The Great Awakening

After the two shared a relatively quiet dinner, Mason racked his brain for something to do to extend the night’s festivities. He could tell Mia was relishing in the city’s scenery and he guessed she hadn’t seen much of it. Being cooped up in a hospital every single day must’ve worn on her terribly, for she squealed and made remarks about things Mason would’ve left ignored. One in particular (a potted poinsettia that sat outside a bake shop) had her beaming for a solid hour, with her talking animatedly about how “cute” and “homey” it was. To Mason it was just a plant, but he could tell it meant so much more to Mia. Whether it had some nostalgic value he didn’t know, but it put a smile on her face and that was all that mattered.

The two walked along the city streets, talking between them, until Mia spotted an antique store. Without a word to Mason, she slipped inside and began inspecting every item that was for sale. Obviously out of both his comfort and interest zone, Mason waited patiently for Mia to lose interest. She didn’t. Every time she spotted something that caught her eye, she always began rambling facts about it to Mason, who tried his best to feign interest. It wasn’t everyday he came across someone who was a real life version of the History Channel. Although he couldn’t have cared less about whatever she was rambling about, he was intrigued by her wealth of knowledge. Mia interested him in general.

Mason heard an audible gasp, followed by a high-pitched squeal, before he found her wide-eyed in front of some sort of camera lens. Hesitantly, he asked, “What is it?”

With a grin, Mia spun on her heel to face him. “It’s an 1857 Harrison Orthoscope lens.”

“So?”

“So?” Mia repeated, obviously perplexed by Mason’s lack of enthusiasm. “The calculations Petzval used to create this lens -- they’re genius!”

“Who?”

Mia snapped her mouth closed and coughed awkwardly. “Sorry, I got a little carried away.”

Mason stayed quiet, just observing the girl in front of him. It was the first time he’d seen her act interested in her choice of career. For all he knew, she could’ve been some kind of historian the way she rattled off facts about the most random objects. But she opted to be a photographer. In his opinion, it was a waste of all the knowledge she contained. The world needed more people like her, he decided. She was so smart and easily excited that she would’ve made an excellent college professor or something along those lines. However, he knew Mia’s lack of confidence would keep her from doing such things. Unlike most of Kevin’s friends, she wasn’t outgoing. It was difficult for her to make friends, to communicate with people outside of her circle of friends. Or, rather, Kevin’s friends, for they knew of her shy nature and didn’t mind approaching her first.

With a reluctant sigh, Mia put the lens back where she’d found it and nodded her head toward the exit. Although she had obviously fallen in love with it, she didn’t have the money to spare and was more concerned with seeing more of the city than sulking over something she couldn’t afford. It was also extremely obvious to her that Mason was bored. He’d never admit that to her, though. She got the impression that he was doing everything he could to make their day trip all about her. While she appreciated his efforts, they weren’t necessary. She would’ve been just as happy to do whatever he wanted so long as she got a break from the hospital. That thought alone frightened her, for it made her feel like she was betraying Kevin in some way. She didn’t realize that it was okay to have a life separate from his.

Once they got back into the sidewalk, it started to flurry. This obviously excited Mia. Mason, however, wasn’t as ecstatic. He hadn’t thought to bring a jacket or any sort of protection from the cold. As a snowboarder, he nearly smacked himself on the back of the head for not thinking. It was Salt Lake City, after all, and it was the middle of winter. Mia was prepared, though. She pulled a set of gloves from her purse and slid them on. She’d already been wearing some sort of knit hat; all that was missing was a scarf.

“Aren’t you cold?” She asked Mason. He nodded but followed it with shrug a few seconds later. “I have an extra set of gloves you can borrow.” She didn’t wait for him to reply, but when she pulled a pair of glittery pink gloves out of her bag, he all but gagged.

“Are you serious?”

“You’ll catch pneumonia if you don’t put something on!”

“But they’re pink.”

The pair had stopped in the middle of a busy sidewalk. Mia, obviously flustered by the short tempers of the people pushing past them, gave him a stern look. Mason obliged and slid them on his hands. They were tight and itchy but he didn’t dare complain. The pair Mia was wearing weren’t much better so he didn’t even inquire about a possible trade. He couldn’t argue with results, though. They did their job in keeping his hands warm and that was all that truly mattered. Aesthetics never held much value to him anyway.

“Let me buy you some coffee,” Mia said as they passed a Starbucks. This time, Mason audibly refused and was given yet another one of Mia’s looks. Not wanting to put up a fight, he obliged again, and was thankful when the building’s heat engulfed him. “What do you want?”

Mason stared at the menu with a pained expression. “I don’t even know what half of that shit means.”

Mia giggled before ordering for the two of them: a peppermint mocha for herself and a simple espresso for him. When it came time to pay, Mason’s eyes widened at the cost. He couldn’t fathom spending almost ten dollars on two drinks. As soon as his hand was on his wallet, Mia swatted it away. He’d paid for their dinner (nearly thirty-five dollars) so Mia figured it was the least she could do. After all, she had to make up for giving him the most embarrassing pair of gloves to wear.

Once their drinks were made, they chose a table in the back corner and sat down. It wasn’t busy for a Wednesday evening, which relieved them both. Mia wasn’t good with large groups of people and Mason didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable if someone approached him. This posed a problem, for he planned on keeping her around for quite a while. She was nothing to be embarrassed by, so he didn’t want her to get that impression if they were out and he didn’t introduce her. Social anxiety meant nothing to him; he didn’t know anything about it other than it was what made Mia so shy. He didn’t know the effects it had on her, nor the toll it took on her personality. He didn’t know that it nearly ruined her life until Kevin came along, and maybe that was why she clung to him so dependently.

“It’s nice here,” Mia commented as she stared out the large glass window. It was still snowing and it had grown dark. The poles of the streetlights were wrapped in Christmas lights, giving the city a cozy feel.

“I’m sure anything is nicer than the hospital.”

She nodded. “It’s not that bad. I mean, you get used to it eventually.”

“You get used to the hospital, you mean?” Mason questioned. “I don’t think you’ll ever get used to Kevin... y’know.”

He was worried he’d said too much. There were obvious lines that couldn’t risk being crossed when it came to the girl sitting across from him. She wasn’t like other girls. Her feelings were stitched to her sleeve, making her extremely vulnerable. She cared too much about everyone around her, never once taking a second for herself. Selfless was a word that was on repeat when it came to Mia. It was almost unhealthy how selfless she was. It was obvious she’d given up her entire life for Kevin; who knows where she would’ve been without him. Mason had an inkling she’d be following her dreams, rather than someone else’s.

Mia laughed lightly, temporarily lifting the tension from the pair’s conversation. “You know that feeling you get when you’ve been waiting for something so long that eventually you stop wishing and just get used to waiting? It’s sort of like that,” she explained. “I’ve been by Kevin’s side through all of this, just hoping one day he’ll wake up and be back to normal. I know it won’t happen but I can’t stop, you know? I’m hoping for something that I know will never happen but I’m scared that if I stop it won’t work, like I’ll be a day late.”

Mason was speechless. Mia hadn’t spoken that many words to him at once since she got to rambling about the camera lens she’d seen. Even then it wasn’t anything personal. This inflated his ego just the tiniest bit, but it also sparked his undeniable curiosity about her. He wanted to know everything, every little detail that she deemed unimportant. He wanted to be the one she opened up to, the one she could trust.

But he knew he never could be, because she had Kevin for all of that. In that moment, he felt closer to Mia than he’d ever felt to anyone else, because he began wishing for things he knew would never happen, too. They were both wishing for things that would never come true, and there wasn’t a damn thing they could do to change that.