Lillian Buchanan

Mason said nothing at the other rules, merely offered a nod here and there before accepting the pen. He looked down at the list, taking a deep breath. This was what he wanted. Wasn’t it? Without a second thought, he lifted the pen and signed his name beside hers, marking the document as officially as he could. He tossed the pen into the container afterward, waiting for the ink to dry before carefully folding up the document. He didn’t know what they’d do with it. If they lost it, would it make their rules any less significant? And if they didn’t, would they still have its hold? Mason didn’t know. All he knew was that he found himself agreeing to her plan. “One last time,” he agreed, handing her the paper. 

Mason rose from his spot, pulling on the discarded jacket he’d taken off when entering her room. “Let’s do it now. Just get it over with,” he said. The sooner this was done, the sooner they could move on. Yet, when he turned back, he didn’t know whether to offer his hand or to just gesture forward. How did they work as friends? They had been enemies and lovers for so long, Mason didn’t think he remembered. He offered his hand regardless. “Once and for all.”

Lily didn’t know the rules anymore as he held out his hand to her. The rules between friends cloudy when it held him as the subject. She hesitated, thoughts churning as she decided. In the end she found herself stepping forward and linking her fingers through his, as she would’ve done with Carter. “We should go now, before someone else comes along,” she said. The Billings girls, while now under her rule, could still be demanding. Lily lead them both out of her room, staying silent as they made their way across campus hand in hand. 

Mason nodded his head, for a moment allowing himself the luxury in believing that was it. He and Lily would be just friends for the remainder of their lives. It was better that way than to never speak to her again. It was better that he had the chance to come back to her, to laugh and grow up knowing her, than if they continued on this with this track they were on before, one that only lead them in circles and never forward. Mason needed to move forward. This was his last year in school and the decisions he made now would shape him for the rest of his life. While he might not be with her in the end, he still needed Lily in his life and he was tired of fighting it. The only option left was to give in to the fact that they would never work out. Of course, things were never that simple.

He watched as she rose, moving for her notebook. His brows furrowed together as she explained. He supposed rules were the logical approach to this problem. His father did say he needed more structure in his life. “Alright,” he agreed, moving from his stance at the door to join her on the bed. “Well,” he began, eyeing the near blank sheet. “No more sleeping together,” he said. “We can’t keep doing that if we want this to really work.” In the past, that was what always complicated things; they were always coming back to one another, even when they were fighting. “And no more Room 228 in Gwendolyn Hall. That room holds too many memories for the both of us, and as long as we keep going back there, we’re never going to push past this.”

The first rule was one she could agree with. It should have been in place long ago, but instead of thinking logically they allowed themselves to be carried away by memories of the flesh. Lily was quick to agree with a nod to the first but the second caused the words to get caught in her throat. Room 228 in Gwendolyn Hall had become a safe haven for her, the place to run to when she felt like the expectations were starting to slowly drown her, stealing her breath from her lips until they turned blue. The room served for a place of meetings in the dark, secrets cradled close to the building’s wooden bones, walls witness to the way their lips collided and they craved to be touched by the other. Staying away from the place would prove to be a difficult task but fighting against it now would mean admitting to something they were both trying to forget, so instead she wrote it down and moved on. 

His father taught him how to make speeches over the summer. The older Lockhart emphasized the importance of preparation and practice. So when Mason contemplated what to tell Lily, he decided to follow his fathers advice. He wrote down every single thing he wanted to tell her and practiced it over and over in his head, until the words were seared in his memory. ‘Yet,’ his father went on, ‘no matter how good a speech is, if the audience isn’t taking to it, it will fail. We have to be adaptable.’ It was those words that echoed through his head now, as he stood in front of her, not the ones he memorized. 

“About last year,” Mason answered, sighing as he turned away, walking towards the window. Perhaps it’d be easier if he wasn’t looking directly at her. “The way we ended things was complicated and messy. The whole year was messy and complicated. I mean, we started off the year trying to hate each other and then…” His words drifted off. And then he told her he loved her and they fought in a parking lot and nothing ended well. 

“I don’t want that for this year,” Mason continued, folding the curtains back as he stared out at the campus. “I miss the way things were. And I don’t mean when we were together, but I mean when it was the four of us. What I want is for this year to be the best year of of our high school lives. I want to graduate knowing that senior year was the best year. And I want you back in my life, even if it means as just a friend. I miss you, Lily.”

The blood in her veins turned to ice, bones locked in the perfect posture she held at the mention of the previous year. It had been nothing but chaos, a turmoil of emotions coursing through her frame every time one Mason Lockhart would step into view. It had been a difficult task given to herself over the summer to not think about him, one that so far she had been failing miserably at but there was no reason to let that come to air. Lily remained, poised as ever with one foot politely tucked behind her left ankle as she listened to his words. 

A truce between the two was long overdue. It was clear that what they had once before would no longer come to fruition no matter how many times they argued over it. It was one request that she couldn’t deny. There were no words more honest than when she agreed. Lily missed Mason, and she missed Cami, and while her friendship with Carter was one of the few things that she had manage to keep intact, as his relationship with Cami grew she knew she couldn’t keep her at arm’s length any longer. There had been a summer once before when they had all be friends, young and naive, but happy. “I couldn’t agree with you more.” 

[text]: See, things worked out better this way. 

Carter: Make sure it's one of the good ones. I bet I can use the pages as rolling paper.

Carter: Ok fine impeccable.

Carter: Excuse you. Those pants make my ass look great.

Carter: Yeah and you have it all.

Carter: Two is plenty. Can't get too chubby before baseball season.