Toxic

Mason wasn't ready to see her.

He had been plagued with thoughts for the past few days as he wrapped his head around the fact that Amanda was going to be here. One of the main reasons that he'd decided to leave gone was so that he would avoid running into his past so often. It seemed like he couldn't escape from her despite his efforts.

He wondered what her intentions were though he told himself that she had probably forced her parents to resort to bribery just so that she could get a chance with Harry. The thought of them together made his heart burn and his blood run cold.

He couldn't believe that he had once loved her. However, he had faith that Harry wouldn't ever stoop so low as to betray him. That comforted his nerves largely because she wouldn't be able to win this battle.

He didn't mean to be selfish but he couldn't help himself. If anything, he believed that he deserved to have some control for once. He was tired of being played. He would ensure that it would never happen again.

He yawned loudly and then tutted his teeth when his teacher shot a glare in his direction.

He was trying his best to concentrate but he had a weird panicky feeling settling in his stomach every time he thought about the possibilities of what could happen now that Amanda was here.

She knew everything about him. She knew who he really was behind the bad-boy persona and the black shirts and leather jackets and that made her dangerous.

She knew his deepest and darkest secrets and if she was as clever as he thought then she'd most definitely use his secrets to her advantage.

He twiddled his pen in between his fingers distractedly and he could feel himself on the verge of falling asleep. His head dropped slightly and before he could slip into a deep slumber, he was stunned when he heard the smacking of a ruler on his desk. He looked up at his teacher whose eyes were filled with anger but so were Mason's.

How dare he disturb his sleep like that?

" You made the choice to choose Maths as an A-Level, not me. You're the one who's going to sit exams at the end of Year 13, not me. So I suggest you get your head up off that desk or leave." He said sternly.

Mason raised an eyebrow at his last words and smirked before grabbing his bag and striding out of the classroom slamming the door behind.

The smile on his face was replaced with subtle shock as he came across the principal and Amanda who he was guiding around the college.

"Mason! Just the man I was looking for." The principal said, clapping him on the shoulder, a little too roughly. He frowned in confusion at his statement and refused to look at Amanda straight in the eye.

"Amanda was telling me that you two went to school together so I thought it only made sense for you to look after her for the first few weeks to help her get settled in since you're already familiar with each other." He explained, his hand digging into Mason's shoulder.

"I'm not a babysitter," Mason said shrugging the principal's hand off his shoulder. He could feel the anger pulsing through his veins.

She'd hardly been here for five minutes and she was already playing her mind games. He wasn't aware of what exactly her plan was on coming here but he would make sure that it wouldn't succeed.

"Well you're as cheery as I remember," Amanda responded. The principal laughed slightly at her statement but he ignored her, shooting a glare while she smiled shyly at him. He felt sick at how innocent she was acting.

"Anyway, I'll let you two get on." The principal smiled before patting Mason on the shoulder again and then walked off leaving the two of them alone. He didn't want to be with her a minute longer but at the same time, he needed to work out her motives and he wasn't sure how to go about it.

"Aren't you going to show me around then?" She suggests. He ignores her again and then grabs her arm and pulls her into the store cupboard locking the door on them.

"What the hell Mason!" She sounded irritated and pulled her arm out of his grip.

"Don't say my name." He says lowly and he sees fear in her eyes for a second which he didn't expect to see there. "Enough with the sweet and innocent act, what do you want?" He spat.

"There's no law to say that I can't study where I want." She argued.

"Yes, but we both know you didn't get the grades to come here. I came here to get away from you and everything else back home. You know me well enough to understand that. Don't you think you've done more than enough?" He hit back.

His breath was momentarily caught in his throat when she snaked her arms around his neck bringing their faces close together. He watched as a devilish smirk graced her lips and she arrogantly said,

"I'm only getting started, darling." She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and cocked her head to the side slightly waiting for his reaction. "I'm going to do anything it takes to make Harry mine. And you're not going to stand in my way because you're going to help me."

Mason removed her arms from his neck and frowned at her statement. This was exactly what he had feared might happen. It seemed that he knew Amanda better than he first thought.

He moved away from her and turned around to grab the door handle but she stopped him by saying,

"You're going to cooperate with me otherwise I'll be threatened to do something that neither of us will enjoy."

He narrowed his eyes at her wondering what she was talking about.

