For the rest of the evening, I didn’t have time to worry about keeping Mason’s paws off of me. I hardly saw him. Cassie, Jenny, Sixx, and I found a table in the grass away from the crowded pool area and had a great time talking and spending time with one another. Even as we were laughing and sharing stories with each other, I still had to look across the table and remind myself that Cassie Carmichael, the head cheerleader at my school, happened to be the one who was laughing like a horse at one of Sixx’s way off-color jokes. And next to her, practically spraying soda out of her nose, was her faithful sidekick, Jenny Harmon. Four hours ago, neither one of them would have given Sixx or me the time of day. Now, Sixx nearly had them both in convulsions and we were having maybe the best time I’d had in a long time.
“So, what’s going on with you and surfer dude, anyway?” Cassie leaned forward conspiratorially and I sucked in my breath. How did she know that fast? My relationship with Creepshow was so new even to me, how did it get out into general population in less than a weekend? Then, I realized she sat there staring at Sixx, not me.
“What? I just suddenly realized I was always in close proximity to surfer hotness and if I didn’t do anything about it, well, that would be all on me. Of course, all I had to do was give him the go sign. How could he resist all this?” Sixx stood up and waved her hands up and down her body. “I guess he finally got tired of waiting for me to notice him. Happened with Creepshow, too. He finally made his move on our Juice there.”
“Sixx! I didn’t want you telling anyone.”
“Telling anyone what?” The voice belonged to Mason.
I whirled around in my seat to find him standing there looking at the table at the four of us and I smiled at him.
He walked around until he stood almost directly across where I sat. “I’ve been looking all over the place for you. Been looking so long, in fact, that I thought maybe you’d up and left. This whole time, I had been trying to figure out why you were acting so different from the first time we met. I wondered if you were mad at me for some reason…” Mason trailed off and looked at me pointedly. “Then I hear this about your friend. Who I guess is not just a friend anymore. Is that about right?”
The table became so silent, I swear I could hear Sixx’s jangly earrings even above the noise of the party. I had no idea how to answer Mason. If I told the truth, I would not only hurt his feelings, I might hurt the chances of his being a host body for Shane. On the other hand, if I didn’t, it felt like I would be denying my feelings for Creepshow, and I didn’t want to do that. I tried to stammer out an answer that would buy me some more time.
“Of course, Creepshow is my friend, Mason. What are you talking about? And I don’t know why you were looking all over the place for me. I was here all along. Right, you guys?” I turned to look at Cassie and Jenny and they just sat there staring at me open-mouthed. They weren’t going to be much help. I couldn’t blame them. They were taken aback by Mason’s tone. I was, too. It seemed as though he might be accusing me of something. And it wasn’t friendly at all. I didn’t know how to respond. I knew I needed help. I kicked Sixx under the table and she jumped up without hesitation.
“Yeah. We were right here the whole time. What’s the big deal about it, anyway?” Sixx managed to look annoyed and protective at the same time, her specialty.
“The big deal about it is Juice is supposed to be my date tonight and I’ve hardly even seen her.” Mason turned to address me directly and this time his tone had softened. He sounded much more like he did when I first met him. “How about it, Juice? Can we take a walk? I promise we won’t go too far.” He looked at me winningly.
I considered what Mason asked. It may not sound like the best idea to the other girls, but I still needed to be alone with him for one good reason: Shane. If Mason did turn out to be a good host body for Shane, there would be no way for him to execute a body transition unless I got Mason away from the party crowd. That constituted reason enough for me to agree to Mason’s request.
“Sure,” I agreed. Sixx shot me a look that said she thought I might be insane, but I silenced it with one back that said, I know what I’m doing. Luckily, our friendship had always been such that she trusted me and non-verbally, she gave me room.
