Chapter 1
Olivia and Mason’s mothers had been best friends before they were born. Every time they hung out, they would follow. Their mothers would be downstairs in the kitchen catching up on things and, of course, gossip, while Olivia and Mason were in Mason’s room, just chatting about irrelevant things.
That was when they were seventeen, when they had to stay with their mothers to hang out, but now that they are both eighteen, they could hang out whenever they wanted.
They don’t live close to one another, but now that Mason has a car, he can drive his mother to Olivia’s mother’s house, or drive Olivia, or Olivia and her mother, to his mother’s house.
Their mothers, Nicole and Leslie, had been best friends since high school. They both met by fighting over one of the popular guys in school, only to find out that he was straight-up trash and that it was time to get over him. Since then, they have always been great friends, and nothing could separate them.
Olivia’s mother, Nicole, had a husband, but he had passed when Olivia was just one year old. Mason’s mother, Leslie, also had a husband, but he had passed when Mason was an infant. The two mothers swore to each other they would be there for each other and never leave each other’s side.
One thing Olivia and Mason have no idea about is that both their mothers want their children to end up together. They wish for their family to grow, and the only way to get that is through their own children. No matter how badly they want it to happen, they won’t force it upon their kids to be in a relationship, which is why Olivia and Mason have no idea about their selfish desire.
Mason told Olivia he would pick her up because today is their first day of school. Olivia was never good at being on time, so of course she started panicking. She wanted to be better this year because this is their semester of school. Mason was always the one on time, and since this was the first time he was taking Olivia to school, he wished she wouldn’t make him late and lose his reputation.
Olivia had planned her morning from waking up to Mason arriving so neither of them would be late, but for some reason nothing was going as planned. When she got out of bed, she hit her ankle. When she was going into the closet to pick out the clothes she swore she was going to wear, she changed it at the last minute.
When she was doing her hair, it ended up looking like a toddler did it, so she had to start over, and by the time she was finished, Mason had texted her ten minutes ago that he was outside her house. Olivia didn’t see the text until after she was done getting ready, walking out the door, and seeing Mason’s car parked in front of the door.
She was going to ask him why he hadn’t texted that he was waiting, but then Mason rolled down the window on the passenger side and pointed at the phone that was in her hand. Olivia looked at her phone to see one text message and four missed calls. She started walking to the car and opened the door.
Once inside, she closed the door behind her and opened her mouth to apologize. “Don’t apologize, Olivia. Whatever you’re about to say, save it.” She opened her mouth again to say something else, but she got cut off again. “And yes, I’m mad.”
Olivia had thought he was used to it by now, but I guess there’s a limit to how much he could handle. She felt bad. Now they are both going to be late, and she can’t even apologize correctly. Not that it would do anything anyway. She’s apologized so many times that it had just become empty words. She swore to herself that she would make it up to him later.
After an hour of driving in silence, they finally arrived at the school. Mason parked the car, and they both unbuckled their seatbelts. Mason opened his side of the door, closed it behind him, and went around the front to the passenger side, opening the door for Olivia.
No matter how mad he is at her right now, there’s no way he could stop his daily routine. Olivia wanted to smile at him but held back, remembering that he’s still mad at her. After getting out, Mason closed the door and locked the car. They both started walking toward the entrance of the school building, still not saying anything.
After they went inside, Mason left Olivia and went somewhere else—probably looking for his friends. Olivia thought she should find hers. After walking exactly five steps, she spotted her best friend jogging up to her. Olivia opened her arms, and they embraced in a tight, tight hug. “Jasmine! I missed you!” Olivia started bawling her eyes out while rocking Jasmine back and forth. “Olivia! I missed you, too.” Now Jasmine was bawling her eyes out.
It seems this interaction between them is normal since nobody around them cared. While Mason had two friends, Olivia only had one best friend whom she adored very much, just like her mother.
The two decided it was time to stop hugging and let go of each other. Jasmine looked at Olivia deeply. She could tell when something was troubling her. “Alright, come on, what’s wrong?” Olivia tried to play it off, making her think nothing was wrong, but Jasmine could never be fooled.
Once Olivia saw there was no getting out of it, she decided to tell Jasmine everything. “Ok, so now he isn’t talking to you? Just because you were late?” Olivia didn’t want Mason taking the blame when it wasn’t his fault to begin with. “Well, I’m the one who made us both late.”
Jasmine blinked at her not once, but twice. “Olivia. Do you see anyone around us right now?” Olivia started looking around, and there were a lot of people still lurking in the hallway. “Yes?” Olivia didn’t know what she was getting at, because sometimes she’s a little dense.
“Nobody would be out here if classes started. You’re early.” Olivia couldn’t believe her ears. Were they actually early? Mason planned this? He knew Olivia would be late, so he came to her house earlier than he should have? Then Olivia got sad because that would mean he had to wake up earlier than he should have because of her.
He could have gotten more sleep, which is why he was probably mad at her. That, and the fact that she has really bad timing skills. She decided that she and Jasmine should go look for him to apologize. Jasmine already knew it was pointless since this wasn’t the first time Olivia had to apologize to Mason for being late, but she had to be there as her best friend.
