The next morning I'm woken up by Jessica jumping on my bed telling me to get ready. She tells me how she heard everyone's planning on going to the Swimming Hole today, and practically forces me out of bed.

It's been two weeks since I've done anything remotely interesting so I agree to go with her and get out of bed. The last party I have been to was the Masquerade one and that one was a total disaster.

I quickly put on my white bikini bathing suit and threw on my white lace cover up to match with it. I ask Jessica how I look and she eyes me up and down.

"Sheesh don't let Aiden see you in that, he'd rip it right off." She jokes and I shake my head.

"You know he wouldn't do that." I say. I don't even think Aiden would come to something like this. But even if he did, he would never do anything even remotely sexual to me out in public.

I continue to comb through my hair, deciding to let it hang free today since I'll probably just be in the lake anyways. I analyze myself in the mirror and quickly step away before I start to not like how I look.

"I'll go tell Mason we're ready." Jessica says and walks out of the room. Great, I didn't know Mason was coming.

I slip on some flip flops and turn off the lights to my bedroom as I walk out down the stairs. Mason and Jessica are waiting by the door for me when I come down.

I feel Mason's eyes on me as I walk towards them. I try as hard as I can to not look up at him, but fail miserably. His green eyes darken as he slowly rakes his eyes down my body, moving up every single curve.

Even having him look at me makes my body tingle, what the fuck is that?

I watch as he bites his lip, before rolling them into his mouth. Lips going into a straight line as his eyes finally connect with mine.

He doesn't seem to be wearing a swimsuit, just his usual attire: black shirt and black jeans. Of course he wouldn't be going swimming, I'm sure Jessica forced him to come with.

After Jessica opens the front door, I quickly walk out behind her, feeling Mason's eyes on me the whole time I walk past him. Who knew a look could make me feel like this?

❀

After finding a parking spot Jessica, Mason I walk towards the broken gate that says NO TRESPASSING and walk right past it, making our way down the hill. The Swimming Hole is huge, a lake that spreads for miles. It's so big that half of it is cut off to visitors. And of course, that's the spot everyone swims in. Unlike the rest of the lake this spot is secluded, surrounded by absolutely nothing.

Once we're finally there, I'm able to see just how packed it really is. There has to be hundreds of teenagers swimming in the lake.

"Ah!" I hear, as someone jumps off of the rope hanging from the tree and into the water.

Mostly everyone seems drunk or tipsy and the thought of swimming while under the influence forms a pit in my stomach. People were surrounded in clusters all around either making out, sun tanning, dancing to the loud music, or swimming in the water. Moments like these make it actually start to feel like summer.

"Let's go get a drink." Jessica says as we make our way toward the keg.

I look behind me and see Mason is nowhere in sight, he probably went off to find some other girl to add to his list of bodies. I shake the thought out of my head and pick up a red Solo cup before filling it with beer.

It's been an hour now since we've gotten here, I've taken the time to relax by the water. My back resting on top of my towel as the front of my body lay towards the sun. The heat felt warm against the bare areas of my body and for a moment I felt peace.

For a moment, of course.

"Look who decided to show." I hear right in front of me.

Oh, boy.

I open my eyes and there stood Sofia. Her bright red bikini was barely covering her body, but I assume that's how she wanted it.

I don't say anything, just close my eyes and ignore her. I didn't want to start trouble with her; I came here to relax.

"Why don't we sit here, boys?" She says, and my eyes shoot back open. I prop my elbows on my blanket and stand up to see who she was with. And of course, it was Alec, Corey and Mason. I notice Mason sigh and roll his eyes at Sofia's words, but sits right beside Alec anyways, the furthest away from me.

Unfortunately for me Jessica isn't anywhere near her towel on the ground. I scan my eyes around the lake until I find her talking to Shawn next to the beer keg. Even though I'm happy she's finally talking to him, her timing definitely isn't the best.

"Where's Natalie?" Sofia asks and my body tenses. Of course she would bring this up now.

"Oh right, for a second there I completely forgot about your little indiscretions at that party."

I feel Mason's eyes on me and I make a point to not look at him. Alec and Corey seem to be in their own conversation and I'm glad they aren't listening to this. Now, if only Mason could join them.

"I hear you're living with Mason now." She leans in and whispers. I can't tell if Mason heard or not and I'm praying he didn't. How does she even know about that?

"It must be very difficult to keep your hands off of him." I'm trying not to boast with anger, so instead I take a deep breath and face my head towards Sofia. Making sure I seem like her words don't bother me, when in fact they do.

