CHAPTER TWO
“Malinda Decraw?” I blinked in shock. Mark’s mother stood on my doorstep with a
covered casserole in her arms. She wore a red coat with a red scarf draped and
knotted in a fashionable way. She had her long brown mane of hair with gentle
curls swept over one shoulder. And as she stood there a moment, she rubbed at
one of her jean-clad legs and stomped her feet in black boots.
“Hi, Samantha!” She held out a hand with a warm smile and brushed some of her
long brown locks over her shoulder. “Could I come in?”
“Uh, sure.” I took two steps back, still dazed.
She came inside and rubbed her arms over her coat. “Oh, hello, Rebecca. How are
you dear?”
Becky came forward with strained features. As Malinda kissed her on the cheek,
she looked at the floor. “I’m good, Ms. Decraw. How are you?”
“This is quite chilly, even for January. Don’t you think, Rebecca? I have to
say, I’ve gotten to know your mother a bit more from the Country Club and I find
her delightful. You must tell her.” The warmth Malinda oozed made me take a step
back. It was immediate and seemed heartfelt. Her eyes twinkled a bit as she
spoke to Becky, who seemed shy all the sudden.
“I will. I know she really likes you too.”
Malinda’s cheeks were pink and she pressed a hand to her neck as a gushing laugh
bubbled forth. “Oh dear. Have I overwhelmed you? Laura told me that can happen
sometimes. And how is your friendship with Adam going along? He comes over all
the time now for dinner. He’s such a charming young man. I couldn’t be happier
for the two of you.”
“Wait—what?” I turned to Becky and lifted an eyebrow. “Are you and Adam
dating?”
She stood frozen. The blood drained from her cheeks.
“Goodness, no.” Malinda laughed again and placed a gentle hand to my arm. “Laura
and I have grown quite close. She’s told me all about Rebecca’s feelings for
Adam. And I approve, whole-heartedly. But I’ve never been a fan of some of
Mark’s friends. Some of those girls are so aggressive and provocative. I say a
girl should remain a girl, at least while in high school. She can go crazy in
college. That’s the time to find herself. Though, Rebecca sweetheart, word’s the
mum with me if you do have a few wild nights in college. I won’t tell a
soul.”
I swung between the two and knew I must’ve looked as a scarecrow. “Huh? The two
of you are close?”
“Oh, heavens, Samantha. I completely forgot why I came over.” She chuckled again
and the sound filled the air. Dimples appeared in her flushed cheeks. “I live
across the street. I wasn’t sure if you knew that. I’m so glad you and Mark have
become friends, but I wasn’t sure if you were aware of where we lived. And I
know David hasn’t wanted to bother you with that information yet. You know how
he is; he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on you. He thinks you’ve been
through so much, but I keep telling him that you seem like a tough girl. You’ve
got a clear head on your shoulders and you’ve got oomph, if you know what I
mean.”
Becky giggled behind her hands. When she saw my glare, she turned away. The
laughter didn’t stop.
Malinda’s hand fluttered through the air, as if she were drawing a picture.
“I’ve been so curious to see the inside of this home. An artist owned it before
your father bought it and I heard he renovated some of the rooms. I’ve been
bursting at the seams for any little excuse to come over and when David told me
you’d be my neighbor, I was tickled with gravy.”
The Kades lived two houses down. “I’ve been your neighbor for awhile.”
“Oh.” She flapped her hand at me. “That doesn’t count. James Kade kept the
house, but Helen was the one who owned it. And that woman’s never been a
neighbor, if you know what I mean. I had hoped for a little bit when Mark
mentioned that he met Logan Kade at a football camp, but I knew not to get my
hopes up. The Kades don’t let anyone in that home and I mean anyone. I’m no
dummy. Then when your mother moved in, pfft! I knew those gates will forever be
locked up now. And certainly now that David and I hope to get married.” She
stopped suddenly and pierced me with her gaze. “You do know that, don’t you,
darling? I wanted Mark to whisper that bit in your ears. David wants to wait,
but heavens to pieces. I have no intention of waiting. I’ve been eyeing your
daddy for a long time. When Mark told me the coach was splitting from his wife,
I celebrated that night with my girlfriends and a little Mr. Merlot, if you know
what I mean?” She giggled and her cheeks got pinker.
