Lemonade (WLGYL #2)

Chapter 26 - Past

When I was a sophomore in high school, Mason took me to see the stars at a nature preserve, in a clearing filled with wildflowers. We sat there for hours with a basket of snacks, and I gave him a kiss when he wasn't paying attention, looking up at the sky instead. "Remind me to take you to see the flowers more often," he'd said, almost breathless. It was one of the best nights I'd had back then.

He did take me to see the stars more. Every year we were together, in fact.

So in the spring of my junior year of high school, when he picked me up in his old car, the Honda Accord I was so used to, I was more than excited.

"Ready for the annual trip?" he asked. He didn't know we'd only have one more of these trips until he broke my heart.

"Mhmm," I hummed, resting my feet against the dash. "Are we going to the same place?"

"Where else can we see the stars so well here?" Mason and I had gone to Star Valley Nature Preserve last year, an expanse of rolling fields, hills, and ponds. Mason was right, there was no better place to see stars in our hometown. At the preserve, in the clearing, the trees only circled the area, and didn't populate within. The sky was clear, even close to the big city.

"Okay, fair. I wouldn't expect anywhere else."

Mason pondered for a moment, his eyebrows crinkled in the middle.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked, poking him in the shoulder.

He released a grin, his eyes shifting to me briefly before refocusing on the road ahead.

"There's a place I went to, when I was touring schools in California." He didn't say anything else.

"Yes?" I prodded.

"It was in L.A., up in the hills. You could still see the lights from the city, but they felt farther away, more dim. I went for a night hike with Caleb, and the stars there, in the clearing..." he drifted off, deep in memory. "Unreal."

"I'd like to see that," I said softly.

Mason reached over for my hand, his fingers warm from the heat in the car. "I'd like to take you sometime. There was nothing like it." Someday, if Mason's life and my life led us to California, that could become reality.

"Oh, but it was no Star Valley Nature Preserve, huh?"

Mason smirked. "Of course not, these are the best stars in the midwest."

"Good answer."

We walked on the gravel path for a few minutes, the only light in the park coming from a few sporadic light posts. The park closed at 11pm, and there were still a few people walking and on night-runs milling around us, or sitting on benches by the lake. We chose a spot up a small hill, next to a tree. Mason stepped in front of me, laying out the blanket we packed along.

I pulled the basket I was carrying over my shoulder and took out sparkling grape juice and two plastic cups. Mason rubbed his hands together in excitement as I poured our drinks. "There's nothing like sparkling grape juice."

"Not even actual wine?" I teased.

"Oh, sparkling grape juice will be served at our wedding, I promise. Way better than wine." He shifted his cup over to the side of the blanket and laid down, cocking his head. "Wine is for people to look cool, grape juice is for people who are actually cool."

I snorted and laid down next to him, but my brain was latched onto two words: our wedding. Did he mean to say it like that? Was that something he thought about? We were still so young, but if I had to think about marriage, there was no one else I would rather be with forever than the boy I had loved forever.

My fingers brushed along my cup to my left, while the fingers on my right sought out Mason's bare arm—he had pushed his sleeves up on our walk to this spot. I ran my hand along his forearm, and I felt Mason hold his breath next to me. We were both looking up at the sky.

"What do you think will happen when we're older? In the future?" I said, my voice soft.

"What, like a 10 year plan of us?"

"Yeah, exactly. What do you dream about in the future?"

"A house with a backyard, you on the couch, a wedding ring on your finger. I'd be a writer and you'd be a photographer. You'd even take my author picture for me, I'd hope." I looked over at Mason to see a smile playing at his lips. His eyes were closed, like he could see it all happening in front of him now.

"How presumptuous," I mused. "You want to get married to me?"

"Emma, when I said our wedding earlier, I meant it. I would absolutely love nothing more in the entire world. I hope you know that."

"Hmm. What else?" I asked, pretending like my heart didn't just burst at the sound of Mason wanting to be with me forever, wanting to marry me. A dream come true.

"Kids, a dog, maybe a cat."

"Kids, a dog, and a cat? Busy life it seems."

"The best kind of life, my lemon." He looked at me then, his eyes full and bright.

I smiled back at him and turned my head towards the stars. "You're right. This sky is no joke." Even though I had been here before, it never felt the same twice.

"Will you go to prom with me?" Mason asked suddenly.

"What?" I sat up then. "Really?"

"Of course." Mason sat up too, his shoulders brushing mine. "Did you think I wouldn't ask?"

I shrugged. "I didn't know if you were a prom person." Somehow, I couldn't see Mason wanting to get dressed up and buy a corsage.

He laughed, the sound light in the rustling wind. "I just told you I wanted to marry you, Emma Branson. Of course I want to take you to prom."

Leaning forward without another word, I kissed him, his lips warm and soft. I shifted, whispering "Then yes" against his mouth.

Mason grinned, catching my face in his hands before I could fully pull away. He brought me back to his lips, his kiss open and honest and real. I felt my cheeks redden, and hoped no one was around to see me fall back against the blanket, Mason moving so that he rested on top of me, his mouth still on mine.

"We're in public," I giggled, one hand in Mason's fluffy hair, the other running up the arm that was resting next to my head. "What if someone sees?"

"It's dark," Mason said between kisses. "No one can see. Just the sky."

He rubbed his nose against mine.

"I don't think I'll ever forget this." This night, this moment, this boy. This love.

"What?" he smiled down at me.

"The stars in this town."

"Is that it?" The twinkle in his eyes rivaled the sky. To me, there was no greater sight than that of Mason Masterson, no greater warmth than that of his body when it was on mine.

"I know it's no California sky, but there's something else about it."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" his voice was pure velvet, endless night.

"The stars with you."

"I'll never look at them the same again," he promised, and back then, I knew he meant it.