I got up from the table and Mason and I started walking out past the patio and the noise and chaos of the party. I followed him around the corner of the house and we soon found ourselves in an alley that ran along the back of the house. It wasn’t as nice as the rest of the house but thankfully, it was much quieter. I tried to think of some way to jumpstart the conversation when Mason grabbed me by the arm, hard, and yanked me around to face him.
“What kind of game are you playing here, huh Juice?”
“Ow, Mason. Stop it. You’re hurting me!” I tried to twist out of his grasp, but the more I tried, the harder he held on.
“Are you a tease? Is that it? You’ve been teasing my buddy Brian forever. Flaunting your body in his face and never letting him anywhere near it. If you think you’re gonna do that to me, you’re crazy. You’re not getting away with any of that tease crap with me, Juicy Lucy.”
Teasing Brian? What could he be talking about? Was he crazy? That must be it. He even looked crazy. Mason’s face twisted into a sneer and his voice dripped with sarcasm. The smile from a few minutes ago disappeared, replaced by a look I had never seen before. For the first time since I met Mason, I felt afraid of him. Then I took a good look around my surroundings and realized that Mason had led me to this secluded area, not because we would be away from the noise of the party, but because we were far enough away that no one from the party could hear us.
I couldn’t believe this could be the same guy who had been such a gentlemen at the Battle of the Bands. How could I have been so wrong? How did he get under my radar? In one burst of anger, more at myself than anything else, I yanked my arm free and took off running down the alleyway.
With Mason in hot pursuit, I careened past a line of garbage bins which seemed like a half a block long, impeding my getaway. How much trash do these people make? I thought crazily. Finally, I got to the end of the building and swung around to find myself in the driveway of the gigantic house. I could hear Mason panting hard right behind me, so I rapidly considered my two options. I could try and weave my way through the maze of haphazardly parked cars and try to get back to the front of the house to find one of the gang, or I could take off down the street, find The Gator and barricade myself in. I knew where the hide-a-key would be hidden.
I took off running in the direction of The Gator. The cars were parked so stupidly now, they were practically jammed bumper-to-bumper up on the curb. I scrambled over the trunk of one just to have to skid over the hood of another. Each time I did, the sheet metal made a soft thump as I dented it in. As I cleared one, I could hear Mason crawling across it a split second behind me. Frantic he would catch up to me and terrified what he would do when he did, I kept running.
As I got farther from the party, the cars started to clear out and I got closer to the street. Then I had a new fear. Maybe as soon as we hit the pavements, I’d lose my lead. Mason might be faster than me as soon as we got on terra firma. I started looking ahead for a way to try and lose my pursuer.
A dull thud startled me. It sounded totally different than the sheet metal of a hood or a trunk of a car. And it sounded like it happened right behind me.
I chanced a glance behind me and was shocked to see Creepshow on top of Mason! He must have seen Mason chasing me and tackled him from behind. I watched in horror while the two of them rolled around on the street, trading punches. I couldn’t tell who had the upper hand. First Creepshow would be on the top, then they would roll over and Mason would be getting the better of him. Finally, Creepshow jumped to his feet and Mason followed. They stared each other down.
“You need to keep your hands off Juice, man.” Even though he seethed with anger, Creepshow still managed to sound like his usual laidback self. Only I could tell that he barely held in his rage.
“Yeah?” Mason wiped some blood from his mouth with the back of his wrist. “Well, you need to tell her not to be such a tease.” I watched Creepshow visibly bristle at Mason’s choice of words. Mason didn’t see it and continued to poke the sleeping bear. “Yeah, tell her she shouldn’t advertise if she’s not stockin’ the goods, know what I mean?” His voice sounded, suddenly, evil. “And we can all see, she’s definitely got the goods. I mean, I’ve seen them. You’re the new boyfriend. Haven’t you?”
Creepshow looked like he wanted to punch Mason in the face. He clenched his fist and drew back his hand. But he never got a chance to follow through. Because just then, Shane appeared. Right in front of Creepshow and Mason, he just…materialized.