I’d never spoken to David’s girlfriend, but this wasn’t what I expected. She
remained in the background the few times I saw them together and since the
settlement was agreed that I could spend time with him, it’d only been him and
me at the old house. When Mark told me that he thought his mother and my father
were going to get hitched, I hadn’t known what to say so I’d never spoken of it
to David. And now that I heard confirmation that they hadn’t, I relaxed a bit,
but from the determination in Malinda’s eyes, I knew the man who raised me was
already spoken for. I wasn’t sure if David knew it was for the rest of his
life.
“But enough with my chitter chatter. I’m so excited to finally be speaking to
you. I’ve heard such great things from David and Mark. Even Adam’s spoke highly
of you when he comes for dinner, and that’s quite a bit now. He practically
lives with us now that his father’s got himself a new little missy—” Her eyes
popped out and she gasped. Then she patted her cheeks. “Let’s let that be
between us girls, hmmm? Adam never asked for me to be quiet, but I know he
wouldn’t want that out. I feel so bad now.” But her voice perked up. “So,
Samantha, would you like to come for dinner this Friday evening? We finally have
those evenings free again and I love to entertain Friday evenings. Let’s say at
six? Rebecca, would you like to come as well? Hell, I’ll invite Adam too.” She
winked at us. “Let’s hope the two boys don’t bring their female friends. Those
girls can be quite nasty.”
My mouth had fallen open at some point. It stayed there now.
“Okay.” She wiggled her fingers at us as she started for the door. “Toodles,
wiggles, and all forms of positive energy I’m sending your way. I’ll see both of
you this Friday at six? Oh, and maybe this can be a secret as well? I’d just
love to surprise your father, Samantha. He’s been so worried about adding more
stress, but I kept telling him nonsense. It’d tickle his goat if he saw you for
dinner that night.”
When she opened the door, a pizza delivery girl was on the other side. Her hand
had been raised for the buzzer, but she stepped back when Malinda appeared.
“Oooh, pizza!” she cooed and reached into her purse. “Let me pay for that. How
much was it, sweetie?”
The girl never blinked an eye as she told her the amount. When she got a ten
dollar tip, she gave her a closed mouth grin and stuffed the money in her
pocket. The pizza was handed over the next second and we watched as she hurried
to her car and drove away.
Malinda winked at us again. “They’re always scared I made a mistake with the
tip. They speed off before I realize my mistake. They tend to think I’m a bit
ditzy at times. Okay, have fun darlings. See you on Friday again. I’m so
excited. I’m going to hurry home and start choosing recipes.”
When I took the pizza to the kitchen and Becky had closed the door, I was quiet
for a moment and then both of us doubled over in laughter. As I wiped a tear
from my eye, I shook my head. “David doesn’t know what he’s going himself into.
That woman is anything, but ditzy.”
Becky hopped on a barstool and tried to contain her giggles. “Mark’s been so
embarrassed of her at the Club. Now I know why.”
“That woman’s a happy tornado.” I grabbed two plates and handed one to Becky
before I pulled out some cheese and saw a bottle of wine in the refrigerator. It
wasn’t long before we traipsed downstairs to the theatre with our plates full
and our glasses just as full. When we settled in, with blankets draped over, and
the movie starting, Becky sighed.
“What’s wrong?” I glanced over.
She gave me a pained look. “I’m real sorry for avoiding you these last three
months. I was stupid.”
My chest tightened and I gripped hardened on my plate. “That’s okay.” My throat
had swollen.
She picked at her blanket. “It’s not. I wasn’t the friend to you that I said I’d
be. I abandoned you too.”
“I didn’t really feel abandoned, you know.”
She grinned and gathered her blanket in her hands. She pressed it against her
face, but the laughter peeled through it. “Miranda sure thought she was Queen of
the town when Logan dated her.”
I grinned at the memory. Miranda and Logan dated for two months. It was long
enough for her to feel secure and parade her new notch on the social ladder to
make the rest of her friends get mad. Cassandra and Amelia had grown tired of
Miranda’s ego after a week and they started to make snide comments to her not
long after that. Emily remained quiet, but there was always a smirk on her face
when their queen swished down the school’s hallway. And since Miranda dropped
Peter Glasburg, he rebounded by dating Cassandra, which was another reason the
snide comments doubled after another week.
