Ch. 26: Intentions

-Bennett-

"I'll beat his ass," Eve assured me.

And she seemed quite set on it too, pacing beside our table while indignantly chomping down on a breadstick. Coincidentally, the one class we shared had been cancelled; although, we hadn't realized until we were already on campus and saw the hastily written notice taped on the door.

Eve had arrived earlier and realized I probably wouldn't check my e-mail either, so she'd patiently waited outside of class. She was beaming when I showed up a few minutes before class was meant to start... just as she'd expected.

Typically, I'd just head down to the gym earlier if any class were cancelled, but Eve had dragged me off before I could even process what was going on. So, we'd bought some food and settled down at one of the park tables near the far edge of the campus cafeteria, which was conveniently settled right over a large tree's pleasant shade.

I was languidly resting against the table, using my backpack as a makeshift pillow, while slowly sipping on my smoothie and entertaining myself with Eve's phone. Eve, on the other hand, was a bit too fired up for that, which was more or less my fault.

Quite frankly, I hadn't actually meant to spill my guts about what had happened last night, even if I'd spent most of the night spiraling while trying to decipher Mason's intentions. But one look at me and Eve had immediately asked what was wrong, and it hadn't taken much to get me to crack. Still, that sentiment of regret had only deepened when, by the end of my vent, I realized that I'd unintentionally set Mason up as some kind of villain...

If it had even been unintentional.

Because, really, I couldn't ignore the twinge of irritation that stirred up at the reminder that Mason had asked to train me... as if I didn't work at a goddamn gym. After growing up with an obnoxious gym rat of a father who'd spontaneously shove my shirt up to measure my body fat and conducted weekly weigh-ins, it almost felt like a cruel joke to have my knowledge questioned like this. And I knew it wasn't fair to just assume the worst, to expect Mason to know, but then I recalled the way he'd inspected my body while offering his help...

"I'm not some helpless victim," I complained while lifting my head up, as if I hadn't spent the last hour playing the part. "I think I'm just... I don't know. Maybe I'm taking it the wrong way."

"Bullshit."

"What if he just wanted a workout buddy?" I offered as a harmless option, wincing when she halted and glared at me, pointing the half-eaten breadstick in my face.

"Then why do you look like a kicked puppy?" Eve accused.

I just pouted, huffing up at her. "I don't."

"You're not helping your case. Or his."

I settled for focusing back on Eve's phone, spiritlessly scrolling through her timeline. I hadn't realized just how much I missed my phone until she handed hers over so I could put some music on. And now I refused to give it back. I kept switching between her social media apps, more entertained than before while somehow still insatiably bored.

"I mean it. I'll kick his ass. You said he's a Business Economics major, right? I'll go find him right now!" she declared.

I tugged on the back of Eve's hoodie as she started heading in the wrong direction, grumbling under my breath. "Please don't. That'd be so embarrassing."

I'd fled rather swiftly last night after agreeing to let Mason be my personal trainer, not waiting for Eric to rejoin us. He seemed nice, really, so it'd mostly been out of worry that he'd convince me to stick around any longer. I'd made up some excuse about needing to get some work done and went to hide out in the break room. Though, to be fair, at least it had given me some time to work on some assignments using Jonah's laptop.

I'd only sneaked my way out once the last bus of the night was set to pass, thankfully not bumping into Mason or his friend on my way out.

"The only one embarrassed will be Jason!"

"Mason."

"Right, the rat."

"Wouldn't you rather hang out with me?" I asked, flashing a weak smile.

Eve just huffed in annoyance and sat back down, angrily tearing into a pizza slice before offering me a bite. I just eyed it hesitantly before grimacing in response, shaking my smoothie at her. "I'm alright."

"You haven't even touched your food," she pointed out, signaling towards my untouched container of pasta.

"I'm saving it for work. I get hungry between classes," I replied, which was not necessarily a lie. Honestly, with how conflicted I felt at the moment, I just didn't have much of an appetite. I did take another sip of my pineapple smoothie, though, while continuing to aimlessly scroll through Eve's timeline. "Can you sit down, now? I'm not in the mood to chase you down if you decide to head to... the parking lot?"

"Fine, whatever," she grumbled before sitting back down beside me, leaning against my shoulder and sighing out in annoyance. "You win. I don't know what building Econ courses are held at..."

I chuckled at that, grinning against my backpack, but my eyes were still focused on the device. "Bit too far to walk there from here, honestly."

She hummed. "Isn't it by the main bookstore?"

I rolled my eyes, making it clear I wasn't giving any clues.

"Bennett..."

"Besides, what are you planning to do? Go to every single room until you hopefully find him? What if he doesn't have any classes at this time? Or even today?"

