She knew she never could and it drove her crazy.
We were walking down the street and she had another �Moment.� She saw Mason surrounded by his cronies, and they laughed at her. Of course, she never noticed. She was too busy creating the moment in her mind when Mason would come running up to her and they�d share a passionate kiss like something from a movie. Now, all of this was horribly ideal. Olivia was short, and tragically trendy. Her hair was black, and srunched into tight little spirals. Her face looked like someone picked up a handful of cookies crumbs and through them onto her cheeks. Those were her freckles. However, she was very smart, book smart, but it didn�t extend much past that.
�Hey, babe.� Mason planted a kiss on my cheek. �Kali, c�mon honey, hang out with me.�
�Olivia, why don�t you go with Mason?� I gave her a little shove. �I�ll handle the errands.�
Olivia gripped her bag tightly in hand, and turned bright red.
�Forget that! Come with me!� Mason was begging me. For one, he didn�t want to be with Olivia. For two, he got so much pleasure out of flirting with me. I was nothing special, even I�d admit it. I didn�t belong in magazines, on the fashion pages. I didn�t even know what year it was, stuck in the seventies as I was. But I had learned a lot. Olivia was blind too. It didn�t take looks to get the guy.
�Alrighty, we got a deal.� I grabbed Olivia by the arm, tearing her from her normalcy for two seconds. She could hardly bear to part. We headed down the block, past all the houses in rows. It was fall, and all the leaves blanketed the ground. I loved the fall for how much it complimented my chestnut hair, and made my green eyes sparkle in contrast. Mason decided to drag his stupid friend, Shane along.
�So Kali, when you and Mason gonna hook up?� I let them into my house, it was small, but the architecture was stimulating. It had an antiquated presence on my block. It stood out from all the other plain, white sided houses. It was a beautiful stucco with black trim, that I adored.
�Oh please. Do you guys still have that ridiculous competition going on?�
�I think I�m winning honey!� Mason poked my stomach, his flirtatious signature. Mason was still a boy in so many ways, I think that�s what attracted me to him most. He had beautiful dark brown hair, and eyes to match. His skin wasn�t perfect, and he was no model. But his flaws complimented him.
�Well I nailed number ten last week. I believe you�re at eight. You�re slackin� off buddy.� Shane plopped down in the navy blue arm chair.
�I blame it on Kali. She was supposed to be my nine.� Explained Mason. I gestured over to Olivia.
�Aren�t men SUCH pigs?�I pointed out. Olivia just blushed, she�d rather stay silent than say something that would make her look like a fool in front of him. She buried her face in a magazine. Amidst the eerie silence that fell I came up with a plan. I grabbed Shane from his comfort in the chair and brought him down the stairs with me. I thought maybe if I gave Olivia and Mason some alone time she may make a move.
I didn�t want her to think I was completely cold-hearted, but I couldn�t carry her. Nor could I help her get guys to like her if she chose to be a mute. Hell, she was more attractive than me, she had a better body than me and all.
Back in the kitchen me and Shane had a heart-to-heart. I sat down at the wooden table, coated with a fresh shine. He was sitting across from me, pretending to be interested, I told him I wasn�t going to get with Mason again because of Olivia.
�You know you want him.� He took off his Abercrombie hat exposing his messy bleached hair. He had the potential to be attractive, but it was wasted with his uninspired style of khakis and a tee-shirt, just about every day.
�I don�t want anyone. I hate boys.� I began to make little braids in the back of my hair as a distraction.
�You�re crazy about him. Who are you kidding, Kali? Don�t use Olivia as your �scapegoat.�
Even if I did like Mason, I would never breathe a word of it to anyone. I wanted no commitment, I wanted to get what I wanted, savor, and be done. Going back to Mason would mean our relationship being more than just the random hookup that it was.
�Get over it. You know I really have the hots for you.� If it�s one thing I know about men, is that by placating their ego, they easily forget that which they were talking about. It makes it easier for you to avoid a topic.
�You�re not on the list, babe.� Shane laughed. I walked over to him and sat on his lap, and pulled his arms on top of the strip of exposed skin between my little red tank top and blue pants. �You�d easily find room for me, if you thought you had a snowball�s chance in hell of getting with me!� I giggled. �Let�s go check on the kids.�
We ran up the tan carpeted stairs, and past the walnut railing. I stared at my door in disbelief. The back side covered in stickers of all my favorite bands was visible. Light filtered from under the door. Nothing could be happening in there, Mason was probably just talking about me and didn�t want me to over hear him.