I don't have to see if Mason's eyes are on me now because I can feel them. Everytime he looks at me my body starts radiating with heat.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to keep him company." Sofia finishes with a full grin plastered on her face. I quickly stand up from my spot, grabbing my red plastic cup. I don't want to listen to this.

"I'm going to get a refill." I say, and just before I start walking, Sofia raises her plastic up in the air across from me.

"Mind refilling mine too?" I stare blankly at her for a few moments before hesitantly reaching over and grabbing the cup.

By the time I make it to the keg stand Jessica is nowhere in sight. I'm sure she probably snuck off somewhere with Shawn.

Great. I think to myself.

I take my time refilling the cups, I'm in no hurry to go back to Sofia with Mason practically breathing down my back. What's his problem? In the moments he isn't snapping at me, all he does is stare.

I assume he doesn't want to talk to me in front of Sofia, or anyone else for that matter. I'm sure he's embarrassed to even be living with me as it is. I'm probably the last thing on his mind.

After making my way back to Sofia I gently place her cup back into her hand and she looks down at it, rolling her eyes and letting out a dramatic sigh.

"I wanted vodka, not beer." She says, standing up. Who does she think I am?

"Well then you can go and get it yourself." I say back. I hear Alec and Corey snicker behind us as Mason remains silent. Before I know it, I quickly look over at him and there's a faint grin on his lips. He seems to be enjoying this.

Sofia takes a step towards me, and I take a small step back, my feet hitting the shallow end of the lake. She puts her cup up, and slowly turns it upside down. The liquid immediately falls onto my chest, leaving behind a big brown wet stain on my white bathing suit.

I stand there with my hands in the air in shock, as the beer continues to drip down my chest.

"Or you can get it for me."

"That's enough." I hear Mason say, Sofia rolls her eyes at his words.

"Come on Mason, we're just messing around." Sofia says playfully as my mouth remains shut.

"Get your own fucking drink or shut the hell up about it. I'm tired of hearing your fucking mouth." Mason's eyes darken and I watch as his jaw tenses in anger. Sofia thinks about this for a moment before speaking.

"Fine, then after we can go to my place. This lake is starting to bore me." She looks over at Mason and he seems the least bit interested in her words. And just as she starts to walk over and refill her drink, her shoulders bump forcefully with mine causing my foot to slip and fall back into the water.

My body emerges into the water. The coldness of the lake pierced my skin and sent shivers through my body. My right arm hit against a rock, and all the sudden I started to feel this burning sensation down my arm. Luckily for me, I was still in the shallow end, so I was able to quickly get up before everyone saw what happened.

"What the fuck is your problem, Sofia!" I heard Mason yell. She ignores him and continues to walk towards the keg. My hair and body are dripping wet, and I can feel my cheeks turn red in embarrassment.

"Are you alright?" Mason asks me, stepping closer.

"Leave me alone, Mason." I say in anger. He was the last person I wanted to talk to about this, I'm sure he found all of this amusing to watch.

"You're bleeding." He says, looking at my arm. The rock must have cut it. I could feel it start to burn but choose to ignore it. "Give me your hand." He says, reaching out to me.

"I'm fine." I say, trying to move past him but he blocks me. I can tell by his face that he's not enjoying my attitude, but I don't care.

"For God sakes just fucking give it to me." Before I could say anything he rips off a piece of fabric from his shirt and grabs my arm.

There it is, that burning sensation I'm starting to crave. I look up at him and watch as he wraps the piece of fabric around my cut, tying it gently into a knot. For a moment he genuinely looks concerned. What the fuck is going on with him?

He shakes his head in anger and rakes his fingers through his hair before he looks down at me.

"Uh... thanks." I say in a confused tone, I'm so surprised by his actions I don't even know what to say.

My body starts to shiver, and I think Mason notices because right after he reaches above him and slides his shirt off his body, exposing his chest full of tattoos.

I can't help but eye his body up and down. His muscles contract as he brings his hands down, putting his shirt right in front of me.

"Here, put this on." He says.

"What no-"

"Can you just stop being so fucking difficult for one moment." He says, his voice is rough and it's clear that his anger is still present. He shoves his shirt into my hands and I look at him once more before sliding it on above me. When I pull his shirt over my head, the intense smell of Mason fills my lungs and sends jitters throughout my body. His shirt is warm and hangs just above my knees since he is much taller than me.

I watch as his plump lips start to slowly curve and our eyes lock before he soon dismisses it and speaks up.

"Let's find Jess, we're getting the fuck out of here."