Adam and Mark kept quiet, but they physically rallied behind Peter. The three
guys of the Academy Elite were always with each other.
How did know I all this? Because Miranda considered herself my new best friend.
As she put it one day, I was dating Mason. She was dating Logan. It would make
sense if we were friends. It hadn’t made sense to me. I tried to keep my
solitude going, but Miranda would flank me in the hallways, at my car, in the
lunchroom.
She gushed about our future double dates. I kept quiet. Logan only laughed when
I would tell him her plans. He had no intention of taking Miranda on a date, but
he admitted one time that he enjoyed the sex. However, after two weeks and no
dates had been planned, Miranda started to question me. The ego dropped a bit
and her insecurity rose.
After the third week, and when it was past due when she expected to be invited
inside the Kade mansion, Logan’s nonchalant treatment turned Miranda into a
sputtering girl with a crush. She talked about him, dreamt about him, asked
others questions about him, and wrote a few essays for school about him.
Her notch as the school’s queen and leader of the Academy Elite was gone.
Cassandra took the reins with Peter at her side. Miranda was tolerated because
of Logan’s attachment to her, but when he dumped her, she had become a shadow of
herself. And the way he ended things? He went to a party without her, saw she
was there, and slept with a cheerleader from his school.
The next night, he slept with another cheerleader.
And the third night of the weekend, it was a dance girl from the Academy.
There was no doubt about it. Logan and Miranda were done. And that meant that
Miranda was done. She’d been made into a fool. The planned out execution had
been ruthless, but it was effective. The Academy Elite no longer cared about me.
Their new focus was on Miranda and it was now a question through the school if
Miranda was even considered Academy Elite anymore?
Becky whispered when the movie started, “I heard that Miranda’s trying to get
Peter back, but he’s not having it.”
I paused the movie and sat up. “What’d Cassandra do?”
She lifted both shoulders. “No clue. Adam won’t tell me, but I heard there was a
fight between them. I think it was at a Public party. Mason and Logan didn’t
tell you?”
I rolled my eyes. “If they don’t give a shit, they won’t pay attention. And
trust me; they don’t give a shit about that sort of thing.”
Becky hid a grin behind her hands. “I heard that Miranda’s mad because Mason’s
still dating you and she’s not dating Logan anymore.”
I snorted. “One of these days, she’ll figure out the truth.”
“What’s that?”
I grew still and masked the disgust in my voice. I kept a blank slate over my
face too. “Nothing. Her and Logan were never serious.”
“Yeah.” Becky nodded, knowing so much. “I could see that. Logan doesn’t want to
settle down. Everyone can see that.”
I sighed quietly to myself. Since both Kades had a girlfriend, one still did,
their reputation had changed through town. They were now viewed as available and
girls started to wonder if they could ensnare one of the Kades. I knew I’d had
enough of my fill watching girls throw themselves at Mason when we’d go out. It
didn’t stop at parties, but when we’d go out to eat or get ice cream or grab a
movie or…I shook my head when we had his car cleaned. There’d been two girls who
left underwear in his backseat and their phone numbers pinned with them.
Most had stayed away because Mason wanted it that way. He picked, they didn’t,
but they no longer cared about that. And they continued to not care the longer
we were together.
“Sam?”
“Mmm?” I was ripped from my thoughts and saw Becky peering at me with an odd
expression on her face.
“You want to start the movie?”
“Oh, yeah. Sure.” I quickly hit the button the remote and curled underneath my
blanket when the opening credits rolled across the screen. And then it wasn’t
long before I felt my eyelids starting to close. They were so heavy. The blanket
was so warm. The theatre was dark and…
When I started to wake up, I was aware of two voices over my head.
“…like this since we started the movie.”
A deeper voice commented, “I’ll take care of her. You can go.”
“I want to stay.”
The male voice snapped, “Fucking go.”
My eyes were so heavy, but I opened them to squint up. “Mason?”
He bent down and slid his arms under me. I felt myself being lifted in the air
and he cradled me against his chest. “Hey, babe. Go to sleep.”
“Sam? Can I stay?”
I groaned and burrowed closer to him. I didn’t want to deal with anyone. My
whole body was heavy and warm and my eyelids started to droop again. Something
nagged me at the back of my mind. I was supposed to do something—and then I felt
a kiss on my forehead. Mason whispered, “Go to sleep.”
