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Chapter Twelve

"I think it's really good."

I beamed. I had worked on the painting for four days and had given it to Mason when he had gotten home from the diner. Mason insisted that I go up to his room for the official 'hanging.' He stood there nodding his head in approval.

Mason had a typical guy's room. Football and basketball posters hung on the walls and dirty clothes were everywhere. I'm pretty sure somewhere there was some old rotten food lurking in a corner. The painting stuck out like a sore thumb, but he seemed oblivious.

Dan's room was right next to Mason's. As far as I was concerned, it was an atypical room for a ten year old. Well, at least it was when I compared it to Joe's room back home. Dan had posters of Broadway plays (Chicago) and endangered animals hanging on the walls with a chart of the periodic table. His bookshelves were crammed with classic books. In contrast, my brother Joe had posters from all the latest horror movies. His bookshelves were cluttered with small figurines of cinema's greatest killers.

I kinda missed Joe.

"This is the best early birthday present I could ask for," Mason said. I knew his birthday was in two weeks. I smiled.

"And what is your dad doing for your birthday?"

I hadn't wanted a big sweet 16. Most of the girls in my school thought that turning sixteen meant a party of wedding-like proportions. I had spent the day with the family going to a movie, putt-putt, and dinner.

That's just how I roll.

"Well, dad rented out this huge teen club in Lexington. Pretty much everybody in town's invited. And you'll be my date of course."

I smiled. "I thought we were keeping it on the down low."

Mason turned. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I still hadn't gotten the whole 'heart pounding' thing under control, but it was getting better.

"There's lots of dark corners in a club," he whispered.

"MASON! SHELBY! DINNER!"

The voice sounded close. Not bottom of the stairs close. More like half-way up the stairs close. Or top of the stairs close. Mason stepped away.

"I hate interruptions," he muttered. He walked out of the room and I followed close behind.

I knew exactly what he meant.

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The night was warm. Even the cool air coming out of the vent wasn't enough to cool off my room. I had just spent the last three hours experiencing a Richardson family game night. I don't think I scored brownie points with Kevin. We had ended up on a team for Pictionary against Addy, Mason, and Dan. Unlike my dad, Kevin didn't know how to string parts of a word together. I mean, really, how hard is it to put a picture of a pea and a rooster together to get peacock?

It was eleven o'clock and there was a full moon shining through my window. I was restless. I was...

At first I thought I was hearing things. When I heard the soft tap on my door a second time, I knew it was real. I slid out of bed and cracked open my door. Mason's shaggy blonde head peered in at me.

"I can't sleep," he whispered.

"Me either."

He smiled. "Come with me."

"Wait, wha--"

He turned and headed in the direction of the stairs. I looked back at my empty room and followed.

Our bare feet didn't make a sound as we walked down the stairs and across the dark and empty living room. Mason looked around, turned the lock, and opened the front door. He winked (yes, winked) and slipped outside. My curiosity peeked, I followed. I shuffled to the side as he pulled a key out of the pocket in his pajama pants and locked the door.

"Where are we going?" I whispered.

"You'll see."

The grass was soft on the bottom of my feet. He took my hand and we started to walk across the lawn. As the house became just a dot in the distance, I began to wonder is Mason had lost his mind.

"Mas, it's almost midnight," I whispered. He took my hand.

"I know."

We walked for over a half hour. It was kind of nice walking underneath the moonlight. Sure, it was hot, but it wasn't like I did this kind of thing every day.

After another ten minutes, I had figured out where we were going. The huge field and serene lake were just ahead.

"Race ya!" Mason suddenly called. He dropped my hand and took off. I let out a frustrated cry and ran after him. It was easier to run barefooted. I lowered my head like a bull and charged.

He still ended up beating me. We both stopped by the edge of the lake, breathing hard to catch our breath. Mason hiked up his pajama pants and dunked his legs into the water. I did the same. We sat in companionable silence. I stared up at the stars.

"They don't make stars like these in Florida," I said.

"They're not as pretty as you," Mason whispered.

His voice was close. I felt the soft press of his lips to my shoulder.

"Let's go swimming," he whispered, his lips right next to my skin.

"I didn't bring a suit," I whispered back. I looked at him. He raised his head and smiled.

"So?"

"You need a swimsuit to swim," I said. Mas stood up.

"No you don't."

Before I could argue with that, he yanked off his pajama pants. I had another 'Bayer' moment when he took off his boxers too. I resisted the urge to bite my palm.

He was naked.

I know that sounds stupid. Here I was sixteen years old and I was blushing as red as my hair. It wasn't like I hadn't seen naked boys. But they were little boys. Stupid naked little brothers.

Mason didn't look stupid. And he wasn't a brother. And he wasn't a little boy.

And...

I saw the grin on his face for just a moment before he jumped into the lake. When he came up, he ran a hand through his hair and swam close. His finger brushed the bottom of my bare foot still in the water.

"Join me," he said softly.

I had a feeling that I was crossing some invisible boundary in life. The familiar sensation I got when I did something crazy was building. This was definitely crazy. It was the middle of the night and it was like everyone in the world was asleep except Mason and me.

I swung my legs out of the water.

I was only going to live once...might as well make it interesting, right?