Eve narrowed her eyes, but she stopped arguing about it. "I see who's side you're on."

I shrugged. "My own? I want to keep my job."

"Fine..."

I sighed, relieved that I wasn't going to be forced to help Mason's family find a gravesite. Besides, the thought of running into Mason on campus was... a completely different depth of terrifying. What if I bumped into him while he was with his friends? Or worse, a girlfriend?

Hell no.

"Also, do you know when you're getting your phone back?" Eve asked while taking her phone back. I tried to complain, but I'd taken it prisoner for over an hour; in that case, perhaps it was time. "I miss texting you."

I shook my head slowly, sighing under my breath. "I'm likely going to have to get myself a new one. So, I need to wait until my next paycheck comes in... a week? I get paid every other Friday."

"Get the new one," she encouraged, albeit half-heartedly considering she had an older model herself.

"Well, he takes like seventy-five percent of it. I'll be lucky if I can afford a brick phone," I murmured in response,

Eve groaned. "He's the worst."

"Yep."

---

"Marissa," I acknowledged while casually walking up to the front desk, waiting as she took her sweet time replying back to a text before disinterestedly glancing up to meet my gaze. I shifted some weight off my left leg while leaning on the edge of the counter, still trying not to put too much strain on it while it recovered.

"What?"

I waved my card a bit, forcing a polite smile. "Scan me in, please?"

"Whatever," Marissa muttered while picking up the scanner. And it had nearly reached my card, except she suddenly pulled it back and frowned at me. "Wait..."

My eyes darted between my card and the scanner, and I chuckled a bit nervously. "What now?"

"What was that dude's deal anyways?" she suddenly asked while setting the scanner down, much to my surprise. I'd never seen her willingly trying to start a conversation with me, let alone one where she wasn't immediately insulting or mocking me. It was... suspicious to say the least.

I glanced back, noticing that at least nobody else was waiting to scan in, before warily turning back to her. "Uh... who?"

"Oh, don't play dumb," she retorted sarcastically. "Hot angry dude that's like twice your height? The one with the big tits?

I tried hard to stifle a laugh at that last comment, softly shaking my head in amusement. "Mason? He's not twice my height." I replied rather curiously, actively trying not to think about his muscular body. But God... was she right for once. Those pecs were a thing of wonder.

"Mason," she said aloud, smirking to herself. "What's his number?"

I scoffed. "What makes you think I have it?"

Marissa rolled her eyes. "He's your friend, isn't he? You were trailing after him like a lost puppy last time."

"Me?" I asked in disbelief, scoffing under my breath. "I—I was avoiding him!"

Marissa waved me off, indifferent to my personal issues. "Whatever. So, what's his deal, then? Is he single?"

I shrugged, snorting. "How would I know?"

She rolled her eyes. "I guess I can get his number from the system and tell him you gave it to me..."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "N—no! Don't do that!"

"Then, what is it?" she asked, pushing forward a pen and paper. "And make it legible."

I gritted my teeth, ignoring it in favor of glaring at her. "If you do that, I'll report you, Marissa."

She huffed under her breath, narrowing her eyes. "I know you're probably desperate to suck his dick or whatever... but there's no way Mason would ever be interested in you. Even if he was... y'know... girly pop."

"girly—what?"

"Gay," she snapped. "So, don't get your hopes up."

I paled a bit, suddenly wishing I hadn't engaged with her at all. I didn't even know what I could possibly say to get her off my trail. Telling my friends to get off my back was one thing, but Marissa was no friend of mine. I gulped, unwilling to meet her glare. "I—I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't think I noticed how you look at him? Dude, I actively try to ignore you and I still noticed it. You think he doesn't know... that it doesn't make him uncomfortable?"

I just lifted my card up, avoiding her intent gaze. "Just scan me in, Marissa."

Marissa listened to my request, surprisingly, but not without giggling under her breath. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

And I had the urge to lash out, sure. But she kind of had a point, as much as I hated to admit it. I was just as shocked that he hadn't rejected me yet. Though, perhaps he was waiting until I actually made a move to let me down easy.

"What the hell did I ever do to you?" I asked her, furrowing my eyebrows. What could she possibly gain from being so vile to me? Except, a gym member cleared their throats behind me in that moment. I apologized and kept it moving, certain that she wouldn't tell me even if she had a valid reason.

---

Throughout both of my class, I didn't spot Mason once.

He was nowhere in sight. I glanced up at the indoor running track every so often, hoping to see him running laps at some point, but no such luck. I also glanced out the windows every so often, watching the new passersby before focusing back on my class.