And I did.
“Malinda Decraw?” I blinked in shock. Mark’s mother stood on my doorstep with a
covered casserole in her arms. She wore a red coat with a red scarf draped and
knotted in a fashionable way. She had her long brown mane of hair with gentle
curls swept over one shoulder. And as she stood there a moment, she rubbed at
one of her jean-clad legs and stomped her feet in black boots.
“Hi, Samantha!” She held out a hand with a warm smile and brushed some of her
long brown locks over her shoulder. “Could I come in?”
“Uh, sure.” I took two steps back, still dazed.
She came inside and rubbed her arms over her coat. “Oh, hello, Rebecca. How are
you dear?”
Becky came forward with strained features. As Malinda kissed her on the cheek,
she looked at the floor. “I’m good, Ms. Decraw. How are you?”
“This is quite chilly, even for January. Don’t you think, Rebecca? I have to
say, I’ve gotten to know your mother a bit more from the Country Club and I find
her delightful. You must tell her.” The warmth Malinda oozed made me take a step
back. It was immediate and seemed heartfelt. Her eyes twinkled a bit as she
spoke to Becky, who seemed shy all the sudden.
“I will. I know she really likes you too.”
Malinda’s cheeks were pink and she pressed a hand to her neck as a gushing laugh
bubbled forth. “Oh dear. Have I overwhelmed you? Laura told me that can happen
sometimes. And how is your friendship with Adam going along? He comes over all
the time now for dinner. He’s such a charming young man. I couldn’t be happier
for the two of you.”
“Wait—what?” I turned to Becky and lifted an eyebrow. “Are you and Adam
dating?”
She stood frozen. The blood drained from her cheeks.
“Goodness, no.” Malinda laughed again and placed a gentle hand to my arm. “Laura
and I have grown quite close. She’s told me all about Rebecca’s feelings for
Adam. And I approve, whole-heartedly. But I’ve never been a fan of some of
Mark’s friends. Some of those girls are so aggressive and provocative. I say a
girl should remain a girl, at least while in high school. She can go crazy in
college. That’s the time to find herself. Though, Rebecca sweetheart, word’s the
mum with me if you do have a few wild nights in college. I won’t tell a
soul.”
I swung between the two and knew I must’ve looked as a scarecrow. “Huh? The two
of you are close?”
“Oh, heavens, Samantha. I completely forgot why I came over.” She chuckled again
and the sound filled the air. Dimples appeared in her flushed cheeks. “I live
across the street. I wasn’t sure if you knew that. I’m so glad you and Mark have
become friends, but I wasn’t sure if you were aware of where we lived. And I
know David hasn’t wanted to bother you with that information yet. You know how
he is; he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on you. He thinks you’ve been
through so much, but I keep telling him that you seem like a tough girl. You’ve
got a clear head on your shoulders and you’ve got oomph, if you know what I
mean.”
Becky giggled behind her hands. When she saw my glare, she turned away. The
laughter didn’t stop.
Malinda’s hand fluttered through the air, as if she were drawing a picture.
“I’ve been so curious to see the inside of this home. An artist owned it before
your father bought it and I heard he renovated some of the rooms. I’ve been
bursting at the seams for any little excuse to come over and when David told me
you’d be my neighbor, I was tickled with gravy.”
The Kades lived two houses down. “I’ve been your neighbor for awhile.”
“Oh.” She flapped her hand at me. “That doesn’t count. James Kade kept the
house, but Helen was the one who owned it. And that woman’s never been a
neighbor, if you know what I mean. I had hoped for a little bit when Mark
mentioned that he met Logan Kade at a football camp, but I knew not to get my
hopes up. The Kades don’t let anyone in that home and I mean anyone. I’m no
dummy. Then when your mother moved in, pfft! I knew those gates will forever be
locked up now. And certainly now that David and I hope to get married.” She
stopped suddenly and pierced me with her gaze. “You do know that, don’t you,
darling? I wanted Mark to whisper that bit in your ears. David wants to wait,
but heavens to pieces. I have no intention of waiting. I’ve been eyeing your
daddy for a long time. When Mark told me the coach was splitting from his wife,
I celebrated that night with my girlfriends and a little Mr. Merlot, if you know
what I mean?” She giggled and her cheeks got pinker.
