“Mason, open the door,” I cop-knocked against his dorm room door as hard as I could. “God dammit, Mason-“

Before I could finish my sentence, the door flew open and a rather annoyed looking Mason appeared in the entryway. He was dressed in a worn green bathrobe atop a white t-shirt, and his hair looked as if it had just gone through a blender.

“The fuck do you want?” He demanded.

“Mason,” I frowned. “Why are you asleep right now? It’s like seven-thirty in the evening.”

“Why are you showing up at my door like you know me?” He demanded. “If you’re looking for Todd, he’s not here. I don’t know where he is.”

“Yeah, but we do,” Aleah said softly but very pointedly. Mason stared at her for a moment.

“Give me like, five minutes,” He said, slamming the door in our faces. I stared at Aleah for a moment and began to speak, but then realized I had nothing productive to add. Instead I turned around and stared off the balcony, out into the distance where the main Woodcrest University building stood prominently. Now, more than ever, I really wanted to graduate and move on, this place was getting less and less appealing as of late. A few moments later, I heard the sound of the door opening, and as I turned, I saw Mason reappear with a coffee mug that said ‘Fuck You’ in block lettering. “Sorry, I got the feeling this was a conversation I wouldn’t be able to have without coffee.”

“Mason, I really need you to take this seriously,” I said, stepping a bit closer. “We need to tell you something about Todd, and it has to be fast because we’re going for a ride.”

“You’d BETTER make it fast,” Mason sighed. “And I’m not going anywhere with you, I have to get a nap in before the next Pantheon raid. Tell Todd to get his ass back here because he’s supposed to be my DPS and he’s left me high and dry the past two times. Ever since he let that bitch wake the Standard of the Dain the server is in shambles and everyone hates us as it is.”

“Um yeah, whatever that means, look it’s um…okay there’s no easy way to say this-“

“Todd is a girl,” Aleah interrupted me, stepping forward, finally. Mason stopped mid-drink but didn’t lower the cup. Instead, he simply held it, staring at her over the top of the rim. “Mason? Put the cup down and take this seriously.”

“What are you talking about?” Mason asked, his voice reverberating off the interior of the coffee mug.

“Mason,” I said. “Put the cup down and be serious, this is important.”

“I’ll put the cup down when I get some answers.”

“Okay, Mason, Todd has been avoiding you because…he’s been with us…learning how to be a girl…well, a woman. He didn’t want to tell you because…I guess he was afraid you’d…”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mason finally took the cup away from his face and stared at us. “Literally what did you get him into? Todd isn’t a girl…okay you know what? Take me to him, I’ll sort this crap you.”

“Wait,” Aleah said, stepping up again. “He already lost Chastity over this, he can’t lose you to.”

“Just fucking take me to him,” Mason growled. He reached a hand to the side of the door, grabbing what looked like his wallet and a set of keys, which he shoved into the pocket of his bath robe. “I’m going to sort out whatever this is.”

I cast a sidelong, concerned glance at Aleah, she returned a stony expression. This was even more telling than what had just happened with Chastity a few weeks ago. We were setting Audrey up for failure again but what could we do at this point? Mason would find Audrey, even if we didn’t take him to her, so what could we do? Cut and run? Yes, we could.

“You know what,” I said. “I was just kidding, about the whole thing, we don’t know where Todd is-“

“I don’t know much about you,” Mason said, shutting the door behind him. “But I do know you don’t have a sense of humor, take me to Todd.”

“Her name is Audrey now,” Aleah snapped. “Get it right.”

“Then take me to…whoever it is,” Mason sighed. “Come on, let’s go.”

“No,” I said, folding arms. “Not if you’re going to act like that.”

“Alright,” Mason shrugged. “He’s probably over at the theater where he’s been spending all his time, getting ready for that play, you know.”

“Ugh, Jesus, Mason, you can’t-“

“Look!” Mason said, finally shouting. “I’m not mad at…what the fuck, what’s his name now? I’m not mad at him, I’m mad at YOU, because you’re coming to me with this at this god awful hour and you’ve been hiding things from me for weeks. He was FINE before he met you.”

“She wasn’t fine,” Aleah said stiffly. “You need to stop thinking that. There’s a reason she broke into a sorority house and played dressup. That doesn’t just come out of nowhere.”

Mason stopped and blinked for a second, then shook his head.

“I’m going over there, with or without you, and I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” He informed us.

“Wait,” Aleah pulled out her phone and began scrolling. “Before you go, why don’t you talk to Leina?”

“Leina’s involved in this?” Mason asked, amused now. “Alright fine, let me talk to her.”

Aleah pressed the ‘call’ button and held the phone to her ear.

“Hey, Leina?” Aleah began to speak. “What? Yes, I found Mason. Yes, I’m capable of carrying out a simple task, Leina. No, I don’t have the brain of a rabid gopher. Leina, listen, I need you to talk to Mason- …yes, here he is.”

Mason practically snatched the phone from her hand and pressed it to his ear.

“Leina, what the fuck?” Mason demanded. “What? Okay.”

He ended the call and handed the phone back to Aleah.

“Well?” I demanded.

“We’re going over there,” Mason sighed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you two, or if it can even be pronounced, but we’re going over there to find out.”

It was a short walk from the dorm to the theater, which was to be expected considering the damn building was within line of sight from Audrey’s dorm. We walked around the side of the building and pressed on, toward the side door that Leina, Melissa, Courtney, and Kari had used maybe an hour ago, if that. It was propped open with a wooden doorstop, and we easily walked into the theater, this time on the ground floor, and right onto the stage.

“Through this door,” I sighed. “Mason, I’m warning you, be delicate, this is-“

“I think I know my best friend,” Mason growled. “I don’t need any input from you two.”

I closed my eyes in defeat as Mason walked toward the dressing room door. Finally, I opened them and followed him, cringing as he threw the door aside and stepped into the same scene that Aleah and I had stumbled onto earlier. Audrey, on the floor, sobbing, but this time looking even more crushed. I followed closely and watched as her eyes rose upward to meet Mason’s, a cry erupting from her lips as he approached. Leina rose from the ground, where she had been providing comfort and stood eye to eye with Mason.

“Mason,” She said rather cordially. “I’d like you to meet my sister, and your best friend, Audrey.”

“I’m sorry,” Audrey sobbed from the floor. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Mason asked, stepping closer. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

“Because I’m this…because…I’m not who I’m supposed to be. I’m sorry I lied to you.”

“No, no no, fuck no,” Mason stepped forward, dropping to the ground and placing his hand on Audrey’s shoulders. “Look up at me, come on, look at me.”

Audrey’s head rose slightly, as if she were deigning to face the monster under her bed. Finally, her eyes met his, tear stained cheeks came to bear.
“Audrey,” Mason said, shaking his head and smiling. “None of that matters, it doesn’t mean shit. You know what matters? You’re beautiful, you’re smart, you’re brave, that’s what matters.”

“I don’t get it,” I whispered to Leina. “He seemed-“

“He was mad because he knew you’d been handling it, and he knew you sucked at it,” Leina explained. “He’s not the greatest at conveying his thoughts.”

“Leina,” Aleah said. “We need to get Audrey to-“

“No,” I raised my hand, silencing her. “This is more important, let GAT die. We deserve it.”

It was going to happen. We did deserve it.