I didn't know why it bothered me so much all of a sudden, especially when there were other days where I didn't see him at all. Perhaps I was just overthinking after that ill-fated conversation with Marissa, but I couldn't help but sulk at the sudden radio silence.

It wasn't until my second class of the night finished and I left for the locker rooms that I found him in the hallway, leaning back against the wall and flashing me a warm, small smile.

Immediately, I felt the tension leaving my body. I flashed a weak smile in return, hesitantly walking over to him while eagerly ignoring the urge to run off. He'd been waiting for me. I didn't know why, but he had.

"Hey," I greeted quietly, a bit giddy despite the disarray of emotional anguish I'd gone through just earlier today, all at the hands of my own logic.

"Hey Bennett," Mason replied, and we stood in silence for a few seconds while I decided whether I should try to start a conversation or just excuse myself before I said something stupid. Marissa's words from earlier were still swirling in my head, buzzing around like flies.

But he was here.

"You left rather quickly yesterday," Mason pointed out, wincing a bit. "Is everything okay? You didn't change your mind, right?"

I shook my head, like the coward I was. "No, I was just busy. Sorry."

Mason let out a relieved sigh, suddenly chuckling under his breath while taking out his phone. "You didn't give me your number last night," he pointed out before reaching out to hand it to me. "So, we can... y'know. Coordinate and stuff."

And I just stared at the black device incredulously, not having expected this at all. I'd thought about exchanging numbers with him a few times, but it'd always been in the context of my own delusions. Like, it made sense that we'd need to exchange numbers to set-up times to train, but it still felt... like too much.

I started to take it. But then I abruptly remembered, with a sinking feeling, that there would be nowhere for the texts to go. I scratched the back of my head, glancing down nervously. "I—I lost my phone," I explained awkwardly, unwilling to explain what had actually happened. "So, I don't really have a way to text back right now."

Mason sighed. "Oh."

I nodded my head, wishing I'd sorted this out sooner. Though, the only reason I'd been waiting was due to not having enough money to buy a replacement. It wasn't like it was in my hands.

"Do you need one? I still have my previous model from before I upgraded," Mason pointed out casually, like it wasn't a big ask, and I just profusely shook my head. My eyes widened in disbelief as he tried to get another word in, a deep ache settling in the pit of my stomach.

"N-no! That's not necessary. I'm getting a new one, uhm, this weekend-ish?"

"You don't sound very sure," Mason replied, trying not to crack up.

"I am! Please, no more favors, okay?"

Mason deadpanned at that, but he nodded his head in agreement. "Fine, fine. It's not like I even use it anymore, though," he grumbled, but then he didn't press any further. Instead, he glanced around, suddenly walking over to some of the community sign-up sheets. He zeroed in on one for a community garden.

I frowned, curiously peering over at the paper. "You're signing up for something?"

Mason just chuckled in return, grabbing the pen they'd left hanging attached to a string, and he hastily scribbled something on the margin of one of the sign-up sheets. Then, he ripped it off before wincing back at me. "Don't tell anyone I did that."

"I—I won't," I assured him while suppressing a smile, suddenly furrowing my eyebrows in confusion as he pressed the piece of paper into my hand. When I peered down, there was his actual, literal number staring back up at me. All ten digits and everything. I glanced away, flustered by the realization.

"Text me first when you get your new phone," Mason instructed, though there was a soft grin on his face. "Alright?"

I nodded my head shyly, tucking the paper in my pocket. "I will."

"You want a ride?"

"I said no more favors." I pouted up at him, knowing damn well I'd caved if he asked even once more.

Mason huffed under his breath, groaning in annoyance. "Can't let me do one nice thing."

I was about to apologize, but Mason just patted my shoulder rather comfortingly, shaking me for good measure. "It's alright, Bennett. I understand." Then, he sighed, signaling towards the lobby. "I'd really like to hang out, but I need to go; I'm supposed to be studying for a big exam tonight."

I nodded my head, wondering why he was still here, then. "W-why did you come workout, then?"

Mason rolled his eyes, snorting under his breath. "Do you think I work out in jeans?" he retorted, playfully patting my left cheek before heading for the exit. "Get home safe."

Still somewhat perplexed, I gazed after him as he walked out, noticing that, yeah, he wasn't dressed in exercise clothes at all. In fact, he didn't even have his gym bag with him, which he most definitely always brought to the gym. Huh.

So, he'd stopped by just to exchange numbers?

I released a shaky sigh, unsure of what to make of that. I jolted as Jonah pulled up beside me, wearing a shit-eating grin.

"How much of that did you hear?" I asked, dreading what he'd assume.

"Oh, enough."

---

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please consider voting and commenting; I appreciate it immensely! Also, FRICTION is now out, which is Eric's story! Please do check it out!