I’d never spoken to David’s girlfriend, but this wasn’t what I expected. She
remained in the background the few times I saw them together and since the
settlement was agreed that I could spend time with him, it’d only been him and
me at the old house. When Mark told me that he thought his mother and my father
were going to get hitched, I hadn’t known what to say so I’d never spoken of it
to David. And now that I heard confirmation that they hadn’t, I relaxed a bit,
but from the determination in Malinda’s eyes, I knew the man who raised me was
already spoken for. I wasn’t sure if David knew it was for the rest of his
life.
“But enough with my chitter chatter. I’m so excited to finally be speaking to
you. I’ve heard such great things from David and Mark. Even Adam’s spoke highly
of you when he comes for dinner, and that’s quite a bit now. He practically
lives with us now that his father’s got himself a new little missy—” Her eyes
popped out and she gasped. Then she patted her cheeks. “Let’s let that be
between us girls, hmmm? Adam never asked for me to be quiet, but I know he
wouldn’t want that out. I feel so bad now.” But her voice perked up. “So,
Samantha, would you like to come for dinner this Friday evening? We finally have
those evenings free again and I love to entertain Friday evenings. Let’s say at
six? Rebecca, would you like to come as well? Hell, I’ll invite Adam too.” She
winked at us. “Let’s hope the two boys don’t bring their female friends. Those
girls can be quite nasty.”
My mouth had fallen open at some point. It stayed there now.
“Okay.” She wiggled her fingers at us as she started for the door. “Toodles,
wiggles, and all forms of positive energy I’m sending your way. I’ll see both of
you this Friday at six? Oh, and maybe this can be a secret as well? I’d just
love to surprise your father, Samantha. He’s been so worried about adding more
stress, but I kept telling him nonsense. It’d tickle his goat if he saw you for
dinner that night.”
When she opened the door, a pizza delivery girl was on the other side. Her hand
had been raised for the buzzer, but she stepped back when Malinda appeared.
“Oooh, pizza!” she cooed and reached into her purse. “Let me pay for that. How
much was it, sweetie?”
The girl never blinked an eye as she told her the amount. When she got a ten
dollar tip, she gave her a closed mouth grin and stuffed the money in her
pocket. The pizza was handed over the next second and we watched as she hurried
to her car and drove away.
Malinda winked at us again. “They’re always scared I made a mistake with the
tip. They speed off before I realize my mistake. They tend to think I’m a bit
ditzy at times. Okay, have fun darlings. See you on Friday again. I’m so
excited. I’m going to hurry home and start choosing recipes.”
When I took the pizza to the kitchen and Becky had closed the door, I was quiet
for a moment and then both of us doubled over in laughter. As I wiped a tear
from my eye, I shook my head. “David doesn’t know what he’s going himself into.
That woman is anything, but ditzy.”
Becky hopped on a barstool and tried to contain her giggles. “Mark’s been so
embarrassed of her at the Club. Now I know why.”
“That woman’s a happy tornado.” I grabbed two plates and handed one to Becky
before I pulled out some cheese and saw a bottle of wine in the refrigerator. It
wasn’t long before we traipsed downstairs to the theatre with our plates full
and our glasses just as full. When we settled in, with blankets draped over, and
the movie starting, Becky sighed.
“What’s wrong?” I glanced over.
She gave me a pained look. “I’m real sorry for avoiding you these last three
months. I was stupid.”
My chest tightened and I gripped hardened on my plate. “That’s okay.” My throat
had swollen.
She picked at her blanket. “It’s not. I wasn’t the friend to you that I said I’d
be. I abandoned you too.”
“I didn’t really feel abandoned, you know.”
She grinned and gathered her blanket in her hands. She pressed it against her
face, but the laughter peeled through it. “Miranda sure thought she was Queen of
the town when Logan dated her.”
I grinned at the memory. Miranda and Logan dated for two months. It was long
enough for her to feel secure and parade her new notch on the social ladder to
make the rest of her friends get mad. Cassandra and Amelia had grown tired of
Miranda’s ego after a week and they started to make snide comments to her not
long after that. Emily remained quiet, but there was always a smirk on her face
when their queen swished down the school’s hallway. And since Miranda dropped
Peter Glasburg, he rebounded by dating Cassandra, which was another reason the
snide comments doubled after another week.