�Open up!!� Shane opened the door, the baby blue curtains that concealed my bed were closed, Mason�s favorite black swirly chair was empty. Behind the curtain, I could hear noises. I ripped them open.
�Oh my fuckin� God.� Mason was on top of Olivia, I could not believe it. He�s supposed to be hung up on me, and not all over Olivia. His hands, around her waist, and his back to me for once. The neatly made bed was no longer neat. When they noticed us, and stopped fornicating where I sleep, Olivia got up. She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into the bathroom. Admiring herself in the mirror I wanted to pull her ugly, little curls out.
�What exactly was going on in there, Olivia?� My arms were crossed and I was leaning against the pink tile walls, giving her the wickedest stare I could possibly convey. If only I had the power to burn her cornea�s out, I would gladly destroy her.
�You were so, incredibly right. What a good kisser, we were talking about you and all the sudden---� She wipped the mascara out from under her eyes.
�All the sudden what?�
�He was just like, on top of me and kissing me. Gee I knew he liked me! His talking about you was just a distraction so I wouldn�t see. But I saw.� She was talking so fast. When I reasoned it out, the best explantion I could muster up for it, was that he was trying to make me jealous. But what if he wasn�t?
�Well I�m glad you had fun Olivia. It�s what you really wanted isn�t it?� I stated, matter-of-factly.
�No not really, now that I think about it. I never really liked him, I just needed to conquer him to get over him.� This girl was too much�she�s hung up on him for years, and all the sudden she steals my conquering. I highly do not think so. I wanted her to be happy, really�just not with Mason.
�Do you think that�s really fair to him, Olivia? Did you really think of that when he was kissing you? Is that fair to do that to him?� I needed to attack her to vent my frustrations.
�Excuse me.� She turned away from the mirror and defiantly got up in my face. �You keep encouraging me to go for him, now I get him and you�re scolding me? Wow. It was hardly enough to handle your flirting with him. You�re just jealous Kali, admit it.�
I stared her square in the eye, before I could gather the courage to exit the bathroom. Than I slammed the door in her face. I ran two rooms down and went into my room where Mason was twirling in my chair. He had his sandal covered feet up and continued to go about it at his leisure. Shane layed on my bed, hands behind his head, perfectly comfortable on the bed of sin. Mason was giggling like a child who had done something wrong, knew it, and was proud of it.
�Shane, get the hell out. Right now.� Hand on hip, I pointed to the door.
�What�s your problem?� He laughed. I grabbed him by the tee-shirt and threw him out of my room with all my might. Than I shut the door on him and Olivia. It was my turn to play.
�What exactly do you think you�re doing, asshole?�
He was so deliciously sweet it took everything in me to keep up my anger. �What�s up baby?� He spinned left than right, smiling still. In that moment I just wanted to smack him silly.
�Maybe I should be asking you that. What was that shit with Olivia?� I tucked my hair behind my ears than returned my arm to their crossed position.
�She�s crazy about me.� He said.
�So, you should hookup and play with the minds of every girl who wants you?�
�Ya know, your adorible when you�re angry like that.� It was clear to me now why he hooked up with Olivia. But I still wanted to know if liked me, why he�d done it. Mason did all that just to relish in my rage?
�Just a test, my dear.� Him and Shane�s stupid competitions drove me mad. I didn�t want to be tested. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me to his lap, just like I had been sitting with Shane.
�No hard feelings, a�rite? Next week we go to my house, I got the pool table.�
�Shall I bring Olivia?� I smiled, grasping his hands and turning my face to his. So I was double crossing my friend. My priorities were always out of order, I�d thought Olivia had been used to it. I�m human, so sue me if I put myself before that girl. She was a poor, outdated fool. I deserved more. I left Mason, to go check on Olivia, still primping in the bathroom.
�I was being used.� Olivia grasped the window sill, staring out past me. It was her usual dissapointment in me, and it got me down.
�It really sucks. You should�ve known better.� I strolled in and sat on the edge of the tub looking up at her.
�I was crazy about him, you know. It felt good to know I had him, but it didn�t when I found out I was just part of you guys little scheme.� She was pretty beat up about it, and I think for the first time I didn�t think of myself.
�You make it sound like we were plotting against you this entire time. What would you like me to do Olivia?� Of course, she�d never know of my moment of selflessness.
�You will do what you like, no matter what I say.� She turned around, and looked down upon me, rightfully so. She was dissapointed, but I couldn�t give him up for her.
�Basically.� I hopped up, and planted a kiss on her cheek. She was such a pushover like usual. She was entirely too forgiving, we were so different in that respect. I was so quick to ditch her for Mason, I�d of done it in a heart beat.