"That dirty little secret of yours?" She said casually before taking a few steps towards him. "You know, the one where you killed your parents. We wouldn't everyone finding out about that would we?"

She was mocking him now because she knew that he was defenseless. He had no choice but to submit to her stupid master plan. She knew exactly what effect this was having on him. He felt weak.

He was just a cog and he was trapped in her cold clockwork. He had no control whatsoever.

He wouldn't let her win. He was convinced of that. He didn't have a plan just yet but he wouldn't let her ruin his best friend in the same way that she had ruined him. Stopping Amanda now had more to do with protecting his best friend rather than himself.

He was selfless in that way. He'd stop Harry from running into the fire even if that meant getting burned himself.

"Okay." He quietly said, "I'll do it."

She smiled widely and kissed him on the cheek quickly.

"You've made the right choice."

She left the store cupboard and he wiped his cheek roughly, grumbling a little before following her.

As he began to lead her down the corridor, she felt her hold onto his arm, tracing his bicep every now and then. He raised his eyebrows in question at her action and she giggled at him.

Long ago, he would have been fond of the action but now he despised it. He knew that she was doing it for the attention and it was most certainly working in her favor. All the girls were shooting daggers Amanda's way when they saw her holding onto his arm. He could already tell that there was going to be a fight of some kind. The closest that any of the girls had reached was getting in his bed. They all seemed to want more than that though.

He never had to worry about other girls back home because everyone knew that he was happily taken. He had become quite the ladies man here and Amanda quickly caught onto that.

He knew that the worst thing that he could do was help her but what else could he do? He'd play at her own game, that was for sure.

"I didn't think you did girlfriends."

Both Mason and Amanda turned around to face Rhia who sounded curious and almost a little disappointed. He thought it better to not question her on that fact but kept it to himself instead.

"I don't." He said, trying to get out of Amanda's hold. She pinched him not so softly and he clenched his jaw to stop himself from crying out.

"I'm his ex-girlfriend." She put emphasis on the last word to make it clear to Rhiannon that they had once been together. "We're just really good friends now aren't we babe?" She sent him a wide smile that was clearly forced.

He rolled his eyes and lamely said, "Yeah, guess so."

"I'm so impolite! I'm Amanda and you are?"

"Rhia." It was almost as if it was a mammoth task to get the words out for her and Mason wondered why she was acting like this. But he couldn't blame her for feeling annoyed. Amanda had that effect on people.

"Nia! Oh, that's such a beautiful name!" She clasped her hands together dramatically. "So how do you two know each other?"

"Rhia." She said. "My name is Rhia." She slammed her locker shut, pointing a glare at Amanda and then at Mason.

"And, we know each other because we fucked. Do you need me to spell it out for you, princess?" She laughed breathlessly and walked away from them, leaving Amanda slightly flushed.

" I can't believe that you'd sleep with that tramp! Are you sure she isn't HIV positive?" She said, sounding slightly appalled.

Mason forcefully ripped his arm out of her hold and backed her up against the lockers, fear in her eyes. She wasn't looking as cocky as she was a few moments ago.

"I agreed to help you. But that doesn't mean you can walk all over Rhia like that. Or anyone else for that matter. " He said. " You're not queen bee around here. You can do whatever you like to me but leave Rhia and my friends out of it. We're not together anymore so you can stop acting like it." He barked.

He would soon blow and it was only a matter of time before he said or did something that he'd regret later.

"You don't get to control me." She crossed her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes in silent anger. " I say what goes. You play by my rules; remember that. I don't make empty threats."

At that moment, Mason immediately felt his anger diminish and it was replaced with anger at his hopeless situation. He must be kidding himself if he thought that he'd win this battle.

All he felt was regret now. Perhaps if they had never been together then she wouldn't be so hellbent on making Harry hers.

"Please don't hurt him." He pleaded holding onto her arm.

"I wouldn't think of doing such a thing." She said taking her arm away from his. "I love him and he's going to love me too." She brushed herself down before confidently approaching Harry where he and Jeremiah were sat. He watched the scene unfold and felt his chest tighten at the exchange between the two.

Harry looked wary and quite furious at her and turned to face Mason. He sighed knowing that he'd have to explain himself and go along with her stupid plan. It was madness, in honesty but he remembered the words she had said to him only a few seconds before.

Mason hoped that those words were true.

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