Adam and Mark kept quiet, but they physically rallied behind Peter. The three
guys of the Academy Elite were always with each other.
How did know I all this? Because Miranda considered herself my new best friend.
As she put it one day, I was dating Mason. She was dating Logan. It would make
sense if we were friends. It hadn’t made sense to me. I tried to keep my
solitude going, but Miranda would flank me in the hallways, at my car, in the
lunchroom.
She gushed about our future double dates. I kept quiet. Logan only laughed when
I would tell him her plans. He had no intention of taking Miranda on a date, but
he admitted one time that he enjoyed the sex. However, after two weeks and no
dates had been planned, Miranda started to question me. The ego dropped a bit
and her insecurity rose.
After the third week, and when it was past due when she expected to be invited
inside the Kade mansion, Logan’s nonchalant treatment turned Miranda into a
sputtering girl with a crush. She talked about him, dreamt about him, asked
others questions about him, and wrote a few essays for school about him.
Her notch as the school’s queen and leader of the Academy Elite was gone.
Cassandra took the reins with Peter at her side. Miranda was tolerated because
of Logan’s attachment to her, but when he dumped her, she had become a shadow of
herself. And the way he ended things? He went to a party without her, saw she
was there, and slept with a cheerleader from his school.
The next night, he slept with another cheerleader.
And the third night of the weekend, it was a dance girl from the Academy.
There was no doubt about it. Logan and Miranda were done. And that meant that
Miranda was done. She’d been made into a fool. The planned out execution had
been ruthless, but it was effective. The Academy Elite no longer cared about me.
Their new focus was on Miranda and it was now a question through the school if
Miranda was even considered Academy Elite anymore?
Becky whispered when the movie started, “I heard that Miranda’s trying to get
Peter back, but he’s not having it.”
I paused the movie and sat up. “What’d Cassandra do?”
She lifted both shoulders. “No clue. Adam won’t tell me, but I heard there was a
fight between them. I think it was at a Public party. Mason and Logan didn’t
tell you?”
I rolled my eyes. “If they don’t give a shit, they won’t pay attention. And
trust me; they don’t give a shit about that sort of thing.”
Becky hid a grin behind her hands. “I heard that Miranda’s mad because Mason’s
still dating you and she’s not dating Logan anymore.”
I snorted. “One of these days, she’ll figure out the truth.”
“What’s that?”
I grew still and masked the disgust in my voice. I kept a blank slate over my
face too. “Nothing. Her and Logan were never serious.”
“Yeah.” Becky nodded, knowing so much. “I could see that. Logan doesn’t want to
settle down. Everyone can see that.”
I sighed quietly to myself. Since both Kades had a girlfriend, one still did,
their reputation had changed through town. They were now viewed as available and
girls started to wonder if they could ensnare one of the Kades. I knew I’d had
enough of my fill watching girls throw themselves at Mason when we’d go out. It
didn’t stop at parties, but when we’d go out to eat or get ice cream or grab a
movie or…I shook my head when we had his car cleaned. There’d been two girls who
left underwear in his backseat and their phone numbers pinned with them.
Most had stayed away because Mason wanted it that way. He picked, they didn’t,
but they no longer cared about that. And they continued to not care the longer
we were together.
“Sam?”
“Mmm?” I was ripped from my thoughts and saw Becky peering at me with an odd
expression on her face.
“You want to start the movie?”
“Oh, yeah. Sure.” I quickly hit the button the remote and curled underneath my
blanket when the opening credits rolled across the screen. And then it wasn’t
long before I felt my eyelids starting to close. They were so heavy. The blanket
was so warm. The theatre was dark and…
When I started to wake up, I was aware of two voices over my head.
“…like this since we started the movie.”
A deeper voice commented, “I’ll take care of her. You can go.”
“I want to stay.”
The male voice snapped, “Fucking go.”
My eyes were so heavy, but I opened them to squint up. “Mason?”
He bent down and slid his arms under me. I felt myself being lifted in the air
and he cradled me against his chest. “Hey, babe. Go to sleep.”
“Sam? Can I stay?”
I groaned and burrowed closer to him. I didn’t want to deal with anyone. My
whole body was heavy and warm and my eyelids started to droop again. Something
nagged me at the back of my mind. I was supposed to do something—and then I felt
a kiss on my forehead. Mason whispered, “Go to sleep.”
And I did.
