Masen Days Extras Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Day Masen Borrows a Pencil

Excerpt . . .

It’s mid-October, and I’m working on a Macbeth test. Masen hasn’t been in school for a few days. There’s been a nasty cold going around, though it makes zero sense since it’s still a bajillion degrees of sweaty hot outside. Whatever. I just hope he’s okay. I’ve finished all the multiple guess questions and move on to the essay portion when he sits down next to me. He’s disheveled, his hair wild. I think he might have a black eye, but I can’t be sure. He sets his test down on the table we share and stares blankly.

I wonder what he’s doing when I realize he has nothing on him – no ratty backpack, no pencil behind his ear, nothing. I tap my lips, studying him, and do the only thing I can think of: I pull the pencil from my nearly always present bun and place it atop his test booklet. He picks it up and balances it between two index fingers as though weighing it.

He swivels his head in my direction, his eyes catching mine for a second, and my suspicions are confirmed: he does have a black eye. His lips part slightly, as though he’s going to speak. I wait patiently, though I’m dying to know what he’ll say. In the end, he doesn’t say anything – only mouths, “Thank you, Bella,” and it’s the most sincere thing anyone’s ever not said to me.

Chapter Playlist . . .

Masen's Notebook Entry . . .