Chapter 27

After searching through my closet I decided on just wearing a pair of nice jeans, and one of my fancier long sleeve shirts with some flats. I still had plenty of time before he showed up so I just laid it out on my bed and watched another episode of Arrow. 

When it was over I took a quick shower. I blow-dried my hair and left it in its natural wavy state. I threw my clothes on and added some lip gloss for a little extra flare. Looking into the mirror I was satisfied with my look and headed downstairs. James was sitting on the couch watching tv, so I sat next to him. He threw his arms around my shoulders but was otherwise silent and continued watching the screen. 

Only a couple of minutes later, there was a knock on the door and instantly my nerves shot through the roof. What if something did go wrong? What would happen to our friendship? And if we weren’t friends anymore, Kevin and Isiah probably wouldn’t be either. They were his friends first after all. I’d be all alone again. 

James gave me a quick squeeze and got up to open the door. “You’ll be fine.” 

I stood up and walked a little closer to the door, but still out of sight. I heard the door open and took a deep breath. 

“Hello, Mr. Allen. How are you?” Mason spoke. 

“Very well. And you, Mason?” 

“Excited.” 

“You should be. Have fun, but don’t try anything funny.” 

Uh oh. 

Without waiting to hear anything else I made myself known and wrapped my arm around Mason’s. 

“Alright, thanks. I think we’ll be going now,” I laughed nervously. I threw a quick bye over my shoulder and shut the door behind us, taking a deep breath. “Sorry about that.” I laughed. 

Mason laughed as well. “That’s alright.” I saw Mason looking at me and blushed under his gaze. 

“You look really pretty tonight, Sera.” 

I couldn’t help but blush and thank him. He led me to the car opening the back door for me and I hopped in. He closed the door and hopped in on the other side. His mom greeted me politely but didn’t say anything else. She pulled out of the driveway and started heading to the movie theater. The radio was playing lightly in the background as we struggled to find something to talk about. It was starting to get awkward when Spectrum by Zedd came on the radio. 

“Hey! I love this song!” I said. 

“Me too! Mom, can you turn it up?” She turned it up without speaking. 

As soon as the lyrics started Mason and I began to sing along and dance the best that we could in our seats. We laughed at each other’s dance moves as we sang. The song came to a close too quickly but we continued to laugh. That launched us into a conversation about music that lasted the entire drive there. 

Mason’s mom dropped us off at the entrance and pulled off leaving us alone. Mason slid his hand into mine and lead us to the entrance holding the door open for me again. What a gentleman. 

“So what movie are we gonna see anyway?” 

“Ah, right. Well, I was thinking we could see Ready Player One.” 

“That’s the movie you were talking about forever ago! You haven’t seen it yet?” 

“No, it was just released a couple of months ago.” 

“Well, it sounds perfect.” 

We waited in line chatting about random things and then Mason bought the tickets. We made our way into the theater and were on our way to the right room when Mason stopped. 

“We almost forgot the most important part! Popcorn!” 

We turned back around and got in the long line for popcorn. Mason ordered a large popcorn and candy for the two of us to share, a Mtn. Dew for him, and an Icee for me. After getting all of those things we headed for the room again. We were the first ones there and chose the seats in the middle towards the back. 

We watched the whole movie holding hands but he eventually wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I had flashbacks of the time he came over to my house and we watched The Secret Life of Pets together. It brought a smile to my face. 

From time to time Mason would lean over and explain some of the references that I didn’t get. I did like video games, but I didn't play a lot of them. Most of the jokes and references went right over my head, but I enjoyed the movie anyway. It got me thinking about how cool being able to play a game like that would be. It also reminded me of some show that Kevin was talking about not too long ago. Sword something Online… It was based on the same concept. 

When the movie ended we threw away our leftover popcorn and empty drinks. We didn’t even touch our candy. We waited in the lobby until Mason’s mom came to pick us up. Mason held the door open for me again and we headed home. On our way back, we jammed out to whatever came on the radio instead of talking. It wasn’t long before we were pulling into my driveway. Mason hopped out and opened my door, leading me to the porch. 

“I had a lot of fun tonight, Sera” I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. 

“I had a lot of fun too.” 

“Yeah?” 

I nodded my head as I laughed. “Yeah.” 

“Do you think that we could do it again?” 

“I would love to.” 

I watched as his eyes glanced down to my lips and then back up to my eyes. 

Was he… going to kiss me? 

He took a step closer to me and his one hand came up to cup my cheek. The other rested on my waist. Before I could really process what was happening his lips landed on mine. My eyes slowly fell closed as I leaned into the kiss. It must’ve only been seconds but it felt like more before he pulled away. There was an obvious blush on my face. I must’ve looked like a tomato, but his cheeks were also tinted a little. 

Not knowing what to do I started to turn towards the door, but he grabbed my hand before I got anywhere. He leaned down a little to place a soft kiss on my hand that had my blush darkening. 

“Goodnight, Sera.” 

“Goodnight, Mason.” 

I opened the door and shut it behind me. I leaned against it, somehow out of breath. I just got my first kiss. 

Out of nowhere, James appeared in front of me with a knowing smirk on his face. “Why’s your face so red, Sera?”

 I took one of my flats off and chucked it at him, sadly missing. 

“Shut up!”