Baby Girl, Don't Cry

Mason always smoked with Brooklyn on Monday nights, no matter what was going on, who had a huge test the next day, or who needed the sleep the most, they always smoked on Monday nights. Ever since Mason was fourteen years old and started hanging out with his brothers friends, he smoked with Brooklyn. Monday nights were their thing. If anyone asked them to hang out they turned it down, even if the hottest cheerleader in school asked Mason on a date he would have turned her down for smoking with Brooklyn. Not because he was in love with her or anything cliché like that, but because he truly enjoyed the time off from the rest of the world. Sitting on Brooklyn’s roof and just staring out into the woods while they smoked cigarettes and weed was the most peaceful thing he could think of doing.

Mason stared off into the night sky, laying on his back and watching the stars. There were stars everywhere in the summer in Tennessee. That was one of the best parts of living in the middle of nowhere, there was always stars; no matter where you went or who you were with, in Tennessee there was always going to be stars. Brooklyn let out a large puff of smoke, watching it fade up into the sky above her. Mason was beside her; she couldn’t see him but she could feel the massive amount of heat that he put off. The others were off doing whatever it was that they did on Monday nights, knowing that Mason and Brooklyn were going to be on the roof and there was nothing they could possibly be doing that was more important than that time together.

“Hey Mase,” Brooklyn looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

His snapback had fallen slightly off the back of his head, exposing his scraggly brown hair, curling out on the ends. He still had the baby fat, and Brooklyn wasn’t quite sure it was ever going to go away at this point. His face wasn’t fat, but it wasn’t thin like his brothers. He had a childish look to him, the look that would forever keep him from ordering alcohol underage or doing anything else of the sort.

“Yeah Brook?” he looked back over at her, grinning as he blew smoke into her face.

“What do you think of Liam?” she asked, knowing he was going to give her an honest answer.

Mason wasn’t the type to give some bullshit made up answer just because it was the answer that you wanted to hear. He was the type to tell you honestly what he thought, and whether or not it was going to hurt your feelings, he was going to tell you what he thought, and deal with the consequences of what he said later. What was the point in lying, he always asked, even if it makes you feel better for a bit, it’s going to come back and bite you. For being sixteen, he was probably the most reasonable of all of them, even though ninety percent of the time he acted like a complete child.

“He seems like a cool guy, honestly. But there’s something about him, something different. I don’t know what it is, he just gives me that feeling like he’s got more reasons for being here than he wants you to think. He doesn’t seem like a bad kid, just maybe mixed up in the wrong people,” Mason pondered, letting out a yawn.

“Yeah. I talked to him last night when he was over, except he didn’t talk much. He just looked around, he was really quiet. I don’t think he wanted to talk, but I don’t think he wanted to be alone either,” Brooklyn sighed.

Looking back at the moon, Brooklyn tried to keep her eyes open. It wasn’t very late, it was only midnight, but she hadn’t slept well the night before. Whenever she tried to sleep, all she could think of was Liam, and that wasn’t helping her fall asleep.

“Mason! Your mother wants you home in ten minutes!” Mia’s voice interrupted her thoughts, drawing the two teenagers back to reality.

“Tell her I’ll try!” he yelled back, rolling over on his side facing Brooklyn.

The two laid there silently on their sides, facing each other, and watching. Brooklyn’s dark hair was sprawled out all over the roof around her, while Mason’s hair was messily sticking out of the underside of his hat. He grinned at her, breathing out a cloud of smoke into her face. She laughed.

“I guess I’ve got to get going,” he sighed, slowly beginning to sit up.

“I guess so,” Brooklyn whined, burying her face in her arms.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, dear,” Mason mumbled as he was sitting up, and kissed the top of her head, scrambling in through her bedroom window.

Brooklyn didn’t get up right away, just lying on the roof with her face buried in her arms. The crickets around her were chirping, and the stars were bright. Eventually, Brooklyn rolled over, watching the bats flapping around in the sky above her and the house lights around the lake slowly turning off for the night.